A Guide for Players Rostered on More than One Team

If your child is partcipating in multiple sports and activities, you know the juggling you have to do with schedules and getting them to and from. Holliston Youth Soccer attempts to accommodate to the best of our ability, but not all situations are remedied, and sometimes you need to make choices.

If your child is participating in soccer for multiple teams (called “multiple rostering” by Mass Youth Soccer), there are guidelines that the respective soccer clubs and associations are asked to follow. You will find such guidelines re-published by BAYS (the travel league we play in) and MAPLE (the premier club league that many children may be participating in.

The Mass Youth Soccer policies are defined in the Constituation and By-Laws, which include a Priority Guide for Multiple Rostered Players and included here for your convenience:

These “priorities of play” are for players who are multiple rostered. These priorities:

  • apply to all State Team players – regardless of age – rostered on any other team.
  • apply to all multiple rostered players aged U14 and younger; but,
  • do not apply to non-State Team players age U15 and above.

These priorities provide players, coaches and parents with a set of expectations for players rostered to multiple teams. They have been developed to enable players to rise to their highest level of soccer while affording them  access to all levels of play. They have been developed with input from representatives of all types and levels of play within the state. They have been developed to eliminate such questions as “Who do I play for?, Which practice should I attend?, or “What team should I play with on a tournament weekend?” These priorities are to be respected and adhered to by all of the various soccer interests that compete for a player’s attention and time.

In general terms, a player’s priorities are as follows.

  1. Major Tournaments:
    1. Regional ODP Tournament (after Memorial Day)
    2. State Cup
    3. MTOC and Qualifying Games
    4. On a major national holiday weekend:
      • Memorial Day – priority to Premier (MAPLE) Teams
      • Columbus Day – priority to Town Teams
      • All other tournaments – players are to alternate attendance in event of scheduled conflict
  2. State Team Tryouts (except Sunday afternoons during MAPLE seasons)
  3. Regularly scheduled League games
  4. Make-up games
  5. Practices

However, there exist variations in priority based on the playing season. So please read and understand each category and how they interrelate.

Soccer Activity Priority List: 

  1. Regional ODP Tournament
  2. State Cup Tournament
  3. MTOC and Qualifying Games
  4. State Team Tryouts in summer, fall (other than on Sunday afternoons) and winter seasons only. Try-out dates must also be established and available through the State Office at least one month in advance.
  5. All Games:
    1. State Team – Summer only
    2. Premier (MAPLE) Teams – all year for any games scheduled from 11:00 a.m. on Sunday until dusk
    3. MTOC Eligible Town Teams – all year for any games scheduled from Friday afternoon to Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
    4. State Team
    5. Non-MTOC Town, or any fall teams other than Premier or winter teams
  6. Tournaments:
    1. State Team – (summer only)
    2. Premier (MAPLE) Teams – priority for Memorial Day Weekend only
    3. Town Teams – priority for Columbus Day weekend only
    4. All other tournaments – players are to alternate attendance in event of conflicts.
  7. Practices:
    1. State Team – priority during the Spring season. State Team practice dates must be established and available through the State Office by at least March 15.
    2. Premier (MAPLE) Team – Division 1 only c. All other teams – players are to alternate attendance in event of schedule conflict
    3. All other teams – players are to alternate attendance in event of schedule conflict