Winnipeg, May 29, 2013 – The Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association (WYSA) is proud to announce the 22nd Annual Children’s Hospital Tournament will kick off today with a record number of teams. 

This year, the tournament will feature 199 teams, up seven from last year’s record. Teams are coming in from across the region, including from Kenora, Ontario, Yorkton, Saskatchewan and from Minnedosa, Portage la Prairie, Brandon and Carman, Manitoba.

“The tournament started with only four teams back in 1991. Now it’s one of the largest tournaments in western Canada,” said Carlo Bruneau, executive director of the WYSA. “We want to thank the thousands of volunteers in the soccer community who make this event so successful every year.”

Over the years, the tournament has raised more than $275,000 for the Childrens’ Hospital Foundation. The tournament will feature games at various fields around the city, but home base will be John Blumberg soccer complex in Headingley.

The tournament will run from May 29 to June 2. Despite a challenging weather forecast that is predicting rain, WYSA plans to complete as many games as possible and have finals played as scheduled on Sunday. 

“All players and teams should expect to play at their scheduled times,” said Bruneau. “Marshals will decide whether games are playable or not at the field.”

WYSA is the largest youth soccer league administrator in Manitoba. In addition to managing all premier, premier-developmental and developmental leagues (from ages 9 through 18), WYSA oversees recreational soccer leagues for community centres from ages 13 to 18. It also supports district soccer associations who administer the recreational leagues for ages 9 through 12. In recent years, WYSA has managed high school indoor and outdoor soccer leagues and has played a key role in bringing soccer programming to disadvantaged youth in Winnipeg’s core areas.

Organizers plan to play as many games as possible despite poor weather forecast

 
Please be advised that due to unexpected changes in registration for the Children’s Hospital Tournament, a number of games have been rescheduled since the schedule was first released.
 
All teams are advised to review the game schedule before attending their first game of the tournament as game times and fields may have changed since you last reviewed it.

Please follow the CHT link on the right side of this page for more information on the tournament, including pitch layouts, markings and tournament rules, located on the CHT Homepage.

We thank you for your patience and support. Good luck this weekend!

Coaches and Managers,

There is an issue with some team officials being unable to use the self-score option.

We are investigating the problem with IT SportsNet and we envisage this will be resolved the week of 20th MAY. Please continue to submit your game sheets within the specified timeframe.

Thank you for your patience.

All 2013 Outdoor Season Schedules have now been posted under the Standings & Schedule button on the right side of this page!

For all scheduling concerns, please contact scheduler@winnipegyouthsoccer.com.

Goodluck and have fun this season!

The Under 18 FC Northwest boys who won last year’s WYSA League, MSA Provincial Championship Competition, and CSA U18 National Championships was named Junior Team of the Year at Sport Manitoba’s annual Night of Champions. Click here for the full list of recipients.

The Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association expresses its deepest condolences to the family and many friends of Riccardo De Thomasis. Riccardo recently passed away after a long fight with cancer. He was 34. 

Riccardo was an inspirational and beloved soccer coach who had a tremendously positive impact on thousands of Winnipeg soccer families. He will be missed.

http://riccardodethomasis.com/

http://www.legacy.com/link.asp?i=ls000164478408

http://globalnews.ca/news/515105/soccer-community-loses-beloved-coach-to-cancer/

Click here to open the 2013 Outdoor Season Coaches notes distributed at the Coaches meeting April 23, 2013.

Winnipeg, April 26, 2013 – The Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association will kick off its outdoor season tonight on artificial turf at the Waverley Soccer Complex. The unseasonably cold and snowy spring will delay the use of natural grass fields for at least two more weeks.

“This really highlights the need for more artificial turf fields in our city. Bad weather is common here, so we should prepare for it,” said Tom Thompson, President of the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association. “With artificial turf fields, we can start the season earlier and end it later. We can also play four times as many games on them without risk of damage.”

WYSA is advising its leagues that the recreational leagues for ages U13 to U18 will begin play as scheduled using the artificial turf fields at the Waverley Soccer Complex. Weather permitting, it expects to begin allowing play on natural grass fields in two to three weeks, including for U9 to U12 recreational and developmental teams and for U13 to U18 premier and premier-developmental teams.

“We need a lot of sun and wind to melt the snow and dry the fields,” said Carlo Bruneau, WYSA Executive Director. “We’ll start using the fields as soon as it is safe and practical to do so. We will reschedule cancelled games as quickly as we can, but the weather this year might mean we have to play a slightly shorter season.”

WYSA reminds soccer teams and all Winnipeggers to be gentle on sports fields this spring until they have dried up. Wet and muddy fields can be easily and badly damaged by sports teams. 

The Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association administers youth soccer leagues for ages U9 to U18 in the City of Winnipeg. For more information regarding schedules and game cancellations, please visit www.WinnipegYouthSoccer.com.

As discussed at the coaches meeting, click here to view the U13 - U18 Recreational Games scheduled between April 26 to May 8, 2013. The online Schedules and Standings have also been updated to reflect the scheduled games.

Slide tackling IS permitted at all ages for the outdoor season (not permitted during indoor season). Incorrect information appears in the printed edition of the 2013 WYSA Spring Newsletter.

The laws of the game state: 

A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the following seven offences in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:

• kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
• trips or attempts to trip an opponent
• jumps at an opponent
• charges an opponent
• strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
• pushes an opponent
• tackles an opponent

Additionally: 

A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.

A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play. 

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play unless there is a clear subsequent opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player guilty of serious foul play when the ball is next out of play.

A player who is guilty of serious foul play should be sent off and play is restarted with a direct free kick from the position where the offence occurred or a penalty kick (if the offence occurred inside the offender's penalty area). 

For more on the laws of the game, please visit: http://www.manitobasoccer.ca/referee/laws-of-the-game

Season Kick-Off

Despite the challenges we are facing with the weather, the 2013 WYSA Outdoor Season will kick-off on April 26 at the Waverley Soccer Complex (WSC). Only RECREATIONAL matches will take place throughout the weekend and following 2 weeks at the WSC, as we have to start their season due to their limited playing dates of only May / June. The schedule of matches for the first weekend and following 2 weeks will be posted on the WYSA Homepage (here). Recreational teams will continue to play matches at the WSC until the natural grass fields become playable, which we now expect to be around mid-May. We will try to accommodate the schedule requests that we have received, however, due to the weather delays we may not be able to accommodate every request.

The U13 - U18 Premier & Premier-Developmental League will kick-off at the WSC on May 10, 2013.

The U9 - U12 Developmental League will kick-off on May 13, 2013.

Online schedule (ITSN) - As we have had to re-do each schedule, we don't expect to have them uploaded until the first week of May, so until then, all games will be posted on the WYSA Homepage (here).

Pre-Season Coach/Team Official(s) Meeting

The pre-season coaches meeting will be held in the evening of April 23 at Bergmann's on Lombard which is located on the 6th floor of the Grain Exchange Building at 167 Lombard Avenue.

6 PM - U9 - U12 Developmental Team Official / Manager

7 PM - U13 - U18 Recreational Team Official / Manager

8 PM - U13 - U18 Premier & Premier-Developmental Team Official / Manager

WYSA is currently working on all schedules for the 2013 outdoor season and are optimistic that we will kick off the season, as we have in previous years, on the last weekend in April!! WYSA is constantly evaluating the weather and field conditions and will make changes to the schedule if necessary.

Nights of Play Information

Teams will generally play on the following nights of the week depending on the availability referees and fields.

U9-U12 Boys and Girls Developmental:

Teams will generally play one game a week.

U9 teams will generally play Monday, Wednesday or Friday matches.

U10 teams will generally play Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday matches.

U11 teams will generally play Monday, Wednesday or Friday matches.

U12 teams will generally play Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday matches.

U9-U18 Boys and Girls Recreational:

Teams will generally play two games a week.

EVEN divisions (U10,U12,U14,U16,U18) will generally play on Mondays, Wednesdays, and/or Fridays depending on the number of teams in a division, field and referee availability.

ODD divisions (U9,U11,U13,U15,U17) will generally play on Tuesdays, Thursdays and/or Sundays depending on the number of teams in a division, field and referee availability.

Pre-Season Coaches Meeting

The pre-season coaches meeting will be held in the evening of April 23 at Bergmann's on Lombard which is located on the 6th floor of the Grain Exchange Building at 167 Lombard Avenue. A further update of the meeting and information to be provided will be posted on our website.

Team Schedules

As indicated, we are optimistic to kick off the league on the weekend of April 26, 27, and 28 and will aim to have the schedules available online during that week.

League Information

Below you will find information regarding each League (level of play) that outlines the playing season, field dimensions, match lengths, and season length.

U9 & U10 Recreational U9 & U10 Developmental

U11 & U12 Recreational U11 & U12 Developmental

U13 - U18 Recreational U13 - U18 Premier / Premier-Developmental

Congratulations to Stephanie Jacoby and Jena Wilks who were co-recipients of the female WYSA Scholarship!

Congratulations to Brendan Rattai and Logan Grzenda who were co-recipients of the male WYSA Scholarship!

All four student athletes possess strong personal attributes such as leadership, community involvement, and are excellent role models for the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association and of course the game of soccer.

We would like to thank all of those who applied and look forward to this year's applications which is due on October 15, 2013. Click here for more information.
 

Congratulations to Jaret Ditter, Bonivital Soccer Club Coach, was recognized with the Dr. Jack Hunt Memorial Award in the Learn to Train / Train to Train category at Coaching Manitoba's Excellence Awards. Click here to read more about the Awards and other recipients.

The MSA will be offering Active Start, FUNdamentals, Learn to Train and Active for Life Clinics at the WSF Indoor Soccer Facility - 211 Chancellor Matheson Rd (University of Manitoba) Please click on the following link for further information and schedule:

http://www.manitobasoccer.ca/coach/clinics-new

For an up-to-date overview of Coaching Certification, please click on the following link:

http://www.manitobasoccer.ca/coach/certification-new

U11 GIRLS - FINAL A - APRIL 1st, 2013 - PARK CITY (SOUSA) vs TRI-S (PREUN) - 6 PM, WSF FIELD 1 

CAMBRIAN CHALLENGE CUP RESULTS:

Madison Wilford has been selected to participate in the CSA's U20 National Excel Camp March 16 - 25, 2013. Click here for the press release.

Playoff schedules can be accessed through the Standings and Schedules link. Teams will be notified as soon as possible as to their placement in semi-final and final games.

Finals schedule information is available by clicking HERE.