Important Dates and Other Information

• Dates
• Arranging the Teams
• Playing in a Higher or Lower age Group
• Field and Playing locations
• Schedules
• Game Cancellations
• Team Standings

Dates

Birth year	Division name	Day of play	Time of play	Season starts	Photo Day	Tournament
. 2008	U4	Saturday	9:30am -10:30 am	Sat, Jun 2	Sat, Jun 16	Sat. Aug.11
2007	U5	Saturday	10:30am-11:30 am	Sat, Jun 2	Sat, Jun 16	Sat. Aug.11
2006	U6	Sunday (Barrhaven only)	6:30 - 7:45 pm	Sun, May 27	Sun. June 17	Sun. Aug 12
. 2006	U6	Monday	6:30 - 7:45 pm	Mon. May 28	Sun. June 17	Sat. Aug.11
. 2005	. U7	. Tuesday	. 6:30 - 7:45 pm	. Tue, May 29	. Sun. June 17	. Sun. Aug 12
. 2004	. U8	. Thursday	. 6:30 - 8:00 pm	. Thu, May 24	. Sun, June 17	.Boys - Aug 11 Girls - Aug. 12
. 2003	. U9	. Thursday	. 6:30 - 8:00 pm	. Thu, May 24	. Sat, June 16	. .Girls - Aug 11 Boys- Aug. 12
. 2002-2001	. U10-U11	. Wednesday	. 6:30 - 8:05 pm	. Wed, May 23	. Sat, June 16	. Boys- Aug 11 Girls - Aug. 12
.. 2000/1999	. U12-U13	. Monday	. 6:30 - 8:15 pm	. Mon, May 27	. Sun, June 17	. Sun. Aug 19
1998/1997	U14-U15	Tuesday	6:30 - 8:25 pm	Tue, May 21	Girls - Sat, June 16 Boys - Sun, June 17	Sat. Aug. 18
. 1996 - 1994	. U16 - U18	. Thursday	. 6:30 - 8:30 pm	. Thu, May 24	Sat, June 16	. Sun. Aug 19

Registration runs until the middle of May, so you should expect to hear from your child’s coach two weeks before the season start date, which is listed in the table above.  Our program coordinators, team coaches, assistant coaches, and managers, are all parent volunteers from the community.  We could not run the program without their efforts, so please support them with patience and understanding.  If you are interested in taking an active role in your child’s team, we offer free recreational coaching clinics
[link to Coaching Details]

Important items of note:

Arranging the Teams
It is our goal to have balanced teams within the age levels, while also taking into consideration playing location and friend requests, among other things.  Please understand that the coordinators are all parent volunteers, and do the best they can with the available information.  Teams are arranged by the division coordinator, and are not finalized until mid-May, so please wait until that time before contacting us.  After that time, please contact the division coordinator found on the Contact Us if you have any questions
or comments. 

Playing in a higher or lower age group

A player may be moved up if the child is too dominant for their age group. This must be requested by the division coordinator and/or parent for approval by the Youth Recreation Manager. Parents’ schedules, transportation problems or playing with friends are not valid grounds for moving a child up or down an age group.  We will consider requests for medical reasons.

Fields and playing locations
Playing schedules will be developed in late April/early May, as we confirm the number of teams in each division.  Divisions from U6 to U8 play only within their geographic area (West or East).  Beginning at U9, the amount of cross division play increases, until we reach a fully integrated schedule at U15. 

Field assignments are balanced by location, size, and condition as best we can.  We have a lot of teams to accommodate on our fields.  Best efforts are made to assign teams to a ‘home field’ close to the majority of the players.  We rent most of our fields from the City of Ottawa or the local school boards, and we have limited capability to affect changes to field conditions.

Every reasonable attempt is made to have all players in Recreational play their home games within their immediate geographical area of residence.  This is sometimes not possible due to late registrations, field availability and where registration numbers dictate that we must merge age levels and/or geographical regions.

Schedules
When the season's schedules are finalized, coaches will distribute them to the players.  Schedules will also be posted on our website [link to Schedules page].

NOTE: Cancelled recreation games will not be rescheduled.

Field closures
Playing fields are sometimes closed by the City of Ottawa due to poor conditions (usually excessive rain) that can result in significant damage to the fields.  These notices can sometimes happen the day of play.  The club will inform all division coordinators and coaches (via email) as soon as they learn about a field closure.  Due to work schedules and other issues, it may sometimes happen that parents and players arrive at the field to find the game cancelled.  Please treat these situations and our volunteers with patience and respect.

Lightning and heavy rain
On average, lightning causes more casualties annually in North America than any other storm related phenomena.  Make sure that you, or the players on the field, are not one of them.  Games should be cancelled for electrical storms or very heavy rain.  Parents & Coaches should assume that the game is to be played unless they are telephoned & informed otherwise.  Cancellation will be determined by the Coordinator or by the referee at the field, in discussion with the coaches.  Under no circumstances will lobbying by parents or coaches to continue a game when thunder or lightning has been observed be tolerated.

Team Standings
We are maintaining game results and standings for U11 divisions and up.  However, this does not change our philosophy to Youth Recreational soccer. The emphasis remains on fun, fitness improvement, sportsmanship and development. [link to Standings page]