1. sports
2. football

Operations Manual Review
Saturday, November 2nd
Technical Workshop 1
Reserve League
Rationale: Player development, not team development
is the focus of the OPDL.
A reserve team provides more players with the chance
to develop within the club’s environment.
The first team is not restricted to a set roster. The
entire pool of players (first team + reserve) is at the
coaching staff’s disposal for selection each week
2.3 Reserve League
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Deadline to declare December 1st
OSA will inform by January 1st
Home and away schedule
Sunday game days
Home team responsible for field and costs
Each team responsible for own medical
OPDL responsible for officials
2.4 Completion of OPDL Season
• Must participate in all 28 rounds
3.1 Game Format
• Field dimensions and goals as per FIFA laws
• Other rules as per FIFA laws of the game
with the exception of …
Retreat Line
• At U13, when keeper has ball in hands OR on goal kicks
• Positioned at 33 yds from the goal line
• The opposing team must position all of its players
behind this line
• The opposition is allowed to cross over this line once
the ball has been released from the keeper’s hand/foot
• This line will either be marked with different colour
paint or with cones located on either side of the field.
Retreat Line
Rationale: To encourage programs to take the
opportunity to teach their players how to pass the ball
out from the back as an alternative option to the
goalkeeper playing it long with a punt or dropkick.
The space created by the use of the retreat line allows
the team in possession a bit more time to try and
make good tactical decisions before experiencing the
full pressure of the opposition.
3.2 Playing Season
• Season will run Apr to Nov
• Apr and Nov games most likely will be on
turf
• Central venues are chosen by OPDL as they
meet a series of standards
Why Use Central Venues?
1. In making our decisions it forced the OSA to look very
closely at a number of facilities province-wide.
2. Allowed us to select some very well developed
facilities (mostly universities).
3. Where many of the facilities are universities, it
provides us with the opportunity to partner with their
students to enhance the game day experience for you
and provide practical learning opportunities for them.
4. It mitigates the amount of travel for you.
Central Venues
1. Carleton University – Ottawa
2. Royal Military College – Kingston
3. U of T Campus – Scarborough
4. York University – North York
5. The Soccer Centre - Vaughan
6. McMaster University – Hamilton
7. University of Waterloo
8. Western University - London
3.3 Conferences
• East and west conference
• Both gender teams from a club must play in the same
conference
• Reserve league conferences may be structured
differently
Conference Rationale
1. Placement of teams in each conference is
based on travel time and proximity to
central venues
2. There will be nine teams in each conference
which will allow us to create one game per
round featuring cross conference play. Each
team will get 3-4 games with opponents
from the other conference.
Conferences
East
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Markham
Nepean Hotspurs
North Toronto
Ottawa Fury FC
Ottawa South United
Toronto FC Academy
Unionville Milliken
West Ottawa
Whitby Iroquois
West
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Aurora
Burlington
FC London
Glen Shields
Hamilton Elite United
Kleinburg Nobleton
Richmond Hill
Vaughan
Woodbridge
3.4 League Schedule
• Sole discretion and responsibility of the OPDL
• Schedule issued no later than February 15th of the
current season
• Game days are Saturdays and venues will be
prescribed
• Changes to the game schedule will only be made in
extenuating circumstances and will be issued in
writing by the OPDL
Exception to a Saturday Game – RTC Weekend
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Boys RTC
Girls RTC
Girls OPDL
Boys OPDL
There will be four weekends that will feature this schedule.
It will mean that the reserve league matches on these four
days will be moved to a mid-week date.
3.6 Substitution Policy
• Max seven (7), no re-entry, made at any stoppage
• No more than three (3) players can be subbed at one
time, including half time
• After seven (7) subs an injured player can be subbed
but cannot return to the field
Reminder…playing time is to be distributed fairly and is
based on a philosophy of developing the potential of
every player in your program. That won’t happen if
some players are always sitting on the bench.
Regarding 3.7 – 3.9…
It is worth noting at this point that…
There are no standings at U13
There will be standings at U14
Rationale: to help us begin to learn a healthy mindset
around the balance between results and development
in order to evolve our country’s soccer culture.
3.10 Game Sheets
b) A game sheet shall have room for twenty (20)
players…
If you don’t have a reserve team then you will only fill
with names a maximum of eighteen of those twenty
spots on the game sheet.
If you have a reserve team then you will be able to fill
those two remaining spots with names.
4.2 Registration Deadline
• All personnel must be registered by March
1st of the current season
• Registering after this? Refer to 4.4 ‘f’: NonOPDL Player Call Ups
4.3 Official Roster
g) “Once the season has started, an OPDL License Holder
shall not release any players until the completion of the
season on November 30th”
• Refers primarily to performance issues
• Does not include lack of adherence to program
• Does not include disciplinary issues (See 6.1 Conduct)
• Does not include exceptional circumstances (e.g.,
family relocation)
4.4 Non-OPDL Player Call Ups
• You should have a reserve team if at all possible
• Call-up = a non-OPDL player from within an OPDL club
and outside of the Reserve Team
• Only use call-ups if roster falls below fourteen (14)
• One (1) non-OPDL player called up four (4) times max
per season
• No more than two (2) call-ups per game
• One call-up cannot play more than two (2) matches
consecutively
• Consistent roster issues? Consult with OPDL
4.7 Player Transfer Policy
• Player may not move during the season without
OPDL written permission
• Mid-season transfer? Pro rated fees apply
• No player may be transferred more than once (1)
during a season
• Transfer window – December 1st to March 1st
players may move between license holders (which
will start December 2014)
Transfer Window Etiquette in Fall 2014…
For 2002’s (as it was for the inaugural season)
• Open trials can begin from October 1st
• Invitation only trials from January 1st
For 2001’s
• Open trials in October for non-OPDL players only
• OPDL players must observe rest break during
December
• Movement of existing OPDL players can be discussed in
December but no trials or movement can happen until
January
4.8 Player Residency
• There is no exclusivity
• Players should play with closest license holders to
them
• If long distance travel is required, player must be able
to maintain the team’s schedule
• Pick your players based on ability, not location or how
long they’ve been involved with your program
• Do not solicit parents from surrounding regions directly
either verbally or written at expense of local players
4.9 Player Recruitment & Solicitation
• Recruitment = deliberate or proactive persuasion
of an active OPDL player by a different OPDL club
than the one the player belongs to in order to
convince that player to switch programs
• Fee discounts cannot be used at any time to
entice individual players into an OPDL program
4.10 Player Scouting & Communications
1. Current OPDL players:
i. Nothing during the season
ii. During transfer window TD/CHC of
interested license holder initiates
contact
4.10 Player Scouting & Communications (cont.)
2. Non-OPDL Players:
•
May scout/observe but not contact directly
•
Any contact must first be made to technical leadership of the
player’s club and documented in writing to the OPDL
•
That club then contacts the player’s parents
•
The parents/guardians then decide if they want to contact
the OPDL club that is interested in their daughter/son
5.2 Assignment of Match Officials
• There will be a referee and two assistants
assigned for each first team and reserve
team match
6.3 Under Age Player Guidelines [SHOULD RARELY BE
USED]
• A player can move up one (1) age group assuming it is
developmentally appropriate for that player
• This can be a U12 to U13 or a U13 to U14
• The move up must be done in an assessment involving
team head coach and TD/CHC
• The move up must be approved by OPDL technical
leadership
• Continuation of a player playing up is to be reviewed
annually by club’s TD/CHC
• Players cannot play down
6.4 Player Prioritization
• OPDL takes priority over all other soccer activities
• Exceptions: OSA RTC, CSA Excel or national team
program, or pro team opportunities
• OPDL teams or individual players do not partake in
Ontario Cup
• Forego participation in school soccer or other extracurricular activities that interfere with the OPDL
periodized plan
WHY?
1. The Training to Train stage is where the road towards
specialization begins.
2. Using periodization means that a player should not be
experiencing two different sports that are both in their
competitive phases at the same time.
3. Using periodization means avoiding interference which
happens when certain types of training effects
experienced in one of the sports inhibits or blocks
training effects in the other.
6.5 Training
• Included in the 3:1…soccer-specific agility,
balance, coordination, speed, strength or power
exercises
• If it is a strength and conditioning education
session designed to teach the players ‘how to’
then it needs to be done off field and cannot be
included as part of the 3:1 ratio
6.6 Number of Games
Beyond your 28 game league schedule…
• Playing a non-OPDL team for an exhibition game? Get
OPDL approval
• Going out of province or out of country? Get OPDL
approval
• Abide by the scheduled rest breaks with the exception
of the August break…teams will be permitted to attend
a competition at this time
• Respect your training to competition ratio and train a
minimum three times more than you compete