What To Expect In PCSSL

Perhaps your family only knows AYSO from the Fall "Core" season.  Or perhaps you are coming into PCSSL after playing some time with a "club" team.  Wherever you may be coming from PCSSL can be some of the best soccer you have enjoyed, if you know what to expect and are ready to make the most of this opportunity.

If you are new to PCSSL, it might help to understand a bit more about Why PCSSL is a bit different as we manage this intersection of rec-level AYSO with comp-level play.

More than "Fall"

PCSSL is "more" than a typical AYSO season.  Our history is based on a wide range of AYSO programs including what has been called "Wave" and "EXTRA" or "Select", and while we now offer support for an alternative to the newer "Alliance" and "United" programs, the goals are still the same: provide an opportunity for those players who want it to take a step up from "Core" into a more competitive level of play; in other words, an opportunity to play matches perhaps comparable to Copper or Bronze level matches in the local competitive leagues all without leaving our supportive AYSO environment.

PCSSL teams usually play better than the Fall "Core" teams.

Perhaps some of this step up comes from the level of talent being a bit higher, but much of the difference comes from Spring being an "extra" season for our soccer players, and mostly this draws only those kids who really want more soccer (and the kids who want it more tend to be the ones who learn and improve faster).  The result is that many spectators see a notable step up in the energy and quality of play.  The kids are likely to notice that our games are quicker and their practices are more energetic -- again, not because they are suddenly in something at risk of getting over their head, but just from the simple fact that most everyone on their team are all just as excited about playing more soccer.

Spring (and hence PCSSL) is more chaotic than the Fall "Core" season.

For most Regions the Fall game schedules are very regular: every Saturday for eight or ten weeks your team will play on the same set of fields at the same time most every week.  Much of that regularity comes from the fact that most cities around here offer their soccer programs "primary" scheduling rights during the Fall, but that is rare in the Spring when baseball and other sports claim many of the same park facilities that the soccer teams use.

During a PCSSL season at least half of your games will be "away" and those other locations may have a very different schedule for when they can host games.  Even your "home" games may be on different fields than your Region uses in the Fall, or your team may need to utilize fields from a neighboring Region for your "home" games.

Fall is also a relatively simple time of year, locally we play soccer roughly every week between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.  In Spring, Easter is on a different week each year, and scheduling around every schools' rotating weeks of Spring Break causes gaps in everyone's schedule.  On top of that some teams may request a "not available" date in the middle of the season in order to participate in one or more all-day tournaments.  A typical PCSSL season covers 12 weeks from March through May, but teams usually play only 8 of those 12 Sundays because of "not available" gaps.

Note: all teams are asked in advance to define their "not available" dates (usually based on the local schools' Spring Break, but possibly Easter or Mothers Day or any other known conflicts), and then the league schedules are built around all those dates and are based on the assumption that for each "available" date that team can play at any opponent's field at most any time of the morning or afternoon.  If your family is involved in PCSSL, you should be very careful about committing your player to any other Sunday activity, at least until after dinner time.

PCSSL requires more paperwork than an AYSO "Core" season.

During the Fall a lot of the paperwork all falls inside of individual regions and many regions have local shortcuts that work for them.  Because PCSSL works across such a wide variety of Regions, we are required to follow many of the same process steps as what is required for entry into AYSO tournaments.  Most of this extra paperwork is handled by the team coach with help from others on the Regions' staff.  The most obvious requirement that involves families is the need for every player to have a current AYSO ID-card, which does require every family to upload a recent photo through your AYSO account.

PCSSL travels more than a typical AYSO season.

Most Fall seasons are very locally based; perhaps playing the entire season in the same one town, perhaps interlocking with a few nearby towns.  PCSSL serves all AYSO Regions up and down the San Francisco Peninsula area; from all the way up in Brisbane and all the way down below San Jose, from Pacifica on the coast to Belmont on the bay shores.  Many of your games are going to be somewhat close, but some games are going to require a lot more travel time.  Getting to the games is a serious time commitment, and (as noted above) a player being absent from a game is going to be felt more during a PCSSL season than it might be during the Fall.

PCSSL games can be more intense than is typical in AYSO.

Competitive matches get the competitive fires burning, and participants and fans alike can often get more excited.

Excitement is a good thing, but it carries a risk of over reactions.  PCSSL is an AYSO league, and we do insist on AYSO expectations of good behavior.  Everyone involved in this league are all volunteers, and mistakes are part of this game -- it is expected that all mistakes or other issues will be handled with good sportsmanship, and we will enforce that expectation if ever necessary.

To be explicit: This league shall have no patience for any referee abuse.  If you have someone with your team, or even in your family, who seems to believe that it is fun to come and heckle at games, or thinks it is okay to criticize referees, please tell them to stay quiet or to stay home -- otherwise they may be sent away and that will be unpleasant for everyone.  If you know someone who could use more information about referee issues, you can direct them to our Coaches Page on Referee Relations.  Also, you should be aware that US Soccer's Referee Abuse Prevention policy can and will be enforced on spectators, not just coaches.

PCSSL seasons can be some of the best.

We like to say Spring is when AYSO gets interesting.  Spring is often the season when teams can swing the emphasis over to the fun aspects of our game.  Many of our teams report back that their PCSSL experience is the most fun they have had playing soccer.

Everyone involved in this league works to make the games as fun as is possible, without the need to resort to ever more drills in intensive training sessions.  We hope you enjoy your time in our league!