Hello and thank you for your interest in Butler United Soccer Club!  Parents of young players in rec/SAY often wonder if Club Soccer is the right next step for their kid.  We hope to answer some of the common questions that parents have and will try to provide some things to consider...

What are soccer age groups and how are teams organized?  

• The "Soccer Year" runs from Fall through the following Spring seasons.  Teams are formed in June for the following Soccer Year.  When players accept a roster spot, they are on the team until the end of the next Spring season.  After the Spring season, current players and players that tryout can be offered roster spots for the next Soccer Year, players are not carried over automatically.
• Soccer teams are grouped by birth years, not school years.  All players born in the same calendar year are age appropriate for the same age group, regardless of what grade they are in.  
• Age groups are designated by their "Under" age title, which has kind of a complicated way of being determined.  A U10 team is a team consisting of players that are/were younger than 10 at a certain point in time. (* A specific example is provided at the bottom of this page)
• You can find a listing of the current age groups here: http://www.mvysa.com/cgi-bin/agechart.cgi
• During the Soccer Year a player's "Under" age group stays the same, even if the player has a birthday,
• Teams are usually named using their gender and birth year, ie: BUSC G12 Purple is a Girls team of players born in 2012.
• Teams play in divisions according to their Under Age Grouping
• A team's birth year designation (ie G14) doesn't change, but their Under Age Grouping changes every year.  Under Age Groupings are used because play formats (field size, ball size, roster size, etc) are defined for each age group.
• When players play in the age group matching their birth year, they are playing "age appropriate." 
• Occasionally, some players (or teams) will "Play Up" - this is when the player (or team) is younger than the age group they are playing in.  At BUSC, players are allowed to play up when families and coaches agree that it is appropriate.  In general, playing age appropriate is considered best for the development of players, but there are many factors that have to be considered.
• Playing "down" or playing in an age grouping that a player is too old for is never allowed.  This is not a BUSC rule, but a US Youth Soccer rule for which no exceptions are allowed.
• The number of players per team that are on the field during the game is an important way for defining play format.  7v7 means that each team has 7 players on the field during the game - this includes the goalie.  Here are the play formats by age grouping:
  • U7 and younger are not allowed to play in our official starting league, ran by Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association (MVYSA)
  • U8 is the earliest that players are allowed to compete in a MVYSA league, but they generally have to play up in a U9 division
  • U9 & U10 play 7v7, these are the youngest age groups with full divisions and participation
  • U11 & U12 play 9v9, at this age group, a few teams will begin considering moving to the Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League (BPYSL)
  • U13-U15 play 11v11 in the Fall and Spring, more teams begin considering BPYSL at this age
  • U16-U19 play 11v11 in the Spring only (these are considered High School age teams and neither MVYSA nor BPYSL have leagues in the Fall for these age groups - players usually play on their High School Soccer team in the Fall).  Most teams play in BPYSL at this point

How much does it cost to play Club Soccer?

• This can vary widely depending on the club.  At BUSC, we work hard to keep our fees reasonable and at a minimum - we are run by and coached by all volunteers.  Teams have sessions with paid club trainers.  You can find more detailed information on our fees here: https://www.butlerunitedsoccer.com/club-info/club-fees  Teams that are more active, will collect more team fees, this allows us to keep club fees lower since some teams are less active.  Generally, most of our players pay about $500 a year, plus uniforms (a full uniform kit is about $100 and is not required every year).  Players playing only one season pay less.

Is my player really ready for Club Soccer?

• At the U8, U9, and even U10 age groups, most of the players trying out are coming out of the same rec or SAY leagues that your player is coming from.  If your player loves the game, has demonstrated an understanding and basic aptitude for the game, and you want a little more structure and development, then you should strongly consider Club Soccer.  Club Soccer is not only for the super stars of rec/SAY - at these young ages, there is no way to know how the players will develop and how they will end up playing down the road.  In the early years of Club Soccer, the biggest difference from rec/SAY is that there is more consistent coaching/training and teams stick together, growing as a group season over season. 
• Tryouts should be a fun experience and not too stressful for our young players, it should feel like a practice or scrimmage that your player would enjoy.

When do the Fall and Spring seasons start and finish?

• Practices usually start in July for the Fall season, which concludes around the end of October and then Spring season practices start in March and concludes around the end of May..

How often will the team practice?

• Young teams usually practice twice a week, sometimes three. These are held in the evenings during the week and sometimes Saturday mornings. Again, this depends on the coach and team.
• Once games start, generally there are fewer practices to make room for games in the weekly schedule.

Where are practices and games held?

• Practices are usually at Helke park and home games are played at the Vandalia Sports Complex (VSC). Sometimes teams will have practices at the VSC. We use Dayton Sports Complex for winter training. Not all teams have winter training and those that do are at most once a week.
• Teams in MVYSA (U9-U15) play 4 home games and 4 away games each season.  Away games can be as far as Piqua to the North, Springfield/Xenia to the East, Springboro to the South, and Eaton to the West.
• Teams in BPYSL (U12-U19) play 6-8 games at various locations (no true Home and Away) each season.  These games could be played in Dayton, Columbus, or Cincinnati.  Most games are within 90 minutes.  Games over 45 minutes away should only be played on weekends.  Generally speaking, teams often travel no further than 45-60 minutes away (Lebanon/Middletown/Western Columbus) a few times a season and almost never have more than 1 game over an hour away per season (often no games over an hour away).

What about tournaments?

• Soccer tournaments are a series of games over a single weekend.  They are not tied to or associated with League play in any way.  Generally, a team will play 2 games on Saturday and another on Sunday morning.  Depending on how those games go, the team could qualify for the championship game on Sunday afternoon (YAY!).   Usually teams will play against teams from different leagues, cities, or even countries.  Tournaments are a great time for team bonding and spend a weekend focused on the team.
• Young teams might play in only one tournament per season, if teams choose to play in more than one tournament, coaches will have to collect extra Team Fees to pay for those.  As teams get older they might begin to participate in more tournaments, but even our oldest and most active teams rarely participate in more than 3 tournaments in a season.
• We are extremely fortunate to have a bunch of quality facilities and tournaments held within about an hour travel.  Most of these tournaments draw teams from across the state and even further away.  Because of these options, especially for our young teams, teams can find great competition here locally without needing to go somewhere that requires overnight stays.  Again, as teams get older and more active, they may begin considering traveling to tournaments that require overnight stays.  In general BUSC teams do not participate in tournaments that require air travel.  So, you can expect not to have to leave town for a tournament until your player is older and the team is a bit further along. 

Are there winter activities with the soccer team?

• This will be highly dependent on the team and coach (ask them about their plans at tryouts!).  Some teams might practice/train a little over the winter and/or participate in optional indoor soccer leagues. These will be determined by the coach and the interest/availability of the players.

* Here is a specific example: Age Appropriate U10s are players trying out for the next Soccer Year (Fall and then Spring seasons) that will be younger than 10 until at least the next January 1st (between the Fall & Spring seasons).  If a U10 player was to have a birthday on 2 January when they turned 10, they would still be considered U10 in following Spring season since it is still part of the same Soccer Year.

• All players trying out age appropriate for U10 would be 8 or 9 at the time of May/June tryouts. 
• As of December 31st, between the Fall and Spring season of a U10 team, every player on the team would be 9 or younger.
• During the spring season, age appropriate players on a U10 team could turn 10.