Cal North Founders’ Cup is a cup competition created specifically for Cal North Recreational-level teams. The Founders’ Cup tournament operates in a format similar to the Cal North Cups that are established for the Competitive-level teams (State Cup, Presidents Cup and Association Cup). All eligible Cal North Recreational teams may apply to and participate in this tournament. The Cal North Founders’ Cup hosts brackets in the U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19 age groups.
Who is eligible to attend the Cal North Founders’ Cup?
Any Cal North registered Recreational U9 through U19 team that competes in a recreational playing league hosted by a Cal North member league or a Cal North District is eligible to apply Founders’ Cup is open for Recreational teams and players ONLY. Teams and/or players that participated in Competitive playing leagues and/or tournaments are not eligible for Founders’ Cup. Players who were rostered on a Competitive-level team during the season are NOT eligible to participate on a Founder’s Cup team. Each team must have its roster approved by its District Registrar in order to complete their application to Founders’ Cup. The team must have an approved official Cal North roster and approved US Youth Soccer member passes with the Medical and Liability release on the reverse side of the member pass completed and signed as required.
When does the Cal North Founders’ Cup take place?
The U10 Founders’ Cup takes place in December over the course of two weekends as part of the Cal North Junior Cup Festival. The U12 and 14 Founders’ Cup takes place simultaneously over two weekends in December at a venue separate from the Junior Cup Festival. The U16-19 age groups begin play in late February and conclude cup play in early March. The dates can be found in the Calendar on the Cal North website.
What is the format of the Cal North Founders’ Cup?
Teams are placed into brackets by modified blind draw. During the preliminary round play on the first weekend of cup, teams will play round-robin against the other teams in the bracket. On the round-robin weekend teams will have one or two games on Saturday and one or two games on Sunday. Teams qualify to advance to the single elimination rounds either as bracket winners or as a second place team from a bracket with a designated "wild card". Teams advancing to the single elimination rounds will play "knock out" games where the winning teams advance to the following round of play and the losing team is eliminated from the competition. The winning team will continue to advance from each single elimination match. Quarter finals, semifinals and championships are scheduled over the course of the subsequent weekend of the competition. The scheduling of the single elimination round games will be based on the number of brackets. The U10 and teams play 8 v 8 games with all games taking place over a two-weekend time frame. The U12 and older age groups play 11 v 11 matches and will play over a two weekend period. In the event of weather-related field cancellations, the games may be postponed to alternate weekends or sometimes relocated to venues where the conditions allow play to continue.
Where are the games held?
The Cal North Founders’ Cup tournament is an Northern California-wide event and therefore games can be scheduled in any of the nine Districts within Cal North’s territorial area (see the map of Cal North territory on the Cal North website) and teams must be prepared to travel anywhere within this area, however in the spirit of promoting recreational soccer, Cal North makes every attempt to schedule the Founders’ Cup events at centrally located venues. Current plans have the U10s assigned to Cherry Island Soccer Complex just outside of Sacramento. The Mistlin Sports Park in Ripon CA is designated for the U12-U14 teams. Plans for the U16-U19 are to play preliminary round games at Cherry Island (please note that Cherry Island will be closed and unavailable for this event. We are working hard to arrange a suitable alternative, and will notify all participants once a decision has been made) and single elimination round games at Bartholomew Sports Park in Elk Grove however weather and other factor can lead to a change in plans.
What cost is associated with the Cal North Founders Cup Tournament?
The Founders’ Cup entry fee is $450. The entry fee covers the costs of facility rental, field preparation, referees, support staff, awards, and other associated costs. Any cup-related costs incurred by the team for transportation, lodging, food, etc. are the responsibility of the team members.
What are the dates/deadlines associated with attending Founders’ Cup?
The Founders’ Cup entry fee is $450 for timely applications received from Cal North member teams. The cost for the open division in U10 Junior Cup Festival is $500. The entry fee covers the costs of facility rental, field preparation, referees, support staff, awards, and other associated costs. Any cup-related costs incurred by the team for transportation, lodging, food, etc. are the responsibility of the team members.
The application deadline for U10-U14 Founders’ Cup is November 1st at 5:00 PM. The application deadline for U16-U19 Founders’ Cup is January 2nd at 5 PM. Any applications completed after the deadline will be diverted to the Reserve Pool and will be placed in the Cup on a space available basis. Reserve Pool applicants are not guaranteed a spot in the competition.
What is the deadline for submitting a roster to Cal North?
Along with their initial Founders’ Cup application teams must submit an official Cal North team roster that has been authorized by their District Registrar. The district-authorized roster and completed cup entry must be received in the Cal North Office no later than 5 PM on November 1st for the U10-U14 age groups and no later than 5 PM on January 2nd for the U16-U19 age groups. If the team roster has a message at the bottom indicating the team is not approved for travel or that there is a player whose birth date has not been confirmed or there is a player without an eligibility date, the message must be cleared by the District Registrar in order to validate the roster. Draft rosters are not acceptable. If the team does not already have a roster that has been authorized by the District Registrar they should email their league registrar or District Registrar well in advance for the specific timelines and deadlines that must be met in order to obtain an approved roster by the November 1st deadline for the U10-U14 Founders’ Cup application deadline and the January 2nd U16-U19 Founders’ Cup application deadline. This will give the registrars adequate time to complete the process for approving and issuing team credentials.
Can I make changes to my roster before attending Founders’ Cup?
Teams can continue to make roster changes after they apply to a Cal North Cup. The team roster "freezes" on the Tuesday prior to the cup’s scheduled start date but all changes must be submitted by the league to the District Registrar on the Friday prior to the roster being frozen. During the season Cal North allows up to 5 inter league transfers per team (players moving from one league’s roster to another league’s roster), an unlimited number of intra league transfers (players moving from one roster to another within the same league and considered to be a "club pass") and an unlimited number of added players (players not on a Cal North roster this season. Although there is no freeze date for adding or deleting registered team officials (coaches, assistant coaches, managers, etc.) all player movement on and off the roster will stop on the freeze date. Throughout all roster changes, a team must retain a core of 9 players from their league roster to the Cup roster. U10-U12 teams may have a maximum of 18 rostered players. U14 and older teams may roster no more than 22 players. Teams should contact their league registrars for guidance regarding roster changes and/or the timeline for submitting roster changes to the league and district prior to the roster freeze deadline.
Will my team have a realistic chance of being competitive in Cal North Founders’ Cup?
Because of the definition of how recreational teams are formed, a Recreational team’s chance of being competitive may improve as the season progresses. There are many intangible and variable factors that contribute to the success of each team. Teams in Founders’ Cup will compete against other Recreational recreational teams from throughout Northern California. The random draw for placing teams in brackets is modified so that teams play against teams from districts other than their own (except in the case where there are more teams from one district than there are brackets, in which case two teams from that district may be in a bracket). Players and coaches will have the opportunity to experience competition against many recreational teams, with many different styles of play. This is an opportunity to test the players’ skills against opposing teams that they are playing, very often for the first time ever. It is an opportunity for teams to observe and learn from other players/teams, to enhance their development, and to measure their own skills against other recreational teams from across the state. As teams seek to be the one team to win the championship in their age group in this challenging and fun-filled format, players and families can see first-hand their progress. For many teams the Founders’ Cup is the culmination of their season. All teams have a shot at winning this title. Recreational teams often discover that their play will intensify in the tournament format and the cup atmosphere.
Interested in Participating?
If your team is interested in applying to Cal North Founders’ Cup first confirm that you have enough players who are committed to participate on all of the dates that are noted on the Founders’ Cup calendar. If not, you may want to consider transferring or adding players to supplement the roster. Keep in mind you will not be able to make roster changes after the freeze date and that Founders’ Cup rules dictate that a minimum of nine (9) players from the team’s roster from league play must carry over to the Founders’ Cup roster. U14 and older teams are allowed to roster up to 22 players however prior to each game the team will be required to designate no more than 18 players for the game roster. Also make sure to discuss with the team how they will obtain funding for the entry fee (sponsorship? team members’ contributions? club or league assistance? fund raiser? etc.)
Use your District Founders’ Cup Representative and your League and District Registrars as a source of information to ensure your questions are answered and the Founders’ Cup deadlines are met.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR TEAM’S PARTICIPATION IN CAL NORTH FOUNDERS’ CUP!!!!