North Junior Cup Festival is cup competition that was created to incorporate the three distinct levels of play for the younger age groups. In 2012/2012 the Jr Cup Festival will feature U10 Founders’ Cup, U9-U11 Association Cup and U9-U11 State Cup. Each of the three cups will offer a division for Cal North member teams and separate "open" divisions for the teams that are members of other USSF affiliates. Once the Cal North and Open division winners are decided a final match will take place between the division winners to determine the overall champion. U10 Founders’ Cup is offered for Recreational teams only. Association Cup, the intermediate level cup, is for entry-to-mid level Competitive teams, and State Cup is the highest level of cup offered and although it is open to all levels of teams, we recommend upper-to-high level Competitive teams enter the State Cup. Additional details about each of the cups can be located in the Cup section of the Cal North website.
Who is eligible to participate in the Cal North Jr Cup Festival?
Eligible U9-U11 teams may apply. To apply for the Cal North Division of any of the Cups, the team must be a Cal North member team that competes in a playing league hosted by a Cal North affiliated league or a Cal North District. To apply for the Open Division the team must be a member of another USSF affiliated organization. Founders’ Cup is open ONLY to teams and players that participated in a playing league for Recreational teams. Association Cup is open ONLY to teams and players that participated in a playing league for Silver Elite, Silver, Bronze, Copper or Recreational teams. State Cup is open to all teams but recommended for teams that participated in a playing league for Silver Elite, Gold or Premier teams. Each Cal North team must have a team roster that has been approved by its District Registrar and each Open Division team must have a team roster that has been approved in accordance with its governing organization in order to complete their application to any of the Cal North Cups. The roster requirement also applies to teams that will participate in a 2013 Cal North winter or spring playing league to meet their playing league requirement for cup.
When does the Cal North Jr Cup Festival take place?
The U9, U10 and U11 Jr Cup Festival takes place over the course of two weekends in December. Games will begin on the weekend of December 8-9 and conclude on the weekend of December 15-16. The dates can be found in the Calendar on the Cal North website. **The Championship match between the Cal North and Open Division winners will be scheduled in January 2013 if the game schedule does not permit completion in December
What is the format of the Cal North Jr Cup Festival?
Teams are placed into brackets within their respective Cups and Divisions 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 their 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 two weekends of the competition. The scheduling of the single elimination round games will be based on the number of brackets. Should the schedule not permit the scheduling of the Championship match between the Open Division and Cal North Division winners, it will be scheduled in January 2013. Games are played in the 8 v 8 format using the modified rules indicated in Section XIV of the Cal North Junior Cup Festival Directives. In the event of weather-related field cancellations, the games may be postponed to alternate weekends and/or relocated to venues where the conditions allow play to continue.
Where are the games held?
Currently the U9-U11 Junior Cup Festival has been scheduled at Cherry Island Soccer Complex just outside of Sacramento. Additional locations may be required based on the number of applications received.
What cost is associated with the Cal North Jr Cup Festival?
For Cal North member teams the entry fees are $450 for Founders’ Cup, $550 for Association Cup and $625 for State Cup. The cost for non-member teams is $50 higher ($500 Founders’ Cup, $600 Association Cup, $675 State Cup). 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 Jr Cup Festival?
In order to be accepted for the U9-U11 Cups teams must complete an application which includes three components: (1) event registration (online entry which can be accessed on the Cal North website’s Cup application pages); (2) the entry fees (can be paid online with a credit card during the application process or sent via check/money order and (3) a copy of their authorized roster (scanned & emailed if paying online or by hard copy if paying by check)
The application deadline is November 1st at 5:00 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?
The official team roster must be submitted by 11/1/12. Teams that will be playing in CCSL 2013 Spring League or other official, recognized Cal North 2013 spring league to fulfill their playing league requirement for the Cal North Division of the cups also must have a valid Cal North team roster authorized by their District Registrar and submitted as part of their Cup application by the application deadline. If the team does not already have a roster that has been approved by the district they should email their league registrar or District Registrar for specific timelines and deadlines that must be met in order to obtain an approved roster by the November 1st Cup application deadline.
Can I make changes to my roster before attending Cal North Jr Cup Festival?
Teams can continue to make roster changes after they apply to a Cal North Cup. Teams may have a maximum of 18 rostered players. Teams should contact their league or organization registrars for guidance regarding roster changes and/or the timeline for submitting roster changes to the league and district or governing organization prior to the attending cup.
Interested in Participating?
If your team is planning to apply for Cal North Jr Cup Festival first confirm that you have enough players who are committed to participate on the weekends that are noted on the Cup calendar. If not, you may want to consider transferring or adding players to supplement the roster.
Use your District Cup Representative and your League and District Registrars as a source of information to ensure your questions are answered and the Cup deadlines are met.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR TEAM’S PARTICIPATION IN CAL NORTH JR CUP FESTIVAL!!!!