Important Draft Information

1. All potential Select players (including coaches’ children) must participate in the Select tryouts to be eligible for the Select draft for ages U9-U19. All Select coaches in each age group, the Select Directors, as well as the President or Vice President of the Mustang BOD (in the case of age related, "play-up" requests) must approve any exceptions.

2. Minimum number of players: All U9-U10 teams must draft at least 11 players. All U11-U12 teams must draft at least 13 players and all U13-U16 teams must draft at least 15 players. It is recommended that U16 and older teams draft 17 or 18 players.

3. Addition of players after the draft is completed (move-in and late players): If any drafted player is permanently lost (through move-out or season-ending injury and removed from the US Club roster) prior to the formation of Recreational teams in July, resulting in the team falling below the minimum number of players, he or she shall be replaced within 14 days by a player who participated in tryouts or a new player selected under criteria A or B below:

• A) A team, which has permanently lost (through move-out or season-ending injury and removed from US Club roster) two or more of its players and has not replaced those players, will have first option on a new player.
• B) A team which has permanently lost (through move-out or season-ending injury and removed from US Club roster) a player selected in rounds 1 through 3 of the draft will have the next priority in adding the new player.
• C) If the new player is not selected under A or B and at least 50% of the coaches in the age group and the Directors agree that the new player should be eligible to play in Select, the teams will draw lots to determine which team will receive the new player.  The winning team will be excluded from future draws.
• D) If more than one team qualified under A or B, the team losing the highest cumulative draft pick players will have priority. The Select Directors will rule on any disputes regarding this matter. Team rosters cannot exceed 12 players for U9-U10, 14 players for U11-U12, 18 players for U13-U19.

4.  Player trades between divisions may occur (Elite to Select or Recreational to Select) but may not be discussed with player or parents until both coaches have approved the trade.  All traded players must have participated in Select tryouts.  Trades between Select teams can only be done the night of the draft unless approved by the Select Directors.

5.  Assistant coaches must be selected prior to the Select tryouts or within 7 days of a coach’s notification of appointment, whichever comes later. Only one official assistant per team will be recognized as eligible to attend the draft and have their child placed in the draft list.

6.  No more than two representatives, one of which must be the coach or assistant coach per team will be allowed to attend the draft. Competitive Elite coaches may attend the draft but cannot assist any coach.

7.  Prior to slotting protected players in the draft, the Select coach’s and assistant coach’s children will be placed based on their ranking in one of the rounds of the draft. Any relative of the coach or assistant coach may be counted as his or her child. 

Rankings: Players are to be ranked A, B, or C by mutual agreement of the coaches or by a neutral party if the coaches cannot agree. 

U9-U10 A players are strong players, the best in the Division and are placed in the 3rd round of the draft. B players are average players and are placed in the 7th (U9-U10: 7th round) round. C players are weak for the Division and are placed in the 10th (U9-U10: 10th round) round.

U11-U12 A players are strong players, the best in the Division and are placed in the 3rd round of the draft. B players are average players and are placed in the 8th (U11-U12: 8th round) round. C players are weak for the Division and are placed in the 12th (U11-U12: 12th round) round.

U13-U19 A players are strong players, the best in the Division and are placed in the 3rd round of the draft. B players are average players and are placed in the 8th (U13-U19: 7th round) round. C players are weak for the Division and are placed in the 13th (U13-U19: 13th round) round.

8.  When brothers or sisters are in the same age group, they must be ranked. The coach drafting the first one has the option at that time to take the other in their respective ranked round. If the option is not exercised, the brother or sister of the drafted player will be treated as any other player and not automatically go to the same team. Exception: Parents may require that siblings play on the same team.

9.  The starting position of the draft will be based on a draw of numbers by coaches.

10. Prior to the draft, no one is allowed to contact the players or parents to ask questions. One coach in each age group may be designated to contact the parents of returning Elite or Select players and top rated Recreational players who have not signed up for tryouts to invite those players to try out. Coaches may contact players they have coached the prior year but only to encourage those players to attend tryouts.

11. Select coaches may run an additional tryout (callback). They will agree on a callback date and make the necessary arrangements with the Select Directors and Competitive Registrar.

12. In even numbered age groups, (U10, U12, U14, U16) the returning Select coaches within each age group may protect up to 2/3 players of the players (rounded to the nearest whole number) from their previous year’s roster (which shall include their own and assistant coach’s child). They may protect less than 2/3. A protected player must have played for the team in the immediate prior year (this excludes the children of the coach and 1 assistant) during the regular season (prior to State Cup). There are no exceptions.

All players that are protected on the team must be ranked in order by the coach. This ranking of players must be submitted to the Board/Select Committee member proctoring the draft prior to the start of the draft.  Each team’s first protected player will be slotted in the place of that team’s first round choice. The second player will be slotted in the place of that team’s second round choice, and so forth.

A coach may protect players lost to Mustang Elite teams (not Select). In the case of a loss of a protected player(s) due to selection to Mustang Elite, the team losing the player(s) will receive a draft selection in the round where the lost player was slotted according to the coach’s rankings mentioned above. Players lost to other club’s Elite teams may not be protected and are not compensated for.

In odd-numbered years, the coach’s child and the child of one assistant coach shall be evaluated and placed on that team in the appropriate draft position (A player, B player, C player).

Select Coaches are prohibited from discussing the list of protected players, order of the draft, and player rankings with the players, families, coaches, or anyone else.

13.  In the event that a coach does not return, a newly selected and approved coach may protect the players of the previous team as in Rule 12. In the event that two previous year’s coaches join to coach a single team in the following year, only the head coach will have the right to protect returning players.  If a coach and assistant from the same prior year team split up and each become a head coach in the same age group, only the head coach from the prior year’s team will have the right to protect returning players. To clarify, the new coach can protect players from the team that participated in the previous season and that teams coach did not return.  For example if there are two Select teams in a season and at the end of that season, one Select coach leaves, the newly selected coach can protect players from that previous season's team in an effort to keep equity in the teams.  ***Note that this only applies to coaches that are coming in new to a protected player year as outlined in rule 12.

14. Official practice for Select teams may not begin until the Monday after the July 4th holiday week. Teams may meet and practice before this date, but such practices would be considered optional. Teams will be assigned a week of team soccer camp during the month of July or early August.

15. Required charges for program fees, tournament fees, camps and training may not exceed approximately $700 per player. This does not include fees paid voluntarily for hotel rooms, team meals, parties, travel, and entertainment. Each Select team shall designate a treasurer other than the coach or asst. coach and submit a budget to the Select Directors if requested.

16. Violation of these guidelines may result in the coach being removed from Select and forfeiture of games.

17. In the U15 and above age groups, if sufficient talent exists to form more than one team, the two teams may be formed sequentially (A/B). Exercise of this rule may be made with the approval of the Mustang Board of Directors.

The number of Select teams fielded in each age group will be determined by the Competitive Committee (made up of the Directors of Boys and Girls Coaching, Competitive Age Group Directors and the Competitive Directors from the Mustang Board) after assessing the number of players at tryouts. This Committee may also use a Qualified Player assessment process to help aid this decision.

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Useful Materials

• 2’ x 3’ or larger poster board or pad or chalk board divided into grids.
• Marking pens or chalk
• Blank forms for filling in players’ names (and tournaments drafted, if done at the same meeting)

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Pre-Draft Procedures

1. Confirm data from Select Tryout Registration lists as well as check-in sheets (especially walk-ons / write-ins) for accuracy. Verify through Mustang office or Competitive Director, if uncertain.

• Verify and confirm external players for address and contact info. Know the number allowed for your age group.
• Birth dates of players must match the age group range. If variance, contact Mustang office or Competitive Director for instruction.

2. Spread each pair of coach/assistant coach around to a different part of the room.

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Slotting Procedures

1. Coach and assistant coaches’ children are entered on the grid in their rated rounds.

The procedure for placing the coaches’ children in the draft is as follows:

The players are rated A, B, or C. 

• An "A" player is one of the best players in Select.
• A "B" player is an average Select player.
• A "C" player is one that is a developmental Select player.

Coaches’ children are then placed as follows:

• For U9-U10 (teams w/ 11 players) A=3rd  B=7th  C=10th
• For U11 and U12 (teams w/ 13 players)  A=3rd  B=8th  C=12th
• For U13 and up (teams with 15+ players) A=3rd B=8th C=13th 

If both coaches’ children are A players, then one would go in the 3rd round, the other in the 4th round (also with two B or C players). Note: Same process applies to siblings that are ranked at the same level.

2. In the event of a "Protection" year (see note below), coaches shall submit a written list of protected players, in order, to the draft official.

• Note:  Even year teams (U10, U12, U14 & U16) are allowed to protect 2/3 (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the previous year’s roster.
• Note:  Coaches’ children, having already been rated and slotted above, per step 3, are included in the 2/3 allowance for protection.           

3. The protected players’ names are entered on the grid in order, starting with the highest available slot. For all teams, this is the first round.

• Note: Any protected player who has been drafted by Mustang Elite teams has that slot returned to the coach for another selection during the draft. The Elite player’s slot is considered to be "protected" and therefore counts toward the maximum allowed for protection.

4. Clarify sibling status (both on same team or not).  

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Draft Procedures

1. All U9-U10 teams must draft at least 11 players. All U11-U12 teams must draft at least 13 players. U13 -U19 teams must draft at least 15 players. It is recommended that U16 and older teams draft 17 or 18 players.

2. Comments on players by coaches are not allowed during the draft, unless solicited by another coach.

3. Trading of players or draft slots are allowed at any time, up until the first coaches or draft official leave the draft site.

4. Substitution of a player not drafted for a drafted player or removal of a drafted player are allowed, up until the first coaches or draft official leave the draft site.

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Expansion Franchise

• It is possible that due to high player turnout that there are sufficient players to merit an additional Competitive Select (Level III) Team.  
• If a new Level III team is added during a non-protection year, the team formation process is unchanged and the slotting procedures from section 3 should be followed for all teams including the expansion franchise.
• If a new Level III team is added during a protection year, then the existing teams will follow the protection procedures from section 4 and section 5 while the expansion team will follow the non-protection slotting procedures from section 3.

Example:

Team A protects 8 players, none went to Elite

Team B protects 8 players, 2 moved to Elite

Team C is an expansion franchise with one player rated ‘A’ and one player rated ‘B’

 

Team A will not pick until the 9^th round

Team B will have a 1^st and 2^nd round pick as compensation for the players they lost to Elite (assuming they were rated highest) and then not pick again until round 9.

Team C will have one player slotted in the 3^rd position and one player slotted in the 8^thposition.  

 

Round 1: Team B, Team C

Round 2: Team C, Team B

Round 3: None

Round 4: Team C

Round 5: Team C

Round 6: Team C

Round 7: Team C

Round 8: None

Round 9: Team A, Team B, Team C

Round 10: Team C, Team B, Team A

Etc.

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Post-Draft Procedures

1. All non-drafted players must be divided among the coaches to have live, phone notification informing them that they have not been drafted and that they will be placed on a white division or white plus team, depending on their registration.

2.  All non-drafted players should be called within 72 hours. You must keep trying to contact the parents. Leaving phone messages requesting a return call is acceptable.

3. For non drafted players, the coach must talk to a parent of the player, not to the players themselves. Teams may not be announced until ALL of the non-drafted players for the age group have been contacted.

4. Coaches who lose a player before the formation of Recreational teams shall replace that player with a player who has participated in tryouts, in order to maintain the minimum number of players for that team.

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Serpentine Draft Examples of 2-, 3- and 4-teams

  2 Team Draft

Round	Team A	Team B
1	1	2
2	4	3
3	5	6
4	8	7
5	9	10
6	12	11
7	13	14
8	16	15
9	17	18
10	20	19
11	21	22
12	24	23
13	25	26
14	28	27
15	29	30
16	32	31

3 Team Draft

Round	Team A	Team B	Team C
1	1	2	3
2	6	5	4
3	7	8	9
4	12	11	10
5	13	14	15
6	18	17	16
7	19	20	21
8	24	23	22
9	25	26	27
10	30	29	28
11	31	32	33
12	36	35	34
13	37	38	39
14	42	41	40
15	43	44	45
16	48	47	46

      4 Team Draft

Round	Team A	Team B	Team C	Team D
1	1	2	3	4
2	8	7	6	5
3	9	10	11	12
4	16	15	14	13
5	17	18	19	20
6	24	23	22	21
7	25	26	27	28
8	32	31	30	29
9	33	34	35	36
10	40	39	38	37
11	41	42	43	44
12	48	47	46	45
13	49	50	51	52
14	56	55	54	53
15	57	58	59	60
16	64	63	62	61

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Mustang Soccer League Suggested Select Tryout Curriculum  

1. Warm-up with or without a ball       5 minutes
2. Stretch                                           10 minutes
3. 1v1 playing                                     20 minutes

Set up two goals about 10 yards apart.  One player plays a ball across the player on the opposite side.  The players then play 1v1 until the ball goes out or one player scores.  It is important that players use dribbling skills and do not just shoot the ball as this is designed to truly show us a players 1v1 ability.

4.  2v2 playing                                                  20 minutes

Same as above except that players now come out two at a time.  This is to show 1v1 ability and passing ability.  Players should not just shoot the ball.

5. 6v6  games                                                  30 minutes

Players play a 6v6 game with full size goal.  This allows coaches to begin to see players ability on the bigger field.

    6.  Have the players run three 50 yard sprints together to take a look at overall speed.

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At all callbacks, players will be asked to participate in a number of small sided games (including the 6 v 6 game if not able to be completed during the initial tryout). These games are at the coaches discretion as coaches will determine what parts of the game they need to see.  If coaches would like a list of these games, please email Fred Wilson at fredwilson@mustangsoccer.com in order to be given these games and the purpose of each.