One of the six principles of AYSO is: Balanced Teams. This means that the Region, to the best of its ability, will form teams that are equal in ability.

Please keep in mind that all requests are considered. Yet, at no time can we promise or provide a guarantee your request will be fulfilled. And, our inability to fulfill your request is not sufficient reason for a refund request.

Playground (4U), Schoolyard (5U), and the Core 6U division

We allow for requests and focus on creating teams based on players living in the same neighborhood as much as possible.

Core 8U division

We usually have a good idea if the teams are not balanced by the time players reach the 8U division. Furthermore, the need for volunteers increases in the U8. Thus, team formation is based primarily on making sure each team has at least one head coach volunteer and one active referee volunteer before considering requests and neighborhood teams.

Core 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions

The following guidelines are used wherever possible for creating balanced teams in the 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions:

• Player skill ratings are compiled on every player from either the previous year's coach, from the division commissioner (if returning from the previous year), or by attending at least one of the offered evaluation sessions scheduled in June and/or July. All players new to the Region who do not attend at least one of the evaluation sessions may be required to attend a practice or make-up evaluation session to be evaluated. All players need to have a skill rating.
• Players are assigned to teams by the division commissioner or the Team Balancing Coordinator based on a best effort balance of players’ skill ratings and players in each age grouping. Using 10U as an example with 9 players per team and 72 registered players – 32 of which are 9U players and 40 are 10U players (based on birth year). Each team will have 4 9U players and 5 10U players. And, to the best of our ability, we will balance the 9U players’ skill ratings across the 8 teams before balancing the 10U players’ skill ratings across the 8 teams.
• Team formation begins after we identify a head coach for each team.
• Our goal is to place all kids who register before the deadline on a team. Yet, as an all-volunteer operated organization, we might not be able to get enough volunteers to coach each team. To ensure the high quality of our program, we reserve the right to accept or deny individuals who have expressed an interest in being a coach. If we have more players registered than available coaches, then we accept players based on registration date. Registered players not placed on a team will be placed on a wait list and assigned to a team if someone else drops or if another coach volunteer steps up [see the wait list guidelines below].
• Each head coach volunteer is assigned to a team that includes his/her child (and/or any other siblings unless otherwise requested).
• The Division Commissioner prints each team roster, puts each into an envelope, and conducts a blind draw of rosters at the division coach meeting. The division commissioner chooses last if he/she is also a head coach.
• The only players moved between rosters after the blind draw are the coach’s child (and siblings). These players swaps shall be conducted in such a way where balance is maintained to the best of our ability.
• Final decisions on balancing will be decided by the Team Formation Coordinator (Board Member) and his/her decision is final and not subject to appeal.