Table of Contents
USYS National League Semifinals (February/May)
Operating Procedures
Subject to change as of January 30, 2025
These Operating Procedures shall be an extension of the NL National Tier Rules and may not supersede such rules. When National League Rules are referenced or summarized in these Operating Procedures, they are meant to mirror the NL National Tier Rules in every respect. These Operating Procedures are specific to the USYS National League Semifinals (Feb/May) events.
SECTION 1. REGISTRATION & FEES
1.01 Registration System / Application Process
GotSport shall be the official team registration system of the NL Semifinals (Feb/May). Any eligible team must register their team into the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) using GotSport. No registration will be received or accepted in any other system.
Eligible teams must have a GotSport account in order to register into the NL Semifinals (Feb/May). Team accounts must have accurate information regarding the coach and manager.
1.02 Fees and Other Expenses
For teams that qualified for the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) through the December NL Quarterfinal event the Team Entry Fee to participate in the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) was included in the initial December NL Quarterfinal fee.
For teams that qualified for the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) through the Jan/Feb NL Quarterfinal events, the Team Entry Fee to participate in the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) is $1,000 per team (paid to US Youth Soccer) and is non-refundable if a team is accepted into the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) and later drops out.
SECTION 2. STRUCTURE AND QUALIFICATION
2.01 Structure
The 2024-25 NL Semifinals (Feb/May) will include the following Boys and Girls age groups:
- 14 and Under (14U) – for players born on January 1, 2011 or later
- 15 and Under (15U) – for players born on January 1, 2010 or later
- 16 and Under (16U) – for players born on January 1, 2009 or later
- 17 and Under (17U) – for players born on January 1, 2008 or later
- 19 and Under (19U) – for players born on January 1, 2006 or later
The NL Semifinals (Feb/May) include up to forty-eight (48) teams in each 14U-19U gender age group. Each NL Semifinals event will include half of the qualified teams (up to 24 teams in each event). Each team will be scheduled to play up to four (4) games in the event. Structure and bracketing will be determined by the National League Management Group.
2.02 Qualification
Each season, the qualification criteria into the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) will be outlined on the National League website.
SECTION 3. TEAM ROSTERS
3.01 Team Rosters
The official NL Semifinals (Feb/May) event roster shall be in GotSport. Teams are responsible for ensuring that their event roster is accurate and updated ahead of the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) event weekend. Each NL Semifinals (Feb/May) roster must maintain a nine (9) player continuity with the team’s 2024-25 National League Conference/Elite 64/Elite 64 RL roster.
NL Semifinals (Feb/May) teams may add Club Pass players to their event roster in GotSport. Any club pass player should be added to the event roster no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the team’s event weekend in which the club pass players will participate. Any player, once added to a team’s event roster, cannot be removed from their event roster until the completion of the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) events.
SECTION 4. MATCHES
4.01 Match Result
Games played in bracket format at the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) must identify a winner. Any game that must identify a winner but ends in a tie (at the end of regulation time) shall proceed directly to Kicks from the Mark to determine the winner (no overtime periods). Kicks from the Mark will be governed by the IFAB Laws of the Game. Any of eighteen (18) eligible players listed for that game are eligible to kick and do not need to be on the field at the end of regulation time.
Games played in a round-robin format at the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) may end in a tie. Group standings will be determined by use of tiebreakers as described in the NL National Tier Rules Section 9.
SECTION 5. USYS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFICATION
5.01 Advancement to USYS National Championships (July)
The NL Semifinals (Feb/May) will qualify teams into the USYS National Championships in each gender age group according to the below criteria.
Teams that qualified for the NL Semifinals (Feb/May) event through their respective NL Quarterfinal event shall be placed into an appropriate NL Semifinals (Feb/May) bracket/pool (Champions, Silver, Wildcard) based on their performance from their NL Quarterfinal event. Each bracket/pool will include a qualification pathway to the USYS National Championships.
At a NL Semifinal event that includes 20-24 teams in each gender age group, the bracket/pools and the number of USYS National Championships qualification per bracket/pool will be as follows:
- Champions Pool: Includes the highest ranked qualified teams from each NL Quarterfinal event and retains the highest volume (4) of qualification slots into the USYS National Championships.
- Silver Pool: Includes the middle-ranked qualified teams from each NL Quarterfinal event and retains one (1) qualification slot into the USYS National Championships.
- Wildcard Pool: Includes the lowest ranked qualified teams from each NL Quarterfinal event and retains one (1) qualification slot into the USYS National Championships.
At a NL Semifinal event that includes 16 teams in each gender age group, the bracket/pools and the number of USYS National Championships qualification per bracket/pool will be as follows:
- Champions Pool: Includes the highest ranked qualified teams from each NL Quarterfinal event and retains the highest volume (4) of qualification slots into the USYS National Championships.
- Wildcard Pool: Includes the lower ranked qualified teams from each NL Quarterfinal event and retains two (2) qualification slots into the USYS National Championship.
Supplemental documentation will be published on the NL Semifinals event webpage that outlines the bracket/pool placement, format and USYS National Championships qualification for each age group.