Agenda

Region IV Planning Meeting Thursday, October 13, 2016 – Sunday, October 16, 2016 San Diego, California Registration and Information Desk – Cal South Conference Center Corridor Thursday 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Daily from 7:30 a.m. Thursday, October 13th US Soccer Region IV Coaching Education Workshop Schedule 1:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meeting room: Las Palmas

Classroom Session

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Field Session

Friday, October 14th 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Location: Pavilion

Continental Breakfast - All Attendees Presented by Sports Logic Council Agenda Meeting room: St. Tropez/Monte Carlo

9:15 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Welcome

9:20 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Reports Region/Event Administration 2017 Region ODP Championships Planning 2017 Region Presidents Cup Report/Planning 2017 FWR Report/Planning

11:30 a.m. - Noon

NSCAA Lynn Berling-Manuel National Soccer Coaches of America Association Update and 2017 Convention News

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

US Soccer Updates and Q&A Caitlin Carducci International Clearance Process Direct Player Registration with the Federation Federation Player Identification

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

General Q&A US Youth Soccer Updates Chris Moore/Staff Update on new funding model as presented in Frisco Marketing and growing the National and State Associations USYS Strategic Plan and how the State Associations/Regions fit into the plan Event Management from USYS/Region perspectives, best practices on excellent events

US Soccer Region IV Coaching Education Workshop Schedule 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Meeting room: Marbella

Classroom Session

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Region IV DOC Meeting ODP Committee Meeting

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting room: Las Palmas

Agenda below Referee Committee Meeting

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting room: Portofino

Agenda below

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Meet in lobby @ 6 p.m.

Social Event Evening San Diego Harbor Cruise Dinner and DJ Onboard

Saturday, October 15th 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Location: Pavilion

Region Hall of Fame Breakfast Presented by Affinity Sports Hall of Fame Presentation at 8:30 a.m. Council Agenda Meeting room: Sorrento/San Marino

9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

US Youth Soccer Chair

9:45 a.m. - Noon

Round-Table Discussions Sharing Best Practices from your state

Jesse Harrell

Requested Topics Include: Small-Sided Game Implementation Heading Restrictions Implementation Concussion Management Methods of Recreational Soccer Development Futsal Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Committee Reports ODP Committee Report from Workshop Meetings ODP Camp/Events Report/Planning Referee Committee Report from Workshop Meetings Region IV DOC Committee Report Region IV Cup Committee Report

3:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Budget Committee/Budget Review Executive Session

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting room: Portofino

Referee Committee Meeting Continued

9:00 a.m. - Noon Meeting room: Las Palmas

Region IV Cup Committee Meeting Continued

ODP Committee Agenda Friday, October 14th 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting room: Las Palmas 1. Communication a. Infrastructure – Line of communication i. US Youth to Region to State? b. Communication to States i. Who answers the state questions – point of contact ii. Laying out a plan to give to states – Calendar iii. Process for verifying players – needs some improvement c. Communication to players i. Calendar of full year events and dates ii. Timing of calendar and can we get it sooner 1. Inter-regional events, NTC, International and ODPC iii. North iv. Notice of selection or denial letters for Regional Camp 1. May be other events, Sub-Regionals, etc. d. National Calendar – May need assistance to get those dates set sooner 2. Regional Camp a. Staying with younger age groups as teams (girls) b. Get state coaches more involved at the Regional camp level i. Running sessions (girls) ii. Being involved with selection and what extent c. Invite teams or outside teams d. Possible youngest age group event 3. Ideas of a Regional Camp North and Regional Camp South a. 5-day camp for boys/girls north b. 5-day camp for boys/girls south i. Regionalized: 1. North – Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah 2. South – Cal-North, Cal-South, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico 3. Camp Locations: North – Boise, Idaho South – S. Cal 4. The idea here is to attract the top players from both the northern and southern region of Region IV. Cost and travel is a big burden to families and prevents a lot of good players from attending camp. With our region being the most geographically challenged of the four, we split camp up. 5. ODP Budget a. More information given directly to HC i. Building a program and adding if budget allows ii. Making a more effective program

Referee Committee Meeting Friday, October 14th 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting room: Portofino 1) Introductions A. New SYRA’s (Cal North, Oregon, Colorado & Nevada) B. Guests 2) New Business – Open Discussion A. Role of the SYRA at ODP, RPC and FWR B. Assessors vs. Coaches C. Level of Assessor/Coach sent to regional events D. Commitment for each state to send coaches/mentors/assessors E. Utilizing the specific skills of the attendees at events F. Minimum Level of Referee at ODP, RPC and FWR G. SYRA Meeting at FWR H. At-field training verse nightly meetings – new training model I. New referee training model at RPC and FWR J. Check-in process is there a faster, better way K. Assigning issues/fixes L. Referee Coach Mentor program M. 1:1 ratio for smaller states N. Eliminate returning referees to NCS/Earn way through FWR O. Best practices to select/identify referees for regional tournaments P. Discussion on what can be done to make our events better - what can be done to draw our top referees to our Region IV events, what is the competition doing that we are not? Q. Points of Emphasis for 2017 Saturday, October 15th 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Meeting room: Portofino 3) Review of 2016 events 4) Networking time for all SYRA’s – Best practices discussions 5) Wrap up Additional Agenda Information New Business A. Role of the SYRA at ODP, RPC and FWR: Is there a prescribed role for the SYRA at a regional tournament? Are there things they can help with that will enhance the experience for the referees? B.

Assessors vs. Coaches Several referees have expressed a desire to have feedback related to how they could improve their performance, verse just being told how good they were for 10 minutes.

C.

Level of Assessor/Coach sent to regional events Can we have a minimum standard for any coach sent to a regional event? What should that standard be?

D.

Commitment for each state to send coaches/mentors/assessors

E.

Utilizing the specific skills of the attendees at events

F.

Minimum Level of Referee at ODP, RPC and FWR Should minimum levels be established for officials at the regional events? How will such minimum qualifications affect the smaller states?

G.

SYRA Meeting at FWR

H.

On field training verse nightly meetings – new training model It is suggested that referees get more out of on-field training verse the nightly meetings. (see Item I)

I.

New referee training model at RPC and FWR The new training model was introduced at Presidents Cup this year. The philosophy is that the referees are athletes just like the players. And as such they need rest and recovery time each day if they are expected to perform at their best by the end of the week. By eliminating most of the nightly meetings, we are giving the referees the rest time they need. The nightly training that has been eliminated will now be presented at the fields by various instructors two or three times a day. Any important issues that need to be brought to the attention of the referees will be discussed at the HOD meeting during the last match of the day. The HOD’s can decide the best way to pass along that information to their people.

J.

Check-in process - Is there a faster and better way? The check-in process is a lengthy process at the beginning of each match. Can we do something to reduce the time it takes to check in the referees for their games? Can we check them in once a day verse before each match? Or have the referee check in for his entire crew after they have confirmed their crew is present.

K.

Assigning issues/fixes At Presidents Cup and Far West Regionals we had issues with the assigning software. Most of the issues were referee created, i.e. the referee’s had multiple accounts and the software would randomly choose which account to use when assigning that person. To solve issues, we worked with those individuals to eliminate their extra accounts. One other problem we encountered was a software issue that to this day has yet to be resolved, but we have a work around solution for the future.

L.

Referee Coach mentor program The Referee Coach mentor program (previously called the National CoachMentor program) was introduced in the fall of 2014, but tabled in 2015.

M.

1:1 ratio for smaller states The 1:1 ratio is difficult for smaller states to find enough regional level referees to bring to the regional events.

N.

Eliminate Returning Referees to NCS/Earn way through FWR The decision to have five referees from each region designated as returning referees was instituted in 2013 by the National Referee Advisory Committee Chair, Jim Albertson. Is this a program that the region wishes to make a statement on and ask the National Referee Advisory Committee Chair, Mr. Albertson, to eliminate? Last year, none of the Region IV referees designated as a returner, attended Far West regionals as a referee.

O.

Best practices to select/identify referees for regional tournaments How do the different states identify and select referees to attend Regional events?

P.

Discussion on what can be done to make our events better - what can be done to draw our top referees to our Region IV events? What is the competition doing that we are not?

Q.

Points of Emphasis Should we have a region-wide Points of Emphasis program that states can use the entire year leading up to President’s Cup and Far West Regionals?

Referee Coach Mentor Program Far West Regionals The Far West Regional tournament is an important event for referee development. It goes without saying that some of the top officials in the United States have developed with the assistance of this event. To this end, it is important that the states continue to support the development of officials through new and innovative means. The addition of coaches as a complement to our assessor program will aid in this development. Coaching creates a relationship between experienced individuals and those working to better themselves, providing a framework that allows each to develop to their fullest. Coaching is key to developing great referees, and that’s what the FWR tournament has strived for through the years. We’ve developed some of the top referees in the U.S., and this program will help continue that trend. Referee selection process Each SYRA will nominate referees to participate in the coaching program. The number of nominees for any state will be based on how many referees they send to FWR. For any state that does not or cannot nominate referees, nomination slots will be distributed to the other states via a blind draw. All nominations shall be sent to the Regional Referee Administrator no later than June 1st of each year. Nominations not received by that date will be placed in the blind draw for distribution. # Referees at FWR 1-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31+

# of Nominees 1 2 3 4 5 6

The minimum referee requirements for inclusion into the mentoring group will be:  Grade 7  18 years old  Have attended FWR at least once previously  Nominated by their SYRA The referees will be placed into groups of eight with no more than three referees from the same state in any one group. The referee groups will be comprised completely of referees nominated by their SYRA. These eight referees will be assigned to work together during the preliminary matches of the tournament, alternating assignments. These two crews will be assigned to matches during the same or alternating time slots, and their fields will be in close proximity to each other, allowing for maximum exposure to the coach. Post-game discussion will be up to the coach, and will take place after their match. A member of the FWR referee committee staff will have direct oversight of the referee coach program. That person will work with the assignor to help facilitate assignments of the referee coaches and their crews, as well as being the main point of contact for the referee coaches. The coaches will attend the assessor review meeting on the day off, to give feedback to the assessors and assignor.

Coach selection process Coaches should be current or former National/FIFA level officials. They will be assigned eight referees to coach during the preliminary round matches. Additionally, they may be asked to provide a field training session during the week.

Region IV Cup Committee Meeting Saturday, October 15th 9:00 a.m. – Noon Meeting room: Las Palmas 1. Intent to host notification for 2019 RPC Region IV Championship LOC and Operations Manual 2. Adding 18U group to Region and National Events (NPC discussion item in October). States would have to add to their competitions to have full participation at the National event. 3. Continue with quarter final play (NPC discussion item in October) 4. Suspensions for yellow card accumulations (NPC discussion item in October) 5. Presidents Cup withdrawals; history of withdrawals, did delay of bracket publishing work, and ways to reduce future impacts. 6. Stay to Play Policy update - exceptions and enforcement process. Review RPC audit and results 7. Possible additional "swag" for the events 8. Event cost components 9. Rule changes 10. Parties interested in training to assume Region IV RPC Chair 11. FWR Team Seeding 12. FWR Playing Format Sunday, October 16th 8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Location: Capri/Riveria Room

Continental Breakfast

Region IV Council Business Meeting Sunday, October 16, 2016 San Diego, California 9:00 a.m., PT Meeting room: Sorrento/San Marino Call to Order

Ric Listella

Roll Call and Voting Strength

Todd Sergi

Confirmation of Minutes - Meeting July 29, 2016

Ric Listella

Unfinished Business: FWRL Sub-Division LOC Agreement

Chris Moore/Ric Listella

FY 15-16 Budget Amendments arising out of Council Meetings

Jeff Garling/Rick Velasco

Region IV 2017 Fall Planning Meeting Report

Idaho/Utah

New Business: Council input requested regarding adding 8U to Region and National Presidents Cup; will be further discussed at October NPC meeting in Frisco, Texas

Randy Greenwood

Region IV Cup Championship LOC and Operations Manual

Randy Greenwood

Solicitations for interested States to host the 2019 RPC - interested States are to submit proposals by December 15, 2016

Randy Greenwood

Charging Parking Fees for Region Cup events

Tom Mendoth

FWR Team Seeding Discussion

Tom Mendoth

FWR Playing Format

Tom Mendoth

Actionable Items arising from Council Planning Meetings

Ric Listella

Region IV 2018 Planning Meeting Location

All