The Corner Kick - News and Views of the SCASA Board Members

"The Corner Kick"
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Points of emphasis for playing in SCASA leagues
- SCASA sends a registration packet to every manager who has registered a team with SCASA once in the preceding year. The forms are sent to the name and address on file at the office; should a team manager change or an address change, the registration packet is unlikely to get there. If your team has changed managers or otherwise not received a registration packet, please visit our web site at www.scasa.com, copy the necessary forms, and send them in. You may also stop by the office at 2418 California Street, Everett, weekdays from 2 pm – 6 pm and pick up the information.

The material is mailed about eight weeks before the start of the season and due back about four weeks later. As the registrars receive the registrations, they organize the different divisions. If an insufficient or uneven number of teams has registered for a division, the registrars may call managers who have entered teams in previous seasons to remind them that registration time is at hand. Teams are placed in divisions based on previous record, notes from the manager, and, board input. After the divisions are organized (about a week), the information is passed to the scheduler. The scheduler tries to ensure that teams are allotted times and fields equitably. Different divisions often play on the same night. As soon as the schedule is complete, it is forwarded to the referee assignor who tries to find referees for every game. Once the scheduling starts it is very time-consuming to make changes, and each change may affect several teams and referees.

Please remember that the registrars and scheduler are volunteers who are trying to accommodate various requests as best as they can. If you have a concern or suggestion , please Send it to the SCASA Board IN WRITING. We share our office manager’s time with North County Youth Soccer; she is fielding inquiries from scores of teams at any one time.

- Pregnant women may play UNLESS her opponents protest in a timely fashion. This does not mean waiting until the game is over and protesting a loss, but complaining to the referee that your team is uncomfortable playing against her when it becomes an issue during play.

- Players with braces, sprints and CASTS MAY PLAY with them, as long as the referee feels they are padded adequately to be safe. If the referee feels they are dangerous, the player may not play and this is not protestable, as it is a judgment decision of the referee.

- Dangerous jewelry is not allowed as per FIFA rules.

- SLIDE TACKLING IS ALLOWED IN OVER-30 SINGLE SEX DIVISIONS.

In Coed and over-40, it is considered dangerous play (i.e. a technical foul punishable by an indirect free kick). The slide tackle must be correctly performed, i.e. not making contact with the player before the ball.

- There is no contact with the goalkeeper in the penalty area initiated by players of the other team. There is NO requirement that they have control of the ball. Referees have been instructed to protect the goalkeepers--we have too few of them as is!!!

- Teams are required to have numbered jerseys of the same color. This rule will be enforced after the second week of play. NO SHIRT --- NO PLAY !!!

- All players must be registered on your team roster at the SCASA office in advance, be listed on the game roster, and present a valid WSSA card in order to play. Unregistered players face fines, and the team they played with forfeits the game. If a team is short handed, and their opponent agrees to loan them players, it is considered either a forfeit or a real game--to be decided upon by the managers at the start of the game. The referee will officiate the match in either case.

- There is no intimidation by word or deed.

- In Coed leagues and there seems to be some misunderstandings about SCASA rules; specifically when it comes to numbers there cannot be more than 5 men on the field, excluding the goalkeeper. If your team is short-handed, they may play with more women than the normal five, but there cannot be more than the five men on the field. So if the team was short on female players, they could not put in extra men. And, just because they were short on women, they would not have to play with less men than their normally allocated 5 plus keeper. So different compositions as examples could even include a total of 6 men and 1 woman (really short handed team as 7 is the minimum to play), 3 men and 8 women, and so on.

- In the event that the referee fails to show within 15 minutes of scheduled game time, choose an alternate referee or play the game with a referee. The game is official.

- Games will be played rain or shine! If games are canceled by SCASA or the City/organization owning the field managers will be notified.

- When teams that withdraw registration after the season schedules have been published, game schedules must be rearranged, SCASA may retain $50 of the team registration fee to cover administrative expenses.

- You may not play on two teams in a same-sex age group unless you have applied in writing to the Board and been granted permission to do so. Currently, SCASA offers Women’s Open, Over-30, Over-40, and Over-48. Men may choose among Open, Over-30, Over-40, and, NEW for Polar Bear 2001, Over-48. If you are looking to play two nights a week, please consider a COED team.

SCASA is committed to make every effort to provide for fair and safe play. In large part, SCASA relies upon referees to insure this high standard. SCASA supports our referees and we stand behind them. We understand that their already difficult job is made more challenging when tempers erupt.

With that in mind, players should always give consideration to the rules of SCASA, the Washington State Soccer Association (WSSA), and the administrative rules of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) - even in the midst of heated competition. There are no excuses for referee abuse.

SCASA Rules and Procedures are revised as needed. We welcome written feedback about any of the changes or a rule that needs to be changed.

Making an Insurance Claim
When an affiliated player in good standing (card is current and not suspended) is injured during an affiliated game, here is the correct procedure for filing an insurance claim.

The player must first call the WSSA office at 425/485-7855 with the following information: name, address, telephone number, player ID number, team name, league name (i.e., SCASA), date of injury, type of injury, and field location. The WSSA office staff will verify that the player is currently registered and in good standing with the WSSA. The office will then send the injured player a claim form to be completed by the player and returned to the WSSA office. This additional information is verified and the claim is forwarded to the insurance company. At this point the insurance company will be in direct contact with the player. The process can take time as one person does the claims for all players in all of the states.

Please note that this insurance is secondary insurance; the player must file a claim through his/her primary carrier first. (This insurance does become the primary carrier if the injured player does not have a primary insurance company.) There is a $400 deductible that must be paid by the player and the limit is $5,000.

Please call the WSSA office for additional information.