Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Here a list of frequently asked questions by coaches, referees, parents and players. Please read it before sending an email,

Table of Contents

  1. Playing Leagues
    1. What is the Competitive League?
  2. Competitive Registration
    1. What is this USFF page?
    2. Why do we need proof of age for players
    3. Registering Coaches with USFF
    4. How do I remove a player from a team?
    5. I registered all players but cannot print player passes!
    6. Can I add more players to my team?
    7. How do I move a player to a different team on the USFF page?
  3. Academy / Recreational Registration
    1. Can teams register for the Academy
    2. Can Players register for the Academy?
  4. Team Page Management
    1. How to get a password for the team page
  5. Scheduling of Games / Pairing of Teams
    1. I need a bye for a weekend?
    2. We are scheduled to play up/down?
    3. No game is scheduled for my team, do I have a bye?
    4. Reschedule a game?
    5. Only one of my two teams is scheduled to play on a weekend?
    6. Can I add guest players?
    7. My team has two games on one weekend?
    8. My team plays the same other team again?
    9. How is the schedule created?
  6. Contact Information for Board / Meetings
    1. Contacting the Board
    2. Board Meetings

1. Playing Leagues

1.1. What is the Competitive League?

The [[/comp.shtml][competitive league]] is the one we had from the start where teams compete over 11 weekends from Dezember to February. We only accept team registrations for the competitive league, individual players cannot register by themselves.


2. Competitive Registration

2.1. What is this USFF page?

Unfortunatley you will have to deal with two separate websites for the registration, namely this one hear which we use during the season, and the USFF webpage to register player and coaches. Only if you follow all the steps outlined on our [[/registration_usff.shtml][USFF Registration]] page will your team and your players be allowed to play.

2.2. Why do we need proof of age for players

As we allow teams to play up and down it seems that this is an unnecessary step? However, these passes allow you to participate in Futsal tournaments and must be verified by us, in addition we only allow teams to play up by at most two age groups (and for the U8 only one age group), so we need to make sure that the age is correct (having a 15 year old on a U10 team is not cool).

2.3. Registering Coaches with USFF

Coaches need to register with the [[/registration_usff.shtml][USFF website]] website, but only two can be associated with a team. However, we do not care if you are associated with a team, once registered your head coach or team manager can print a coaches pass for you (the pass will not mention a team, but can be used anyway).

2.4. How do I remove a player from a team?

You cannot remove a player, instead please send an email to the registrar or teams director with the Team ID and player ID of the player that needs to be removed. They will forward the request to the database administrator.

2.5. I registered all players but cannot print player passes!

You need to make sure our registrar has verified the age of all players before their player passes can be printed. Once the registrat has marked the players as age verified it takes about an hour for the player passes to be created on our system.

2.6. Can I add more players to my team?

You can add players up to two weeks into the season. Adding players later will cost an additional fee of $20/player. You cannot have more than 12 players per team.

2.7. How do I move a player to a different team on the USFF page?

Open the team to which you want to move the player to, then select 'Add Player' and enter the players Futsal ID. Then let the Teams director and the Registrar know which player needs to be removed from a team (send the USFF Futsal ID of the team and the player please)


3. Academy / Recreational Registration

3.1. Can teams register for the Academy

Yes, we allow teams to register. The coach needs to fill out a [[/registration_academy.shtml][Team Registration form]] (this is free), and then each player needs to fill out a player registration form (see next question).

3.2. Can Players register for the Academy?

Yes, players can register either individually or as part of a team. In both cases they need to fill out and send in the [[/registration_player.shtml][Player Registration Form]].


4. Team Page Management

4.1. How to get a password for the team page

If you forgot the password to edit your teams page or misplaced it, you can get an email with the password by following the procedure described on the [[/coach_ed.shtml][Edit Team Page]] website.


5. Scheduling of Games / Pairing of Teams

5.1. I need a bye for a weekend?

You can request a bye, but the only way is to go to your teams web page and [[/coach_ed.shtml][and edit it]]. You will find a heading called 'bye requests'. Once you entered your request it MUST be visible on your teams calendar. If not you made a mistake with the date (maybe the wrong year?).

5.2. We are scheduled to play up/down?

We pair teams not by their age group, but by how well they play. It is perfectly normal to play up or down by one year (if you want to play up by two years please contact the Teams Director. You can see where you stand by looking at th [[/teams.shtml][Teams page]].

5.3. No game is scheduled for my team, do I have a bye?

Yes, the season usually runs over 11 weekends, but you only get 10 games, so one bye is perfectly normal. You might also get a double header at some point, in which case another bye would be necessary. Please do not send an email to the board to get confirmation that you have a bye.

5.4. Reschedule a game?

If you forgot to enter a bye request and a game has been scheduled for your team you have to play the game or take a forfeit. We cannot reschedule games, nor do we have free gym capacity at any time during the week or on weekends. You can contact other teams and see if they are willing to switch, if all teams involved in moving the games agree send an email to the [[/board.shtml][Teams director]] so he can make the necessary change.

5.5. Only one of my two teams is scheduled to play on a weekend?

We try to have related teams of the same age group play back-to-back every weekend, but that is simply not always possible. It can happen that only one of the teams play, or that their games are not back-to-back.

5.6. Can I add guest players?

You can add up to two guest players per game, as long as they are of the correct age, have a valid Futsal San Jose player pass and you have at most 7 players for a given game.

5.7. My team has two games on one weekend?

This can happen, usually at most once per season. As we have to fill every gym slot that we rent this is sometimes the only option, especially on those days were many teams request a bye. Occaisionally it is also necessary for teams that have requested mutliple byes in order to be able to schedule all the games for them

5.8. My team plays the same other team again?

Even if there are enough teams in your age group that it would be possible to have everyone play a different team you usually end up plaing few teams twice (in rare cases if your team is at the very top or bottom of your age group even tree times). The reason for this is that we need to

  • schedule 10 games for every team
  • try to only schedule games between teams that are ranked relatively close so that hopefully this will be an even game (sometimes this works, sometimes it does not)
  • make sure that this works for ALL teams, the strong and weak ones

This becomes particularaly challenging with the last three weeks, and is the reason the schedule for the last three weekends is done at the same time, there is no way otherwise. The end of the season often overlaps with outdoor tournaments, so a number of teams is not available on all three weekends which does not help either.

5.9. How is the schedule created?

First the teams are paired [[/sch_example.shtml][on this webpage]] (this page works in Chrome and Firefox, I never tried internet explorer. Feel free to click around, as this particular page is not active and nothing gets changed). The second step involves a cluster of computers that takes this preliminary schedule and then tries to optimize it by switching teams around in order to

  • make sure double headers are played in the same gym, one hour apart (or, occasionally on two different days)
  • try to schedule games such that related teams get to play back to back (related teams of the same age group are given higher priority)
  • make sure that coaches have enough time to go from one gym to the other for their teams if they cannot be scheduled in the same gym
  • minimize driving for teams
  • never schedule a game during a bye
  • schedule as many games back to back that require 2 referees, to make referee scheduling easier
  • for teams that have listed preferred times try to schedule them during those times.

The computers take currently about 5h until they settle on a particular schedule for one weekend.


6. Contact Information for Board / Meetings

6.1. Contacting the Board

The contact information for all board members is available online, click on the [[/board.shtml][Board]] Menu entry (top left).

6.2. Board Meetings

The board meets about once a month, if you are interested in participating in a meeting or would like to discuss something you are welcome to attend, the information when we meet next is usually available at the top of the [[/board.shtml][Board Members page]]. If not send an email to the Secretary to ask for details.


If you have further questions you think should be answered here please send an email to web@futsalsj.org.
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