U17/U19 Playing Format

For several years, we have been saying that as soon as we had more fields, we would look into the possibility of changing the U19 playing format and possibly create an age-pure U17 division. Now that we have the fields, two mailings were sent out to the U15, U16, and U17 teams from the Spring 1999 season in order to receive input from most of the teams who would be affected in the near future. The following is the input we received:

Of the 35 possible teams, we received 32 responses. Of these 35 teams, 17 were Division I teams; 18 were Division II teams.

The breakdown of the vote is as follows:

Option 1: Keep U17 and U19 combined	FOR: 7 (6 Div. I Teams; 1 Div. II Team)
Option 2: Separate U17 and U19 Crossovers between U17 & U19 Div. I Crossovers between Div. I & Div. II Crossovers either way No crossovers at all	FOR: 22 Teams FOR: 10 Teams (6 Div. I ; 4 Div. II) FOR: 8 Teams (All Div. II teams) FOR: 2 Teams (Both Div. II teams) FOR: 2 Teams (1 Div. I; 1 Div. II)
Option 3: Separate U17 and U19 for Division I, but keep only 1 combined U17/U19 Division II	FOR: 3 Teams (All Division I)

From this input, the LHGCL Board has decided to implement the following format for the U17/U19 Age Divisions beginning in the Fall of 2000.

U17 - Division I - 6 Teams
U17 - Division II - 6 Teams

U19 - Division I - 6 Teams
U19 - Division II - 6 Teams

Qualifying for these leagues will be similar to that of the U15 and U16 age divisions.

U17 Division I teams will play each other three times over the year, plus 6 crossover games with the U19 Division I teams, thus giving each U17 Division I team 21 games over the year. More of the games will be played in the fall (including the crossover games) to allow for a lighter spring season. There will be no midyear challenges into U17 Division I.

U17 Division II teams will play each of the other U17 Division II teams twice in the fall (10 games). The teams falling into the last two places of the league's standings will be subject to challenge from teams coming from outside selected leagues. In the spring, the teams will play each other twice (10 games). Grand Champion points will be used to determine the top two teams that will be allowed to challenge into U19 Division I at the time of the qualifying tournament.

U19 Division I teams will play each other once in the fall, plus 6 crossover games with U17 Division I teams (11 games), and will play each of the other U19 Division I teams once in the spring (5 games), thus giving each U19 Division I team 16 games over the year.* There will be no midyear challenges into U19 Division I.

U19 Division II teams will play each other twice in the fall (10 games) and once in the spring (5 games) for a total of 15 games over the year.* There will be no midyear challenge into U19 Division II.

*Since the U19s will play substantially fewer games over the soccer year than any of the other age divisions, the U19 league fees will be as follows:

Fall Fees: $495.00
Spring Fees: $300.00