Scheduler’s Notes F25
Friday August 8th 2025
WYSL teams,
The PRELIMINARY Schedule for Westchester Youth Soccer League Fall 2025 is now available.
Note: this is a very long email. But it includes what you need to know about the schedule for this season. Spending 10 minutes here reading and absorbing all of this will save you and your team managers and coaches hours during the season. Read it, keep it handy, ask any questions.
We are barely on time. Thanks to all the registrars, field coordinators and coaches who got data in on time. It would be better if I didn’t have to badger the last few of you. The deadlines are not arbitrary. We need everyone in or we can’t schedule. I think all of you having a schedule available three weeks before the season. We need time to check for errors and omissions and to make runs to improve the schedule. Thanks for your best guesses on fields. This is close to the timeline we will use for every fall season.
Clubs and teams: you have until close of business next Thursday August 14th to check the schedule and reply with *corrections.*
Those are: field not available, overlapped games, wrong size field, a schedule request you made on the application which wasn’t honored.
It does NOT include: new requests, mistakes in coach coordination, a conflict you didn’t know about. Those conflicts (coach, players, etc.) have to be worked out with your opponent during the adjustment period.
The final will be posted – at the latest - by Sunday August 17th - three weeks before season start. The early schedule helps get refs assigned for the season and gives you and your teams time to make last minute adjustments.
After August 17th but by September 7th, *any game* on the schedule can change if *both* teams agree, they set a new time/date/field, and they tell us BEFORE the first game of the season. Games may not be "postponed" to some indefinite time.
Teams: if asked, you do not have to agree to change a game – particularly to a different day. We hope most teams will be accommodating but it is voluntary.
To change a game scheduled for the first Sunday (9/7), the deadline is Wednesday September 3rd to give us time to arrange or re-arrange refs.
There are no special adjustments for religious events this season.
All TBS games (see below) must be set by the end of September or we will switch which team is home. To keep your home game, get an agreement or offer two good Saturday dates and accept the forfeit if the other team can’t make it. Do NOT "be nice" and wait. The away team also has an obligation to respond and be reasonable.
All the coach coordinations should be manageable and all of the special requests honored. The general requests are all at 80% or better. Tell us about any real problems.
There are usually 250 changes between the Prelim and the Final schedules. Clubs and teams need to find all the scheduling mistakes - requests, field availability, gross scheduling errors. Do NOT plan your life based on the Preliminary schedule!
Again: you can agree on changes, AFTER the Final is posted next week. Once agreed to, that new date/time/field will be locked into the schedule.
Deadlines:
Thursday August 14th club corrections of the Prelim sent to the league.
Final posted between by Sunday August 17th
First game: Sunday September 7. Last game: Sunday November 16th.
No game Sunday October 12 (Columbus Day Weekend).
Find and fix problems now. We don't like forfeits, but games change for only a few reasons during the season. Two teams may not decide to change a game on their own "because the other team agrees."
If you don't have enough players, you will forfeit.
If you don't have a coach to cover a game, you forfeit.
Note that teams in *premier* divisions can agree to change a game and tell us. But only until *2* weeks before the game date. No last minute changes even in Premier.
These rules are to prevent the craziness common in most travel leagues where coaches and admins can change games anytime. We think a stable schedule is better for the families, players, admins, refs. One or two people who suddenly decide to be unavailable for a scheduled game should not change the plans for 25 other families. Everyone is busy. Figure out all your conflicts. Get your players to commit to being at the games. Try to borrow if you don't have enough players. Accept the consequences. Your players showing up or not is part of the competition.
There are some allowed changes for unanticipated events. (See the league rules about religious and school events.) If someone asks to change a game, do not say "yes"!
Ask the league first or have them ask us whether any change is allowed.
Of course field problems have to be dealt with and the weather will always frustrate us.
* * *
Responses due by the close of business - 4 pm - on Thursday August 14th.
You may download the spread sheet and distribute it to your teams. It will also be posted on the website. The more eyes and brains looking at this schedule, the better. This is the PRELIMINARY schedule. Don't use it to plan your life. Do not use this schedule or this spread sheet during the season. Only use the website.
Keep reading to answer 98% of your questions.
Notes:
1) There are 2000 of you and 1 of me. If you have read everything and still have a question, ask! But first, READ. I and the computer make mistakes. This is picky detail work. We appreciate that most of you are volunteers and you do the best you can, but for the sake of the kids on the field: read, review, respond, and ask if you need to.
2) This is fall. We have much less daylight. Thank you to clubs who gave us as much time as possible. We appreciate all the fields with lights. If you can get the lights on and schedule a late match please do.
TO DO
Here is your list.
* Check the schedule and - by Close of Business on Thursday August 14 - email me with any mistakes, problems, etc. Get others to look.
There are *always* mistakes. Some field restrictions were complicated. There will be changes to adjust field usage and to correct for last minute problems. If you have suggestions for better use of your fields without changing game *times*, tell me.
* Send responses directly to me by email NOW *as you see things.* Don't wait. It's a rolling correction process.
* Do NOT send any new schedule requests no matter how important. (Coach coordination, weddings, problem with early games, etc.) The prelim is done, it's too late. Refer to the league rules for exceptions. Use the adjustment period. (Note that opponents are not required to agree to a change.)
* Do not enter new field or team information online. It's too late. Tell us what has changed. The data has been downloaded from the website.
* Update your team *contact information* online. Managers can now be certified and included as contacts on the website. Make sure you can be contacted by your opponents.
* *
* Each Week* during the season: Call your opponent in midweek to confirm the game, directions, uniforms and to exchange cell numbers in case of last minute emergencies. This is the fail-safe so a team doesn't show up and have no opponent there.
* Special requests. If you made a request about a particular day and we missed it, TELL ME! We think we got them all, but “stuff happens.” Don't assume the problem can't be fixed. (I'll tell you if it is.) Do not suffer in silence. We want to honor all specific day requests.
* Coach Coordinations. As usual, over 50% of the teams have shared coaches, and there are many other requests as well. The coodinations should be good. If you find coord conflicts, tell me where they are. I will fix them if I can. I want the schedule to be as good as possible but the coords won't be perfect. Some clubs have limited field time. If we don't get early time or late time, we can't spread out the games for your coaches. Teams that have general requests or special requests AND a coach coordination may not see both in the schedule.
Some clubs made errors in entering the coach information. That's a warning for the future. I can't fix those. Use the adjustment period.
Your coach may have to leave a game immediately with barely enough time to get to the start of the next game (30, 45 minutes, within a town sometimes just 15.) S/he will often not have time for a post-game or pre-game talk. This is the best we can do. Traffic can frustrate any schedule. We maintain a cross grid of WYSL fields with time/distances.
Arrange backup coverage for your coaches. Make sure your printed and approved game day card (not your roster) will be there for game time. Assistant coaches can warm up the team, set the lineup, and possibly start the game with the coach just getting there. Have an approved assistant coach on the roster. It can save a game.
We use Google Maps. If we haven't allowed enough time to get from whistle to whistle, tell me. But I may still say "I'm sorry". We play our games between 9 and 7. Teams are spread over 70 miles north/south and 60 east/west.
Thanks to the clubs which limit team requests and give us plenty of field time. You may see many open slots in your fields. We use that open space to make the games fit and to get the coaches to their games. It is NOT wasted. Feel free to put the unused time back "into the pool" for use by others (or to let the grass fields rest!)
* All general requests (prefer early, prefer late, etc.) should be 80% or better. Premier teams should not have restrictions on when the players can play – commitment counts.
* Three ref crews. The league has made a renewed commitment to getting three ref crews to all Premier games and all older games (u15+). Ref coverage is much improved but recruit more local refs!
* The request priority is: 1) special day requests, 2) coach coordinations, 3) general time requests. I hope the requests which are important for getting the teams on the field are ok.
* Check the fields and field restrictions. Some were complex. The computer has hopefully handled them well.
* Make sure all your teams are on the schedule. (It’s happened.)
* Make sure all the games are there. (Ditto)
* Note: Many divisions have no games on 11/16 - week 10 - see below for 9 and 10 team divisions.
* Red flag any field overlaps in the schedule.
* Home/Away Balance. The number of home and away games is pretty balanced. But some clubs with tight field space have fewer home games or lose home games. Tell me if we violated a home/away "pair" with another team. I will fix that if I can.
* Most time gaps are intentional. There are some gaps in the schedule - especially with younger games - to allow coaches to get from game to game or for special requests.
* Schedule Online. When the schedule is Final, it will be uploaded to GotSoccer and will be available only from there. It will *not* be available as a spread sheet or GoogleDoc.
* Field Space. For clubs which lost home games. Please get more field time so we can adjust game times to fit the coach needs and give you your home games. Try to get early field time on the small sided fields. For clubs who found extra space and time and have fields “until dark,” thanks!
* Check your requests again!
* To repeat: Use the days before the season starts to revise games and get any game changes to me. Say "no" if you don't want to change a game. No team should feel pressured. Your families matter too. Families like our restrictions. Some coaches and organizers don't.
* * *
Notes / definitions:
* Number of games. Divisions with 6, 7, 8, or 12 teams have a 10 game schedule. All odd team divisions (7, 9 and 11) have “TBS” games to make up for the byes. This season we have 12s who have a full slate of TBS games so that every team plays all 11 of the others. Four 5 team divisions have an 8 game schedule. Many teams didn't want to be in premier but in some cases we combined the few teams wanting premier and those wanting D1.
* Divisions with 9 or 10 teams have a *9* game schedule with no scheduled game on the last Sunday. But keep your families ready to play that day!!! It's great for late makeup games. 9s have TBS games which can play that Sunday or earlier.
TBS games MUST be played during the season. Schedule them like a make-up game with your opponent. Set a date/time/field for your TBS games by the end of September! If you want to be the home team, give your opponent a choice of two reasonable Saturdays and take the forfeit if they don't respond or don't choose. We will switch which team is home if these games aren’t set in time.
* “TBA” Games are those with no field available. Arrange them like a make-up game. They must be played this season. Get them set by the end of September or – like TBS games – we will switch the home and away teams. Set them early before fall weather makes playing more difficult. Don't wait till the end!
It is *not* a good idea to use up your “free day” on November 16th early. Save that day for late make up games.
During the season there will be other TBA games if the weather is bad.
* Byes These are placeholders for those Sundays when a team does not have a game because there are an odd number of teams in the division.
* “U8” teams: Several divisions of u8 teams are playing 7v7 and are listed and play in the lowest divisions of u9.
* Count. By my count, this season we have 605 league teams in 79 divisions with 3115 games - including "byes" and TBS games.
* You Matter. Only you can thoroughly check this schedule. Mistakes will cost you in lost time, disappointed kids, and annoyed parents. We need dozens of eyes to find the errors. It takes everyone checking and communicating to make the league work well.
Thanks!! for reading all of this long email and thanks for your help!
Terry Benson
WYSL Scheduler