Frequently Asked Questions
How many leagues does SROP sponsor and when do they play?
SROP Soccer sponsors three leagues, Sunday, Night, and Masters. Both the Sunday and Night leagues have two seasons Fall and Spring. The Masters league plays in the Summer. The Sunday league, plays Sunday morning, The Night league plays Tuesday and Thursday nights, with 67% of the games occurring on Tuesday and 33% occurring on Thursday. The Masters league plays on Monday nights.
When does registration take place?Registration takes place in December/January and July/August of each year for the Sunday and Night leagues and April for the Masters league.
How old do I have to be in order to play in the league?In order to play in the Sunday or Night league you must turn 25 years old by the 1st of January for the Spring season and 25 years by the 1st of July for the Fall season. In order to play in the Masters league, you must turn 45 years onld by the first game of the current season.
How do you make sure the teams in the league are fair?One of our biggest goals is to achieve parity among the teams and to do this, it is important that we accurately rate each player. To this end, all new players are required to attend a new player scrimmage which takes place before each season so that we can assess their skill level relative to the rest of the players in the leagues. This is not a tryout, simply an assessment to assign each player a rating; being great or mediocre has no bearing on whether you get into the leagues. Players are rerated by the managers each season to ensure the league remains as fair as possible.
If I sign up for a league am I guaranteed a spot?For all leagues we are fortunate to have had a significant surplus of applications for several years, so registration is run via a weighted lottery to determine who gets selected each season. The more seasons you have applied, the more points you receive in the Lottery (so long as your form is received by the deadline). All players who are selected in the Lottery are ranked against each other so that there is an even distribution of ratings and then we run a computer-generated draft to select the teams. Those players not selected through the Lottery are maintained on our substitution list that we use to bring in players throughout each season as we receive requests from players. If you are not selected through the Lottery, your check will be shredded.
The only exception to the procedure above is with respect to goalkeepers. We have found that having a skilled goalie assigned to each team is a major key to achieving equity among them. So if we do not have enough qualified goalies make it through the Lottery, we will prioritize newer goalies in the weighting. Signing up as a goalkeeper is never a guaranty of getting in, but a good goalie has a much better chance than a field player.
Can my friend and I play together on the same team?In order to maintain parity among teams, players (whose abilities vary greatly) are assigned to teams individually via a draft. This does not necessarily mean you and your friend will not be on the same team, but does significantly lessen the chance of being on the same team. Direct family members may request to be placed on the same team, but the final decision resides with the commissioner of the league.
I'm going to miss several games due to travel, can I still play in the league?
Team size is kept low to maintain manageability and maximum playing time for all thus attendance at games by all players is critical. As a result the League requests that players only sign up if they are confident they can ATTEND AT LEAST TWO-THIRDS OF THE SCHEDULED REGULAR SEASON GAMES. Any player who MISSES THREE CONSECUTIVE GAMES (without requesting a sub) is subject to immediate substitution (for minimum two more games) by the League; any player who MISSES FOUR TOTAL GAMES (without requesting a sub) is subject to immediate replacement as well as suspension from all SROP Soccer Leagues for one year. Individuals who would like to play in the league but cannot commit to the above requirements may request to be placed on the sub list. All other registration and rating requirements apply, though no payment is required at the time the application is submitted.