Hello all,
I know it is hard to believe that we have to think about scheduling already as it seems like summer is just beginning. However, dates and deadlines are fast approaching. As most of you know, we share the fields with a football organization in the fall, so field space is more constricted than in the Spring and timeliness and communication is critical to avoid any problems in scheduling.
I know that some of you only do select, some only premier, and some only MRL, however, please pay attention to the information below for all three levels as the dates and deadlines of each level impact the other levels.
Responsibility for scheduling
Please pay close attention to this. COACHES BEAR THE RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THEIR SCHEDULING IS PROPERLY DONE. You may delegate the job of scheduling to your team manager, but it is still the coaches responsibility to ensure that it is done properly. If deadlines are missed and fees incurred, the paid coach’s compensation is where the fines will be withheld from to make the errors correct.
Calendar of events
July 10th, State Cup Seeding meeting
July 13th MRL scheduling is open
July 19th- MSPSL draft divisions are posted
July 19th- GVSA draft divisions are posted
July 22-31 MSPSL scheduling begins, scheduling is frozen on July 31
July 26th GVSA divisions are frozen, no changes after this date
July 28th MRL scheduling is frozen
July 31, MRL scheduling meeting in Chicago for any teams that did not complete scheduling timely
August 1, deadline for State Cup preliminary games to be scheduled and submitted to the State Cup website
August 6-9 MSPSL schedule verification period, after this any game changes have a league fine of $100
July 31 GVSA elite scheduling meeting, all elite teams must be represented
August 3 GVSA draft schedule is posted
August 13 GVSA final schedule is posted, game changes after this have a league fine of $25
August 14 is the earliest State Cup, MRL, or MSPSL games may be scheduled
August 27-29, Crew Cup weekend, no home games may be scheduled that weekend
September 11, earliest GVSA games may be played
MVP fieldhouse information
No games may be scheduled for practice nights at MVP. If you absolutely have to play on a weeknight, then you are responsible for finding a venue. I highly discourage this, mostly because we seem to have the most problems with referees at other venues.
Games may not be scheduled at home the weekend of the Crew Cup, no exceptions.
11v11 games are scheduled on odd hours. 9, 11, 1, 3, 5, 7. 7pm games may be scheduled from the start of the season thru September 20, at which point it will be dark too soon to complete games.
8v8 and 6v6 games are scheduled at 5 or 6:30pm on Fridays, 8:30, 10, 11:30, 1pm, 2:30, 4pm, 5:30 or 7pm on weekends. Again, after Sept 20, no 7pm games may be scheduled.
Scheduling process
MRL, State Cup, MSPSL, and GVSA elite teams are all self scheduled, ie you as the coach or your manager must contact the other teams you play against and schedule your own games. The earlier this is done the more options that you have.
The live version of the schedule is kept by me [Chip Hoebeke], it is not the same as the one on the Crew website. That is a snapshot at a point in time. We will try to keep it as up to date as possible, but in the heat of the scheduling season it is not practical to try to update that every time a new game is scheduled,
To schedule a game, you should select several times that will work for the coach, verify those times are free on the MVP schedule, and then contact the other team. If you settle on a fixture, email it to me immediately. Please include all the info, time, date, field, opponent, and game number. Games are scheduled on a first emailed first scheduled basis, so do not delay or you may end up not getting your time.
I will keep GVSA updated on the times blocked off for MRL, State CUP, MSPSL, and Elite games, on August 3rd GVSA will post the draft schedule for the non-elite select teams. I will get this info onto my spreadsheet as quickly as possible and shortly thereafter get it on the website.
Reschedules
Once the schedules are out it is critical that coaches makes sure they look for any conflicts and work to resolve them. Again, you may delegate the task to a team manager, but it is still the coach that we hold responsible for the schedule.
If you need to reschedule a home game, find at least three alternative dates/times. Make sure the opponent is also free those times. Then look on the GVSA website for contact info and include everyone on the team contact list in your reschedule request. Each team is different, in some cases the coach handles it all, in others the team manager does. Once you settle on a reschedule date let me know immediately so that the time does not get booked by someone else. I will contact the league and the referees.
For away reschedules it is the same process, however the other club has to contact GVSA and the referees.
TIPS for rescheduling
Every year we have some teams that can reschedule an infinite number of games with no problems, and then there are other teams where one reschedule seems to require an act of Congress to get resolved. In some cases it is because the other side is just simply being difficult. However, I believe that in many cases the process gets derailed by our approach.
1 Be very polite and overly nice, even if the other party is being very difficult. You will only make things more difficult if you say something that is not sickeningly sweet.
2 Be very realistic in the alternate dates you give them. If you offer 3 Sunday 7am games, they will probably not be happy with you. Look for a variety of dates and times.
3 Be understanding, the other team may be doing six tournaments and times may be very challenging to agree on. Keep the conversation positive and with the goal of finding an excellent solution for both teams.
4 Do not add in any drama. Other teams do not need to know why you need to reschedule. Keep it short. Simply say that the team has a conflict and you’d like to try to find some other dates that might work. They don’t need to know about class trips, first communion, coach conflicts, or full moons.
Example reschedule email
Hello Coaches,
It looks like we’re scheduled to play at 10:30pm on September 15. Unfortunately our team has a conflict on that date. Is there any way that one of the following dates might work for a reschedule?
Sept 22 5pm
Sept 30, 9am
Oct 15, 3pm
Please let me know if any of those would work. If not, could you propose a couple options?
Thanks!!
Rescheduling problems
If you don’t hear back on an email within 72 hours, follow it up with a phone call to confirm the other team received it.
If you run into one of those special hard cases, get myself and Josh in the loop as soon as possible. Sometimes one of us can grease the wheels a bit.
Be realistic about your options. If you make it easy on the other team to reschedule, they usually will do so.
When in doubt, read this email, and if still in doubt email me with any questions.
Thanks all, enjoy the summer!
Chip Hoebeke
