In April 2015, the Sac-Joaquin CIF Section voted to move both boys’ and girls’ soccer programs to the Winter season. By doing so, the CIF rules regarding Winter seasons places restrictions on the student athletes’ availability to participate in programs outside of high school.

Specifically, CIF Bylaw 600 defines Outside Competition and the impact on Soccer. AYSO players who also play for their high school team are allowed to  play in unorganized pickup games, but programs with defined teams are not allowed without an eligibility penalty.

As a result, AYSO will need to carefully craft our calendar of competition events to not overlap with the defined season for Winter high school unless we want to place our players in a position where they must choose which program is more important to them.

Incidentally, parts of Area 2D have already been affected by scheduling of Winter soccer in the CIF North Coast Section for quite some time along with our sister Area 2C.

When viewing the calendar for Winter sports (Sac-Joaquin calendar, for example), there are multiple dates listed. For the purpose of Bylaw 600, the date defining the beginning of the Winter season is the date of the school’s first regularly-scheduled game, which can be scheduled no earlier than the “1st Contest Date” listed on the calendar – usually in late November.

The end of the Winter season is defined by the last game played by the school. This date may extend through February and into March if the school participates in post-season playoffs.