The GMSA Summer League, presented by Ford, will begin its 18th season of play in June 2008.
Start date is Sunday, June 22nd; games will run for the next six weeks concurrently, and will end on Sunday, July 27th.. The Summer League has become a popular part of GMSA, as it is relatively inexpensive, a great way to help you stay in shape over the summer, and maintain (or improve) your skills between the Spring and Fall Seasons. This year, we will once again be playing all of our summer league games at the Mike Rose Complex.
There will be a single entry fee per
team. The fee for each team will be $186,
payable by Wednesday, June 11th. This one time fee will pay for everything
associated with summer league...your league registration fee,
field rental fee, AND your referee fees for all your games ($60 for each of
these three components, + $6 in sales tax on field rental). Each team will
play six or seven games, depending on length of schedule, and
number of teams entered. You may pay by check, or via credit card on-line.
On-line payments are preferred, but if you need to pay by check, mail ONE CHECK
for $186 to: GMSA Summer League -
P.O. Box 382577,
Germantown, TN 38138 -
(Multiple checks for partial amounts will not be accepted.)
If you are looking for a team
just for the summer, or if you are trying to join up with a team this Fall, please
be sure to post your name and information on our
New
Player Bulletin
Board. The summer season is a great way to "inaugurate"
new players to the league, try them out, and hopefully serve as a springboard
toward them joining a team for next season.
SUMMER LEAGUE SPECIAL RULES:
- Seven players per team on the field...six field players, plus a goalkeeper. In co-ed games, this means five men and two women on the field at the same time. If you do not have at least two women for a given game, you must play short by that many players. (i.e., if only one woman is there, you must play short by one player.) All players must be at least 16 years of age.
- All games are played on Sunday afternoons starting at 1:00 pm, and the last game starting at 7:00 pm. Games start every hour. Special schedule requests are not accepted for summer league games; you are expected to be able to play at any of the posted starting times.
- As we introduced in 2007, there will be NO SLIDE TACKLES allowed in summer league (much like indoor), except for the goalkeeper in attempting to make a save. Penalty: direct free kick from the spot of the infraction.
- There is no offside violation (much like indoor soccer).
- Goalkeepers may not punt the ball once they gain possession of it. They must throw it or play it with their feet to release it to another player. (Penalty...first offense, warning from referee....second offense, direct kick from spot of the infraction.)
- The pass-back rule for goalkeepers is the same as it is during a regular game...passes made intentionally with the feet cannot be picked up, nor can throw-ins be picked up.
- All free kicks are direct in nature (no indirect kicks, regardless of violation.) Penalty kicks may be awarded for fouls committed in front of the goal mouth at the discretion of the referee. Kicks will still be from the standard 12-yard mark.
- If the ball goes into touch, standard throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks will put the ball back in play. (There are no "kick-ins" in lieu of throw-ins.)
- Substitutions may be made "on-the-fly" or at any stoppage in play by either team.
- Halves are 25-minutes each. Games start ON THE HOUR. The referee's watch will start at the scheduled game time. If you aren't ready to play at game time, the clock starts anyway, and that much time will be subtracted from the game.
- Fields are less than half the size of a regulation-sized field, approximately 50 x 70. Goals will be full-size.
- While there are no yellow cards or red cards issued per se, referees maintain the right to "sub-out" any players who are playing recklessly, or who are creating significant problems, either for a period of time to "cool off", or permanently (depending on the issue). All players should play fairly at all times, keeping in mind that tempers often tend to run shorter when the temperatures are higher.
- Uniforms are encouraged, but not required; teams often will play "Shirts & Skins", or "White Shirts & Dark Shirts". It is highly recommended that you bring a white t-shirt and a dark-colored t-shirt to each game, especially for co-ed games (since "shirts & skins" obviously won't work in co-ed). It is preferable that your "dark shirts" all be the same color.
- Pick-up games are welcome. While each team is scheduled to play at certain times, anyone interested in playing can usually find a game. Each team will be scheduled for six or seven games, and games are played on Sunday afternoons, beginning around 1:00 p.m., with the last game beginning around 7:00 p.m. A schedule will be published about a week prior to the beginning of play.
- This isn't a rule, just a very strong recommendation...BRING WATER! These games are played in the middle of the summer...and for those who haven't lived in Memphis for very long, that usually means that temperatures will be between 90 and 100 degrees, with very high humidity levels...it's very easy to get dehydrated if you're not careful. So again, BRING WATER! We will provide water coolers at the fields again this season, but it is best to have your own...the water coolers sometimes run out quickly!
- You should also remember that summer league is (and has always been) non-sanctioned; that is, there is no individual player registration with TSSA or other organizations. As such, any injuries that are incurred are your sole responsibility. The supplemental insurance that exists during our regular season does not apply during summer league.
- Every effort will be made to play all scheduled games. However, any games that are not played because of rain, or other weather-related issues (lightning, etc.) will not be rescheduled.
Special note:
As many of you know, MRSC uses the summer months to perform maintenance on the fields (sodding, sprigging, etc.). In seasons past, they have worked on the 13 other fields immediately after the Spring season ends, but have waited until after our summer season was over to start work on the three fields that we use for summer league play.
However, as most of you have noticed, the fields have taken quite a beating in recent years, due to the increasing number of games played at MRSC, and are rather chewed up at this point in the year. As such, we want to work with the complex, and are arranging things during the summer such that MRSC can get a head start on maintenance for the three fields that we will be using. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated in this regard.
In years gone by, the water coolers were placed in the middle of each field (where the center circle would normally be). This year, the coolers and bleachers will be placed on the opposite sides (where the goals normally are), so that sprigging/sodding work can begin in the center of each of the three fields. NO ONE should sit or stand between the small-sided fields. An orange barrier will be put up around the maintenance area to remind you to stay out of that area. The set up for each full-sided field will look something like this:
All players and spectators should stay on the bleacher side of each field at all times. The coolers will be placed on the bleacher side as well.If you have any questions, please let me know. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated by MRSC and by the league.Thanks.Curt
