Archive for the ‘What’s New’ Category

What’s New!

Wednesday, December 14th, 2016

Here’s what’s new on the Norcal Football site.

Game Notes

Sunday, October 2nd, 2016

2017 PLAYOFF SCHEDULE NOTES

HOSTS AS WELL HAS THE PRESIDENTS OF TEAMS PLAYING ARE TO REPORT SCORES– IMPORTANT – Please send me your scores for Sunday games as soon as the games are over.  I need the time to get the playoffs schedule for the Nov4/5 games together so I can get them out on Monday instead of Tuesday.  I would appreciate if you could text or email the scores of the games to me as they end.

REFEREES FOR PLAYOFFS ON OCT 29: Art has the games at SFF and 300.  Andrea has the games at Elk Grove.  Mike has the games at OGHS.

NOTE 1: GAMES TIMES HAVE BEEN SET TO ENSURE PARENTS HAVE TIIME TO MOVE BETWEEN LOCATIONS SO THAT THEY CAN SEE THEIR KIDS PLAY.  THIS IS GOOD FOR THE KIDS, THE PARENTS AND THE GATE FOR THE HOSTS.  ANY CHANGE WOULD LIKELY HAVE A DOMINO EFFECT AND PARENTS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ALL THEIR KIDS IN PLAYOFFS.  So because all 4 locations are playing on Sunday, I was not able to ensure the Host has a team playing in the last game of the day on this coming weekend.

NOTE 2: IF A TEAM HOSTING IS LISTED AS THE VISITOR, THEY WILL BE ON THE HOME SIDE OF THE FIELD AND THE CHAINS WILL ALSO BE ON THE HOME SIDE OF THE FIELD – PER NOR CAL RULES.

2017 WEEK 8 GAME NOTES

STANDING ATTACHED – SEEDINGS AND MATCH-UPS WILL BE OUT SHORTLY.  JUST GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW LOOKING FOR ANY MISTAKES.  Please let me know ASAP if I have your standings wrong.

WHO’S INTERESTED IN GOING TO NATIONALS.  Incudes both D1 and D2 for the JP level, D2 for the 14U level and D1 for the PW and JM levels:
MM: 300
CAD: No teams interested.  AYF has been notified and we gave up our guaranteed slot.
JP: (D1 and D2) SFF, 300, SFB, PAK.
PW: (D1 ONLY) SFB – Confirmed to go to Nationals. If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.  We notified AYF that we will NOT be sending a D2 team.
JM (D1 ONLY): SFF, SD.
14U: (D2 ONLY): TCK – Confirmed to go to Nationals.  If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.

2017 WEEK 8 SCHEDULE NOTES

CHEER COMPETITION SUNDAY OCTOBER 22 – We have no football games scheduled for Sunday Oct 22 so hopefully your football players can support the cheerleaders who supported them all year long!  Kathy has sent out info to everyone about times, locations etc…  Please refer to her emails for more information.

REPORT SCORES FOR SATURDAY GAMES BY SATURDAY NIGHT – IMPORTANT – Please send me your scores for Saturday games no later than Saturday night and do not wait until Sunday.  I need the additional time to get the playoffs seeding and matchups together for Monday.  In fact I would appreciate if you could text  or email the scores of the games to me as they end as I need time to go through all the tie-breakers and set the match ups to have them ready by Monday afternoon.

IS IT OK TO HAVE MORE THAN 4 TEAMS IN DIVISION 1?  Yes.  Previously I stated the top 4 teams would be placed in Division 1 but I also said, in the same email, that teams can move up to D1 or down to D2 if there is room as long as we have at least 4 teams in each division.  As was also indicated in the prior emails, we let each team decide for themselves what they want to do and what is best for their program rather than us imposing what someone else wants them to do.  If 5 or 6 teams want to be in D1, that is ok with me. If others have the opportunity and want to go D2, that is ok with me.  I would expect that whatever other teams decide, should be respected and ok with everyone else too.

ALL FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF GAMES WILL BE PLAYED ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 29.  We do not have any fields available or scheduled for Saturday Oct 28 at this time.

REFEREES FOR PLAYOFFS ON OCT 29: Art has the games at SFF and 300.  Andrea has the games at Elk Grove.  Mike has the games at OGHS.

WHO’S INTERESTED IN GOING TO NATIONALS?  Incudes both D1 and D2 for the JP level, D2 for the 14U level and D1 for the PW and JM levels:

MM: 300
CAD: No teams interested.  AYF has been notified and we gave up our guaranteed slot.
JP: (D1 and D2) SFF, 300, SFB, PAK.
PW: (D1 ONLY) SFB – Confirmed to go to Nationals. If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.  We notified AYF that we will NOT be sending a D2 team.
JM (D1 ONLY): SFF, SD.
14U: (D2 ONLY): TCK – Confirmed to go to Nationals.  If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.

2017 WEEK 7 GAME NOTES

REMINDER: TM COACHES:  TM coaches are reminded that seeding for playoffs is based upon ranking by the TM coaches (one per team).  Coaches are to send in their seeding after week 7 between Monday October 16 and Wednesday October 18 so we have time to match up the match ups for the playoff schedule which comes out on Monday Oct 22.  Coaches should look at the teams listed and will rank either the Northeast or Southwest (whichever bracket that team falls under).  Even though there are no standings kept or scores posted, most TM coaches follow other TM teams.  If you do not, than you should probably leave the voting to those coaches who scout and monitor other TM teams.

TEAMS THAT HAVE QUALIFIED FOR PLAYOFFS WITH 3 WINS OR TEAMS WITH 2 WINS THAT PUT IN FOR PLAYOFFS ARE LISTED IN THE STANDINGS.  Please let me know if there are any issues as we do NOT want any forfeits during playoffs.  Any team with a 2 -5 record who wins this weekend will qualify for playoffs (Example: SSV MM etc…).

CHEER COMPETITION SUNDAY OCTOBER 22 – We have no football games scheduled for Sunday so hopefully your kids can support the cheerleaders who supported them all year long!  Kathy has sent out info to everyone about times, locations etc…  Please refer to her emails for more information.

UPDATED (AYF has advised there will be no D2 national Championship similar to the JM level):

WHO’S INTERESTED IN GOING TO NATIONALS (NOTE: Other than the teams listed below, 14U and PW teams have until Monday 9 am to notify me if they are interested in going to nationals. Otherwise we will offer the guaranteed slots to the teams listed below.  This must be done to ensure we have a representative for those levels and do not lose our guaranteed slot at Nationals).  Incudes both D1 and D2 qualification except for the Cadet and JM level (No D2 National Championships):

MM: 300
CAD: (D1 ONLY) 300, SD
JP: SFF, 300, SFB, PAK
PW: (D1) SFB – Confirmed to go to Nationals. If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.  We will be notifying AYF today that we will NOT be sending a D2 team.
JM (D1 ONLY): SFF, PAK
14U: (D2 ONLY): TCK – Confirmed to go to Nationals.  If anyone else puts in to go at this point they would have to go as a wild card if there was an opening.

 

2017 WEEK 7 GAME CANCELLATIONS

GAME CANCELLATIONS AND IMPACT TO STANDINGS – As I have been reporting throughout the week schools and school districts have been cancelling games due to air quality issues.  While all games on Saturday were cancelled for this reason, most games for Sunday are still scheduled.  Hosts are responsible to notify their opponents and referees if that changes.  I will not be able to send out any more updates after this one as I will be traveling the rest of the afternoon.  Teams who had their games cancelled due to safety reasons, in this case air quality, will receive bye wins.  If games this weekend were cancelled for any other reason, per Nor Cal rules, the Visitor will receive a bye win and the host no game.  While this will likely result in more teams qualifying for playoffs, it will also likely result in having less room in playoffs for 2 win teams.

THERE WILL BE PLAYOFFS – Some people seem to be worrying for NO REASON.  I am getting questions like “will there be playoffs and what are we going to do about all the games cancelled by the fires and temperatures” etc…  The fact is we can’t control the weather so there is nothing we can do about that but as far as the things under our control – like playoffs – The games will be played and we will seed teams based on record no matter how many regular season games are played.

2017 PLAYOFF INFORMATION

PLAYOFF INFORMATION:  This is just a note so everyone knows some basic information on playoffs.

  1. Based on the number of teams in each level of play and to be consistent, the top 4 teams in each division (MM to JM) will be D1 regardless of record.  All others will be D2.
  2. Most teams other than 14U, TM and D2 Cadets will have a first week bye and play on Nov 4/5.  There will be some exceptions if there is a 5th or 6th seeded team in D2 playoffs MM to JM.
  3. 15U will play their Championship Game on Nov 4 @ the Oakland Dynamites field.
  4. The 14U level will play their Championship Game on Nov 11 @ the Sac Raiders field.
  5. TM, MM, CADET, JP, PW and JM D1 and D2 will play their Championship games on Nov 18/19 weekend @ either SSV or OKD fields.
  6. On Monday October 23 I will send out the seeding information for all levels and presidents can let me know by 10 PM Monday night if there are any issues.  There will be no playoff meeting.
  7. On Tuesday October 24 the playoff times, days and locations will be sent out for the first week of playoffs (October 28/29).
  8. Playoff match-ups, times, days and locations will be sent out each Monday starting Monday Nov 6.
  9. For Nov 4/5 weekend an association in Sacramento dropped hosting playoffs so Sac teams, other than the Sac Ducks who are hosting, should expect to travel outside of Sacramento the second week of playoffs.
  10. Nov 11/12 playoff games are only at the SR field so any teams playing week 3 during playoffs will have to travel to Sacramento (TM semi-finals, Cadet D2 semi-finals and the 14U Championship game are expected to be played that weekend).
  11. Week 8 and during playoffs I will need presidents and hosts to send me game scores immediately after their games are completed.
  12. If a team is looking like they will be in D2 wants to move up to D1 they must notify me by Sunday October 15 by 10 PM but there must be at least 4 teams left in the D2 bracket and/or one of the D1 teams must agree to go to D2 (lowest seed given first option).
  13. If there are teams tied for the final playoff spot in D1 with no tie-breaker, those teams would first be given the option to move to D2 or stay D1 and if possible their requests will be granted as long as there were 4 teams left in both D1 and D2 playoffs.  The exception would be if both teams wanted to move to D2 leaving only 3 teams in D1.  In that case they would both stay in D1 as long as there were still 4 teams in the D2 bracket.
  14. If a team is hosting they will be scheduled at home unless their opponent is also hosting and is a higher seed.
  15. Every effort will be made to ensure the last game of the day includes a team from the hosting association (needed in most cases for clean-up etc…).

WHO’S INTERESTED IN GOING TO NATIONALS (NOTE: Other than the teams listed below, 14U and PW teams have until Monday 9 am to notify me if they are interested in going to nationals. Otherwise we will offer the guaranteed slots to the teams listed below.  This must be done to ensure we have a representative for those levels and do not lose our guaranteed slot at Nationals).  Incudes both D1 and D2 qualification except for JM level (No D2 National Championship):

  • MM: 300 (We only have one slot and 300 was the only one who put in for it when we first asked who was interested.  300 was awarded the guaranteed slot)
  • CAD: TCK, SFB, SP, 300
  • JP: SFF, 300, SFB, PAK
  • PW: SFB, SP,
  • JM (D1 ONLY): SFF, PAK
  • 14U: (D2 ONLY): TCK

WASHINGTON STATE is sending teams to Nationals for D1: 11U and 13U.

2017 WEEK 5 GAME NOTES

AFTER YOUR GAME THIS WEEK AT YOUR TEAM MEETING WHERE EVRYONE GATHERS AROUND THE COACHES AND KIDS – TALK TO YOUR PARENTS ABOUT SPORTSMANSHIP- Please make sure coaches talk to their parents to ensure they understand we will take action against the team for the actions of the parents.  We cannot just do nothing in response to the actions of parents who do not care what you do to them.  So please talk to your parents about how they conduct themselves and emphasize not saying negative things to kids on another team or to kids that do not belong to them.

KEEP SIDELINE CLEAR – FROM PAGE 11 OR THE NOR CAL RULEBOOK – C) SIDELINE PERSONNEL:  Other than the ball boy, water boy and coach trainee everyone on the sidelines should be at least 21 years old.  Please keep your sideline clear of former players, brothers of players and any non-roster personnel under the age of 21.  Presidents and AD’s can make exceptions if appropriate but make sure the kids are not yelling on the sidelines and unintentionally intimidating the kids on the field.  IT JUST LEADS TO PROBLEMS IF YOU ALLOW NON-BADGED PERSONNEL ON THE SIDELINE.

HANDSHAKE RULES – ASSIGN A COACH TO KEEP FANS OFF THE FIELD DURING THE HANDSHAKE AT THE END OF THE GAME – We seem to have all kinds of fans and parents coming onto the field during the handshake – some of them with bad intentions who don’t care about anything except how they feel about the game and the opposing players/coaches.  TELL YOUR FANS BEFORE THE GAMES THAT THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE FIELD AFTER THE GAME

Please review the following with your coaches:

MPR RULES – ALSO See MPR National Rules Page 29 and Nor Cal rules Page 10 WHICH SAY THE SAME IDENTICALTHING. MPR must be completed by the end of the third quarter or players must immediately enter the game at the start of the fourth quarter. Two adults must be supplied to monitor the opposing teams MPR. Failure to complete the MPR by the winning team results in forfeiture of the game plus suspension of the coach on the second offense.  MPR 4th quarter rule: The penalty for not putting kids in at start of the 4th qtr/TM with 10 minutes to go and keeping the kids in until they complete their MPR is as follows: FIRST OCCASION – Head Coach suspended one week.  SECOND OFFENSE – coach is suspended for the remainder of the season.

TINY MITE PLAY CLOCK – Tiny Mites are subject to the same amount of time between plays as any other level and it need to be called by the referees within reason.  Giving extended time between plays is affects the MPR players and the coaches ability to get all of his players into the game.

2017 WEEK 1 GAME NOTES

HEAT RELATED GAMES: There were some games called off by the host or league officials last weekend for safety reasons due to the heat.  In those cases, as we stated on Friday, both teams received a bye win.  If a visiting team decided not to play due to the heat and called off in advance of the game, they were given NO GAME as we are not going to penalize a team for not playing due to safety reasons by giving them a loss.  The home team, who was not involved in the decision not to play, was given a bye win.  If you have any questions please see the NOR CAL PROCEDURES and last sentence of procedure 12.0 on PAGE 16.

SCHEDULE DATED 9/1 – As of today you should be using the updated schedule dated 9/1 – not the schedule dated 8/25.  A new updated schedule will be out on Friday 9/8 and on each Thursday night or Friday during the regular season.  If your schedule for this weekend needs to be changed you will be notified this week – as soon as we get notified of any change.

SPORTSMANSHIP:  So far there have been no reported ejections OF PLAYERS OR COACHES from games last weekend.

2017 NOTE TO THE PRESIDENTS ON SCHEDULE CHANGES

NOTE TO PRESIDENTS ON SCHEDULE CHANGES –More and more presidents are objecting to unexplained time changes different than what this schedule indicates, so we are going to stick to the schedule unless I made a mistake or the school changes your location and/or day.  NOR CAL RULES STATE NO SCHEDULE CHANGES ARE PERMITTED WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE NOR CAL PRESIDENT AND IT WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED IF THERE IS A VALID REASON.  If you make a change on your own you could end up FORFEITING any games you moved or changed.

Each association set their own game times and will have to stick with what they have (unless for example a team drops and there is a 2 hour hole in the schedule due to a drop or forfeit which will need to be fixed).  If you move to a different school or a different day the game times will remain the same.  I received too many complaints last year about forcing hundreds of parents, coaches and kids to change their plan because (for example) a coach had a work schedule conflict.  It will NOT be allowed this year.

SCHEDULE PRIORITIES: Keeping teams together, ensuring no team had 2 byes, limiting repeat games and ensuring no team is scheduled to play someone 3 times, not including the Jamboree, were the top priorities with the schedule.  Unfortunately there were drops which had a major impact on the ability to keep your teams together.  I know there may be weekends where your teams are scattered but it could not be helped due to all the drops.

14U/15U TEAMS: There are only a total of eight 14U/15U teams.  Due to keeping families traveling together and the small number of teams every team has at least one repeat game and a possibly a bye.

Please let me know if one of your teams has 2 byes or plays the same team 3 times not including the Jamboree, as that would be a mistake on my part which would have to be corrected.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SCHEDULE (FAQ).

WHY DON’T MY TM – JM TEAMS ALWAYS TRAVEL AND/OR PLAY TOGETHER?

Many associations do not have complete families in their Tiny Mite to JM family line up.  We tried to keep teams together as much as possible and were successful in most cases, but if for example one association dropped a JM team and their opponent dropped a Pee Wee team, both teams needed someone else to play so there is no way to keep everyone together.

WHY ARE THERE BYES?

The reason there are byes is because there is an odd number of teams on the some levels and/or two teams were at home with nobody else to play or two teams with byes were at home and there was no fair way to send one team to the other.  If you have a bye please don’t make plans yet.  We want to make sure we do not have any more drops as that would change us from odd to even and there would be games to play.  No team should have more than one bye.  Also on some weeks multiple teams at home have byes due to the visiting teams dropping, so coaches have the option of setting up their own game if they choose to play.

WHY AREN’T ALL MY ASSOCIATION TEAMS PLAYING TOGETHER AT HOME ON A HOME DATE?

There are only a two occasions when this happened.  In short sometimes when teams dropped, both the teams that dropped were visitors and the remaining teams were both at home.  In order to ensure the kids get to play a game one team had to give up a home game and was scheduled away so they get to play and to avoid multiple byes.  We tried to balance it out so that everyone had 4 home games.  Some teams may be impacted by a bye at home so the worst case is everyone will have at least 3 home games in spite of byes and lost home games.

WHY DO I PLAY REPEAT GAMES?

If two teams on a level dropped and the teams they were supposed to play already played each other, we broke up other games where possible to avoid repeat games.  However we could not take a team away from traveling with the rest of their family.  We only have few repeat games TM – JM during the regular season, other than on the 14U/15U levels where there are only 8 total teams.

IS THIS THE FINAL SCHEDULE?

Yes this is the final schedule but it will change each week (teams drop, schools make changes and I have to correct any errors) so it is your responsibility to keep up with changes.  Make sure to look for the updated schedule each Friday during the season and/or check our website: ncalfootball.com.

NOTE TO ASSOCATIONS THAT DID NOT FIELD A FULL SET OF TEAMS FROM TINY MITE TO JM:

If you do not have a full set of 5 teams (TM to JM) then you are obviously putting other associations into situations where their teams cannot travel together and/or they have to play repeat games.  PLEASE BE CLEAR – YOU ARE FORCING OTHER ASSOCIATIONS TEAMS TO TRAVEL TO DIFFERENT FIELDS EVERY SINGLE WEEK SO WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOUR ASSOCIATION, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN.  In some cases we scheduled extra games at your field so the visiting associations could stay together.  On other occasions due to drops and or an association not filling a full set of teams, visitors were not able to travel with their families.  Also there are situations where associations are playing at home and due to a visiting association not having a team on a level, a team may have to travel to another location to play a game while the rest of the teams are at home.  We tried to keep families together and in most cases were successful.  However when families are not together it is because your opponent had drops and did not field a full family of teams.

2017 HOME SCHEDULE UPDATE

NEW HOME SCHEDULE –To ensure when the schedule comes out next Friday August 25 that people know what to expect, attached is the new home schedule for 2017.  Thanks go out to VBE and OGS for switching some home dates to help balance out the number of home fields each week.

2017 LOCATION UPDATE FOR COACHES CERTIFICATION

UPDATED LOCATIONS FOR COACHES CERTIFICATION:  Listed below are the dates and locations for the Nor Cal Coaches Clinics.  Please make sure your head coaches attend one of the clinics.  Your Head Coaches can attend any one of the clinics listed but MUST ATTEND one clinic for the team to get certified.

Saturday July 22 Vallejo (Ranon)
St. Pats/St. Vincent’s high school in Vallejo.
1500 Benicia Rd, Vallejo, CA 9459
Time: Football coaches 9 am – 2 pm.  Cheer coaches 12 to 3:30 pm

Saturday, July 22 Sacramento (Kim).  Fruitridge Community Center.  4000 Fruitridge Rd.  Sacramento, CA  95820
Cheerleading, Dance and Step Staff: Check in at 9:00am; Certification from 10:00am-12:00pm
Board of Directors and Football Staff: Check in at 11:00am; Certification from 11:45-2:00pm

FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE: JULY 24

2017 HOME SCHEDULE/JAMBOREE/TEAM STRENGTH/COACHES CLINIC INFO

UPDATED AND/OR CRITICAL INFORMATION IS HIGHLIGHTED BELOW:

NEW: ATTACHED IS THE UPDATED HOME SCHEDULE AND LEAGUE STRUCTURE.  Changes to the home schedule were made as the Delta Ducks (Stockton) took the SF Bandits home schedule with changes made to reduce travel (specifically changing DD at PAK and Watsonville at Stockton which impacted some other programs).  Opponents are listed but are still subject to change without notification.  Home DATES will NOT be changed unless you are notified and agree to the change.  DD will also take the Bandits place at the Jamboree at FFHS (see below).

NEW: 14U, 15U AND MM – After starting work on the time and day schedule I need to reiterate that the new levels (14U, 15U and MM) which we are trying to grow are NOT traveling with rest of the family the majority of the time.  There are going to be growing pains for these 3 divisions in the form of traveling on their own, although I am making every effort to keep them at home when the rest of your teams are at home.

NEW: 7 GAMES AT A FIELD ON ONE DAY – There is also a lot of concern being expressed about associations attempting to host 7 games at one field on the same day including at OKD, EBP, 300, SR and SP.  I WILL BE IN CONTACT WITH THESE ASSOCIATIONS TO REVIEW THEIR PLAN.  As if there is a delay at their field a 7 pm game could easily move to 8:30 pm or even a 9 pm start which makes visiting coaches and parents very upset.  If you don’t have a plan like a side field, we will limit the number of games on your field to 6 games.

JAMBOREES – I want to clarify that Certification and the Jamborees are two separate events.  We have 24 associations and 4 Jamboree sites so I have scheduled 6 associations at each of the 4 Jamboree locations, which do not necessarily correlate to your certification location.  You cannot change locations unless you find someone with your identical team strength (if you have a MM team, they would have to have a MM teams etc…) who agrees to switch with you and I approve it.   Except in one case, locations are scheduled to ensure that teams have opponents to play at each of their levels at their scheduled location (for example there are two locations for 15U, three locations for 14U etc…).  The High School where you will play, times and day will be determined by your host.  Associations are scheduled for Jamborees as follows:

Saturday Aug 26 @ GRANT HS, Sacramento – SD, SR, SO, SSV, SH, CSK
Saturday Aug 26 @ FAIRFIELD HS – SFB, SFF, EBP, SP, VR, DD
Sunday Aug 27 @ VALLEY CHRISTIAN HS, Vacaville- VBE, NCO, NCD (Redding), VJ, BB, OKD
Sunday Aug 27 @ OAK GROVE HS, San Jose – OG, PAK, TCS, TCK, 300, AG

PLAYOFFS –Playoff dates are included on the home schedule.  PLEASE INCLUDE THESE DATES WHEN REQUESTING YOUR FIELD DATES FROM YOUR HIGH SCHOOL.  There may be minor changes because at this point we can only estimate the number of teams which qualify and play each weekend.  Any changes will be discussed with the affected association before the playoff schedule is finalized.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  Listed below are the dates and locations for the Nor Cal Coaches Clinics.  Please make sure your head coaches attend one of the clinics.  Your Head Coaches can attend any one of the clinics listed but MUST ATTEND one clinic for the team to get certified.

Saturday July 15 San Jose (Kathy)
Oak Grove Hall.  107 East Alma
San Jose, CA
Start Time: Football coaches 10 am – 2 pm.  Cheer coaches 11:45 to 3 pm.

Saturday July 22 Vallejo (Ranon)
Norman C. King, 545 Magazine, Street,
Vallejo, California 94590.
Time: Football coaches 9 am – 2 pm.  Cheer coaches 12 to 3:30 pm

Saturday, July 22 Sacramento (Kim)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
9175 West Stockton Blvd.
Elk Grove CA, 95758
Check in at 9 am
Start Time: Football coaches 10 am – 2 pm.  Cheer coaches 11:45 to 3 pm.

FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE: JULY 24

2016 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AYF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND NATIONAL PLACERS.

Nor Cal had a great showing in Orlando Florida.  The complete list of Football teams and Cheer squads who won or placed is listed below:

FOOTBALL:

SF 49’ERS – D2 CADET NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
300 ELITE BLUE – D1 CADET 3RD PLACE
OAK GROVE RATTLERS – D1 JP 3RD PLACE
SF BROWN BOMBERS – D2 JP 4TH PLACE

CHEER:

SF BROWN BOMBERS – DIVISION 8 WHITE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
SAN PABLO COWBOYS – DIVISION 8 WHITE RUNNER UP
OAK GROVE ROUGHRIDERS – DIVISION 14 WHITE RUNNER UP
OAK GROVE RAMS – DIVISION 12 WHITE RUNNER UP
TRI-COUNTIES – DIVISION 18 SMALL RED 3RD PLACE

2016 FINALS NOTES

I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I would personally like to thank Ranon, Kim, Mike, Kathy, Denise, Tremaine and all the volunteers who made the championship games a great success, as well as all the presidents, coaches and volunteers who helped make a great season for the kids!

4 OVERTIME GAMES HIGHLIGHT COMPETITION AT THE NOR CAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES – Listed below are the Division I Nor Cal Champions for the 2016 season.  Three of the Division I games went to overtime while 3 other games were within one touchdown and many of those games featured teams that came from behind to win.  In Division II the Sac Ducks Cadets came from behind to take the game to triple OT.  See all of the results attached:

DIVISION I CHAMPIONS:

15U: 300 ELITE SPARTANS 11-0 (beat SR 25-19 in OT)
JM: SOLANO WARRIORS 11-0 (beat OGW 16-8)
PW: SOUTH SAC VIKINGS 11-0 (beat OGS 13-6 in OT)
JP: OAK GROVE RATTLERS 10-0-1 (beat VBE 22-14)
CAD: SOLANO WARRIORS 11-0 (beat 3LB 21-0)
TM (North): SAC DUCKS (beat VBE 14-7 in OT)
TM: (South): OAK GROVE (beat SFF 14-6)

2016 SEMI-FINALS NOTES

IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU ARE GOING TO NATIONALS – If you are taking a football team or cheer squad to nationals I need numbers of ROSTERED KIDS AND COACHES GOING (NOT # of kids and coaches on the roster) by 10 am Monday morning.  Money will be divided at that point with no possibility of changing it if something comes in late; after teams are advised of amounts.

No Changes to the schedule. 

REFEREES AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES – If you are participating in the games please PASS THIS INFORMATION TO YOUR COACHES, PLAYERS AND PARENTS SO THEY CAN REST ASSURED THAT THE REFS FOR THE GAMES WILL BE IMPARTIAL.  We do this so COACHES CANNOT USE REFEREES AS AN EXCUSE FOR LOSING.  Also if you have coaches NOT participating, please pass this info on to them so they know how we utilize referees for the championship games:

AT OGHS – Art Cruz who provides refs for SF, Oakland, Vallejo and Fairfield will be providing the referees at Oak Grove.
AT 3LE – Daniel Klausner who provides refs for the Mid-Peninsula will be providing refs at Oakland.  There are no Mid-Peninsula teams playing in Oakland.
ALL-STAR GAMES – Andrea will provide refs for all 5 Local All-Star Games hosted by the Vallejo Jags on Nov 27

CHAMPIONSHIP PARTICIPATION – Over 50% of the associations in Nor Cal (11 out of 21) still have at least one team participating in the Nor Cal Championship games.  OG leads with 4 teams in the Championship games while 3LE, SD, SFF and VBE each have 3 teams participating in the finals.

SCHEDULE – Normally the last game of the day belongs to the Host association however 3LE requested to play their 15U game early so all of their teams could play back-to-back.

MATCH UPS OF UNDEFEATED TEAMS – We have 3 games where undefeated teams are playing each other this weekend:

At Oakland – 1030 am -D1 CAD: SOL (10-0) – 3LB (10-0)*
At Oakland – 1230 pm -D1 15U: SR (10-0) – 3LE (10-0)*
In San Jose – 530 pm – D1 JM: SOL (10-0) – OGW (10-0)*

There are also 2 other games at OGHS where undefeated teams play a one-loss team including the D1 Pee Wee Regional Championship game where the winner goes to Florida:

130 pm – D1 JP: VBE (9-1) – OGS (9-0-1)
330 pm – D1 PW: OGS (9-1) – SSV (10-0) (RC)

2016 PLAYOFF ROUND 2 NOTES

WHO’S GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Below is an updated list of teams who have expressed interest in going and/or qualified to go to Florida for the AYF National Championships in December.

Also I will need the cell phone numbers for the Head Coach and President or their representative at Nationals.  Please send those to me a soon as you qualify.

DI

  • CADET: 3LB – Going to Nationals
  • JP: OGS – Going to Nationals
  • PW: OGS, SSV
  • JM: OGW – Going to Nationals

D2

  • CADET: SFF, PAK – Winner of this weekend’s game qualifies for Nationals
  • JP: SFF, SFB
  • PW: No slot at nationals
  • JM: PAK – Going to Nationals

2016 PLAYOFF ROUND 1 NOTES

OAKLAND’s FIELD IS NOT YET SET – so ALL TIMES ARE TENATIVE AND COULD BE CHANGED.  As soon as Oakland gets their day and field confirmed we will resend the schedule.  In the meanwhile the current schedule, as of this moment, is attached.

WHO’S GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Below is an updated list of teams who have indicated they are interested in going to Florida for the AYF National Championships in December.

DI

  • CADET: 3LB – Going to Nationals
  • JP: OGS, SP – Winner of this weekend’s game qualifies for nationals
  • PW: OGS, PAK, SSV
  • JM: OGW, SB – Winner of this weekend’s game qualifies for Nationals

D2

  • CADET: OGW, SP, SFF, PAK
  • JP: SFF, SFB
  • PW: No slot at nationals
  • JM: PAK – Going to Nationals

Congratulations to the VACAVILLE BULLDOGS the 2016 winner of the NOR CAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD.  The Bulldogs will have their $250 association fees for 2017 paid by the Conference.  Prior winners (last time we left off SSV who were the co-award winner in 2013) include: 

  • 2016 – Vacaville Bulldogs
  • 2015 – Oakland Dynamites
  • 2014 – Tri Counties
  • 2013 – Vallejo Raiders/South Sacramento Vikings
  • 2012 – Vacaville Bengals/Sacramento Raiders

2016 PLAYOFF NOTES

REPORT SCORES FOR SATURDAY GAMES SATURDAY NIGHT – IMPORTANT – Please send me your scores for Saturday games on Saturday night and do not wait until Sunday.  I need the additional time to get the playoffs seeding and matchups together for our playoff meeting on Monday night.  In fact I would appreciate if you could text  or email the scores of the games to me as they end – especially teams playing on Sunday as I need time to go through all the tie-breakers and set the match ups in time for the Monday night meeting.

BADGES – You MUST HAVE YOUR COACHES BADGES TO BE ON THE SIDELINE.  If you are told to get off the sideline because you have no badge and you don’t leave you team will be subject to a forfeit and your TEAM will not be allowed to advance in the playoffs.  All it takes is the word of the host president that you refused to cooperate.  No other evidence is necessary or will be considered.

MPR FORMS – Make sure you have enough MPR forms for playoffs including announcers.  You don’t want to be knocked out of the playoffs due to not having a certified MPR.

2016 WEEK 7 GAME NOTES

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Just because a team put in to go to D2 national playoffs does not mean they automatically go D2.  If, for example, a team goes 7-1 they are in D1 playoffs, not D2 playoffs.  They may have put in for D2 national playoffs; but if they qualify for D1, they are D1.  In the example above the 7-1 team will NOT be in any D2 playoffs – Nor Cal or National, they will be in D1 all the way through.

Also please note changes below on JM level.

PLAYOFFS:  Each division and level of play must have at least 4 teams for playoffs.  With that in mind here are some guidelines for who will be in D1 and/or D2 playoffs:

To make D1 playoffs: 6-2 record or better.  An exception may be on 15U level where it is possible only three teams will have a record of 6-2 or better so 5-3 teams would need to move up.

To make D2 playoffs: 5-3 record to 3-5 record.  There may be exceptions on both the JP and JM levels where one or even two 6-2 teams may need to be moved down to D2 playoffs to ensure they have the 4 team minimum.

2016 WEEK 6 GAME NOTES

PLAYOFFS:  Each division and level of play must have at least 4 teams for playoffs.  With that in mind here are some guidelines for who will be in D1 and/or D2 playoffs:

To make D1 playoffs: 6-2 record or better.  An exception may be on 15U level where it is possible only three teams will have a record of 6-2 or better so 5-3 teams would need to move up.

To make D2 playoffs: 5-3 record to 3-5 record.  An exception may be the JP level where one or even two 6-2 teams may need to be moved down to D2 playoffs to ensure they have the 4 team minimum.

2016 WEEK 5 GAME NOTES

STAYING ON SCHEDULE:  In order to stay on schedule the following guidelines are in effect:

  • If the next game is going to start 30 minutes late – the 4th quarter is a running clock.
  • If the next game is going to start 45 minutes late – the second half is a running clock If the next game is going to start 1 hour or more late – The entire game is a running clock

These guidelines are in effect immediately.  It is up to the president to use them AND ADVISE TEAMS BEFORE THE GAME STARTS WHAT PART OF IT WILL BE A RUNNING CLOCK.

These guidelines do NOT have to be used UNLESS you have scheduled to start at 6 pm or later.  However if you have a full slate of games with the last game scheduled at 6 pm or later these guidelines MUST be used.

2016 WEEK 3 GAME NOTES

GAMES RUNNING LATE – One of the biggest problems we are having is games running late.  START THE FIRST GAME ON TIME!  When the first game runs late every game runs late.  Also have the teams for the next game warming up in the end zone with 4 minutes left on the clock, so the next game can be started right away.   Letting the games run themselves – refs and teams walking around smiling and talking when the game should have already started is leading to a BAD EXPERIENCE for parents.  Each host should put someone in charge of keeping the games moving.  That will go a long way towards keeping the games on-time.

2016 WEEK 2 GAME NOTES

PLAYER CARDS ONLY IN THE BOOK – Teams should now remove all supporting documents (birth certificate, physical etc…) from the player book except for the player cards and medical information.

LAST CHANCE TO ADD TO YOUR ROSTER Sep 15 – Just a reminder that Wednesday Sep 15 is the last day to add players or change teams.  You need to submit your rosters on-line to Nationals and send a copy to Nor Cal.  YOU CANNOT MAKE ANY ROSTER CHANGES AFTER Sep 15 except as noted below.  Players who have not made weight are encouraged to move up. If a child has not made weight by week 3, does not want to move up and wants to continue to try to make weight, that is ok but they must make weight during the regular season to be eligible for playoffs.

ADDING PLAYERS AFTER Sep 15: Medical notes from Doctors that a child cannot play football and/or drop forms must be provided on each dropped player in order to be allowed to add players. No players shall be added after Week 7. If the team falls below 14 players, needs additional players (to get back up to 16 players) and cannot produce the drop forms or medical notes BEFORE THE PLAYERS ARE ADDED; the players added after Sep 15 will not be allowed to participate in playoffs. Drop forms must be sent to the president of Nor Cal in order to get approval prior to adding players.

2016 WEEK 1 GAME NOTES

SPORTSMANSHIP – This was an excellent opening day weekend where kids just seemed to play football and there was not much else.  We had very few issues, no major problems and no reported ejections so far.

COMPETITION – We had 17 games played where the final score was within 2 touchdowns, while we had 11 games with a lop-sided score (30 points or more).

2016 OPENING WEEKEND – GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE.  Please read the important notes below.

SPORTSMANSHIP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!  The sportsmanship of players and coaches was outstanding last weekend but CANNOT SAY THE SAME FOR SOME OF THE PARENTS.  Coaches need to meet with parents and go over the PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT.  We will not tolerate poor sportsmanship by parents and it could affect your associations standing so make sure they are under control!

FIELD RULES – Please make sure to communicate all field rules to coaches, participants and parents each week.  Everyone needs to closely follow field rules because we do not anyone to lose their field.  It has happened in the past and we cannot allow it to happen in the future otherwise where are going to play our games?  Please make sure to communicate to everyone to follow the rules – including the no-tailgating rules every high school has.

SIDELINE CONTROL – Only badged personnel along with water and ball boy/girl are allowed on the sidelines.  Games may be stopped or even forfeited if head coaches do not keep their sideline under control.

2016 – JAMBOREE

PLEASE READ SO YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON – WHAT IS OK FOR THE JAMBOREE AND NOT OK.  It is different than regular season games.

Presidents…Attached are the Jamboree schedules – all of which are subject to change if teams drop out – but the times for each level are correct.  Please get the information to your coaches so they can scout if they so choose.  Some additional information:

  • Solano has moved their Jamboree to Sunday
  • Cheer must attend the Jamboree.  It is a fund-raiser for National travel and Cheer shares equally in the distribution of funds. If there are any concerns about space on the track, have them sit together in the stands.

IMPORTANT info on the Jamboree.  Kids can play even their cards are not stamped “ready for weigh-in” as long as they have a parent’s signature, physical and other documents needed to practice.   Some kid’s cards aren’t stamped because they don’t have a medical number or other minor reasons and we do not want to keep them from participating.

RULES REGARDING THE JAMBOREE –

  • IT’S A SCRIMMAGE – The jamboree is a practice scrimmage.  Therefore no MPR is required, game score may or may not be kept and uniforms are not required.  You do not need a full field as teams can play on half fields with or without the chains.
  • ADMISSION COST FOR THE JAMBOREE – Hosts can charge up to $5 per adult.
  • BADGES AND ROSTERS – Rosters can be used if coaches do not have their badge this weekend only.  Starting with week 1 a coach MUST HAVE A BADGE OR PAY THE $5.
  • SCHEDULE – It is up to the host to set up the Jamboree schedule.
  • INVITATIONS MUST BE SENT BY HOST – Send out the invitations and include times for each level including weigh-in time and field rules.
  • MANDATORY WEIGH-INS – Weigh-ins must be conducted to ensure players more than 10 overweight are NOT allowed to play.  Only kids whose cards are stamped “READY FOR WEIGHT IN” will have their weight recorded on their player card and have their player card signed by the weigh-master.
  • SCALES – If you have 3 or 4 teams you MUST have 2 scales certified this calendar year.  If you have 5 or 6 teams playing on a level, you must have 3 scales.  We do not want to fall behind time-wise because you have only one scale and are trying to weigh-in 4 or 5 teams etc… It is ok to ask another association to bring their scale and to use it for the day.
  • BE ORGANIZED – Have volunteers (at your gate) direct the coaches to where and when they are supposed to weigh-in as soon as the team arrives and let them know where they should go to warm up.
  • REFS AND MEDICS – The host must provide referees for the scrimmages and a Medic on the field as you would any other game.
  • GAME DAY ENVIORNMENT – Other than the items listed you should strive to provide a great game day experience for the kids.  It is their first major activity this season so let’s make it a great one.  We do expect to have Nor Cal officials at each of the Jamborees in case of any issues.

2016 – NEW REGIONAL CHEER DIRECTOR

Congratulations to Shannon Candelario, from Tri-Counties, who has been named the new Mountain Northwest Region Cheer & Dance Director by AYF Nationals