11v11 - Villanova Stadium
                                                           Individual Skills - Austin Field/Sheehan Field
                                                           Rain Plan: The Far Post (Oaks, PA)

Events

• Team Competition (11v11)
• Team Competition (5v5)
• Individual Skills

  • This is an entry-level event.  Athletes entered in this event may not participate in other events.  They may, however, be listed as alternates for team competition.

Attire

Awards

Equipment

Facilities

Rules — Download the Special Olympics Official Soccer Rules

1. The roster size may not exceed 15 players for this competition.
2. Divisions are based upon the team skills assessment tests, results from sectional competition and preliminary round of play.  Top players must start each preliminary or classification game on Friday.  What is divisioning?
3. The duration of the game shall be minimally two, 20-minutes halves
4. Round robin tournament play will be used for divisions of three  or more teams. A best of three series will be used for divisions of two  teams.
5. If overtime is used to break a tie, two 7 1/2-minute "sudden death" overtime periods are used (first goal scored wins).  If the game is still tied after the overtime periods, penalty kicks will be used to break the tie: five players shall be selected from the competing players on the field for each team.
6. The process to be used to break a tie record for the tournament will be as follows:

       a. Head to head competition (for a two-way tie)

       b. Least points scored against (all games for the teams tied within pool play)

       c. Point Differential (all games for the teams tied within pool play)*

       d. Tie

* In the final standings of round robin competition, a team can only win or lose by a maximum of four goals per match.  For example, a team that wins a match 8-2 will get the maximum + 4 point differential.  A team that loses 6-1, will get the maximum - 4 point differential.

B.     5v5 Competition:

1. The roster size may not exceed eight players for this competition.                     
2. Divisions are based upon the team skills assessment scores and preliminary round of play.
   Top players must start each preliminary or classification game on Friday.
3. The duration of the game shall be two equal periods of 15 minutes with a half-time interval of five minutes.
4. Round robin tournament play will be used for divisions of three  or more teams.  A best of three series will be used for divisions of two  teams.
5. If overtime is used to break a tie, two, 5-minute, "sudden death" overtime periods are used (first goal scored wins).  If the game is still tied after the overtime periods, penalty kicks will be used to break the tie:  five players shall be selected from the competing players on the field for each team.
6. If a player is expelled from the game (two yellow or one red card issued), the team is to play with one player down for either two minutes or until the next goal is scored.
7. The process to be used to break a tied record for the tournament will be the same as in 11v11.

C.    Individual Skills Competition:

1. Individual skills athletes may not participate with either the 11-a-side or 5-a-side teams unless they are listed as a team alternate and activated before the competition.  If they are activated to team competition, they cannot participate in the individual skills competition.
2. In the medal round, each player should perform each event twice.  The total score from the two rounds (in  the medal round) is added together to give the final score. 

Tentative Schedule of Events

All teams must stay until the end of preliminaries in order to be properly divisioned.  Schedules for Saturday’s games will be given out at the Head Coaches’ Meeting on Friday evening.  Scores will be available on Saturday for those respective sites only at the scoring tents.  Although some information is available, the head coaches are still responsible for determining where their teams are to play next.  In the case of inclement weather, information will not be easily accessible, and it will be important that coaches are prepared to know where their teams should go in advance.  Individual skills athletes will rotate once to all three skills for preliminaries and twice for finals.  All three skills areas will be conducted simultaneously on the eastern side of Austin Field (commonly referred to as “Sheehan Field”).

Please be advised that LDR/LDW is an On-Campus Venue and that part of the course runs around the perimeter of Mendel Field. We ask delegations and spectators to keep clear of the course as we cannot have any obstruction during the race.

Sports Rules Committee (per respective venue)

• Venue Coordinator: Tommy Shireman (Stadium), Kaitlin McQuade (Austin),
                                  Kevin Riley (Mendel), Nicholas Signor (Individual Skills)
• SOPA Sport Director: Mark Weinmann
• Head Coach: TBA
• Alt. Head Coach: TBA