LOWER ISLAND SOCCER ASSOCIATION
2024 BCSA Provincial B Cup
Entry information and draw
This notice is quite lengthy as it includes important information about the B Cup competitions. Please take the time to read through it.
ATTACHED ARE THE LOWER ISLAND PLAYDOWN BRAKETS FOR THE PROVINCIAL B CUP.
The list includes all the Boys and Girls U14 to U18 Tier 3 teams declared for the BCSA Provincial “B” Cup. Please check the attached list to make sure your team is included and that it is placed in the correct age division.
If you have entered the BCSA “B” Cup your team is now committed to following through as far as your team progresses in the competition, including attending the BCSA Provincial Championships in early July.
In recent cup seasons there have been teams that have pulled out of the provincial tournament after winning a provincial berth. In doing so they incurred hefty fines from B.C. Soccer. In addition, that team’s Provincial Cup eligibility for the following season will come under review by BCSA. So if you are entering the “B” Cup make sure your team (e.g. players, parents) will be able to meet all the Provincial B Cup commitments which could include travel, overnight stays and the associated costs. It also involves being able to field a team for all your provincial matches.
Regarding the attached entry list the team contacts are the same as posted on the LISA website schedules – however only phone numbers are included (unless there is no phone number on the website for that contact).
If there are any contact errors or updates for your team please inform your club registrar and have your registrar contact the LISA office as soon as possible.
PROVINCIAL B CUP
The Provincial B Cup competition is offered in the following age divisions: Under-14, Under-15, Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18; for both boys and girls. Eight teams qualify for each Provincial B Cup tournament.
The eight teams that qualify for each Provincial B Cup tournament are:
· Kootenay Rockies Cup Winner
· Lower Mainland 1
· Lower Mainland 2
· Lower Mainland 3
· Northern Cup Winner
· Thompson Okanagan 1
· Thompson Okanagan 2
· Vancouver Island
The opening round (quarter-finals) of the 2023 Lower Island B Cup playdowns is scheduled for the weekend of January 20/21 (if five to eight teams are entered). The semi-final rounds will take place January 27/28 and the Lower Island finals February 3/4.
** U14 Boys, U14 Girls, U15 Girls will play LISA B Cup Finals on February 10.
The winners of the Lower Island playdowns will go on to represent the Lower Island district in the inter-district B Cup playdowns against the Upper Island reps the weekend of February 24/25.
The hosting agreement between the Upper and Lower Island districts is as follows: the Upper Island hosts the U15 and U17 divisions for both boys and girls and the Lower Island hosts the U14, U16 and U18 divisions for both boys and girls.
The Upper Island usually plays its B Cup matches on Sundays for all age divisions so if your team is playing away in the Upper Island expect to be playing on the Sunday.
The start time for matches between the Upper and Lower Island cannot be before 12 noon and any Lower Island home match involving Powell River teams needs to take into account their ferry schedule and travel plans. Powell River teams playing in the Lower Island sometimes want to travel to the Lower Island and return home the same day. And sometimes they want to travel here the day before and then play the following morning.
The winners of the matches between the Lower Island reps and the Upper Island reps (these matches are often referred to as the “Island qualifiers”) will represent the Vancouver Island/Powell River region at their provincial tournaments in July.
NOTE: If the Upper Island does not enter a rep in your age division then the winner of the Lower Island playdown will win the berth for their provincial tournament in July.
CUP ELIGIBILITY
B.C. Soccer’s B-level cup competitions are open to any affiliated Tier 3 or lower level youth team as declared to their district as long as that team has played in properly constituted league matches and is not under suspension. There is also an A-level cup competition (for Tier 2 teams or lower) and a Premier level (BCSPL).
In order to be eligible for the B Cup a team’s head coach must have completed the Soccer for Life coaching course or a higher level course. There are no exceptions.
A player is eligible once his/her registration has been validated by the district association’s registrar and has been received by B.C. Soccer. A player must also have played in at least one league game before playing in a regional qualifying or Provincial Cup match.
Players must be registered as a youth or transferred to a team at least seven days prior to taking part in that team’s regional qualifying or Provincial Cup match.
One member of the team officials (i.e. coaches/managers listed on your official registration form) must be the same gender as the players on the team. This team official must be present on the bench and in the changing rooms. A team can have a maximum of five team officials.
Teams that enter the B Cup must have a minimum of 14 players on their official roster.
B CUP MATCHES
B Cup matches have priority over all other youth games in regards to scheduling and fields. If any Lower Island B Cup match cannot be played because fields are closed (both the designated home club and the “visiting club” do not have an open field on which the match can be played) the re-scheduling of that match is the responsibility of LISA. Note that LISA can re-schedule an outstanding cup match, or a cup match that needs to be re-played because of a successful protest, for any time, any day.
There must be a winner in all B Cup matches. If the two teams are tied on goals at the end of regulation time the outcome of the match will be decided by kicks from the penalty spot, as per FIFA rules.
SCORE REPORTING – Just like for league games BOTH teams must report the score for their cup match to their score recorder. For the Lower Island playdowns your score recorder will be listed on your draw grid. (That score recorder is the same person who does the score recording for the Tier 3 league in your division.) For all inter-district cup matches (Lower Island vs. Upper Island) report your score to the Lower Island district scheduler (Brian Davis brianisadavis@gmail.com or (778-587-2318). You must also report if your match is not played and provide the reason why.
B CUP AND LEAGUE SCHEDULING
While the B Cup competition is under way teams will play their B Cup match insteadof the league game that was originally scheduled for them that weekend. The league game will then become an outstanding game and can be made up by agreement of both teams involved “on their own time.” (“On your own time” means outside of your regular game day/time for which LISA schedules.)
Your weekend schedules will change to accommodate the B Cup playdowns. Those scheduling changes will be distributed via email from the LISA office on a weekly basis. Those emails usually go out during the first few days of each week as the results of games played each weekend (league and B Cup) have to be taken into account before the re-scheduling can be completed for the following weekend.
So it is important that all teams report their league and cup results to their score recorders every match day as required as missing reports can delay the weekly re-scheduling notice for the following weekend – and, in some instances, can lead to mix-ups in the re-scheduling. If your game is not played then you must also report that and provide the reason why it was not played.
PROVINCIAL B CUP TOURNAMENT
Both the Boys and Girls Provincial B Cup tournaments take place in early July. Matches are usually scheduled Thursday through Sunday, and you are usually required to be on site by Wednesday. A pre-competition coaches meeting is usually held on the Wednesday evening. At the time this notice was prepared the dates and hosting districts for the provincial tournaments had not been confirmed.
The accommodation rules for all youth teams attending provincial championship tournaments were changed three seasons ago. The changes are as follows and are still in effect:
Accommodations and host hotel obligations
- All teams competing in any category of Youth Provincial Championships are obligated to stay in the host hotel(s)
- Teams that reside within 100 kilometres of the host city are exempt for this rule. Determination of which teams are eligible for exemption is under the jurisdiction of B.C. Soccer’s Youth Competitions Committee.
- The Local Organizing Committee for the competition must book (but not pay for) a minimum of eight hotel rooms per team as close as reasonably possible to the competition venue.
- Teams that are obligated to stay in the host hotel are responsible for eight rooms at the host hotel(s). Any team choosing not to stay at the host hotel may be invoiced by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the cost of eight rooms for four nights or the cancellation cost charged to the LOC for these eight rooms, whichever is less.
B.C. Soccer does offer travel assistance grants but it depends upon where your provincial tournament is being held. Travel grants are awarded using the following eligibility requirements:
- Any team required to travel to or from Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland on the ferry will be awarded a grant of $250 for the team.
- Any team required to travel more than 600 kilometres (one way) to their respective Provincial Cup location will be awarded a grant using the following formula: distance travelled one way (Km) minus 500, multiplied by one dollar. (B.C. Soccer calculates the travel distance.)
- One travel grant per eligible team will be issued; no application is required.
- Travel grants will be paid to the team’s district upon completion of the provincial championship. The district will then distribute the grants to each eligible team.
For more details on the Provincial and Coastal B Cup competitions please visit the BCSA website. Here is a direct link:
LOWER ISLAND DISTRICT CUP
Teams that win the Lower Island playdowns in the B Cup will be representing the Lower Island in inter-district provincial and therefore are noteligible for the Lower Island District Cup.
