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The InterLeague program is for players who wants play recreational soccer without the commitment and cost of a competitive travel program. They play half of their games in West Islip and the other half of their games in surrounding towns in Suffolk county. The InterLeague program is run by LIJSL (Long Island Junior Soccer League) to which the West Islip Soccer Club submits teams that will participate in this league.
Confusing? Only a little.
At the U10 level and above, players wishing to participate in a more competitive environment have the opportunity to tryout out for one of the West Islip Soccer Club travel teams that compete in the travel program of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL). LIJSL schedules the travel games, keeps scores and maintains standings.
There are, however, many players who want to continue their participation in soccer but not at the competitive level and commitment of the travel program. The InterLeague program is an opportunity for these West Islip soccer players to continue to play soccer.
There are no tryouts for InterLeague, so all players are accepted as long as there’s room on the roster.
At the older age levels (U11 and above) there are usually not enough registered players to host a complete in-house age division. There are other area soccer clubs with the same situation. As a result, the West Islip Soccer Club and the other area clubs participate in Suffolk County InterLeague, a program that accepts these teams and places them in age appropriate divisions. Due to the participation of the various clubs, the program requires the teams to travel the relatively short distances to nearby clubs for half of their games.
The West Islip Soccer Club needs to register the teams with LIJSL’s Suffolk County InterLeague program a good month before the season starts, so the number of teams the club will submit for InterLeague will depend on the number of players registered in the program by late July. Once the teams are submitted for InterLeague, we can no longer add additional teams to this program. However, if there’s room on the roster of the teams the club submitted to InterLeague, we could add late registrations to the roster. Once the roster is maxed out, we are no longer able to accept late registrations.
The InterLeague program is run as a recreational program for which no standings are kept. In fact Suffolk County InterLeague also refers to the matches played as scheduled scrimmages instead of games.
Since the teams from the local area clubs will have varying levels of ability, it is possible that during the scrimmages that one team could dominate. So that such a situation doesn’t get out of control during these matches, Suffolk Soccer Interleague has a guideline that it refers to as the 5-Goal Rule. This guideline has presented some confusion among the InterLeague coaches. On its website the Suffolk Soccer Interleague discusses the intent of its 5-Goal Rule. It basically means that you cannot win by 5 goals or more.
Trainers are not included in the registration fee, and therefore these teams rely on volunteer parents who will coach the team. However, teams can be provided with a trainer upon request. The team will pay for their own trainer.
For additional information on the InterLeague program go the the Suffolk County InterLeague website https://lijsoccer.com/suffolk-county-interleague/www.suffolksoccer.org
