Interleague players are registered with the West Islip Soccer Club. The Interleague game schedules are run by Suffolk Soccer Interleague, and Interleague teams travel to other area soccer clubs to play their teams but are not considered Travel teams.
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 Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL). LIJSL schedules the travel games, keeps scores and maintains standings.
There are however many players that want to continue their participation with 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.
At the older age levels (U11 and above) there may not be enough registered players to fill out 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 takes these teams and puts them in age appropriate divisions. And due to the participation of the various clubs, the program requires the teams to travel the relatively short distances to nearby clubs.
The Interleague program is run as a recreational program in that no season standings are kept. In fact Suffolk Soccer 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 the Suffolk Soccer Interleague has a guideline that it refers to as the Five Goal Rule. This guideline has presented some confusion among the Interleague coaches. On its website the Suffolk Soccer Interleague discusses the intent of its Five Goal Rule.
For additional information on the Interleague program go the the Suffolk Soccer Interleague website www.suffolksoccer.org
Register online for this program.
