Missouri Youth Soccer Association

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TRYOUT DATES: 2025/2026 SEASON

NOTICE: Regarding Kick-Arounds, ID Camps, Academy Sessions or whatever other crazy names that people make up for any session held prior to your District’s official tryout date. As of August 1st, 2017 the MYSA Board adopted a change that allowed participation in organized activities within other clubs. This allows advertising of these sessions to the general public and for a player to attend and be given general information about the club and its programming. This isdone without the need of a signed Permission To Participate document.

AT NO TIME can a coach or club specifically target a player or team with its advertising or sales pitch and absolutely no offer of a roster spot can be offered, or monies collected, prior to the first day of tryouts. Targeting specific individuals or groups is recruiting and the rules against such still apply.

Parents & Players should carefully review all documentation that are to be signed as you may be held financially responsible for certain payments to clubs once signed regardless of your participation. A player that wishes to move to another club prior to tryouts, or outside of the tryout period, will be required to pay the appropriate transfer fee prior to such a move.

No competitive club or team can require payments be made to them from a current player prior to tryouts to “save a spot” nor is a player held to any commitment made before the date or without the proper execution of club documents or MYSA Registration (including payment) for the new seasonal year.

These rules only apply to Competitive players & teams. Recreational teams cannot limit their players in any way from attending or participating in any events or activities that they should choose. All rules and notices for these matters can be found on the “Forms & Downloads” page that is accessed through the Player & Team Admin tab at the top of the website.

TO REPORT RECRUITING PLEASE CLICK HERE

IMPORTANT: Every parent should carefully review all club documents before signing. These are financial contracts with potentially large monetary impacts and once signed binding agreements for payment whether you continue for the entire seasonal year or not. Once a player has registered and signed up for a competitive club there are very limited opportunities to change clubs past June 15th and then during the seasonal year and those opportunities may be at an additional expense. It is essential that you understand the club’s policies on transfers, guest play, primary & secondary registration before you commit for an entire seasonal year. Missouri Youth Soccer Association is not part of any financial transaction between a club and a player/parent…it cannot collect fees owed by parents or force a club to reimburse fees that are previously agreed to by the parent/player.

TRYOUT DATES BY DISTRICT

CENTRAL DISTRICT

Open Tryouts begin on Sunday, June 8th

EASTERN DISTRICT

Beginning May 25th teams/clubs may offer roster spots to players outside of their club.

Open Tryouts begin on Sunday, June 8th

On June 15th all signed player agreements become fully enforceable, a player would need written permission from the departing club to change clubs after this date.

SOUTHERN DISTRIC

Open Tryouts begin on Sunday, June 8th

WESTERN DISTRICT

  • February 3, 2025: ID camps, kick-arounds, and similar events may begin. These must be publicly advertised, and participants must register to attend. Direct targeting of specific players for these events is prohibited. No spots may be offered to new players at these camps.
  • April 15, 2025: Registration for the 2025-2026 season opens. Returning players may be offered spots and can register at this time. This is the earliest date that registration and payment for the upcoming season can be processed for returning club members.
  • May 27 – June 5, 2025: Pre-tryout camps may be conducted, and spots may be offered to both returning and new players. New player registration for the 2025-2026 season may commence on May 27, 2025.
  • June 6 – June 8, 2025: Official tryout dates.
  1. Refund Policy Guidelines:
    Each club is required to establish a clear refund policy for the upcoming season. Once a player registers, the terms of the club’s refund policy will apply. The state will not be involved in enforcing refund amounts or terms between the club and the player.
    • If a club’s policy specifies that the first payment is non-refundable, it is non-refundable regardless of the amount.
    • If the registration fee is non-refundable, it must be clearly communicated and adhered to.
    • If a club’s policy dictates that all fall fees are non-refundable once registration is complete, then those terms will apply.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND DURING THIS TIME:

  1. You cannot have a tryout and be considered recreational, teams that are selected based on ability are by definition “competitive”.
  2. You cannot make offers of a roster spot to a player or parent nor can you collect a fee prior to the start of tryouts in your district. (this includes monies to “hold a spot” on a roster).
  3. The parent or legal guardian must sign a player agreement for them to be held responsible for their debts to a club or team.

RECRUITING

Recruiting/attempted recruiting is considered a significant offense by this Association and any league, Club, or individual found to have committed a recruiting violation shall be subject to significant sanction(s) as determined by the Missouri Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) hearing panel.     

Such sanctions may include a financial penalty of $2,000 or more, loss of coaching privileges for a specified amount of time, and ineligibility to participate in MYSA authorized events including MYSA’s State Cup Tournament, MYSA’s President Cup, the Midwest Regional League, National  League or any other appropriate sanction.

Any club, team, or league which through its responsible officers or representatives.

For purposes of this rule, attempts shall mean any effort made in regard to accomplishing a purpose stated below.

Attempts at any time prior to the approved tryout start date of any seasonal year to induce a registered player (or their parent or their guardian) of any team, or any team as a whole or club, under the jurisdiction of this Association to leave their current affiliation before the end of the current seasonal year will be considered a Recruiting violation.

Attempts at any time prior to the approved tryout start date of any seasonal year to induce a registered player (or their parent or their guardian) of any team, or any team as a whole or club, under the jurisdiction of this Association to leave their current affiliation for the following seasonal year will be considered a Recruiting violation.

Teams or clubs requesting to change MYSA clubs during the seasonal year must obtain written permission of the president of their present club before that move is permitted.

In those instances, in which a coach moves from one club to another separate and distinct club/team during the seasonal year, the coach may not coach any rostered players from teams of the former club he/she was identified as a primary or assistant coach (excluding the coach’s son or daughter) during that seasonal year.

This rule does not apply under the following:

  • The coach’s club dissolves.
  • The coach moves 100 miles making the commute to the coach’s existing club impractical.
  • The appropriate prior club representative, the club president or DOC, agrees in writing to the coach’s move to a different club.
  • For purposes of this rule, contact is not limited to personal contact, but will include contact by phone, text, emails, Facebook and all other social media.
  • A coach leaving a club for the next seasonal year cannot recruit the team they coach prior to the district tryout date and must notify their current club of the decision before announcing to their team or the public.

Responsible representatives include but are not limited to parents of team members, trainers, all employees of clubs, team managers, club or league board members, and club or league directors of coaching.  The appropriate response by the responsible representative to player-initiated contact is to provide requested information.  Any recommendation for the player to attend training, tryouts or any other team, club or league soccer event by the representative would be inappropriate and considered an attempt to induce a player to leave their present soccer organization.  A club or league advertising on their own website is not considered Recruiting.  Attendance by the player at such events when initiated by the player or player’s parents will not be considered Recruiting.

TARGETED RECRUITMENT

TARGETED RECRUITING: means contact which is made with specifically-targeted registered individual competitive players (or their parents or guardians) or specifically-targeted registered competitive teams (as opposed to the public generally or soccer players (including competitive soccer players) generally which contact attempts to cause the targeted specific players (or their parents or guardians)or Teams to leave their current affiliation for the current seasonal year or the following seasonal year.  For purposes of this definition, contact is not limited to personal contact, but will include contact by phone, text, e-mails and social media messages. Targeted Recruiting specifically excludes (i) parent initiated contact and (ii) advertising, marketing, information sessions and promotions of camps or other sessions made to the public generally, or to soccer players (including competitive soccer players) generally and contact which results from responses thereto.