As you can imagine, some questions arise repeatedly in calls or e-mails to the Registrar and the Tournament Director. Following are some of these questions:

What criteria does the tournament use for acceptance of teams?
How do we know our application has been received and we are 'in line'?
Can we use a mix of player cards?
HOTELS are hard to find in S.B. if we want blocks of rooms. What do we do?
What about housing at UC Santa Barbara dorms?
I'm having trouble printing the Application (or Roster or Permission to Host). Help!
Are CYSA player loan forms needed?
Can we borrow AYSO players?  U.S. Club players?
We are not a CYSA-South team. Do we need to do anything special to sign up?
How does the tournament seed teams in brackets?
What other teams are coming in our bracket?
Do you consider special requests like late game starts and coaching conflicts?
Are there special rules for U-10 teams?
Some team parents or siblings are USSF referees. Need any help?

In case of rain here's the mudline: 805-882-2066

What criteria does the tournament use for acceptance of teams?
The problems of hotel reservations and travel plans are worrisome for teams, and this makes the question of acceptance to the tournament a nagging concern. First, DO NOT wait for acceptance before getting reservations or applying for travel papers. Why? Almost all applying teams get into the tournament---only those very late in applying are in any question. While we do not guarantee acceptance until the formal website posting of accepted teams, normal acceptance is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Additionally, we automatically accept teams coming from Northern California and out-of-state, as they have to make travel plans and get travel papers months ahead of time. So, while there is no guarantee until website posting, if a team applies early and has all its paperwork in order---and pays the appropriate entry fee---then it should assume it will play. Prior to website posting, teams are welcome to e-mail or phone just to banish doubt. Teams applying at the last moment should always seek a direct answer on acceptance, though in no case should they avoid making accommodation arrangements till acceptance is guaranteed.

How do we know our application has been received and we are 'in line'?
98% of apps get here ok, but some are sent to the wrong tournament or never get mailed or go astray or get delayed inexplicably in the USPS. If you have doubts that your app/check has been received, e-mail fcsbtourney@hotmail.com within a week or two of sending it. If no answer comes within a couple of days, call Brian Hersh at 805-683-1281. If the app is received but the check is left out, we e-mail and/or call as soon as the application is opened. Remember that applications un-accompanied by checks are not considered 'place-holders' for openings in a bracket. However, checks unaccompanied by apps will hold a place as long as sex/age bracket is indicated and paperwork follows.

Can we use a mix of 2004-05 and 2005-06 player cards?
Yes, for August tournaments teams may use player cards for the previous and current years (i.e., 2004-2005 and 2005-2006) or any combination thereof. CYSA tournaments will accept a mixture of years in August. The player cards must be stamped, signed and laminated. AYSO cards of this type are also acceptable for either year. Age brackets will be based upon DOB as of Aug. 1, 2005. If your team is, for example, U-13 now in 2004-2005, be sure your application places you in U-14 for the tournament.  (Incidentally, players reaching their 19th birthday prior to Aug. 1, 2005 are not eligible to play U-19.)

HOTELS are hard to find in S.B. if we want blocks of rooms. What do we do? Make your reservations as early as possible. You can also go to our accommodations page by clicking on the "hotel reservations" on the main Summer Cup page of our website. There is a list of hotels available there. It would be wise to make next year's reservations this year, if you think it is likely you will be coming again. After all, it is much easier to cancel reservations a month before the tournament than it is to get them at that late date!  Increasingly, we hear that is difficult to get blocks of rooms in April for a late August weekend. One would be wise to assume acceptance to the tournament if application is made in June or earlier (and still very likely in July), so do not let that concern keep you from making room reservations.

What about housing at UC Santa Barbara dorms? Negotiations are underway with UCSB at the present time.  The dormitory type rooms available last year WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE THIS YEAR, however we are pursuing apartments that sleep 4 with a kitchen and bathroom.  These have been reported to be much much better than the dormitory accomodations and will cost about $210 for the weekend.
You can also go to our accommodations page by clicking on the "hotel reservations" on the main Summer Cup page of our website.

I'm having trouble printing the application (or roster or Permission to Host). Help!
Some people have difficulty printing out our Application or other documents. Recently we have put our printable documents into .pdf form so they will display and print in Adobe Acrobat, the most common Internet document viewer. You will need this free piece of useful software on your computer to view or print them, so we provide a link on our Application page enabling you to easily download Acrobat. Virtually every computer should be able to download Acrobat and readily print from it. However, if you still encounter problems trying to print, please follow these steps:

1. Place your mouse cursor somewhere on the form itself and "click" the left button
2. Go to the "File" menu
3. Choose the "Print" menu item
If you fail to do step #1, then something else such as the table of contents might print out.

Some people may not be able to print out the forms on one page each for the application and roster. This has more to do with your printer than with the web site. Laser printers tend to work well. Jet printers sometimes don't fit everything on one page. If your application prints out on more than one page, don't worry about it. Just complete it down through the signature and send it anyway. If you still have trouble printing out the application and/or roster after reading these instructions then contact us and we will be glad work with you or, as a last resort, fax or mail you an application.

Are CYSA player loan forms needed?
In 1998 the CYSA-South Board of Directors passed a motion that abolished the need for Loan Forms for any CYSA-South player. If you have players from other CYSA-South teams, you need only their player cards and medical release forms to present at Check-in. For all other non-CYSA-South players, loan forms may be required to allow them to play on your team. The player's registering organization (e.g. CYSA-N) should be contacted to determine if Loan Forms are required. If they are, please submit them or bring them to Check-in on Friday night and we will keep them with your application should any questions from your state association come up.

Can we borrow AYSO players?  U.S. Club players?
As of 2001, AYSO players are treated just like CYSA players. They do not need loan papers, but laminated signed-and-stamped picture cards are required, as are original-signature medical releases. Same with U.S. Club players. CYSA-S allows its tournaments to permit participating teams to borrow players from any USSF-affiliated organizations, and we choose to allow teams to borrow any number of such players.  However, the team's sponsoring organization (e.g. CYSA-N) may limit such borrowing, which you must clarify for yourself; we cannot tell you what your sponsoring organization allows or does not allow when you come from outside CYSA-S.

We are not a CYSA-South team. Do we need to do anything special to sign up?
Any team not registered through CYSA-South is considered an "Out-of-State" team for our tournament. We accept all out-of-state teams. However, USYSA state associations such as CYSA-N often have specific requirements for their teams that want to participate in out-of-state tournaments. Typically there are forms to be filled out and submitted to the respective District Commissioner or other state association administrator for travel approval. Invariably this must be done 30 days or more prior to the tournament date, although some associations may require up to 60 days notice, and teams contemplating out-of-state travel would be wise to start the process at least 3 months early. Many teams from Northern California that want to attend Southern California tournaments dual-register with CYSA-N and U.S. Club so they do not have to fill out CYSA-N travel papers.

How does the tournament seed teams in brackets?
If we have enough teams for multiple brackets and flights, then seeding will be based on the records of the teams. That is why it is important to fill out the section on the application relating to the past win/loss/tie record. If you do not have the exact number of wins or losses, don't fret. We are looking for a general overview of your team to aide us in seeding the teams. If you feel there are any special circumstances you would like us to know about please feel free to include them with the application. If there is more than one bracket we will try to put what we consider to be the two best teams applying into different brackets. The theory is that the top two teams should meet in the finals rather than before.  A different pattern may be followed when scheduling needs dictate otherwise.  In cases where we have many teams in an age bracket, we may run gold and silver flights for separate first-place trophies.

What other teams are coming in our bracket?
We will try to list on the Welcome page some of the teams which are unusual or coming from a long distance to play in our tournament. At some later point we will list on the Schedule page of each age bracket the teams that have applied. Once a team is listed on the website, that team is officially accepted.  When they are officially accepted they will be notified by email (or occasionally fax or phone) and will be so noted on the website as such. You can e-mail the Registrar, Brian Hersh, at fcsbtourney@hotmail.com requesting a list of team applications sent in for a given bracket, but there is little purpose to doing so before July. Or, he can e-mail you a list of last year's teams in a given bracket (remember, last year's U-16 bracket will be playing U-17 this year.)

Do you consider special requests like late game starts and coaching conflicts?
We understand that some of the regional teams would prefer later starting times for their first games on Saturday so that they do not have to get hotel rooms the night before. To meet this request, we will attempt to have our local teams play first. However, since local FCSB and other club teams number only a couple of dozen, some non-local teams will have to be scheduled early as well. If your team has a special request for a playing time please put it in writing in the space provided on the Application and an effort will be made to meet it. Similarly, if a coach is bringing more than one team, let us know and we will try to schedule the teams at different times. This is not always possible due to CYSA rest-time requirements, field availability, and conflicting requests from teams. While we cannot guarantee meeting everyone's request, we take pride in not being such a big tournament that we ignore such requests.

Are there special rules for U-9 and U-10 teams?
Yes. U-9/10 teams must play 8v8 and have a maximum roster of 14 players, with a minimum of 5 on the field at the start. Fields and goals will also be of the appropriate size for U-10 teams. U-10 teams may not play up (e.g. in a U-11 bracket), but U-9s can play with U-10s.

Some team parents or siblings are USSF referees. Need any help?
If you are a USSF referee and are from out of the area but would like to work at our tournament, please contact our referee scheduler . In addition to paying the going rate for your services, we provide lunch, beverages and, in some cases, housing accommodations. For more information, contact Maggie Saling at maggie@futureadvantage.com

During the next several months, additional FAQs will be posted to this page so you may wish to check it every once in a while.