October 23, 2006
Dear School Principal / Athletic Director:
The South Carolina High School Soccer Coaches Association (SCHSSCA) would like to propose a change to the current overtime procedure for high school boys and girl’s soccer matches. The SCHSSCA conducted online polls at
www.scsoccer.com – the association’s official website – as well as a vote at the SCACA Summer Clinic in Charleston and more than 80% of the constituents are in favor of amending the current overtime procedure used during regular season play.
The current overtime system includes two five-minute overtime periods and if a decision has not been rendered, then the game proceeds to a penalty-kick shootout. The SCHSSCA proposal is to lengthen overtime to two full 10-minute periods (no “Golden Goal” or “Sudden Victory” goals) and if no one wins the match, then the game would simply end in a tie. Ties are inherently part of the game of soccer on the national and global scale and we would like the tie to return to the prep regular season games. The current overtime procedure for the playoffs would remain as it currently is arranged.
In order to assist regions with tie-breakers due to the possibility of ties during regular season and region play, the SCHSSCA would like to offer the following tie-breaking steps.
Step 1 – Soccer Points System: Points would be assigned for Wins (3 points) and Ties (1 point), while Losses would count as zero (0 points). The total points accumulated in region play would give you the region order of finish. For example – Team / Points / Wins / Losses / Ties:
•Team A / 19 / 6-1-1
•Team B / 14 / 4-2-2
•Team C / 11 / 3-3-2
•Team D / 7 / 2-5-1
If two teams are tied for the region championship, and these teams have split during the regular season, they will be declared co-champions with the following tie-breaking system being used to determine the higher-seeded team for playoff purposes:
Step 2 – Region Point System: The following value would be used in assigning points for a win within the region:
•1st Place = 6 points
•2nd Place = 5 points
•3rd Place = 4 points
•4th Place = 3 points
•5th Place = 2 points
•6th Place = 1 point
If two teams are tied for a region position, each team will be acknowledged as that particular seed when the point system is used. Example – if two teams are tied for the 3rd place position, any win against either team would be assigned 3rd place points.
Step 3 – Tie-Breaker Order: If the point system does not break a tie for the region championship or a playoff spot for 2nd or 3rd, the following head-to-head tie-breaking system will be used:
•Step 1 - Goals against the tied teams
•Step 2 - Goal Differential with a maximum of three
•Step 3 - Away goals
•Step 4 - Coin Toss
If tied for the last playoff spot, a playoff game will be used to break the tie instead of Step 2. The region president’s school will serve as the host site for the playoff game unless his/her school is involved in the tie. In this case, the playoff will move to a neutral site arranged by the region president. The Athletic Director of the host school shall administer the game. The host school will get concessions, pay all costs associated with the game and split the remaining admissions 50/50. A financial report will be sent to each region school.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Heise
SCHSSCA President
