As Charm City Soccer League grows in the number of teams it has each season, those teams are able to be placed in one of multiple divisions.  The objective in splitting teams into divisions is to keep parity (as much as possible) among the teams.  This parity seeks to provide balanced levels of competition within the divisions.  Additionally, parity offers higher levels of competition for those players who seek (or should be playing among) higher competition and less competitive/more recreational options for players who seek a more social setting.

There are five (5) general criteria for determining into which division (if applicable) a team will fall, in no particular order:

1. The information in the team’s registration (e.g., team skill level, preferred division).  A team that registers for an upper division will rarely be asked to play (or be placed) in a lower division.  On occasion, a team that registers for a lower division may be asked to play (or be placed) in a higher division.
2. The team’s historical performance in the League, where applicable.  A team’s performance in one or more past seasons (including that team’s strength of schedule in a particular season) will have an impact on the division in which the team will be placed.
3. Conversations with the team’s Captain.  The League strives to accommodate a team Captain’s request for placement into a certain division as often as possible.  However, circumstances occasionally present themselves which require the League to place a team in a division other than that which is preferred by the team’s Captain.
4. Commissioner’s discretion.  In some cases, a team must be moved from its preferred division to a different division.  Some reasons for this include the Commissioner’s knowledge of those players on the team’s roster and/or frequently called upon non-roster players.  Whether a player on a team’s roster is also on another team’s roster is not in and of itself a compelling reason to change a team’s divisional placement.
   • The League makes a concerted effort to avoid “sandbagging”: having a team placed in a division below where they should be thereby making short work of the competition in that division.  Though this occurs rarely, it has happened on occasion.  While every team wants to win and enjoys winning, consistent lopsided outcomes result in a significantly unpleasant experience for all other teams in a particular division.
5. Other considerations.  Such considerations may include the number of teams in a division and the need of the League to have divisions of evenly distributed sizes.  Other considerations may be material (or likely material) changes in a team’s roster from one season to another.  These considerations are not exhaustive and serve only as examples.

Once a team is placed in a division for a particular season, changes will generally not be made.  A change may only be made prior to the start of the season (subject to approval by the Commissioner) if the team seeking a change can be switched with a team in another division also seeking a change.  On occasion, a team may be placed in a division that is discovered during the season to be unsuitable for that team.  Unfortunately, as indicated above, a change can not be made once the season begins.

Note:  Communications about a team’s divisional placement will exclusively be between the Commissioner and the Captain of the team at issue unless, in the Commissioner’s discretion, one or more members of the team should also be included in the discussion. Generally, the team’s Captain is the team’s representative and the liaison between the team and the League.  The League owes no duty to communicate decisions about divisional placement to any player on any team.

Promotion/Relegation
With the advent of enough teams to have multiple divisions, it is often necessary to have a promotion/relegation system in place.  Unlike the Premier League, there is no guarantee that the same teams and/or the same number of teams will be present every season where a decision can be made to promote the top team(s) in a lower division or relegate the bottom team(s) in an upper division.  While many of the teams in the League do return from prior seasons, rosters change, new teams arrive, and teams leave or take a break.  Thus, any system of promotion or relegation must be flexible and depends largely on the makeup of that particular season.  Any determination on promotion or relegation is made by the Commissioner after taking the above five criteria and other factors into account.

• Promotion – a team moving up from a lower to a higher division.
  • When reviewing a team’s historical performance in the League to determine whether Promotion is applicable, far greater weight is placed on a team’s performance in the regular season over its performance in the playoffs.
    • Teams have motivation to perform well during the regular season to secure a higher playoff seed (or a playoff spot, if not all teams make the playoffs); a higher playoff seed offers an advantage on preference of game time.
    • Teams are able to utilize non-roster players during regular season games.  While the League encourages teams to roster enough players such that minimal non-roster players are needed during the season, invariably teams will need these players.
      • Any team that brings in skilled non-roster players (e.g., alleged “ringers”) to help the team during the regular season, but cannot use those players during the playoffs should expect that a strong regular season performance followed by a weak playoff performance may result in that team’s Promotion.
  • The League acknowledges that a promoted team may face far more challenging competition than the division from which they had been promoted.  Just as teams in a division with a “sandbagging” opponent may result in a displeasing experience, a team being promoted may find itself on the opposite side of the coin and may get frustrated over the course of the season if they prove not to be competitive in games.  The League understands this frustration and encourages the team to do its best for the duration of the season.
    • Note that more skilled players who get (particularly) frustrated and fail to play in their team’s games will further the disparity of skill between the teams and likely cause more frustration for the team throughout the season.
  • Steps can be taken – by the team and by the Commissioner – to alleviate some potential for frustration:
    • At worst, a team that was promoted and is not competitive in many/any of its games may be relegated for the next season.  This may make for a rough season, but the team is encouraged to make the best of the season.
    • Odds are that a team being promoted is more than just “on the fringe” between two divisions.  More often than not, a promoted team should be in the higher of those two divisions; however, the team may need one or more players to help them be more competitive.
      • Teams should continue to network and recruit to seek players so that the team can be competitive in the division to which it was promoted.
      • The League can, in some instances and where available, assist teams with assigning Free Agent players who register at an appropriate skill level.  (The League will inquire about a player’s skill level, but cannot offer any assurance that a player registering at a certain skill level is of that skill level).
  •   In some cases, a team may truly be “on the fringe” of two divisions.  Barring a change to the team’s roster, that team may be forced to “bounce” between the two divisions from season to season.

• Relegation – a team moving down from a higher to a lower division.
  • Similar criteria to that of Promotion are reviewed for deciding whether a team should be relegated.  The two main criteria for making this determination are whether:
    • The team struggled mightily in the division from which it would be relegated; and
    • There is another team to take that team’s place in the division.

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