New NTX Rule - All Smaller Club Players Should Know

Here is the rule...

4.8 Club Pass Players

4.8.1 - Competitive teams will be permitted to have club pass players for league and/or tournament games if specifically allowed by the league or tournament rules. The use of club pass players shall be in accordance with the following:

6. The club pass player must be a competitive player registered with NTSSA to another team within the same club.
7. The club pass player may not play down from their own age group.
8. A release from the team to which the player is rostered is not required. It is up to the club to manage any issues within their teams/parents/coaches relating to club pass players.
9. Club pass players may practice with the team to which they are scheduled to player pass.
10. The team and club pass player must follow the rules of the competition, including but not limited to total numbers of club pass players allowed per game and/or the number of teams with which a player may compete in a day, week or event.

4.8.2 - Any coach/team utilizing a club pass player outside of these rules or the rules of the competition will be considered to have played an ineligible player and will be subject to sanctions/discipline under the rules governing use of an ineligible player.


Read the rule... this is designed to benefit the big clubs and the elite level player... the smaller clubs and the average player lose huge as this rule is implemented.

It will not take long for the big clubs to absorb all the teams from the smaller clubs that demonstrate any promise.

It will rapidly become obvious that the only hope a team will have of being competitive in a tournament or even in league play will come from membership in a big club... especially if you have aspirations for Classic League play. As this reality sets in, one team after another will move to a bigger club.

Be honest with yourself, when this happens, will your kid be the one watching from the sideline while another player within the club plays his/her 3rd or 4th game of the weekend?

Some smaller clubs have their own "club pass" rule. A kid will finish his game then run to the next field to play with the younger age group team.

As a parent, I would think twice before going with a big club... Since now they roster has increased to 18 plus as many pass players there can be...

It is not a new rule and it is not used very often. When it is used it is usually for lower end of the roster players to go help a lower division team and get some extra playing time. Really not a big deal. Certainly not the demise of smaller clubs. Using it actually cost big clubs players as no dues paying parent takes kindly to guest players of any sort grabbing playing time over rostered players. CL does not allow it but Premier League and most tournaments do.

I don't see how this would work in a big club. Talented kids want to play with talented kids and would not be interested in playing in a lower level team within the same club just to help out. Plus, who's the parent who would allow their kid to play 3-4 games in a week-end with the risk of injuries without even the gratification of playing in his own team? Same goes for the coaches, coaches would have no interest to let their players go to help another coach and then come back with an injury and not being able to play next week-end for their team.

Just sounds like another thing for bitter parents to beatch and moan about.

This is to provide some more flexibility in the case that a team needs to borrow a kid from another team, for whatever reason (illness, injury, vacation). Instead of filling out all the paperwork, they are now a "pass player".

I don't see this being the end of the world. It is really just a formalization of what most clubs were already doing anyway.

OnTheSurface wrote:This is to provide some more flexibility in the case that a team needs to borrow a kid from another team, for whatever reason (illness, injury, vacation).  Instead of filling out all the paperwork, they are now a "pass player".

I don't see this being the end of the world.  It is really just a formalization of what most clubs were already doing anyway.  

See post above yours

Nope! – the change is that now CL will allow for pass player during League Games; another way to see this rule is for example –

“FC Dallas Lower Teams will now be able to barrow players from FC Dallas Top Teams, whenever they need to beat other Independent Top Team, so that FC can remain in D1”

so... if your boy is not a top player on the FC Dallas Lower Team "sorry, but we have to win win win"

Must be brand new because it is not in the posted rules.

It might be a new rule, but I doubt it will be used much. Coaches in big clubs are very protective of their players, and I don't see them allowing their players go and help another coach. As the ancients would have said: mors tua, vita mea (your death, my life)!!!

Laroja_2012 wrote:It might be a new rule, but I doubt it will be used much. Coaches in big clubs are very protective of their players, and I don't see them allowing their players go and help another coach. As the ancients would have said: mors tua, vita mea (your death, my life)!!!

Wrong sir. This is all about the big clubs keeping their club byes and otherwise winning so naïve parents will continue to fork out more and more money to join a "winning team".

Well, I don't see this happening, but I might be wrong. We'll see as the season starts.

moved as a new topic...

Club Pass is not a new rule.  It was already there.  Many clubs use club pass to add to their existing 16 (or 18) man rosters when specific tournaments (including Dallas Cup) allow more players on the roster than CL roster size will allow BECAUSE A RELEASE IS NOT REQUIRED.  It may be "new" in the sense that Classic League will allow club pass for league play, if in fact that is the case.  I would like to see confirmation that CL now allows this though because it makes very little sense to me.  Theoretically, a player rostered on a DI team could be "passed" to another struggling DI team to avoid relegation.  I just can't see CL allowing any player to play on more than one team in the same division.  For example, DI U-14 had 3 Texans teams and 3 FCD teams in DI this year. Nothing in this written rule would prevent those 3 teams from passing players to help out their sister teams. I could see allowing a lower division player to be passed to a higher Division team if that team got in roster trouble (i.e. illness, broken bones and other injuries, disgruntled parents not fulfilling the contract, etc.).  Of course, the coach can and will say "no" if asked to pass a player to another team in the same division. Can you imagine this conversation, "Hey coach, we need to hurry this game up because I gotta go help our competitor on Field 9."  Pretty bizarre.

Laroja_2012 wrote:Well, I don't see this happening, but I might be wrong. We'll see as the season starts.

You are either naive or new to NTX soccer. If you don't think the rule was put in at the behest of the big clubs in order to manipulate outcomes you are kidding yourself. If they are in the position to upgrade a roster to either prevent relegation or assure promotion they will do it and its exactly why the rule was put in place to begin with but its sold as making it more competitive which is not accurate. The growth of independent teams due to dissatisfaction with clubs has the clubs on their heels trying to figure out their next move.

From your quote of the rule:  "4.8.1 - Competitive teams will be permitted to have club pass players for league and/or tournament games if specifically allowed by the league or tournament rules." I just re-read the current version of Classic League Rules updated February 2013 and it makes no mention of "pass players" being permitted on rosters.  In fact, the only rules that address Rosters are:

III.B.4 which says essentially "No guest players for league play";
IV.H. which says players must be registered to the team and all required registration paperwork has been received and accepted by CL; and
IV.I which requires roster changes to be completed by 2 p.m. Thursday for a Saturday or Sunday game.

Please, help me out and show me where Classic League has "specifically allowed" club pass for league play in their league rules as your own quoted language requires.

To address BaldRooney, it apparently was not "put in place" in Classic League unless you can show me otherwise.  It is a North Texas Rule that each League has to either specifically adopt or disallow.  Right now, at least, it seems Classic League has rejected it.  I agree with other posters who have said this is just one more thing for people to complain about that is NOTHING NEW.

wembleys wrote:As a parent, I would think twice before going with a big club... Since now they roster has increased to 18 plus as many pass players there can be...

This is bs too because even if the rule did apply to league play, which it doesn't, CL rosters are capped at 18 for most age groups. If you sign 16 players, the most you could "Club Pass" is 2. Most teams nowdays are rostering the max players to pad their pocketbooks so they could Club Pass exactly ZERO.

Speedy Gonzales wrote:

wembleys wrote:As a parent, I would think twice before going with a big club... Since now they roster has increased to 18 plus as many pass players there can be...

This is bs too because even if the rule did apply to league play, which it doesn't, CL rosters are capped at 18 for most age groups.  If you sign 16 players, the most you could "Club Pass" is 2.  Most teams nowdays are rostering the max players to pad their pocketbooks so they could Club Pass exactly ZERO.

you think so? this is how it's done for State Cup....


• U13 & up may utilize the Club Pass

• Club Pass player must be a registered North Texas player with the same club.

• Teams using the Club Pass Players may have a roster size of 22 players

• Releases are not required.

• You will use the ID card from their present team

elchepo wrote:

Speedy Gonzales wrote:

wembleys wrote:As a parent, I would think twice before going with a big club... Since now they roster has increased to 18 plus as many pass players there can be...

This is bs too because even if the rule did apply to league play, which it doesn't, CL rosters are capped at 18 for most age groups.  If you sign 16 players, the most you could "Club Pass" is 2.  Most teams nowdays are rostering the max players to pad their pocketbooks so they could Club Pass exactly ZERO.

you think so? this is how it's done for State Cup....

Very Important Instructions For Teams Using
Club Pass Players

• U13 & up may utilize the Club Pass

• Club Pass player must be a registered North Texas player with the same club.

• Teams using the Club Pass Players may have a roster size of 22 players

• Releases are not required.

• You will use the ID card from their present team

oh no you didnt....... 

im thinking speedy is just defending his big club honor  

Reading the posts, I believe elchepo and Speedy said the same thing regarding Dallas Cup.

Can anyone give an example of when the Club Pass was last used in CL?

I have seen the following:
Team giving little brother the win so they can remain in division
Coach requesting DOC an academy player for an important classic league game
Parents upset about the whole situation but doing little or nothing to protest (protesting only on the sidelines and to their friends)
None of this is going to change since we live in a culture of winning at all cost leaving development to a distant second.

I imagine this new rule will be a lot like the many others we see here in NTX. If the club pass rule gets applied for your BB to play more games, then you'll love this change. If the club pass rule is applied to somebody else's BB instead of yours, then you'll hate it.

I wonder what the justification is behind making this change... Is it being justified by saying this will benefit the development of the kids? (Because for a small group of them, it could.) Or is there no real justification to present and this is just another rule change made to benefit the club structures?

Can we at least start the season before all winnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? We need some cheese over here please.

elchepo wrote:

Speedy Gonzales wrote:

wembleys wrote:As a parent, I would think twice before going with a big club... Since now they roster has increased to 18 plus as many pass players there can be...

This is bs too because even if the rule did apply to league play, which it doesn't, CL rosters are capped at 18 for most age groups.  If you sign 16 players, the most you could "Club Pass" is 2.  Most teams nowdays are rostering the max players to pad their pocketbooks so they could Club Pass exactly ZERO.

you think so? this is how it's done for State Cup....

Very Important Instructions For Teams Using
Club Pass Players

• U13 & up may utilize the Club Pass

• Club Pass player must be a registered North Texas player with the same club.

• Teams using the Club Pass Players may have a roster size of 22 players

• Releases are not required.

• You will use the ID card from their present team

That's State Cup which has a maximum roster of 22 according to the tournament rules.  Classic League is capped at 18.  Two different animals.  Even if you are talking about State Cup, with a league roster of 18 the most Club Pass players you could have for State Cup is 4.  The point was simply that you cannot have a roster of 18 and "as many pass players there can be." Rosters are capped. If we are talking about tournament play, someone explain to me how this is any different than guest players. Classic League allows 18 on the roster, but XYZ tournament allows 22 so you can go out and get 4 guest players. Club Pass just makes that easier without the formality of releases from the current team. And why should you need a release within the same Club? I guess you all would be perfectly happy if this rule did not exist and Texans A had to get a release from Texans B to allow Johnny Superstar to guest play in XYZ Tournament? NOT!! You'd still find something to bitch and moan about.