Soccer West Soccer Club

SPRING 2012 REGISTRATION IS OPEN AT SOCCER WEST SOCCER CLUB!

Spring 2012 Online Registration Link 
Spring 2012 Paper Registration (attached below)

Visit www.soccerwest.com for more information.  Please email the registrar or call the Soccer West hotline 888-419-0709 with questions. 

Determining your "Soccer Age" - The same for the whole academic year

An excellent table is published by the Iowa Soccer Association that shows your age group, given your birth month. Click here to obtain it.

Soccer ages are determined once per year and hold for the whole year. The soccer year corresponds to the academic year, so your "soccer age" is the same for Fall and the following Spring (i.e., not the calendar year). Your soccer age is your age on July 31 immediately before the Fall season. Thus your "soccer age" for the Fall 11 and Spring 12 seasons is the age you are/were on July 31, 2011.

Note: Our rules and team sizes are done in two-year increments up through U12: U5 and U6, U7 and U8, U9 and U10, and U11 and U12. For this reason, we sometimes use "U6" as a shorthand for "U5 and U6" or U8 for "U7 and U8" and so on. We try to use the single

What's Does "U6" or "U8" (etc.) mean?

Do I have to play in my correct age group or can I move up or down?

U6-U10 age groups

In the U6-U10 age groups, players are allowed by ISA rules (and thus our insurance) to play up. Thus, we generally allow kids that are young for their grade (e.g., have August or September birthdays) to play with their classmates, even though they qualify for the next group lower. Thus, young 1st graders usually play U8 and young 3rd graders usually play U10. If your son or daughter is unusually large or unusually skilled for his or her age, he or she is also able to "play up".

Unlike the other age groups, there is a minimum age for U6. U6 players must have soccer ages of at least 4.

Playing "down" is also possible for U6-U10 teams in unusual cases, but requires paperwork to be filed by our registrar. Please contact Ralph Ackerman if you want your child to play in a younger age group than is normal.

U11 and older age groups

The IPSL does not check the ages of players. We (and all the other clubs in Iowa) generally organize teams according to their ages, but players may play up or down in IPSL games. All that is required for IPSL games is a player card from our club.

For tournaments (particularly State Cup), age groups are observed strictly.

Updated Sunday, September 18 at 12:00 PM

ALL FIELDS ARE OPEN.

Our fields are located at the Aliber Soccer Complex, 6220 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312 Google Map

Thank you for visiting the Soccer West website, home of some of the best soccer players, coaches and fans in Iowa.  A volunteer based nonprofit organization promoting youth soccer in the Des Moines area.

We are proud of our partnerships with both the Des Moines Menace and Drake University which include exclusive, world-class coaching and clinics for all Soccer West players and coaches. Please browse the website to find all the information you need to learn more about our top tier soccer club.

Tryouts for select soccer are held in the spring of each year for the following fall season.  Look for information surrounding the Des Moines Menace, a Soccer West Partner, and other select tryouts next spring. 

 Uniforms are $39 for youth and $49 for adults and should be purchased at Soccer Connections, 312 Grand Avenue, West Des Moines, 279-6927.  In order to guarantee a uniform by the first game, please order your uniform by July 1st for FALL and February 1st for SPRING.

Determining your "Soccer Age" - The same for the whole academic year

An excellent table is published by the Iowa Soccer Association that shows your age group, given your birth month. Click here to obtain it.

Soccer ages are determined once per year and hold for the whole year. The soccer year corresponds to the academic year, so your "soccer age" is the same for Fall and the following Spring (i.e., not the calendar year). Your soccer age is your age on July 31 immediately before the Fall season. Thus your "soccer age" for the Fall 11 and Spring 12 seasons is the age you are/were on July 31, 2011.

Note: Our rules and team sizes are done in two-year increments up through U12: U5 and U6, U7 and U8, U9 and U10, and U11 and U12. For this reason, we sometimes use "U6" as a shorthand for "U5 and U6" or U8 for "U7 and U8" and so on. We try to use the single

What's Does "U6" or "U8" (etc.) mean?

Do I have to play in my correct age group or can I move up or down?

U6-U10 age groups

In the U6-U10 age groups, players are allowed by ISA rules (and thus our insurance) to play up. Thus, we generally allow kids that are young for their grade (e.g., have August or September birthdays) to play with their classmates, even though they qualify for the next group lower. Thus, young 1st graders usually play U8 and young 3rd graders usually play U10. If your son or daughter is unusually large or unusually skilled for his or her age, he or she is also able to "play up".

Unlike the other age groups, there is a minimum age for U6. U6 players must have soccer ages of at least 4.

Playing "down" is also possible for U6-U10 teams in unusual cases, but requires paperwork to be filed by our registrar. Please contact Ralph Ackerman if you want your child to play in a younger age group than is normal.

U11 and older age groups

The IPSL does not check the ages of players. We (and all the other clubs in Iowa) generally organize teams according to their ages, but players may play up or down in IPSL games. All that is required for IPSL games is a player card from our club.

For tournaments (particularly State Cup), age groups are observed strictly.