LEAGUE OPERATIONS AND GAME DAY MANUAL League 1 Ontario RESERVE LEAGUE Version 2.3 – updated February 14, 2020 Sanctioned by 1 | Page CONTENTS SECTION I – ORGANIZATION pg. 3-4 SECTION II – LICENSE HOLDER COMMITMENTS pg. 5-6 SECTION III – STRUCTURE pg. 7-12 SECTION IV - PLAYER ELIGIBILITY & TEAM ROSTERS pg. 13-17 SECTION V - TEAM & MATCH OFFICIALS pg. 18 SECTION VI – L1O RESERVE LEAGUE TECHNICAL STANDARDS SUMMARY pg. 19-21 SECTION VII – GAME DAY OPERATIONS & FACILITY REQUIREMENTS pg. 22-27 APPENDIX A – COMPETITION STRUCTURE/BREAKING OF TIES IN LEAGUE STANDINGS pg. 28 APPENDIX B – CODE OF CONDUCT pg. 29 APPENDIX C – SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY pg. 30-32 APPENDIX D – APPROVED PLAYER MOVEMENT WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION pg. 33-34 APPENDIX E – INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER (ITC) REQUESTS FOR MINORS pg. 35 APPENDIX F – CANADA SOCCER CONCUSSION POLICY AND ROWAN’S LAW pg. 36-40 APPENDIX G – POLICY ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES pg. 41 APPENDIX H – REQUIREMENTS FOR FIELD OF PLAY SETUP pg. 42-43 APPENDIX I – MATCH VIDEO RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS pg. 44 APPENDIX J – LEAGUE1 ONTARIO UNIFORM STANDARDS & ADVERTISING GUIDELINES pg. 45-51 APPENDIX K – L1O RESERVE LEAGUE GAME DAY TIMING GUIDELINS pg. 52 APPENDIX L – L1O RESERVE LEAGUE PRE-GAME, IN-GAME AND POST-GAME PROTOCOL pg. 53-55 APPENDIX M – L1O PROTOCOL FOR RACIST INCIDENTS DURING MATCHES pg. 56-57 APPENDIX N – HEAD SHOT PHOTO SPECIFICATIONS pg. 58-59 APPENDIX O – L1O BRAND GUIDELINE pg. 60 APPENDIX P – L1O EXCEPTIONAL PLAYER PERMIT PROTOCOL pg. 61 APPENDIX Q – STANDARDS FOR MEDICAL PERSONNEL ON MATCH DAY pg. 62 2 | Page SECTION I – ORGANIZATION League1 Ontario (L1O) is a high-performance standards-based senior soccer league. The L1O Reserve League has been sanctioned by Ontario Soccer and is recognized as an important step on the established talented player pathway, providing an integral bridge between the highest level of youth soccer competition in Ontario (OPDL) and the highest level of senior soccer competition in Ontario (L1O). The L1O Reserve League also serves as an important platform for the development and progression of coaches and match officials. 1.1 Strategic Direction a) The L1O Reserve League shall be governed by the League1 Ontario Board of Directors. Resolution of any matter not specifically addressed within this document will be the responsibility of the L1O Board of Directors. 1.2 Technical Oversight a) The League1 Ontario Technical Committee shall provide guidance and advice to the L1O Board of Directors on all technical matters related to the L1O Reserve League. 1.3 License Holder Advisory Role a) L1O License Holders shall have the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the L1O Reserve League to the L1O Board of Directors and the L1O Technical Committee through the L1O License Holder Advisory Group. b) The Commissioners of the L1O Women’s and Men’s Divisions will Chair all meetings of the L1O License Holder Advisory Group and shall serve as the official conduit between the License Holders and both the L1O Board of Directors and the L1O Technical Committee. c) L1O license holders shall designate a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of three (3) representatives to the advisory group. At least one (1) representative must come from the license holder’s team operations leadership group and at least one (1) representative must come from the license holder’s technical leadership group (e.g. Technical Director, Head Coach, etc…) d) Advisory Group meetings shall be called as deemed necessary by the L1O Commissioners, but no less than two (2) times per calendar year. License Holders will be given a minimum of fifteen (15) days advance written notice for the scheduling of any official advisory group meeting. e) License Holders who fail to have appropriate representation at a properly scheduled Advisory Group meeting will be fined as per the L1O Discipline Code. 1.4 Establishment of Sub-Committees / Working Groups a) The L1O Board of Directors has the authority to establish sub-committees or working groups as necessary. b) A sub-committee or working group will have clearly specified Terms of Reference delineating its mandate, role, responsibility, authority and term limits. 3 | Page c) The L1O Board of Directors will appoint a Chairperson for each sub-committee / working group that is established. i. The sub-committee / working group chairperson has the authority to nominate members to the sub-committee / working group, but the L1O Board of Directors has final decision-making authority on sub-committee / working group membership. ii. The sub-committee / working group chairperson must report back to the Board of Directors within fourteen (14) days of the staging of any meeting. Minutes must be kept for each meeting that is conducted. The minutes shall be distributed through the L1O League Administrator. d) When it is determined that a specific sub-committee / working group has completed its task or mandate, the L1O Board of Directors will dissolve that sub-committee. 1.5 League1 Ontario Discipline Committee and Discipline Code a) The L1O Discipline Committee shall be appointed by the L1O Board of Directors. b) Members of the L1O Board of Directors, members of L1O committees and sub-committees, league employees and contractors are excluded from serving on a L1O Discipline Panel. c) L1O License Holders shall adhere to the L1O Discipline Code. 4 | Page SECTION II - LICENSE HOLDERS COMMITTMENTS 2.1 Standards a) The L1O Reserve League is a Senior Level, high-performance, standards-based AMATEUR soccer league for men and women. 2.2 Eligibility to Participate in L1O Reserve League a) Participation in the L1O Reserve League is exclusively available to L1O License Holders and Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) License Holders that are not L1O License Holders. b) Participation in the L1O Reserve League is contingent upon the signing of a L1O License Agreement by a binding authority of the License Holder as well as payment in full of the annual league fees, as established by the L1O Board of Directors c) L1O reserves the right to invite OPDL License Holders to enter teams in the L1O Reserve League. An OPDL License Holder that is not also an L1O License Holder must provide written confirmation from Ontario Soccer that they are an OPDL license holder in good standing with Ontario Soccer. d) All eligible organizations that choose to enter teams in the L1O Reserve League shall adhere to the terms of this League and Game Day Operations Manual, as well as the L1O Reserve League Discipline Code. 2.3 Scheduling a) All teams that have been entered into the L1O Reserve League shall participate in all matches for which they are scheduled during the course of an L1O Reserve League season. Failure to do so shall result in disciplinary measures as outlined in the L1O Reserve League Discipline Code. b) Once the annual L1O Reserve League match schedule is published, any change to the schedule requires the presentation of a Match Change Form to the league office, which must be completed by the team requesting the change and signed by a representative of the opposing team. No change request will be considered without said form. However, for any change to be considered, the following requirements must be met: i. Request to change the location for a match requires, at minimum, forty-eight (48) hours notice. ii. Request to change the date and/or time for a match requires, at minimum, seven (7) days notice. iii. L1O reserves the right to reject any and all requests for scheduling changes. iv. Once a change to the published schedule is approved, the league office will notify all parties and update the published schedule accordingly. 5 | Page c) Pre-season, in-season and post-season exhibition matches, tournaments and other events that would require formal sanctioning from a governing body but that do not form part of the official L1O Reserve League season may be entered into at the License Holder's discretion. i. It is the responsibility of the License Holder to secure the appropriate permits to participate in any match not scheduled by the L1O. ii. All official, scheduled L1O matches will always take precedence over any other match a License Holder may seek to participate in. 2.4 Annual Performance Review a) To ensure that the established technical, organisational and facilities standards set forth in this manual are being adhered to, all organizations that enter teams to participate in the L1O Reserve League shall be subject to ongoing evaluation and review, culminating with an annual Performance Review meeting that is conducted at the conclusion of each season. b) Representatives from L1O Reserve League teams shall attend the annual review meeting, either in person, via telephone conference call or via video conference call and will provide all information requested, either in advance or during the course of the meeting c) The Performance Review process may also identify opportunities for improvement that are not necessarily related to standards compliance. d) The Performance Review process shall also be an opportunity for participants to bring forth issues to L1O and present feedback for the continuous improvement of the league’s operations and service. 6 | Page SECTION III - STRUCTURE 3.1 Competition Format a) The L1O Men’s Reserve League shall operate as a U21 league, but which permits limited participation of “overage” players (aged 22 and older). Please refer to section 3.10 of this document for the criteria for using “overage” players in official L1O Men’s Reserve League matches. i. L1O Men’s Reserve League teams may only register U21 players to their official roster. For the 2020 season, a U21 player must have been born in the year 1999 or later. b) The L1O Women’s Reserve League shall operate as an Open Age league.