Grade 4 Soccer Parents/Caregivers,

We hope this message finds you well. We wanted to inform you that the Bedford Youth Soccer Association has decided to change the process of the Grade 4 Team formation starting in the Spring 2024 Season. Please see below for the team formation change and how it will be implemented this season and moving forward.

Team Formation Change for Grade 4 Travel Soccer:

The 4th grade U10 teams apply a leveled teams formation approach to enhance early player skill development against peers at a similar skill level. Depending on the number of teams each season, the Soccer Association may form all leveled teams, all balanced teams or a combination of both within the age group.

Reason for this change:

The leveled team approach attempts to reduce the skill gap between players on a team. All players on a team should have relative skill levels to ensure all players are working on similar foundation skills. A team of relatively skilled players will have a more equitable and enjoyable competition against other BAYS teams.

How will teams be formed:
For the Spring 2024 Season:
The Spring 2024 season is fast approaching. The Bedford Youth Soccer Association will form teams for the Spring 2024 season using the coach evaluations from the previous seasons. This will be the process for this season only.

For the Fall 2024 season and beyond:

Grade 4 players will be evaluated each spring by a third party evaluator. This evaluation, coupled with Bedford Youth Soccer Coach evaluations, will be used to form teams. Evaluations are not tryouts. Bedford Youth Soccer is committed to the goal that every child wanting to play soccer can have the opportunity. Evaluations and a leveled team’s approach are not to dissuade or turn away players from the program but rather allow players to grow their skills by participating in a program that enables skill-level growth by playing with skill-level appropriate peers.

A player playing on a level team one season does not guarantee that they will play at or on the same level the following season. Each season teams are formed based on the preseason evaluations and the most effective formation for the grade. These factors could lead to team formation changes based on the skill level change of the player and peers between seasons.

Please reach out to the Bedford Youth Soccer Association with any questions about this process.

Bedford Youth Soccer Association