Poaching shall be defined as the act of attempting to induce or the inducing of a registered player to transfer or otherwise leave his/her current team prior to the end of the seasonal year. Curbing poaching activities will be the sole responsibility of the team’s coaches. Any of the team’s coaches could be held responsible for the actions of any member of the team including, but not limited to, the players, parents, team staff, club representatives, relatives of players, etc., currently associated with his/her team. Ignorance of the actions of others shall not be deemed a defense for a poaching charge brought against the head coach.
In order to avoid a charge of poaching, the head coach must, in writing, direct any inquiries concerning a registered player to the player’s current head coach and/or the associated club’s director of coaching, if applicable, or the Club’s president prior to any contact with the player or his/her parents. In order to invite a player to be a guest player for a tournament, etc., the head coach desiring the services of a guest player must direct the request, in writing, to the player’s current head coach and/or director of coaching, if applicable, or Club’s president prior to approaching the player. A guest player may not transfer to the team for which he/she was a guest player for a period of 120 days after the guesting event without the written consent of both coaches, subject to note below. Minimum disciplinary actions/sanctions to be taken against any coach found guilty of a poaching charge will be as follows:
1st Offense—Six (6) months suspension for coach; club to be fined $100.00 plus any costs associated with the holding of the hearing including copying charges, postage, etc. ·
2ndOffense—Minimum three (3) year suspension of the coach; club to be fined $500.00 plus any costs associated with the holding of the hearing including copying charges, postage, etc.
Conviction of a poaching charge by any member of a team will cause the team to which that player/coach is registered to forfeit its privilege to participate in any FYSA State level, sanctioned event (i.e., State Cup, President’s Cup, Kellogg’s Bowl, etc.) for the remainder of the seasonal year. The team sanctioning will apply only to the team that is involved in the poaching incident, not multiple teams if the player/coach or team member is registered to more than one team.
NOTE: It shall not be considered poaching to invite any player to try-out for a team to be formed for the next seasonal year so long as no contact is made until after the conclusion of State Cup Finals and prior to August 1st, unless that player is not currently registered to any FYSA team. (Players registered to any team competing in National Championship Competition (NCC) beyond FYSA’s State Cup Final Four may NOT be approached in ANY manner until that team is eliminated from NCC.).