All:

A few updates as we enter into the start of soccer season:

1. Schedules – We are working through these and they will be delivered on schedule, on or before 3/17.  If things go as expected, they will likely be circulated this Friday, with an understanding that everyone will have a couple of days to review and let me know of any mistakes before I circulate final schedules out Monday morning.  

As in the past, I tried to make as many scheduling requests as possible.  Note though that schedule requests do cause problems on the scheduling front– as a rule of thumb, every schedule request you make results in a 50% chance of having to play two soccer games in a given week/weekend.  I do my best to shift things to minimize the impact as much as possible, but there is an impact.  so bear that in mind when the schedule come out– we have maximized our efforts on accommodating those requests and that does impact other things such as amount of home games or away games in consecutive weeks, distance you may travel to play a game, and in some instances, whether or not you have two games in a day.  If you have any questions on your particular schedule when it comes out, don't hesitate to reach out.

2. DSG Discount day – Please see attached for the DSG/DSL discount day where you can get up to 20% off at Dicks on most items in the store.  The sale will run from 3/13 through 3/16 and stores at Robinson, Ross Park Mall, South Hills Catholic, Cranberry and Monroeville are participating.

3. League payment, once schedules are complete I will focus on this a little more and verify who has sent in payment and which ones remain outstanding, as a reminder it is $125 per team.

4. First Games – Games will start the weekend of March 20-22.  Team rosters need to be delivered for each school's team and they need to be signed by the school's pastor or principal verifying enrollment.

5. Referee Updates – For the upcoming Spring 2026 DSL Season, here are a few updates with how we are handling referees for the JV and Varsity MLS and Premier Leagues.  

• Referee payments for JV/V Co-ed games will now match the basketball payment structure of $55 per referee, per game (2 refs per game).
• Instead of the home team paying at the beginning or end of the match, game fees will be processed through the Arbiter platform, and payment will be sent electronically to the ref referees from the Diocese.
• The Diocese will bill each school at the start of the season for the referee fees at $440 per team (each team has 4 home games, each game has two refs, and each ref gets paid $55 per game).
• Contacts/Cancellations/Reschedules will now go through Russ Caprio.  I will include his contact info in the contact list distributed prior to the start of the season, and will confirm his cancellation procedures.  Any cancellations should be emailed to Russ and me, and Russ should be texted if cancellations/changes are within 48 hours of game time.  
• Note – the above is only relevant for the JV/V Co-ed games for the regular season.  Developmental and the All-Girls League regular season and tournament will be processed as it always has been.  The JV/V Co-ed Playoffs will be handled a little differently than in the past, but the changes only impact what I will be doing; for teams that qualify everything on your end will remain as they were.  Also, if your school is using PIAA referees for Developmental games and/or the All-Girls League, Chuck Pruss will still remain the contact person for those games.