What is general Travel Soccer?
Travel soccer is a selective program in which players are evaluated and/or recruited to play for a team that travels outside of their community to play teams from other clubs, cities and in some cases states. It is a year long commitment. When playing travel soccer it is expected that it is the player's primary commitment.
Carmel FC's Travel Soccer Program
Our travel soccer program is "home grown". Unlike many other clubs that recruit for their teams our teams are primarily made up of players that have started with Carmel Dads' Club Rec Soccer and/or that have developed in our own Academy. Carmel FC normally does not allow players from outside the program until 13u. Once they reach 13u, when they play 11v11, we allow nonresident players to assist in filling rosters and to conform to IHSAA roster limit rules.
We have proven that we can create top level teams at 13u and above via developing players from the start rather than recruiting the newest "great" player each year. This doesn't mean new players can't make our top teams. We do have tryouts annually. It simply means we don't rely on recruiting players away from other clubs to get results.
When does travel soccer start? Travel soccer at our club starts at 11u. This is the age when they start playing 9 v 9 games. It is also the age when they begin playing in the Indiana Soccer League (ISL), when teams are placed in divisions and when teams are ranked nationally.
What leagues do they play in? The primary league for these teams is Indiana Soccer League (ISL). Some teams may play in The Great Lakes Conference (GLC) which is a National/Regional League for elite teams.
What are the divisions? 11u and 12u play in 2nd, 3rd and 4th divisions in ISL. 13u and above play in Premier, 1st, 2nd or 3rd division respectively in ISL.
How are our teams set up? We have up to four teams per age group in travel soccer: Gold, Blue, White, Gray
Our Gold Team in each travel age group is our 1st team. Our strongest players are rostered here. The rosters may be smaller than for our other teams to provide players on lower level teams the opportunity to play up. This team will primarily play State or Presidents' Cup. They will normally be in GLC, Premier, 1st or 2nd Division.
Our Blue Team is our 2nd team. These players will compete to move up to Gold throughout the year. League play will be 1st, 2nd or 3rd division. They will normally enter Presidents' Cup or Challenge Cup.
Our White and Gray teams in travel soccer represent our development teams. These are for players that are ready for travel soccer but maybe not at the level of Gold or Blue yet. In a few cases our White teams will play at the same level as our Blue team. It is not unheard of for players to move from a White/Gray team to a Gold team within 2 years.
**It is important to understand that at 11u and 12u the teams are smaller as they play 9v9. As they get older the rosters get bigger. Gold and Blue teams at 11u/12u many times combine to be a Gold team at 13u. The White and Gray teams then become a Blue team.