Omaha, NE (March 22, 2016)- Nebraska State Soccer and the Nebraska League are happy to announce the creation of a new playing league, the Nebraska League Central (NL Central). The NL Central is for Competitive/Rec teams in central and western areas of the state. During the first year the league will be limited to U9/U10 Boys and Girls.
Games will consist of 6v6 (5 field players GK), roster size of 12 players, U10 Field, size 4 ball, 25 minute halves, no offsides and will use a one-person referee crew. Location of the games will depend on the location of the teams in each division. If there is over 90 minutes of travel by teams, games may be played at a neutral site and if possible we will play double headers. We will allow teams to “Club Pass” players, which will reduce the burden of moving players around on the State Roster.
Jeff Hulbert, League director, says, “This league allows Member Clubs to have their teams play new competition and will introduce their teams to a travel league. ENSA is a great example, for clubs in the Omaha metro, of a league that allows teams to play clubs outside of their in-house program.”
The full schedule for the inaugural season of the NL Central was released this week. Play will be on the weekends starting April 2nd and continuing through May 22nd. Games will be played in York, Hastings, Kearney, Lexington and North Platte. We also have teams from Grand Island and Columbus that do not have home games this season. In a couple of these locations it will be the first league games they have ever hosted.
We have 17 teams playing in the NL Central this season – although not super numbers, we do feel it represents the teams available to play. We are hoping the league will create excitement in these and surrounding communities, and we will gain membership (teams). We have already gained interest from the current members to expand to a U11/U12 division next year. Hulbert continued, “Nebraska League will supply the administration of the new league for teams outside of Omaha and Lincoln and we look forward to creating other play leagues state-wide as needed.”
Find more information at nebraskaleague.org.