It’s usually helpful if you’ve had some recent experience.  For example, if you started for Hollan in the final in South Africa or are currently on the US Women’s National Team, that might help you at least get a tryout.  In addition, if you’re standing upright, breathing, and can get to the office in about ten minutes, you stand a pretty good chance of getting picked up that way as well.  We've started a new process because we were actually able to recruit someone to fill our Director of Development slot.  Erin Powers is now handling getting players on teams and forming teams of free agents when we can get enough to reach critical mass and someone is willing to be the team rep.  go to the folder titled "How to get on a team, players looking, etc." for more inform ation and contact info for Erin.   

Each team has their own standards for practice (none, for example), but you can usually find some other teams you can pick up with for practice. Same with uniforms and general attitude.  We can post your information on our Players Looking folder on the web site.  The standings will indicate the general capability of teams in spite of what they tell you.

A little background to help.  Albuquerque Soccer League and Albuquerque Women’s Soccer League are USASA and USSF-affiliated soccer leagues that plays three seasons annually of men’s, women’s and coed soccer.  Our fiscal year starts September 1.  Hence, we begin registration anew every year in August and begin a nine game fall season the Sunday after Labor Day.  We play the Fall Classic soccer tournament in late November, then close down play in December, January and February.  There’s indoor play (dasher board style) but we have no connection with it.  Google can help you find that.  The first Sunday of March starts our spring season that runs 8 games.  We determine division winners based on the combined results of the fall and spring season and give out awards at the end of the spring season.  As of 2010, we have 5 men’s divisions, five women’s divisions and 4 coed divisions. 

For summer soccer, we offer a recreational coed league on Monday and Tuesday evenings after work and a competitive coed league on Wednesdays and Thursdays after work.  The difference between the two is that we do not allow premier or first division men and premier division women or college soccer players in the recreational play.  it is intended for less skilled players and we attempt to eliminate as much sandbagging as possible.  We do not keep standings or give any awards in the hope that the summer play can be as enjoyable and uncompetitive as possible.  We have varying degree of success depending on the nature of the people participating. 

Also, in the summer we play men’s Over-30 on Friday after work.  AWSL plays women’s Over-30 Thursday after work.  Both ASL and AWSL play Futsal on Sunday afternoons and evenings.  ASL will offers a competitive men’s league on Sundays.

We've added lighted fields at our complex in Bernalillo so we started a Thursday night Over-30 league and a Wednesday coed league in spring 2010.  We have an opprtunity to play Saturday coed in the fall and the complex as well and are looking to organize teams for that.

Bear in mind you can register year round and we pro-rate the registration fee about every 4 weeks.  There is a $25 fixed charge to join NMSSA and USASA and pay your accident and liability insurance coverage.  Those payments aren’t negotiable.

The best approach is to look over the standings that are posted weekly.  That’s going to give you a fairly straightforward assessment of the teams and their relative strengths.  It should give you some ideas as to potential teams that might be looking as well.  If we can be real for a moment, Manchester United has a lot less trouble attracting players at the top of the table than Portsmouth does on a seven game losing streak.  So the teams in the bottom half of your desired playing level are more likely going to need immediate help.