# Youth soccer league rules: formats and playing time

Canonical URL: https://pitchtime.app/rules

Official youth match formats and playing-time rules, with sources, retrieval dates and notes. Choose an organisation to check its age bands and calculate equal minutes for your roster.

## How to read this page

These pages use a sourced dataset snapshot. Check document dates for your season; official documents and applicable local competition rules take precedence. “Not specified” means the dataset has no value for that field, so check your local rules.

| Organisation | Country | Age bands covered | Minimum playing time rule? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [U.S. Soccer](/rules/us-soccer) | United States | U6, U7, U8; U9, U10; U11; U12 | Recommendation — 50%, not mandated |
| [AYSO](/rules/ayso) | United States | 6U; 8U; 10U; 12U; 14U; 16U; 19U | Yes — half a match, with eligibility and arrival conditions |
| [US Youth Soccer](/rules/us-youth-soccer) | United States | 6 years of age and under (U6); 8 years of age and under (U8); 10 years of age and under (U10); 11 years of age and under (U11); 12 years of age and under (U12); 13 and 14 years of age and under (U13, U14); 15 and 16 years of age and under (U15, U16); 17, 18 and 19 years of age and under (U17, U18, U19) | Yes — recreational-league definition only |
| [The FA](/rules/the-fa) | England | Under 7 and Under 8; Under 9 and Under 10; Under 11; Under 12; Under 13 and Under 14; Under 15 and Under 16; Under 17 and Under 18 | Recommendation — Mini-Soccer; no mandated youth minimum in SCORY |
| [Football Australia](/rules/football-australia) | Australia | Under 6 & 7; Under 8 & 9; Under 10 & 11 | Recommendation — equal time is a priority; no quantified minimum |
| [Canada Soccer](/rules/canada-soccer) | Canada | U6-U7 (Fundamentals); U8-U9 (Fundamentals); U10-U11 (Learn to Train); U12-U13 (Learn to Train) | Recommendation — 50% target in the Standards, with a U7 exception |
| [New Zealand Football](/rules/new-zealand-football) | New Zealand | First Kicks (4-7 years); Fun Football (U8-U9 years); Mini Football (U10-U11 years); Mini Football (12-13 years); Youth Football (14-15 years); Youth & Senior Football (16+ years) | No minimum specified in the cited sheets |
| [FAI](/rules/fai) | Ireland | 5-7 years old ('Me and My Ball'); 8-11 years old ('Me and My Skills'); 12-14 years old ('Me and My Team Mates') | No minimum specified in the cited plan |

The table distinguishes recommendations, requirements for recreational leagues and unspecified policies.

[Youth soccer rules dataset](https://github.com/simonash227/youth-soccer-rules). Corrections welcome: [open an issue with the official source](https://github.com/simonash227/youth-soccer-rules/issues).

[Free playing time calculator](/playing-time-calculator). [Free lineup builder for 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11](/lineup).