Rules:

*Players under 17 cannot play games. They may be signed, but not registered to play. This will represent the recruitment phase. 17 is the age at the start of the season, not if they turn 17 midseason. The game has a lot of 15 year olds appearing as newgens. Start of the season is defined as before the first game of the season. If someone is on your roster and under that age, they can be released or remain unregistered until such time as they are 17. Then you have to register, red-shirt or release.
*Injured players may be 'red-shirted' by removing their assigned number. If they've played less than 3 games they can have an extra 1 year eligibility.
*Max 5 years eligibility.
*In the first year a 17 year old is signed/turns 17 he may be red shirted for one season not counting towards his 4 years.
*No signing ANY player (even if age appropriate) if they have played a professional game anywhere in their history.
*25 man roster (this has been increased from V1.3 where it was 20)
*up to 5 players who are 'signed' but not on the roster (recruiting class) each season.
*up to 2 redshirts, plus unlimited injury related red shirts (but must be season-ending)
*Max age of a player is 23.
*Up to 11 foreigners on the active roster.

If at any time players lapse over and become ineligible, they'll need to be released even if they don't ask to, or aren't forced to by the game.

Staff:
No restrictions on staff, though the game might not let you have more than what is created at start up.

Scouting:
Free reign on signing players. No restrictions. It will be hard enough.

Roster Ages:

25 U24 years old
18 U23 years old
6 U21 years old


SET ASSMAN TO RENEW CONTRACTS - or, dare i say it, use FMRTE for contracts. This might be a necessary eveil to remove dev wages and stop your regens getting released almost immediately in late december. I strongly advise you use it for this purpose only. Dont check Ca and PA. Dont do it!!


SET UP:
Use USA and Canada files, v1.6 and 1.6.1 respectively.
Use the USA and Canada extra names file
Retain as many players as you want...but I'd recommend all of CONCACAF.
Download the USA/Can media file.
Download the NCAA graphics pack.


UPDATES:
As often as you like but at least 1 a season. Updates on drafted players, school records, pro history of your draftees would be welcome.


PROGRESSING
You need to win AT LEAST 1 trophy at each level (regular season or cup/tourney) in order to advance. Cannot jump levels. NCAA > USL D2 > USSF D2 > MLS. For those leagues with regular season and playoffs, each counts as a trophy for the purpose of advancing. You can also Substitute PDL for NCAA if you prefer.

I need some ideas on whether putting in High school teams, at least until the Super Y is in, would work.

EG. Set up 50 high school teams playing 8 conferences or something.

EG Kentucky High Schools. Put an age limit of 18 on the team. Make every college have the nearest high school team as a feeder.

When a player is signed (say as a 15 year old, or 16) they could then be 'loaned' back to the high school. This would represent the fact that they're not old enough to be at college.

Anyone got a better idea?

This sounds like it would be really fun. I wish we could implement the rules via the game itself so the AI would be forced into those rules as well, but obviously that wont be possible in this incarnation of the editor.

High schools might be a possibility, but I don't envision them being playable, but rather just a giant division. It adds a lot of work. Research wise, though, it wouldn't really be a big deal (provided we don't care about researching colors, stadia, etc).

Updated roster to 25. 22 is too small. I played a season with 20 and it was hard to manage.

Of course, no way to limit he AI movement on certain things, but others (squad size, age limits etc..) can be put in the editor.

I would not mind researching New Jersey High Schools and creating a league for it, if this actually becomes something that we want to add in addition to the NCAA League. Also, I watch most Patriot League NCAA games, so let me know if you need help with that.

Once the Canadian name pack, USA transfers, facepacks and logos etc.. are ready this week, I'm going to start this challenge in earnest.

Is anyone else with me?

to be dead honest I'm torn, I wanna try my hand at this but I also wanna manage MLS while drafting out of the NCAA. So little time so much to explore...

I'm game for the challenge. The only cautionary question I have is why the age limit if no issues with eligibility or professionalism exist. I think of the obvious cases of baseball or football players in college who are well beyond the typical age but have eligibility for a variety of reasons has some carry-over to this as well. I will be diligent and not sign anyone under those conditions, however, until your approval has been granted. I will regularly post my successes and failures...

I love LLM, but I typically don't like a lot of the stupid rules like...complete 10 years in game before posting. That's lame, I never take notes on that, and I refuse to keep track. I'd rather have a running tally season to season.

I'd encourage and prefer on-goign up dates - at LEAST once a season.

As for the rules, the reason being is you could conceivably sign a 15 year old and play him until he turns 24. That's 9 years. There's no college player that is there more than 5 years, hence why i made that the max. I also suggested 17 as a minimum as there's none at college younger than that. The, you can sign them and just not assign them a squad number and it will work in effect like a draft class. When they turn 17 (or that season) you can assign a number and bring them in.

Would it be ok if it was any LL in CONCACAF? I tend to run my entire database (168 leagues or so) and I start unemployed, getting on with the first team to offer and working my way up in the football world.

There's not any LL in the rest of CONCACAF, not really. I mean, if you want to start int he Bermudan 3rd division that's fine.....but the idea was to make it relevant to FMNA.

I updated the rules, I forgot I changed the squad sizes some time ago including the foreigner limits.

25 total, 11 foreigners, 5 unregistered (pre-signed), 2 red-shirts, plus unlimited injury redshirts (season-ending, after less than 3 games).

After looking through the updated 1.6 database, I am willing to try this challenge without the age restrictions. I agree that 15 and 16 year-olds are too young and I also agree to abide by the NCAA rules for eligibility of five years and having never played a professional match. Where I will differ in my own run-through is that I will likely have a high number of 17 - 20 year-olds making up most of my team. I can remember a handful of 17 year-old kids when I was in college. Most turned 18 within their first semester. Also, I can remember a handful of 24 (and up) year-olds. Like I said, I will abide by the eligibility requirements and also the rules set for for matches within the updated database you have created. If you are okay with this, I will post and provide screen shots of my successes and failures after each season. I will be using the Missouri State Bears, as they are the closest university to my hometown of Wichita, Kansas (even though I was born in K.C., which makes Creighton closest there) found on this database. Anyway, let me know.

Scratch that. I will UMKC. I didn't see them in there before. I can't bypass a team in my beloved Kansas City (or Wichita, but since Wichita State doesn't have a team in the MVC...)...Anyway, my original offer still stands to participate but with the requirements I posted above...

Right i'm gonna take this on. Used the 'pick a team for me' option until I ended up in the NCAA and ended up at The University of Vermont in the American East Conference.

One question though: Does the team automatically get repopulated each season with youngsters to replace drafted players?

Will post season updates as I go!

I want to recommend the following:

****MAKE SURE YOU SET THE ASSMAN TO DO CONTRACT RENEWALS. This is essential at the NCAA level.

If you have the game use the USA AND Canada files, that way the graphics pack, which I'm about to upload, will work.

There's a couple of things I'm going to tweak and release a v1.6.1 USA file. If people can wait until then to start, and use the recommended set-up, that would be best. If you've started and don't want to re-start that's fine, but I definitely want to d/g the DII/DIII schools.

USA 1.6.1 download http://www.filefront.com/16037609/USA-1.6.1-Final.rar/
HERE!

Nice one Aljarov, I will set up a new game today using the instructions. Thanks again!

The NCAA logos are great! I had to change the file names and XML documents because they were all off by one number. Not sure I understand why, but whatever...

Question: Are we ok to name players in our updates?

Important Draft information

Ok i've done some experimenting, and it seems that the only way to have players actually drafted from your NCAA team is to holiday over the Superdraft. If you don't other teams drafts work, but not yours- the player has the 'dft' icon and has an offer from the MLS team of $0 but nothing happens.

I suggest you holiday from the day of the last combine game (game 3) for at least 5 days.

Stupid question. How did it know to draft your players? Did it just happen? Is there something I need to do for this feature to exist?

You don't need to do anything, you'll just find out what player/s were drafted via a news item such as 'player x feels that move to team y was too good to turn down'. Well, that and the history tab in transfers.

Fair enough. I've a ways to go yet. I am in May of my first non-conference schedule (preseason friendlies, according to the game).

Al Jarov Appointed New Kentucky Coach

The 34 year old Brit-cum-American put in his resume with nothing to lose "I figured I am the Football Manager Head Researcher, that's got to count for something"....the crowd looked a little perplexed? "What's 'football' got to do with him being appointed the Men's soccer coach" one confused media representative could be heard muttering on the sidelines.

"I've got my ideas about how the team should play, and I'll be doing my best to build a successful team both now and for the future. I'm going to start recruiting new blood immediately, and there will be no resting on laurels. This might be amateur athletics, but it's big business and we're in it to win it".

Looking over the roster he acquired, Jarov was asked to identify the players he felt had the most talent or potential:

"There wasn't a whole lot to work with when I arrived, and it was clear I'd need to overhaul the squad. Most of these kids were walk ons but I'm hoping I can improve the calibre of the recruiting classes efffective immediately. That's going to mean thinking outside the box and going far and wide a much of the domestic talent for 2009 is already spoken for. Still, there's always drops outs, and transfers. However, we do have one kid, and he's a star in the making - as good as any in the NCAA."

"Who?" Said a confused looking Lexington Herald-Leader journalist named Mark Story who clearly didn't understand an offside that wasn't accompanied by a yellow flag being tossed on the 'field'"

"Carlos Alberto Blanco" Jarov replied, "His Dad named him after the great Brazilian, and although he's not from the country, he certainly has some mad skillllzzzzz."



"He's clearly going to be our playmaker though I fear he wont be in the NCAA ranks past this season. He's already good enough to turn pro."

The recruiting class has been going well too Jarov explained, "we've 5 players lined up for next season a couple of 17 year olds that will redshirt this year, including Maryland transfer Zach McMath. He wasn't happy at Maryland and when he heard he was looking for a new school we offered him a full scholarship so long as he redshirted his rookie season. We have 2 other good goalies so we don't need to rush him."

Other potential future stars include (and their recruiting class) AMRLC Souza (2010) Brazil, DC Jason Reyes (2010) United States, MCL Dominic Boytchuk (2010) Canada, DLC Da Silva (2010) Brazil.

Of the recruits eligible for 2009, the top ones are 19 y/o GK Jeff Smith (Canada) and DL Valmir, a 17 y/o Brazilian.

Add those to Blanco and another exciting rookie in Brian Wozniak (AML, 18, American) and you can see a team with the potential to be competitive within the Conference-USA immediately. "No national titles yet, but we're already building a core for success".

Exhibition games against 11 teams saw them post 9 victories and 2 draws for an ideal build up to the competitive campaign. "Yeah, those don't man much, but we're happier to win than lose. We trailed a lot of players and we're pleased we beat Louisville for sure, as were the fans. It was nice to win the UK invitational that also featured Furman, Wright State and in-state rivals, the Cardinals.".

So, a new era in UK soccer, one that had a modest amount of success in the weak MAC before a recent move to the C-USA.

"If nothing else, we did put the beat down on the 'Cards, that should buy me some breathing room with the fans for a while!"

Leland Humpling's NCAA adventure!



2009 - University of Portland Pilots, West Coast Conference.

Pre-season:

Went 4-1-1 but needed to develop some areas of the squad so recruited a few players including John Flores (19,USA, MC), Nicolas Peeters (19, CAN, MC), Richard Ramirez (17, USA, LB) and finally Dan Williams (21, USA, GK).

Red-shirted a young argentinian fullback who my assistant seemed to rate but had crappy stats.

West Coast Conference

8-3-2 1st Place!

Found a successful 4-4-1-1 formation that thanks to my star-striker and captain, James Luna (12 games 12 goals) was very strong.

Only real opposition was Santa Clara, who finished 2nd place.

WCC Tournament

Winners!
After a tricky semi-final at Gonzaga which needed penalties, we won the tournament as well.

A very successful season overall, would have liked a bit more of a challenge to be honest. In the draft however, my star striker Luna was my only drafted player and went #54 to Chivas USA. Will report next season on how he got on. Now to find another striker to take his place!

And my NCAA game is corrupt...what a bummer, it's working fine and i can holiday though no bother, but when i try and go to a match, it crashes after i confirm the squad. Anyone else getting that issue?

No crashes yet. However, I am only two games into my conference season. I will be submitting my first team report here soon! Go Roos!

Bad news, Al. The game doesn't crash after the second season but it does cause a number of NCAA teams to switch conferences. In some cases, this causes them to change conferences across a great distance. For example, my own UMKC Roos have been relocated to the Atlantic Sun Conference. Anyway, I don't think I will be able to continue the save under these conditions.

That absolutely should not happen. I went through and double checked all the teams at the NCAA level were assigned specific conferences.

The truth is that it is beyond me why this happened. Here are three screenshots of the conferences after the first season. At first, I thought it was some fancy conference realignment with select teams, based on their improving prestige. Sadly, I saw that all but the major conferences had been changed.

Here is the conference that UMKC got moved to...



Here is the conference they should be in...



Here is what one of the smaller conferences looks like... (Notice that no original team remains in this conference)



Here is what a major conference looks like... (Unchanged)

When I was checking I was checking major conferences, but I can't imagine why it would make a distinction?

The truth is I don't know why it happened. I loaded the USA and Canada databases provided on this website. I loaded all leagues from those countries. I loaded a number of other leagues. These are common variables that I include in most saves. I did nothing unusual this time so I cannot distinguish if the scenario was the result of the the combination of leagues I loaded or the result of the actual file itself. I kept the save so you could look at it, if you wish. I don't know how to upload it, so please give me some help there, if you want the save file. Also, I won't be offended if you find that it was a mistake on my part that led to the change in conferences among teams.

I think that the editor just doesn't like small conferences. I could be 100% wrong on that, but it's just not built to handle them correctly at the moment, in my estimation.

It could have to do with the fact that the major conferences were created using the existing PDL divisions, whereas the smaller ones were created from scratch.

It sounds like it might be too big to fix this year anyway. Maybe it will be easier to work around next year. I appreciate the feedback everyone has provided, even though I had nothing to do with making these files, so I don't pretend to take any credit for them. I can say, as a user, that I enjoyed using them while I was able to and look forward to seeing the quality products you boys keep making.

Well, my crash issue was a corrupt install, nothign to do with the XML files. Unfortunately, I restarted and overwrote my original save and thus most of that is irrelevant.

Here's a quick run down of my 2009 season with Kentucky:

Conference - USA

Largely off the pace all season, Marshall started brightly and lead the whole season, despite the fact they lost to Kentucky home and away! Finished in 3rd place which was, surprisingly, good enough for a NCAA College Cup place.

Conference-USA Tournament

Despite being third UK were required to play the qualified against 9th placed Memphis. Despite this unlucky break, and a grueling 120 min game, UK prevailed. It took 3 OT games, and 2 PK shootouts but despite doing it the hard way, Kentucky lifted their first C-USA silverware to mark a successful season after a 10 man PK shootout against FIU in the final.

NCAA College Cup

Given a tough opening draw away at perennial powerhouse Indiana, UK took the lead before coughing up a later equalizer. The game was settled in OT on the stroke of the break in the extra time. UK looked gassed after their C-USA tourney exploits and lost to the better team. Indiana made it to the final before losing to Virginia, falling themselves in extra time.

MLS SupetDraft

LM Adam Tate (19y/o), the brightest starlet was signed up for Generation Adidas and selected 9th overall by the NYRB. Also leaving in the first round was senior MC Bryan Perez to Chicago (13th overall) which was surprising considering a fairly mediocre 2009. The final draftee of this sucecssful season saw star senior DC Roque Basabe selected by LA in the 4th round, 50th overall. DC Dominic Banos was at ther combine but not selected (and as an underage player who shouldn't even have been in the draft in the first place, I kept him on my squad).

Top Players:
Goals: Angel Kalinov - 7
Average: John Mazibuko - 7.21
Assists: Jalen Marion - 5
MoM : Dominic Banos - 2
Goals in a Match: Ed Sheridan - 2
Shutouts: Billy Vasquez - 7 (league) 2 (tourney) 9 total.

Individual Awards:
C-USA Rookie of the Year - FC Ed Sheridan
C-USA Team of the Year: FC Ed Sheridan, MC Jalen Marion, DC, Roque Basabe

Notable Signees:
Young GK Lopes looks very promising. He's a freshman in 2010. Also in the 'incoming class of 2010' are Nivaldo an excellent young fullback, Tony Meza an exciting AMR, Kevin Hughes a Canadian U20 left back and a couple of other projects and role players that could yet see significant time in the seasons to come.

PS I don't know if it's because I used FMRTE to adjust contracts to amateur and extended the expiration dates to avoid mass releases of my players, but the drafted players didn't leave nor were they offered contracts. Even Tate who was GA hasn't left my squad. I eventually got rid of the 2 seniors which was fine, btu tate is still hanging around as an unreqgistered player who is out of contract. He's on the list and unwanted but wont leave and is in limbo. I can't release him due to his draft status/GA contract....any suggestions would be appreciated. He's a great young prospect and I'd love to follow his career but right now he's rotting.

This never happened in the test games where I didn't use FMRTE, but the contract situation was problematic at this level (players would be signed and then released the next day and then refuse to resign, even with Assman settings changed).