All teams playing travel soccer under the auspices of New Jersey Youth Soccer (NJYS) require an official team roster and player/coach passes approved by an NJYS District Commissioner (DC). The process for obtaining these is traditionally called "carding". Carding is done through your league, and the DC who will approve your documents is a league official. Here are some guidelines to the process.

The NJYS Administrative Guide describes the carding process in detail. Please read it thoroughly, with particular attention to the sections on filling out the rosters, membership forms, and player passes. When approving coach and player passes, the DC is very careful to make sure everything is correct and consistent. The following details are very important: there are some pointers here that you will not find in the administrative guide

 District Commissioners

As of July 2008, our DCs are:

• MNJYSA and CJYSA: Steve Highcock, district # 09
• JAGS: Mollie Anderson, district # 24

 NJYS Carding Packet Contents

• Team roster: small-sided (14 players); full-sided U11-16 (18 players); U17 -19 ( 22 players)
• Player passes: 14 for small-sided, 18 or 22 for full-sided
• Coach passes: 4
• Introductory letter
• Accident/medical claim procedure
• NJYS coaches handbook
• State Cup application forms (full-sided only)

 Required Forms and Documents

Forms available for download from the NJYS site in Word and PDF format:

• Player Membership Form
• Membership Form for volunteer coaches
• NJYS Medical Release form for players
• Kidsafe form
• Player/coach add or transfer form (new for fall 2008)
• Player/coach release form (new for fall 2008)
• MNJYSA SAGE form, (described below.) is downloaded from the MNJYSA wbsite

Other forms and documents

• Copies of coaches' licenses
• Copies of players' birth certificates
• Current photographs of players and coaches

 Filling out the Forms

• General Pointers
  • Always download the latest versions of the forms from the NJYS website
  • It's a good practice for your team registrar to complete the forms as much as possible, including attaching the photographs to the passes correctly. All the players, coaches and parents need to do is sign in the required places
  • Make sure you have the right roster for your team: the small-sided roster has room for 14 players only
  • Before proceeding to fill out the roster and the player/coach passes, arrange all the forms in alphabetical order for players and coaches by document form: all the membership forms together, all the birth certificates together, etc. This will also help you to complete your roster and passes in the correct order. It is also how your DC wants to see them
  • The NJYS Administrative Guide recommends getting all your passes signed and in correct order before filling out your roster
  • After processing your packet, your DC will return the approved passes and the pink copy of your roster, together with the medical release forms, the copies of birth certificates and coach licenses,
• League, club and other numbers: where these are required, use the following code numbers:
  • Mid-New Jersey Youth Soccer Association (MNJYSA), League # 09
  • Jersey Area Girls Soccer (JAGS), league #05
  • Central Jersey Youth Soccer Association (CJYSA), league # 01
  • Hopewell Valley Soccer Association is club # 9108.
  • The team #, player ID #, and Coach ID # are taken from the NJYS pass
  • The DC # is 09 for MNJYSA and CJYSA.,
• Signatures and names
  • Make sure all signatures are in script and not printed, although some allowance can be made for 8-9 year olds! The player's signature should be signed by the player ONLY - no parents please. Signatures and names should be the same throughout, matching the name on the birth certificate. Make sure the younger players sign their names within the space provided on the pass
• NJYS Medical Release forms must be filled out and notarized with a current date. An NJ-licensed attorney can notarize the forms too. The DC will return these to you with approved passes. Use the current medical release form; the old, image-only form will not be accepted.
• Membership forms: There are separate forms for players, and volunteer coaches. (See below for non-volunteer coaches). For the forms, the leagues we commonly join are:
• A copy of the volunteer coach's license must be included with the other forms. Coaches get only one pass, even if they are coaching more than one team. (When rostering a carded coach with another team, use the original coach ID# on the roster). D, E and F licenses must be issued by NJYS. A, B and C licenses issued by USSF are accepted. The DC will return the copy to you.
  • If you have a non-volunteer (professional) coach and no volunteer coach, you must include the professional coach on your initial roster, as you have to have at least one coach on the roster. Normally you should have at least one volunteer coach, and the professional coach can be included on the original roster or added later using the Player/Coach change of status form (see below). Non-volunteer coaches card directly with the State Office: Click here for the procedure . When including a non-volunteer coach on the original roster, your DC needs a copy of the front and back of the State non-volunteer pass and a completed SAGE form (see below)
• A copy of the player birth certificate must be included. Failing this, a copy of a passport page showing the player's name, place of birth and birth date is acceptable
• A current photograph of the player and/or coach must be glued on the pass within the appropriate area (over "Attach Photo Here", not the center of the pass). Photos should be no more than 1.25 inches square, as the photo must not obscure the player's signature. Photos showing part of the DC's stamp from a previous year will be rejected. The NJYS administrative guide states: "Computer generated pictures or copies will not be accepted", This really mean copies on regular paper. Digital photos on glossy stock are OK.
• The NJYS player pass must be filled out entirely. The name of the club must be written out, e.g. Hopewell Tsunami, not HVSA Tsunami. Birth date should be in mm/dd/yyyy format. The player pass must be perfect and legible - no writeovers, erasures, or white-outs. The signature should be the same as on the membership form. If the player pass is (or looks) modified in any way, it will be returned by the DC.
• Out-of State player passes can now be processed by your DC rather than the NJYS office. The DC requires a completed and validated pass issued by the home state and signed by the player. The team name should be on the pass, while the player ID number will be issued by the home state. The pass must be accompanied by a form completed (with an official signature) giving the player permission to play out-of state. The out-of-state ID number will be entered on the roster. The out-of state player must submit all the other forms described here except the membership form, as they are not registering but only rostering in NJYS.
• The roste should be filled out with coach and player pass numbers coinciding with the numbered lines i.e. pass number one on line one, pass number ten on line ten, etc. It's OK to write"01, 02," etc, as the roster has the full team number imprinted at the top of the column. Player names should ideally be in alphabetical order. Don't fill out the roster until all your passes are completed, signed and in order. The roster includes boxes for the team name and District (DC) #. Don't worry if the players are not all in perfect alphabetic order, which can happen - just make sure that they have the right pass numbers!
• SAGE forms - for MNJYSA only: completed for each player, parent and coach (see SAGE program below). If a coach is a parent, they need only sign their child's form
• Kidsafe form: each coach, trainer, and team manager should complete this form and send to the Club, not the DC
• Timing: The DC needs the completed packets no later than three weeks from when first needed, usually the beginning of the season, but the earlier the better - no later than mid-August if you are playing in a Labor Day tournament.
• Delivering the completed forms: Please return these to your league contact for a last once-over, before the contact delivers them to the DC. Your league contact will also pick up the validated passes and other material for you. The league contact may ask a team official or parent to deliver or pick up materials when out of town.
• Adding players & volunteer coaches after roster is approved: use the Player/Coach add/transfer form to do this.. After this form has been filled out and signed by the player/coach and an existing team official, make three copies. All four copies go to the DC together with all the forms described above. The DC will sign and stamp the add/transfer forms and return a copy with the player pass. You should keep the copy of the add/transfer form with your roster. If you are adding a player transferred from another team, that player must be released first using the release form. The release has to be approved by the DC who originally approved the player.
• Adding out-of-state players: use the player add/transfer form in addition to the other forms and documents described above
• Adding a non-volunteer coach after initial rostering: tthe MNJYSA DC needs a copy of the front and back of the State non-volunteer pass, a completed SAGE form, and a completed add/transfer form (add new coach), signed by a team official!!