Overview
North Reading Youth Soccer ("NRYS") participates in ECYSA, the Essex County Youth Soccer Association. ECYSA is one of several regional leagues across Massachusetts that provide "travel" soccer, allowing teams from different towns to play one another.
ECYSA teams are organized by age groups depending on a player's date of birth. In the fall season, NRYS has teams that compete in the following age groups: Grade 4, Grade 5/6, Grade 7/8. In the spring, teams compete in all the same age groups as well as high school Grade 9/10 and Grade 11/12/PG. Within each age group, players are placed on teams based on a variety of factors including player performance at tryouts and player evaluations by coaches from the previous season(s).
The Fall ECYSA season runs from September to November. The Spring ECYSA season runs from April to June. Games are played on Saturdays for Grade 4 - Grade 7/8 age groups. Half of the games are played in North Reading and the other half are played in nearby towns. The longest travel for an away game will be 45 minutes, but most away games will only be 15 to 30 minutes away. In addition to the weekly games, teams generally practice two times per week at a field in North Reading. In the fall, teams can compete in a tournament over Columbus Day Weekend and, in the spring, teams can compete in a tournament over Memorial Day Weekend.
In the Grade 4 age group, teams compete in 7v7 soccer and team rosters have between 10 to 13 players. In the Grade 5/6 age groups, teams compete in 9v9 soccer and team rosters have between 12 to 14 players. In the Grade 7/8 - Grade 11/12 age groups, teams compete in 11v11 soccer and team rosters have between 16 to 20 players.
Please see our
FAQ page for additional information.
Evaluations
Travel team "evaluations" for North Reading Youth Soccer are held once a year in the spring for the Grade 4 - Grade 7/8 age groups. The Grade 4 evaluations are held monitoring intramural Grade 3 games during the last two weeks of the spring intramural season. Players not registered for spring intramural are welcome to participate and should contact the Travel Director to arrange (email at
[email protected]).
Grade 5-8 evaluations are held on a weekend day, typically scheduled on a Sunday in early June. Once these dates are confirmed, information will be posted on this website and the information will be sent out to all families. In order to participate, players need to officially register for the upcoming season on the NRYS website.
We do not host evaluations between the Fall and Spring travel seasons. If necessary (due to registration numbers or similar reasons), teams will be rebalanced for the spring season based on coach input and review with the NRYS Travel Director.
Evaluation Schedule Spring 2025 (for Fall 2025 season)
Evaluations for the Fall 2025 season will take place on Sunday, June 8 during the times listed below. Please note this is for the grade the player is entering in the fall. Evaluations will take place at Maguire Field.
Grade 5/6 Girls: 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Grade 5/6 Boys: 10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Grade 7/8 Boys: 12:45 - 2:15 p.m.
Grade 7/8 Girls: 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Returning travel players should wear their current NRYS travel jersey to evaluations. Players without a jersey can wear any numbered jersey for identification purposes (or we will provide a numbered pinnie).
Grade 4 evaluations occur during the last two weekends of spring intramural games, June 14 and June 21. No attendance is needed on June 8. New players are invited to join the evaluations if interested, please contact
[email protected] to join.
Due to the large number of players involved, NRYS does not offer make-up tryouts. If your child has an unavoidable conflict, please speak with your current coach and Travel Director.
Age Breakdown (Fall 2024 - Spring 2025)