ISC Clinics and Tryouts for the 2026/2027 Season

Please Review all Registration Information and the Age Group Matrix Before Registering for the 2026-2027 Year-Round Season

2026 Clinic and Tryouts Process (Ages U8-U19) 

• Clinics & Tryouts are required for our Advanced Year-Round program, Practice-Only Program (POP), and Practice-Only Program Plus Indoor (POPPI) players.
• We do not hold Clinics and Tryouts for our ISC Academy Program or the ISC Lightning Program.

2026-2027 Seasonal Year- Clinic And Tryout Registration (Ages U8-U19)

• Clinic and Tryout Registration opened on May 11, 2026.
• Clinic and Tryout Registration will close on Monday, June 8, 2026, at midnight.
• Clinics are held for the U9-U12 age groups.
• Tryouts are held for the U13-U19 age groups.
• Determine Your Age for the 2026-2027 season.
  • Use the age group matrix to determine your child’s soccer age.
  • The cutoff for all age groups is August 1.
  • Players born in the months from August 1-July 31 are grouped together in the same age group.
  • Please see the bottom of page for information concerning U8 players.*
• Prior to completing registration for the ISC (U8-U19) 2026 Clinics and Tryouts, review the following documents:
  • ISC Commitment Expectations
  • ISC Fee Structure-As of May 11, 2206, the updated fees for 2026-2027 have not yet been posted.  However, the 2025-20206 fees are listed, and they will be similar to the 2026-2027 fees.  
  • ISC Code of Conduct
• Understand the ISC Philosophy for player selection.  We do not select by ability in the ISC until the 13U year.  All players that play on U9-U12 teams play on evenly divided teams and players that are willing to make the time commitment and demonstrate a willingness to learn and work hard are accepted if they join during the clinics time period in June.  Starting at the U13 year, we form “A” and “B” teams in all age groups that have more than one team.  We are NOT able to take all players in U13-U19 age groups.   We will limit the total number of players in those age groups.
  • • U9-U12 Age Groups: For players in the U9-U12 ages, we are driven by the belief that kids develop at vastly different times and therefore, early selection by ability at U9-U12 does not account for the rapidly changing developmental growth of soccer players.   Many years ago, we implemented what we call a “SELF-TRACKING” system for player entry into the ISC at these ages.  Kids and families choose what “track” or path they want to pursue at the U9-U12 age groups.  We only ask that kids who want to play in the year -round program demonstrate a willingness to learn, willingness to work hard, and a willingness to be a good teammate.  These requirements are what we call the “3 W’s.” On the notification day when you receive our email with the invitation to join the ISC year-round program, we ask that you will have considered very carefully whether the cost and time commitment are a good match for your family and your child.  If they are not a good match, other seasonal programs such as the “ISC Lightning” program might make more sense.
    • U13-U19 Age Groups: All returning ISC Year-Round Players will be guaranteed a spot on the U13-U19 teams provided they met their commitment expectations for the 2025-2026 season, they met the standards outlined in the ISC 3 W’s, and they adhered to the ISC Code of Conduct.  However, all returning players will have to compete with all athletes at the tryouts to determine whether they will be placed on the “A,” “B,” for “C” team for the U13-U19 age groups.
• Please note that when you register for the 2026 Clinics and Tryouts:
  • There is a $35 Clinic/Tryout Registration Fee for all players that attend our clinics and tryouts.  This includes returning year round players.
  • You must have a photo ready to upload when you register.
• Attend Clinics and Tryouts
  • • Attendance is required at a minimum of 3 clinics/tryouts unless your family has notified us that your soccer player will be out of the country during the entire clinic/tryout period.  If you have questions about meeting the requirements for attending 3 clinics or 3 tryouts, please email either Jon Cook, jon.cook@iowasoccerclub.com, or Diana Arpey, registrar@iowasoccerclub.com
    • You must have your son or daughter check-in prior to their first clinic or tryout at the fields to receive their t-shirt and to verify that they are registered.  We will have our ISC administrator, Diana Arpey, on site for the clinics and tryouts for the first two weeks of ISC clinics and tryouts.  The exact hours and location that Diana will be on site each week will be sent out via email for those that have registered.
• Notification/Selection Dates
  • The notification date for the U9-U15 age groups is Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
  • The notification date the U16-U19 age groups is Wednesday June 24, 2026.
• For details concerning how to accept your team placement and to finalize your 2026 registration CLICK HERE.

For players interested in joining the POP or POPPI programs, they must declare via written email to the ISC staff prior to the tryout notification date for their age group that they want to do POP or POPPI.

We do not allow players to use POP and POPPI programs as a “fallback” option if they are not selected for the level that they had hoped to be placed.  While we totally understand that some players are incredibly disappointed if they are not selected to the top team in their age group for U13-U19 teams, however, if a player does not declare that they want to pursue the POP or POPPI program prior to the notification date for their age group, neither POP or POPPI will be an option after the notification date.

As was mentioned above, there are two notification dates:  

• • The notification date for all U9-U15 Age groups is Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

• • The notification date for all U16-U19 age groups is Wednesday, June 24, 2026.

• Therefore, we will require that the U13-U15 players that are interested in POP or POPPI must declare by Monday, June 8 that they want a POP or POPPI roster spot and that they are not interested in pursuing a team spot on the Advanced Year-Round travel teams.

• The U16-U19 players that are interested in the POP and POPPI roster offers must declare by Monday, June 22 that they want a POP or POPPI roster spot and that they are not interested in pursuing a team spot on the Advanced Year -Round travel teams.

* ISC will consider players for our U9 teams that are U8 players.  We have always allowed boys and girls to join during the U8 year for those who are ready for year-round soccer. These players will be considered and evaluated by ISC Director of Coaching, Jon Cook, to evaluate whether it makes sense for the child to play “up” in the U9 program.  However, it is very rare for us to consider any U7 player for a U9 team.

OTHER IMPORTANT ISC POLICIES:

Any ISC player that is registered on an ISC year-round competitive team may not be primary rostered or secondary rostered with another club soccer organization including, but not limited to, clubs registered with US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, USSSA, SAY, and AYSO.  An exception to this policy may be permitted if an ISC player requests to guest play in an event and guest playing is not permitted without some form of temporary registration.  In this case, the guest playing opportunity falls under the guidelines listed below regarding guest playing and permission must be granted by the Director of the ISC.

The policy above related to roster restrictions does not preclude players from participating in ODP, ID2, US National Team, other national teams, or junior high and high school soccer.  If participation in ODP, ID2, US National Team, or other national teams requires additional registration, this registration is permitted by ISC policy.   In addition, the policy detailed above does not prevent players from participating in local recreational programs that are community based with no travel such as the Iowa City Kicker’s provided players make ISC events their priority.

Guest Playing:

Players in the ISC that guest play with another club soccer team must always receive written permission from the Director of the ISC before they will be released to guest play with another club.  Per ISC policy, ISC players will not be granted permission to guest play with another club if the event conflicts with another ISC outdoor league game, ISC indoor tournament, or ISC outdoor tournament.  These policies also apply to anyone in our “POP” or “POPPI” programs.   Typically, ISC teams have very outdoor league games, indoor tournaments, or outdoor tournaments from mid November to mid March.  If players are seeking guest playing opportunities, the period from mid November to mid March would be a more realistic time for players to pursue guest playing opportunities.  However, players that are granted permission to guest play during this time period, must still meet their indoor league requirements with the ISC.   (One final note, the ISC Director, Jon Cook, has always provided permission for players to guest play with other clubs provided that there is no competing ISC event scheduled for the same time and provided that the proper procedure is followed to seek permission to guest play.)

Players that participate in ODP, ID2, US National Team, or other national teams do not need permission to guest play because the dual registration is permitted per ISC policy.  However, we require that players that participate in ODP, ID2, US National, or other national teams notify the Director of ISC when they will participate in those programs.

SWITCHING PROGRAMS MID YEAR 

(Please note that players enrolled in the Advanced Year-Round Program are not allowed to switch to “POP” or “POPPI” during the seasonal year from August-May.  The formal time to make the switch from the Advanced Year-Round Program to the “POP” or “POPPI” program is during the clinic/tryout month of June.  This is why we ask families to look very closely at the commitment expectations required of ISC Advanced Year-Round Players before you accept a spot in that program, because we do not let players switch during the seasonal year.)  

Questions?

• Please contact Diana Arpey at registrar@iowasoccerclub.com