2026 Winter League

December 13, 2025 – February 28, 2026

Deadline to register: November 22nd

The MDSL is excited to host its 1st Annual Outdoor Winter League with games held across various turf fields between Silver Spring to Gaithersburg. The season will run outdoors from December 13 – February 28, 2026 and is designed for U-13 – U-19 boys travel teams.

Teams will be flighted based on competitive level, i.e. Division 1, Division 2, and will play 6 games during the season. Playoffs will be implemented at the end of the regular season, and champion and finalist medals will be issued.

GotSport is our scheduling platform and there will be a $25 discount per team for clubs who register 4 or more teams. For clubs registering 4 or more teams, select Check/MO in the GotSport platform and we will send you an invoice with the discounted rate to complete the registration. All teams must pay in full prior to the application deadline.

*Note that the league holds the right to adjust divisions accordingly depending on the number of teams registered.

Note – This league is open to competitive level teams only.

Flexible scheduling will be available to play games on Saturdays or Sundays.

Scheduling Overview

• Teams may be scheduled to play a doubleheader on select weekends based on the following factors:
  • Coach/team conflicts
  • Referee availability
  • Venue availability

The MDSL will accept match scheduling requests based on coach conflicts provided that they are communicated to Assistant League Manager (Josh Burton – wburton@mdslsoccer.com) during the registration period to allow for conflicts to be taken into account during regular season match scheduling. Matches will not be re-scheduled after the final league schedule is released on December 21st.

• Games will be played between the times of 10:00 am – 7:00 pm at multiple turf venues in Montgomery County, MD. Weather will be a factor during the season, so we will adjust accordingly.
• Seeding for playoff matches is based on total points earned by each team and its overall record during the regular season. For example, 1st vs 2nd, 3rd v 4th, etc. to provide a meningful playoff game to conclude the season for all those participating.

Requirements for each team:

1. Teams are required to have at least 14 players and a maximum of 22 players (based on age group).

MDSL Winter 2025/2026 KEY DATES to remember: 

• Team Registration Deadline: November 15, 2025
• Division Structure Released: November 22, 2025
• Tentative Schedule Released to Teams Only: November 29, 2025. On this date teams can de-conflict any games up until November 30th. After this window, no changes are allowed for the rest of the season.
• Master Schedule Released: November 30, 2025 
• Season Starts: December 13, 2026
• Season Ends: February 28, 2026

Match Day Dates :

Teams will be guaranteed 6 Winter season matches over the season. Note that some games specifically make-up sessions may be played on Fridays. Matchdays are as follows:

• Week 1: December 13-14, 2025
• Week 2: January 3-4, 2026
• Week 3: January 10-11, 2026
• Week 4: January 17-18, 2026
• Week 5: January 24-25, 2026
• Week 6: January 31-February 1, 2026
• Make-up dates: 2/7 – 2/8, 2/14 – 2/15, 2/21 – 2/22, 2/28 – 3/1

*Note that inclement weather and school closings might be a factor during the season. There will be flexible scheduling. If weather affects any of your games, then we will do our best to reschedule all of the games and note that some teams may have to play doubleheaders. Also keep in mind that if a team requests to play Saturday games only that this request may not be granted and the team may have to play some games on Sundays.

Fees include:

1. Eight (8) games per season
2. Centralized master scheduling via GotSport. 
3. Two referee system for U-13 and up.
4. League administration

Please Note: All scheduling (games and venues) are handled by the MDSL office.