Understanding the TERRA Power Rankings

1.0 Background

This system was developed in an attempt to promote interest in organized, competitive youth soccer. Its goals are as follows:
1. Add to the enjoyment of competitive youth soccer by providing further recognition of accomplishments.
2. Promote greater access to information by encouraging leagues and tournaments to publish timely results on the internet.
3. Provide teams, clubs, leagues and tournaments an indication of their quality, competitive level and performance.
The following is an overview of the basis on which the ranking is calculated.

2.0 Overview

The Ontario Soccer Competitive Ranking includes all male and female teams from the following leagues:
 - Ontario Youth Soccer League (OYSL)
 - Central Soccer League (CSL) Regional & Premier
 - Central Girls Soccer League (CGSL) Premiere & Division 1
 - South Region Soccer League (SRSL) Elite & Premier
 - Ottawa-Carleton Soccer League (OCSL) Premier
 - London District Youth Soccer League (LDYSL)Premier
 - Windsor and District Soccer League (WADSL) Premier
 - Southwestern Ontario Womens Soccer League (SOWSL) Youth divisions

Taken into consideration for the ranking are all competitive games during the current season for which the results are posted publicly on the internet. These include:
 - League games
 - League Cup
 - Ontario Cup

The ranking list is produced by a computer program which assigns a team points for every match, according to clearly defined criteria. The factors taken into consideration are:
1. Winning, drawing and losing & strength of the opponent
2. Number of goals
3. Home or away match
4. Importance of the match (multiplication factor)
5. League strength (multiplication factor)
6. Age Division

3.0 Basic Principles

3.1. GAME POINTS

Naturally a win will bring more points than a defeat in any system, but simply giving two or three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat, would not fully meet all the requirements for a reliable multi-level ranking system.

Therefore the distribution of points also takes into consideration the relative strengths of the two teams. In practice this means that a win over a weaker opponent will earn fewer points than victory over an equally rated or stronger one. It is also possible for a weak team that puts up a good show against a stronger one to earn points in defeat - though as a general rule not as many as the stronger team that beat them.

A special exception is made for matches that are decided on penalties; the winning team earns the full number of points for a win, while the losing team gets the number of points that would have been awarded for a draw.

3.2 NUMBER OF GOALS

A further factor taken into consideration is the number of goals scored and conceded in a match. Here too the distribution of these points depends on the relative strengths of the two teams. In other words, a goal scored by the lower-rated team will be weighted more than one scored by the higher-rated side. On the other side of the balance sheet, points are deducted for goals conceded. To encourage attacking football with more goals, goals conceded are weighted less than goals scored. In matches decided on penalties, only goals scored during regular playing time or extra time are considered in the calculation.

A possible "over weighting" of goals is avoided by attaching more importance to the first goal that a team scores than to any subsequent ones. On the whole, the number of goals scored can never earn as many points as would be awarded for a win. This is in accordance with the general principle that while more goals may make the result look more impressive, in the final reckoning - as in normal league championships - it is winning or losing that is decisive.

3.3 HOME AND AWAY GAMES

To make an allowance for the extra handicap of playing away from home, the away-team is awarded a small bonus of 3 points. For games played during League Cup, Ontario Cup or Tournaments, there are no such bonus points.

3.4 STATUS OF A MATCH

The importance of a match is factored into the points obtained.  The multipliers used for the match status are as follows:

Ontario Cup round robin game

1.50
League Cup/Playoff game

1.50
League game

1.75
Ontario Cup knockout game

2.00

3.5 LEAGUE STRENGTH FACTORS

Ontario Cup play in previous seasons is used to determine the strength of each league and each division.  The multipliers to be used for 2002 are as follows:

BOYS LEAGUES U12 U13 U14 U15 U16 U17 U18 U19
OYSL -- -- 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
CSL REG 0.85 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.60 0.70
SRSL REG 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.60 0.65 0.75 0.75 0.60
OCSL 0.45 0.45 0.30 0.55 0.50 0.65 0.40 0.70
WADSL 0.50 0.40 0.35 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40
LDYSL 0.45 0.50 0.30 0.50 0.45 0.40 0.45 0.45
CSL Premier 0.50 0.55 0.35 0.50 0.40 0.45 0.45 0.40
SRSL Premier 0.50 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.40 0.45 0.40 0.40

GIRLS LEAGUES U12 U13 U14 U15 U16 U17 U18 U19
OYSL -- -- 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
CGSL REG 0.85 0.85 0.65 0.65 0.40 0.65 0.45 0.60
SRSL REG 0.85 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.65 0.75 0.70 0.70
OCSL 0.45 0.45 0.35 0.65 0.40 0.60 0.40 0.40
SWOWSL 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.35 0.30 0.30
LDYSL 0.45 0.55 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.45 0.60
CGSL Div 2 0.40 0.50 0.45 0.40 0.35 0.40 0.35 0.35
SRSL Premier 0.40 0.50 0.45 0.40 0.35 0.30 0.35 0.35

 

3.6 AGE DIVISION FACTORS

Based on the assumption that varying concentration is placed on the different age divisions, factors will be applied to each point total based on the age division the game is played in.

Increased weighting will be applied to the National Age Divisions (U14, U16 & U18). The next level will be the surrounding age groups, U13, U15 & U17). The final group will consist of U10, U11, U12 and U19. The following weighting factors will apply:

U14, U16 & U18 1.00
U13, U15 & U17

0.94
U10, U11, U12 & U19

0.88

3.7 SUMMARY

Based on the above considerations, the total number of points credited to a team after a match will depend on the following criteria:

- Points for winning, drawing or losing
- Plus the points for goals scored in this game
- Minus points for the goals conceded
- Plus a bonus for the away team
- Multiplied by the appropriate factor for the status of the match
- Multiplied by the appropriate factor for league strength
- Multiplied by the appropriate factor for age division

4.0 Terra Points

Beginning in 2002, teams will be ranked based on a composite point value called OYSR AVG. The OYSR AVG will be calculated as follows:

Terra Points =

A +  B   + 1    C   
      GP     3 OGP

where,
A is the pre-season seeding (fixed throughout the season)
B is the points gained for league & league cup play
C is the points gained for Ontario Cup
GP is the total League & League Cup games played
OGP is the total Ontario Cup games played

5.0 Awards

Beginning in 2002, the following will be honoured by the website at the end of each season:

- Team of the Year (team with the most Terra Points)
- Club of the Year (club with the most Terra points per team average)
- Boys Team of the Year (Boys team with the most Terra Points)
- Girls Team of the Year (Girls team with the most Terra Points)
- Boys Club of the Year (club with the most Terra points per Boys team average)
- Girls Club of the Year (club with the most Terra points per Girls team average)
- Boys Provincial Team of the Year (boys team with the most Terra Points)
- Girls Provincial Team of the Year (girls team with the most Terra Points)
- Boys Regional Team of the Year (boys team with the most Terra Points)
- Girls Regional Team of the Year (girls team with the most Terra Points)
- Boys District Team of the Year (boys team with the most Terra Points)
- Girls District Team of the Year (girls team with the most Terra Points)