FAQs
FAQ About Athletic Events
Below are some Frequently Asked Questions about FIYA Athletic Events. As a general rule of thumb, we encourage all incoming and returning FIYA participants to re-read these "FAQ About Athletic Events" and our Regulations Manual EACH YEAR as we update both documents annually before the start of the school year.
FIYA (pronounced FEYE-Yuh) is the acronym for FOUNDATION FOR INTERSCHOLASTIC YOUTH ATHLETICS. Established in August 2011, FIYA is a nonprofit entity providing athletic events for middle and elementary schools in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.
For more detailed information about FIYA’s rules and protocols, please review the FIYA Regulation Manual which can be found in the About Tab of this website.
FIYA offers three (3) divisions by grade level for competition:
- Division 1 is for students in grades 8 and below.
- Division 3 is for students in grades 4 and below.
- Division 2 is for students in grades 6 and below.
Please note that a player can play UP a division but cannot play DOWN a division. For example, a 6th grader can play on a Division 1 team but a 7th grader cannot play on a Division 2 team.
No high school student, regardless of his/her age, can play in a FIYA athletic event. Middle school and elementary school students must meet the age eligibility requirements as set forth in Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the FIYA Regulation Manual.
We typically offer a girls division and a boys division. For some sports, we also offer a coed division.
Yes females can play on a boys team. However, if your school has a girls team in the same sport during the same season, the female player cannot play on both the girls team and the boys team. Note that a male cannot play on a girls team.
It depends. One player can play on multiple teams as long as the sport differs OR the sport is offered in a different time period. For example, the same player can play on the girls volleyball team and run cross country during the fall season. In addition, the same player can play on the girls volleyball team in the fall and either the boys volleyball team or the coed volleyball team in the spring. However, the same player cannot play on the boys volleyball team AND the coed volleyball team in the spring. Lastly, if your school has two teams involved in the same sport - - for example, you have two boys basketball teams in Division 1 - - one player CANNOT play on BOTH teams but must remain on only one team throughout the season.
FIYA offers athletic events in two forms: (1) LEAGUE EVENTS and (2) TOURNAMENT EVENTS
- (1) LEAGUE EVENTS occur over an 8 to 10-week period involving a regular season league schedule and playoffs (for qualifying Division 1 teams only). See Question 6 for the listing of FIYA league events.
- (2) TOURNAMENT EVENTS can be designated as tournaments, meets or competitions and are generally one day or multiple day events that typically offer an individual competition as well as a team competition. See Question 7 for the listing of FIYA tournament events.
League Events by Season:
Early Fall
Girls Volleyball
Boys Flag Football (7 v 7)
Girls Flag Football (5 v 5)
Late Fall
Girls Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Division 1 only)
Boys Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Division 1 only)
Coed Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Division 1 only)
Winter
Girls Basketball
Boys Basketball
eSports (Rocket League and Fortnite)
Spring
Girls Soccer (11 v 11)
Boys Soccer (11 v 11)
Girls Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Divisions 2 and 3 only)
Boys Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Divisions 2 and 3 only)
Coed Futsal (5 v 5 Indoor; Divisions 2 and 3 only)
Boys Volleyball
Coed Volleyball
Tournament Events by Season:
Fall
5-7 Cross Country Meets
Winter
2-3 Dance Competitions
Spring
4-6 Track & Field Meets
There are six general dates that you need to be aware of for each League Event, all of which can be found on our Calendar page:
- The Registration Deadline Date. Note that registrations requested AFTER the deadline go on our waitlist and there’s no guarantee late registrations will be admitted;
- The Preseason Coaches Meeting Date which is the week following the Registration Deadline Date. This is an invaluable meeting done through Google Meet for which one coach from each team should attend;
- The Final Date To Drop From League Event/Provide Scheduling Requests which is usually the day after the Preseason Coaches Meeting Date. Note that dropping after this date, your school is still responsible for the registration fee. Also requesting scheduling changes after this date has a lower likelihood of being accommodated;
- For a League Event, the Draft Schedule Date which is generally emailed one week after the Preseason Coaches Meeting Date. In reviewing the draft schedules, you must email any conflicts immediately;
- The Start and the End of the Regular Season; and
- For Division 1 teams only, the start and end of Playoffs.
First, contact FIYA at INFO@ONFIYA.ORG to ensure that someone from your school is on the FIYA email distribution list. If your school does not already have an athletic director, we recommend that you appoint a school employee as the school’s athletic director or coordinator and this individual is the main contact for FIYA. FIYA sends periodic emails to our active email distribution list about upcoming events and important dates.
Second, go to the REGISTRATION tab of our website and view the information for the league and/or tournament event for which your school is interested in participating. Registration for all League Events are conducted through the FIYA LeagueApps Registration tab. Complete the online registration as it pertains to that sport.
Please note for some Tournament Events (cross country and track & field), the registration is done via Athletic.Net - a separate platform as described in the information section of such sports.
First FIYA organizes its league events geographically. That is, we group school teams together based on their physical location in order to minimize travel. Second, based on the number of schools in a geographic area, we attempt to organize the school teams into leagues of similar quality based on our historical knowledge of the teams and any input we receive.
FIYA league events are centralized which means our games occur at a location in the region which hosts multiple games per day. The majority of our league events and tournament events occur on weekdays between the hours of 4 pm and 7 pm start times.
The Registration Fee for League Events is as follows: between $650 and $675 per Division 1 team and between $600 and $625 per Division 2 and Division 3 team. The actual fee for each League Event is listed on the FIYA League Apps Registration link. Please note for eSports, the Registration Fee is $100 per team per eSports league.
The Registration fee covers the entire expense for referees, game operators, facility and administrative fees for a 8 to 10 game regular season plus playoffs for Division 1 qualifiers.
The Registration Fee for Tournament Events is based per individual and is $20 per athlete unless otherwise stated.
Payment for League Events or Tournament Events can be by credit card or check. Unless a school is notified otherwise, payment is due as follows:
League Events: Payment due by the season start date. Please note on your LeagueApps dashboard, you are able to print your invoice which will provide an invoice number and FIYA’s name and address.
Tournament Events: Payment due upon receipt of invoice, which is typically sent at the conclusion of the entire tournament season. For example, one invoice will be sent after all cross country meets have been completed for the total amount due for all cross country meets that your school participated in.
With respect to the registration fee for a league event, if a school team drops from a league event on or before the mandatory coaches meeting for that league, the school will not owe a registration fee. However, after the mandatory coaches meeting, a school dropping from the finalized league schedule still owes the registration fee.
With respect to the registration fee for a tournament event, the school is charged for the number of athletes that it registers for the event regardless of the athlete’s participation on the day of the event.
FIYA strives to keep its costs as low as possible. FIYA works with schools to ensure that finances do not prevent their students from participating. In addition, schools that provide gyms and/or fields to host league games are given substantial discounts on the registration fee.
Yes, we can schedule games so that your school team has all or most of it's games at home as long as the centralized model is adopted. That is, we need to schedule at least two games (back to back) at your school’s gym/field. Each FIYA game is no more than 1 hour in length. In addition, a host facility agrees to assist in setting up its gym or field to be able to host a FIYA athletic match which may include securing a scorekeeper. FIYA discounts a hosting school’s registration fee based on the number of hours the school hosts FIYA games.
FIYA discounts a hosting school’s registration fee based on the number of hours the school hosts FIYA games.
FIYA offers city wide playoffs for all qualifying teams from Division 1 leagues. There are NO playoffs for Division 2 and Division 3 leagues. For Division 1 playoff teams, we typically create two playoffs brackets: Division 1 (usually first place teams and higher skilled teams) and Division 1A (quality teams but slightly lesser skilled).
FIYA awards league championship plaques to all first place teams in all divisions. We also award sportsmanship awards based on league voting. For playoff teams, we award a championship and runner up trophy along with individual medals for the final 2 teams in the playoff brackets. Awards are also given for various tournament event winners.
Beginning in 2023, FIYA conducts an end of year Awards Assembly (the second Saturday in June) where we honor ALL FIYA ATHLETIC TEAMS, ALL FIYA ACADEMIC TEAMS AND SHANESE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS.
With a few exceptions, FIYA generally does NOT supply any of these items. However, FIYA can and has provided referrals to obtain practice equipment and uniforms at a discounted rate as well as aid with schools looking for individuals to coach their teams.