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Granite Bay FC Families,
We thank you for your patience as our board has taken a diligent and thorough review of the upcoming age group changes by US Club Soccer (our national governing body), as we evaluated how that affects our teams, our players, and the club as a whole. Our volunteer staff has also taken time to gather data and plans from other clubs, how they are handling these changes, which helped guide us through the process of making our own decisions on how to best implement the changes within GBFC.
US Club Soccer believes an August 1st age group cut-off best balances the desire to reduce both the number of “trapped” players and the number of “force-ups” in youth soccer. The driving force of this move is to return to a model where the majority of players are able to play on teams with those in the same school grade (ex. 2nd graders with 2nd graders).
With that said, our competitive committee, along with members of our recreational staff, have made the following decisions on how GBFC will proceed for the 2026-27 seasons and beyond:
COMPETITIVE POLICIES
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August/September Birthdays - To ensure players are placed in the age group with those in their same school grade, players with a birthday in August or September will be approved to "play up" if confirmed that they are in the same grade as the older age group they are trying out for. Players in this situation will have the option and choice to either "play up" or play in their new natural age group.
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"Top 5" Policy - Existing rule that will be kept in place for competitive teams. Any player wishing to tryout and "play up" an age group will be evaluated by the competitive committee during tryouts and must be considered in the "top 5" skill level of the older age group they are trying out for. To be clear, this is top 5 of the whole age group, not top 5 of the second or third team. In addition, these players will not be guaranteed a spot for subsequent years in the older age group.
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2010 and Older - Players born in 2010 and older will be "grandfathered" in and allowed to "play up" with their existing team. We chose 2010 as the "grandfather" cutoff since these players will be entering their Sophomore and Junior years in High School. We have multiple teams at these age groups playing ECNL-RL, NPL, or State Premier and the club does not want to jeopardize our potential NPL status by making drastic changes to these teams.
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U8 and U9 Teams - As our youngest competitive teams, these groups will be kept "age pure" and not subject to the "Top 5" rule above. There will be rare exceptions to this policy for exceptional talent.
RECREATIONAL POLICIES
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August/September Birthdays - To ensure players are placed in the age group with those in their same school grade, players with a birthday in August or September will be approved to "play up" if confirmed that they are in the same grade as the older age group they are trying out for.
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U13 and Older - For teams playing 11v11 (U13+), the club will continue to approve "play up" requests on a case-by-case basis to help ensure rosters are filled with our older teams. These groups often have a more difficult time fielding enough players to support playing 11v11 and therefore, our recreational staff will evaluate each situation individually and make decisions accordingly.
IMPORTANT DATES
- Competitive Tryouts
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U8 Pre-Tryout Clinics: Tentatively 3/6 (boys) and 3/13 (girls)
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Tryouts: 5/11-5/13 (U8-U14) and 5/18-5/20 (U15-U19)
- Recreational Registration
- Opens March 1st
- Closes May 31st
Starting with competitive tryouts in May of this year, teams will be formed based on the new age group formation standards. Recreational teams formed for the 2026 Fall season will also be based on the new standards.
Any and all players participating in either the competitive or recreational program wishing to "play up" MUST complete our online "Petition to Play Up" form prior to competitive tryouts or recreational registration.
The following links provide more information and a breakdown of the age divisions:
We thank you again for your patience and understanding during this process. If you have any questions after reading through all the information above, do not hesitate to contact me or our volunteer staff.
Sincerely,
James Parkhurst
President, GBFC
president@granitebayfc.com
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