Registration Policy
The Ballard Youth Soccer Club offers recreational soccer for boys and girls ages 5 to 18.
Team Formation & Player Placement
The intent of the club’s registration practices is to ensure that all children who wish to play soccer be afforded the opportunity to play on a team. It is BYSC and SYSA policy that all children who wish to play soccer be afforded the opportunity to play.
City rec teams are put together by the local club registrars. The registrars have the ultimate responsibility to decide who plays where. Returning players who register by June 15 will automatically be assigned to their previous team unless requested otherwise.
New players living in the Ballard boundaries will be given priority over new players that do not live in the Ballard boundaries. Players are encouraged by SYSA to play with their neighborhood club
Regular (Early) Registration
Regular (early) registration begins every year on May 1st. All returning players must make a commitment by June 15 to hold a spot on their team. A registration reminder e-mail will be sent in late April to all players from last season. All Coaches/Managers should contact old players at this time to remind them to sign up.
Late Registration
Players may register throughout the summer up until late August, as long as roster spots on teams are available. There is a $25 late fee for players registering after June 15. Late registering players will be assigned on a space-available basis to teams as necessary to even out roster numbers. If BYSC teams are full, the registrar may be able to help find spots on teams from neighboring clubs.
Team Composition
BYSC registrars build teams based on returning players and registration comments. We try to place players with kids they know and honor the registration requests. However, we cannot always place every player where they want to be while we try to make teams.
SYSA clubs do not accept new intact teams. Coaches do not determine the players for their team except that a head coach and one assistant may choose to coach together and have their own kids on the team. Do reach out to us to see how we can facilitate players joining.
Likewise, new players do not get to select their team. By design, new teams generally consist of players from multiple schools. Requests may be made in the “Notes” section of the registration form if a player would like to try and play with a friend or classmate. Requests will be honored when possible, but in the end the registrars will do what is best for all teams, and the club at large.
Returning fall players who wish to move to a different team due to certain circumstances (i.e. carpooling, practice, or coach/parent/player conflicts) may do so upon approval by the registrar. Other factors the registrars will look at in assigning returning players who wish to be on a different team include:
- Is the receiving team able to add the player?
- If a team gives up the player, are they going to be short players?
The club and coach’s responsibility will be to give returning players a chance to sign up, and then fill in with new players as needed. A coach cannot tell a returning player to move to a new team. Any coach concerned with an individual’s discipline problem or other extreme conflict should be brought to the attention of the registrar and the club board.
For Fall soccer registration purposes a returning player refers to players from the previous fall’s team. It does not include new players that played with the coach or team for Spring soccer and/or winter indoor soccer. The intent of SYSA Spring soccer is that kids return to their Fall teams.
Spring Soccer
Playing on a spring team does not affect your fall soccer team. On occasion, players find new friends to play with during the spring, and want to play with them again in the fall. Most SYSA clubs do not permit this kind of player movement in the fall as it comes very close to looking like select soccer. Recreational teams must be formed by club registrars, in order to preserve the “non-select” nature of recreational soccer.