Recreational Team Formation Policy

Recreational Team Formation Policy

 

Gulf Coast has three main priorities when forming teams to play at the Micro and Recreational levels:

  1. Provide for fair and balanced competition
  2. Foster a family-friendly team environment
  3. Comply with league (SYSA) and state association (STYSA) rules on team formation.

When it comes to recreational sports, we recognize that social considerations are every bit as important as developmental and competitive ones. Most players want to play with their friends. In addition, parents need to manage carpools and travel logistics. Coaches who volunteer many hours of their time want to enjoy seeing the players grow and improve over time. Administrators must be able to organize schedules, team registration, and player uniforms correctly and in a timely manner. We seek a proper balance among these factors.

 

With this in mind, we will form teams each season according to the following guidelines:

 

  1. Whenever possible, "core" teams will be kept together from one season to the next, provided all returning players have registered by the initial registration deadline. 
  2. Individual players may make a single "buddy" request at registration. Both players must list each other to be valid. Buddy requests will be prioritized over the core team guideline if there is a conflict between the two policies.
  3. To maintain a core team, there must be at least one volunteer to serve as the Head Coach for that group of players. If no one volunteers to coach that team by the initial registration deadline, players may be dispersed to other teams that have coaches in place. 
  4. Players who skip a season but register by the initial registration deadline will not be guaranteed placement on any specific team, but will be eligible to have a buddy request honored.
  5. Players who register late will be placed on any open spot (on a "best-effort basis" only) and will not be guaranteed placement on any specific team or with any specific buddy.
  6. As new players are added to existing core teams (to fill open spots), we will seek to balance average playing experience and competitive levels across all teams in each division.
  7. Under no circumstances will we allow "pre-select" teams to form or compete in a rec-level division. We always reserve the right to place players on different teams if necessary to minimize the likelihood of non-competitive matches, or to accommodate unusual changes in overall player registrations in a division.