Important Registration Information

How Registration Works

The process is the same to register your player for both House League play and Divisional League play—it’s what happens after you register that is slightly different.

What is Divisional League?

Players older than age 9 (U11 and above), undergo various assessments to ensure that he/she is placed on a team with players of similar skill level. The assessment process has several parts, and results in placing players into three divisions.

After the assessment process in the spring, each player is offered a spot in a division and then is placed on a team. He/she will be contacted shortly thereafter by their coach(es) who may wish to start training in the weeks or months leading up to the start of the season in the fall. Each team’s coaches take it upon themselves to kick off the season in whenever they choose, usually sometime during the summer.

What is “House League”?

VAFC House League is for players ages 4 to 9, or what we call “U5” (under five) to “U10”.

In House League you’ll be given the option to choose a group to play with: Douglas Park Soccer Club, Grandview Legion or Vancouver Girls Soccer Club (Trout Lake). The main difference between the three is the home base location where the group plays.

Why all the different names? When VAFC was formed in 2013 it merged these three local Vancouver clubs. As part merger agreement it was agreed that VAFC would recognize the originating club names. The names of those clubs are still used as our house league names today.

Once you’ve registered your player, you’ll hear from the coaches when the teams are formed, typically 2-4 weeks before the season starts in mid-September.

House League Overview

Under the VAFC umbrella organization there are four House League groups:

Vancouver Girls Soccer Association (VGSA, Trout Lake)
Grandview House
Douglas Park Boys
Douglas Park Girls

Age Group Breakdown:

2020 – 2019 Grasshoppers – U5 to U6
2018 – 2017 Minis – U7 to U8
2016 – 2015 Juniors – U9 to U10

Vancouver Girls Soccer Association

VGSA accepts players U5 to U10.

GRASSHOPPERS : (2020 – 2019)

In House League you’ll be given the option to choose a group to play with: Douglas Park Soccer Club (Douglas & Quilchena Park), Grandview Legion (Clinton Park) or Vancouver Girls Soccer Club (Trout Lake). The main difference between the three is the home base location where the group plays.

What to Expect for U5 (2020) Players

One session per week between 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Saturdays only, 1 hour in duration.
Sessions are run by VAFC technical coaches.
12 -15 kids per team.
Co-ed : Everyone welcome.
Locations : Douglas Park / Grandview (Clinton Park)* / VSA Girls (Trout Lake)*

*Grandview and Trout Lake Registrations will be moved to Douglas Park if registration numbers are not large enough.

What to Expect for U6 (2019) Players

One session per week between 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Saturdays only, 1 hour in duration.
Sessions are run by volunteer parent coaches.
12 -15 kids per team.
Co-ed : Everyone welcome.
Locations : Douglas Park / Grandview (Clinton Park)* / VSA Girls (Trout Lake)*.

*Grandview and Trout Lake Registrations will be moved to Douglas Park if registration numbers are not large enough.

MINIS : (2018 – 2017)

What to Expect for U7 (2018) Players

2 sessions per week; one game on Saturday and one practice per week
Game times could be anywhere between 8:30AM – 3:30PM
Led by Volunteer Parent Coaches
Practice times and days are set by Volunteer Parent Coaches (so we will not be able to give you practice times ahead of the season start)
U7’s move into gym practices after Thanksgiving and go back outside in February.
Game locations are Douglas Park, Trout Lake & Grandview, but will depend on field availability.
12 kids per team.
End of season is March 2025.
Locations : Douglas Park / Grandview (Clinton Park)* / VSA Girls (Trout Lake)*

What to Expect for U8 (2017) Players

2 sessions per week; one game on Saturday and one practice per week
Game times could be anywhere between 8:30AM – 3:30PM
10 kids per team
Led by Volunteer Parent Coaches
Practice times and days are set by Volunteer Parent Coaches (so we will not be able to give you practice times ahead of the season start)
U8’s move into gym practices after Thanksgiving and go back outside in February
Home Game locations are Douglas Park, Quilchena, Trout Lake & Grandview, but could change depending on field availability.
Post winter break, there could be away games at other locations
End of season is March 2025

JUNIORS : (2016 – 2015)

What to Expect for U9 – U10 (2016 – 2015) Players

2 sessions per week; one game on Saturday and one practice per week.
Game times could be anywhere between 8:30AM – 3:30PM.
12 kids per team.
Led by Volunteer Parent Coaches.
Practice times and days are set by Volunteer Parent Coaches (so we will not be able to give you practice times ahead of the season start).
U9’s and U10’s move onto lift field space after Thanksgiving.
Home fields are Douglas Park, Quilchena, Grandview, Trout Lake but could change depending on field availability.
Away games will be played at other fields throughout the city.
End of season is March 2025.

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Practices

House teams practice outdoors on available fields until Thanksgiving, after which the U7 / U8’s are offered to move into local school gyms. The U9 / U10 teams may have access to local turf fields after Thanksgiving once field availability is determined.

Team Formation

Team formation usually takes place in August as we usually have some age groups still registering at that time. All U5/U6 teams are formed by the House Club Coordinator and are based on friend requests, practice availability, and the number of registrants.

*VAFC will do their best to accommodate up to one friend or team request only. If you have made multiple requests, VAFC may only accommodate one. Friend and team requests may not always be possible.

U7 teams are usually formed by House Club Coordinators in August based on Coaches’ feedback from the previous season (where applicable), friend requests, and practice availability.

U8, U9 and U10 teams must be balanced teams as they head in to Interlock with VYSA. Balancing is done through in-season evaluations and feedback, as well as a review by the Club’s Technical Director.

*VAFC will do their best to accommodate up to one friend or team request only. If you have made multiple requests, VAFC may only accommodate one. Friend and team requests may not always be possible.

Game Schedules

For U5/U6/U7/U8 teams, your team’s game schedule will be sent out via Team Managers and visible on our Schedule Web Page and are publicized throughout the season:

Schedule 1 – September through to Winter Break
Schedule 2 – January to the end of the season (early March)

U9/U10 teams – your schedule is posted through VYSA (Vancouver Youth Soccer Association) and as such is completed by their own scheduler. Schedules are posted weekly, and change often. This is similar to the way schedules are posted for divisional play moving into U11 – U18.

All teams have an end-of-season event (often a “jamboree”) where we all get together to play friendly games and provide medals to all of the players.

Player Development

All U5, U6 and U7 teams benefit from organized Player Development sessions run by the Club’s academy. This is included in your membership fees and will take place 2-3 times throughout the season. This is a chance for players to play with kids outside of their team, and to develop their skills with our professional coaches.

Updating your account profile

If you need to update your player’s profile such as address, contact email or phone, or if you just need to reprint a receipt, please login to your Admin Account, scroll to the bottom of the page and log in to our online registration system. You can update all relevant information there.