REGISTRATION
Valley Surf has shifted to a single registration cycle to cover fall and spring soccer seasons. Registration will occur annually in April/May. Since the majority of our club members play in both the fall and spring seasons, having one registration cycle simplifies payments for our families and enables Valley Surf to consolidate fees and efficiently plan for the year. Each player is required to register with Valley Surf before the first practice of the fall season. You will receive an email specific to your player to register.
The non-refundable deposit is requested in April/May and secures a spot in the club but not on a specific team. After tryouts in early May, coaches finalize rosters and movements may occur. The deposit of $200 is applied towards your registration fees and will show as a credit on your invoice when you register during the summer and select a payment option.
Your deposit secures a spot for your player on the team indicated on the deposit email. However, player movement may be necessary after tryouts.
Our refund policy is very strict as a player’s acceptance has the effect of denying another player an opportunity to play on a Valley Surf team. Additionally, Valley Surf incurs costs each time a player registers to play soccer (administrative, staff, insurance, etc.). These costs increase over time, so refunds will be reduced accordingly. The date of withdrawal notification to the club affects the refund amount that may be considered.
We encourage families to purchase sports insurance via Vertical Insure.
BYGA uses Vertical Insure to offer a registration insurance policy, which can be purchased during the registration process or later. This policy helps families recoup registration fees if a player is unable to participate due to injury or illness.
If at any point after accepting an invitation to join a competitive team, a player voluntarily withdraws or is removed for any reason, the player shall not be entitled to a refund of any fees paid and shall remain obligated to make all future payments still pending for the current seasonal year. Players with unpaid balances of any fees from previous seasons are not eligible to register for future seasons until all prior fees due are paid in full. Furthermore, Valley Surf will not grant any player releases until all pending payments are settled. By accepting an invitation to join a competitive team, the playerʼs parents or legal guardians, as applicable (herein, the “payee”), is deemed to automatically, expressly, irrevocably and unconditionally agree to all financial obligations relating to such participation to the fullest extent under law. Such payee expressly, irrevocably, and unconditionally acknowledges and agrees that payeeʼs completion of all such financial obligations are a material inducement to Valley Surf extending such invitation and such invitation would not have been extended but for payeeʼs full acceptance of such financial obligations. Valley Surf employs a “No Pay, No Play Policy”. Players who are not current on their fees will not be allowed to participate in any training sessions, games, or events until they are once again fully current on their fees.
In general, fees are non-refundable, and future financial obligations to Valley Surf shall continue to be due and owing, subject to the following:
SEASON-ENDING INJURY
Any Valley Surf player who incurs a season-ending injury while participating in Valley Surf activity that precludes further participation in Valley Surf activities for the balance of the seasonal year is eligible for a partial refund of fees paid which cover the remainder of the applicable seasonal year, dating from the time the playerʼs parent or legal guardian provides written notification to the Valley Surf Director of Coaching and Director of Operations – supported by documentation from a licensed physician – that a player is no longer able to participate for the remainder of the seasonal year due to the injury. Such a refundable amount does not include uniform costs, payment processing fees or any portion of fees paid which cover the playerʼs participation in leagues, tournaments or other events.
RELOCATION
Any player who moves to a location more than 50 miles distant from the Valley Surf field location used by the playerʼs team is eligible for a refund or waiver of the portion of fees owed (less a $100 processing fee). Calculations will be based dating from the later date of either when the player ceases participation in Valley Surf activities or the date the playerʼs parent or legal guardian provides written notice to the Valley Surf Director of Operations and Director of Coaching that the player is no longer able to participate in Valley Surf activities due to a relocation. Proof of relocation will be required as a condition to any refund.
The club requires certain documents to be uploaded to your player’s Byga account in order to purchase player passes. These documents are required at the time of registration and should be uploaded to Byga:
- Passport Preferred / RealiD / Birth Certificate
- Headshot photo
- Address
- CalNorth Player Medical and Liability Release (for teams playing in CalNorth league)
- For teams playing in NorCal league: R002 waiver must be filled out and uploaded to the Documents tab of Byga.
When these documents are in place, the Ops Staff can request the player pass.
FEES
Club fees mainly cover membership, coaching, technical development, referees, fields, league fees, staff and player passes, etc. and varies for each team based on their competitive level and age group.
The non-refundable deposit is requested in May and secures a spot in the club but not on a specific team. After tryouts in early May, coaches finalize rosters and movements may occur. The deposit of $200 is applied towards your registration fees and will show as a credit on your invoice when you register during the summer and select a payment option.
Valley Surf provides a need-based financial aid program to help cover club registration fees. The program does not cover uniforms, tournaments, travel, lodging, apparel, or miscellaneous expenses. If you would like to apply for financial aid, please visit our Financial Aid page on our website. Returning Financial Aid recipients will need to complete a new application form annually and submit current paperwork. If your application is approved, we will make adjustments to your invoice. For questions about Valley Surf’s Financial Aid Program, please contact [email protected]
You will still need to pay a deposit. However, we can make adjustments to your deposit amount. If you are a returning financial aid recipient or plan to apply for financial aid, please contact [email protected]
BYGA
Byga is the system used by Valley Surf and other clubs for registration, scheduling, and all communications. Byga also provides many other tools for the coaches and staff, such as tryouts management, team assignments, staff and player feedback, and reporting of game results. Families use Byga to see the team practice and game schedules, communicate with the team, and indicate player availability. It is expected that families keep their player’s availability for practices and games up to date in Byga as coaches use this information to plan for training sessions and games.
Log into your Byga account (valleysurf.byga.net). If you are a new family, you were provided an invitation to set up a user account when you signed up for tryouts or when you registered.
Please use the “Forgot password” link in the login screen (valleysurf.byga.net) and follow the instructions to reset your password.
Sync your Byga calendar with your other calendars from either the mobile or web app (instructions here).
A parent / guardian with an account may invite another family member as an additional contact for their player. Add all relevant contacts for your player (instructions here).
Update your home address or email by going into Byga’s dashboard and click on the dropdown arrow next to your name on the top right corner and select My Account.
Families can change credit card information by visiting their account invoice/payments tab, selecting the appropriate invoice, and successfully processing payment using the new card information.
To update your payment information:
- Login to Byga (valleysurf.byga.net)
- Click on your picture icon in the top right corner
- Click on Billing
- Click on the most recent invoice
- Pay the next installment. You will have the ability to update the credit/debit card you are using. Please note your next installment will be paid the minute you change your credit card number.
To view invoices and payments made by a parent, go to the parent’s account (in the desktop version of Byga only), click on the parent’s name in the upper right corner, and select “My Account” from the dropdown menu. Go to the “Payments” tab to view all invoices. Please contact [email protected] if you need assistance.
Refer to this Instruction Sheet if you’d like more detailed information. For Byga technical support, contact [email protected].
UNIFORMS
After you register, we will assign a jersey number to your player. We generally do not duplicate jersey numbers within an age group.
After you register, we will send you information for ordering a uniform from Soccer Post. The jersey number and the required uniform items will be indicated in the account. Each family is responsible for ordering and paying for uniforms for their own player. Practice jerseys are required for all training sessions. At any time, families can purchase additional items and fan gear through Soccer Post where you can access all of our Valley Surf teams under one of three tabs: the Premier Mandatory Package tab (all ECNL/NPL boys and DPL girls teams), the Gold Mandatory Package tab (all Elite, Black, White, and Blue teams) or the Futures Mandatory Package tab (all 7v7 boys and girls teams). Select your player’s team and your player’s name in the dropdown menu.
Our uniforms generally change every year, with some items having a lifespan of two years. Our current uniform will be in place through the spring 2026 season.
Generally, Valley Surf teams will wear their white jerseys at home games and blue SMU jerseys at away games. Always bring both sets to all games. The home team is almost always obligated to change if there is a conflict. Also, some tournaments are reversed (the home team wears white, and the away team wears dark), so managers should always check the tournament rules.
Visit our Valley Surf Fan Shop on the Soccer Post website. surf.soccerpost.com
PRACTICES
For all our teams, we won’t know the exact days & times of practices until closer to the start of the fall or spring season, unfortunately. Many things need to be taken into consideration when scheduling all of our teams’ practices, including the fields we have available to us (many are managed and assigned to us by the city and school districts). After receiving our field allocations from the city, only then can we schedule Valley Surf practices which are based on the coaches’ schedules (such as their other teams’ practice schedules). Most practices are held in Lathrop and surrounding cities.
All Academy teams Practice are 3x times a week “in season” and 2x “out of season” depending on age and level of the team.
All Select teams Practice 2x a week.
Additional technical sessions will be offered for players who want more.
We try hard to keep the teams on the same days, but sometimes teams will need to shift days. We try to avoid that, but it just depends on what fields we are assigned, which fields have lights for the later sessions, where the coaches need to be with which teams, etc. You can imagine how difficult it is to put this all in place, for 45+ teams.
For most teams, practice will start the first week of July for fall season and will end in early/mid-December. New players who have registered for spring will have an option to train in the winter months. These sessions are optional for younger teams and supplement the training program for all our competitive teams. These winter sessions typically start in early January (pending field availability) and end prior to Presidents’ Day weekend. After a break the week of Presidents’ Day, we will begin our spring season at the end of February (or early March) and will end in early June. High school-aged teams follow a different schedule, based on when players participate on school teams. The in-house program typically begins in late Aug and ends in Oct.
Assuming Valley Surf can secure fields from the city and schools, Valley Surf winter training occurs in Jan-Feb (most teams train twice per week) with a break during the week of Presidents’ Day. Spring season will begin after that break. The in-house program typically begins in late February and ends in early June. However, if field space is available, our in-house program will start as early as mid-January.
GAMES
The games are generally on the weekends, at home and away fields. They can be scheduled for any time on Saturday and Sunday.
The leagues issue a tentative schedule that indicates dates the two teams can play each other. However, the managers and coaches of the two teams work together to find a time that works for the coaches. The dates can change from the originally proposed date if the teams agree. Byga automatically obtains the game schedules from League platforms, so you may see some of these shifts during the season.
As managers of the opposing teams work together to find available field slots and times that work for both coaches, the schedule is populated. This can take a few weeks at the beginning of each season before all games are scheduled. And even after a season begins, games can continue to shift around if both teams agree.
Generally, teams will play in two club hosted tournaments a season.
The managers do not schedule those games. The Directors of Coaching (DOCs) of the clubs schedule the games with each other. All the age groups with ECNL/ECNL RL teams play on that day at a given location. The dates of those events are set well in advance, even for the entire year (both seasons), but the times of those games (which team plays during which time slot) can move around, even up until the last few days before the play day.
Cal North (also called Cal North – Cal Soccer League or CCSL) and NorCal are separate organizations with different registration requirements and procedures. Valley Surf participates in both Cal North and NorCal. Both leagues offer several competitive levels of play (premier, gold, silver, bronze, copper). The coaches along with the Directors of Coaching decide which league and level each team should participate in to best support the development of the team.
There may be an occasion when a player is asked to guest with another Valley Surf team. The coaches of both teams must agree to the guesting opportunity. The player pass (for the appropriate league) must be presented at the game. If a player is asked to guest for a team outside of Valley Surf, approval must be obtained from our Director of Coaching.
TEAMS
Following US Soccer regulations, teams are divided by birth year (and not school grade). For example, a child born in 2009 is on an “09G” or “09B” team. The G or B represents girls or boys team. The teams in a given age group have a name. The names in order of level (highest to lowest) are ECNL, ECNL RL, Pre-ECNL, NPL, Black and Onyx. Regardless of level, the team will be placed in the appropriate league division to maximize player development.
There can be player movement between teams up or down at any time. Vertical Movement can be U9 to U10 and Lateral Movement Black to Elite or Black to White. Generally, this will occur between seasons and there will have been discussions with the coach. Also, although Valley Surf tries to minimize coach changes for a team, changes are sometimes unavoidable to balance the needs of the club, the team, and the individual coach.
Each player must have a laminated player pass with his/her photo and information. Valley Surf team managers or coaches carry the team’s set of player passes which must be presented at each game. Each league has different requirements for obtaining the player pass. The Valley Surf Ops Staff will generate the player pass for each registered player before the fall season. The player pass is valid for a full year, from August 1 to the following July 31. Any adults on the player side of the field must have staff passes and be background checked. Staff passes are valid for two years. If a player guests with another Valley Surf team, he/she must have the appropriate pass for the league in which they are guesting.
Generally, current Valley Surf players do not need to tryout each year. There may be circumstances where an age group or a team will be asked to tryout.
Last year we turned away over 300+ players. We wish we were in a position to invite each child to join Valley Surf; however, due to the number of roster spots on each team, the number of players who attended tryouts, coupled with a very high level of play, we are unable to offer a spot to all players. Our hope is that all players trying out continue to develop at local competitive/recreation programs such as Tracy United or Manteca Area Soccer League. Our hope is players will tryout again in the future.
TEAM ROLES
Valley Surf teams are coached by licensed professional soccer coaches. Valley Surf’s success is directly attributable to its amazing coaches. These individuals not only have a love for the game, but they also have a passion for working with and developing youths. Our coaches encourage players to be their best, on the field, in the classroom, and more.
The coach directs the team’s practice sessions and coaches at games and tournaments. The coach makes decisions regarding team rosters, playing time, tournaments, and leagues. The team coach communicates feedback about the player to the family. Families are asked to provide an evaluation of the coach at the end of the season. There is also a Director of Coaching for each gender who works closely with the other coaches in those genders.
The club scheduler works with opposing teams to schedule the date, time, and field for all league games. The scheduler uses GotSoccer to communicate with the opposing teams and Byga to schedule home games.
All parents are expected to help out during the season. This includes coordinating social events and travel logistics or game-day help such as setting up and taking down goals for the home games. Parents can also help with carrying and setting up the team bench and team canopy. NPL, pre-NPL, and ECNL/DPL games have additional water, bench, and canopy requirements for the visiting team at home games, and parents are expected to help the team with these additional logistics. Our team managers are volunteers, so please offer to help your team as much as possible on game day and whenever there are other needs of the team.
VALLEY SURF PROGRAMS
For Boys and Girls Born in 2015 and 2020
Aims of Program: The aim of the Junior Academy program is to create an environment that allows players to have fun whilst learning the fundamentals of soccer. Our focus is on individual technical development in a fun and safe environment.
What is Surf Junior Academy?
Surf Junior Academy is an exciting program based on what’s best for the players. The player’s individual skill development and enjoyment is at the heart of the program.
All players get professional training from soccer skills guru coach Chris Loera and his assistants. They get practices throughout the year with small-sided games during the spring and fall seasons. The players play 4v4 to maximize touches and enjoyment. This is in relation to the USSF small-sided rules and regulations. We also introduce 7v7 soccer for future development.
Why Join Surf Junior Academy?
Valley Surf is a leader in youth development, and we start the best training at the youngest ages. All practices and in-house games are at one of the best facilities in Lathrop, River Islands Sports Park.
This program will enable your child to:
- Have fun while learning the littlest of nuances of soccer
- Gain knowledge, love and passion for the game
- Develop their technical sophistication on the ball like no other
- Become elegant, confident and poised players for life
- Attain high soccer awareness and smarts of the game
This program is a low-pressure environment where individual technical development is the main focus. It will give your player confidence and set them up for an exciting future in soccer!
Our competitive teams play in leagues and tournaments. The bulk of our teams compete in ECNL via US Club Soccer, NorCal Premier and CalNorth leagues.
Our Valley Surf Recreational Soccer League is primarily devoted to the enjoyment and development of soccer players without the emphasis on travel or high-level competition. Players do not attend any tryouts to be placed on recreational teams.
Visit www.mlsgo.com for more information
Club soccer is more competitive and selective than recreational soccer. Club soccer offers professional coaching. The coaches are normally licensed and have played at a high level of soccer. With club soccer, tryouts are usually held to identify players. Club soccer requires a higher training commitment (at least two times per week, sometimes three) and a willingness to travel for games and tournaments. Most players in club soccer play both fall and spring seasons.
The Surf Select is a National Program which brings together the most talented players and coaches from all Surf Nation to compete together under the Surf banner at the highest levels and in front of college coaches and professional scouts.
Visit www.surfsoccernation.com/surf-select for more information
NorCal Surf is devoted to creating the ‘best of the best’ soccer experiences and opportunities for all players and their families across the Region We are a proud member of the Surf Nation Soccer family, and are committed to helping youth soccer players follow their proven pathway to success.
VALLEY SURF POLICIES
In our efforts to enhance the experience for all members of Valley Surf community (coaches, players and parents), we believe it is important to have a clear set of expectations and a shared understanding for each of these key members of our community. Please see our Codes of Conduct in our handbook.
Please see Valley Surf’s Communication Protocol and expectations in our Surf Handbook
If an issue has not been responded to and discussed with the parent or player making the inquiry within a week, the requestor should complete the club communication Escalation Form which can be found on Valley Surf’s website at Surf Escalation Form
SOCIAL MEDIA
Please review our Social Media Policy in our Surf Handbook.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valleysurfsoccer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valleysurf
SleekBio: https://sleek.bio/valleysurf
Valley Surf Competitive Evaluations FAQ
The main thing to expect is to play soccer and have a good time. Each lead coach for an age group has a slightly different approach to running an id Sessions, but generally players can expect to have some time warming up, some time in a small-sided activity (smaller group) and the majority of their time in game play (whether small-field or bigger field game).
During the id Session, coaches may ask players questions. They are just trying to get a better understanding of players and being asked a question by a coach is usually a good thing. They also may move players from time to time. Coaches like to make sure other coaches get to see players, and all coaches need to see players in different situations and playing with different levels of other players.
All players MUST attend id Sessions in their proper age-group.
All players making a team will receive an email that assigns them to either:
- ECNL Boys and ECNL RL Boys
- ECNL Girls
- NorCal league travel team or travel player pool
Initial placements are subject to change based upon the developmental process for each specific player which may not be identified in a 1.5/2 hour id evaluations. Usually, team changes are necessary due to the ripple effect caused by the fact that not all players accepting their offers. On the rare occasion a mistake was made in our placement process, we have the right to move a player so that he or she is placed on the appropriate team and level.
