You've been accepted. Now, what?

1. First of all, congratulations. We're pleased to extend an invitation to your family to join a Gryphons academy and play on a Gryphons team. We're looking forward to our time together.

2. We'll send you some reminders, but if you haven't registered online by December 24 or contacted us regarding your registration, we'll assume that you aren't going to. To keep us from having to guess and worry about you, please let us know if you will not be joining us. Click "No - I decline" below to inform us. Thank you. 

          NO - I decline. SAYSO may give my space to a child on the waiting list. (Please mention your child's name, number, and age group in your email.)

3.    YES - I want to be a Gryphon. To reserve your place on a Gryphons team, you must register online within 10 days. You can do that by clicking in the green box below.

4. You will receive information about your specific team assignment, coach, practice location and schedule, etc. via email.  Read the most frequently-asked questions about this.

5. However, practice days, locations, and times won't be precisely known until SAYSO has received field allocations from the cities in January or February. Read the most frequently-asked questions about this.

6. SAYSO's outdoor academies will resume practicing in early March. First league games will be held in early April. Most age groups will have some scattered preliminary activities (play days) in January and February. Read the most frequently-asked questions about this.

7. Between now and early March, we will register you with USYS (CYSA) and/or US Club Soccer.

8.  You will also receive information from us about how you go about ordering your uniforms and equipment. Read the most frequently-asked questions about this.

9. For brand-new (usually, U8) teams, there will be team formation meetings for players and parents. Existing teams may or may not have such meetings. We'll hand out some reference material, give history and backgrounds, introduce the coaches, explain SAYSO's philosophies and systems, and describe what's ahead.

10. You will receive a team roster after your team begins practicing. You may use this roster to arrange car pooling.

11. We understand that your child may have other spring activities. Our coaches request that you inform them when you will be missing practices and games. Read the most frequently-asked questions about this.

12. Have questions? We're here to help. Get your questions answered by emailing or by calling 650-593-5161.

Q. Who/What are the Gryphons? A. All of SAYSO's teams are named "Gryphons". Your child will be joining a SAYSO team named "Gryphons". SAYSO will register your child's team in a CYSA league.

Q. What's the difference between SAYSO and CYSA? A. SAYSO teams play in CYSA leagues. CYSA is the league, but CYSA league doesn't form teams. SAYSO forms teams and registers those teams in CYSA. If you want to play on a "CY" team, you're in the right place. However, SAYSO is not CYSA. When you have another 10 minutes to read about the distinction between SAYSO and CYSA, click here to read, "The 10 Things That Freak Parents Out (About CYSA Soccer)."

Q. What does it cost to play on a SAYSO team? Where does the money go? A. The cost for spring play is $600. Compared to other club sports and youth activities, this is a bargain. SAYSO is nonprofit, and there is no accumulation of excess money from season to season. $300 goes to purchase team practice equipment (e.g., balls, portable goals, pinneys, first aid kits, etc.), rent fields, pay referees, register your child in CYSA and US Club Soccer, and register the team in a CYSA league. The other $300 goes to your team account to pay for your coach. SAYSO uses a payroll service, and all coaches are legitimate employees of the corporation. When you register, you will be asked to pay $375 by credit card or check. The balance must be paid prior to your first game in April.

Q. Does SAYSO offer scholarships? A. SAYSO can accommodate only one or two reduced-fee players per team, but SAYSO finances can't accommodate players who are unable to pay anything. Since each team is its own 'profit/loss' center, SAYSO encourages each team to have fundraisers and obtain sponsors to cover team expenses and any deserving players.

Q. What's our next team activity? A. We'll have all-team play days in January and February. Basically, these will be practices 1-2 hours long, held after school or on a weekend. The players on the team can get to know each other. And, we'll be able to spend more time with your child than we did at the public tryouts. We'll start practicing twice a week in March. We'll start playing games in early April. The spring season is generally all over by the first weekend in June.

Q. Who's our team's coach? A. SAYSO has loyal and dedicated coaches, and there is little turnover in the coaching staff. Subject to availability, existing teams will generally have the same coach as they had in the previous season. Coaches for new U8 teams will meet their coaches during the January and February play days.

Q. Is there room for an me as an adult volunteer in SAYSO? A. Absolutely. SAYSO hopes that parents will want to become team managers and assistant coaches. Almost all of SAYSO's teams have parents who have become integral to their teams. SAYSO doesn't use volunteer parents for the head coaches of new teams. All SAYSO head coaches are paid nonparents.

Q. Which team are we on? Red, white, or blue? A. In some cases we might know, but in most cases, we'll wait until the January and February play days to make those decisions.

Q. Will we play class-1 or class-3? A. In the spring, there are no classes, per se, just teams that are grouped by a variety of characteristics. The class-3 and class-1 leagues will let us know sometime during the spring which teams are being considered for class-1 play during the fall.

Q. Will we play in the Redwood, District 2, or NorCal Premier (US Club) spring league? A. We won't know until after our first few play days in January or February.

Q. Will we play in the Redwood or DelGado fall leagues? A. It's too soon to know. We won't make that decision for the fall.

Q. How far do we travel during the spring? A. The league will assign your team to play 10 spring games in the spring. Half of them, 5, will be played 'at home' (in Belmont, San Mateo, Foster City, etc.) The other half will be confined to a geographical region that depends on the league. Most brand new SAYSO teams will play games between Burlingame and Palo Alto. However, there are leagues that travel along the entire peninsula. SAYSO's most talented players may be asked to voluntarily play games elsewhere, as well.

Q. When do we practice? What times? What days? Where? A. Subject to field and coaching availability, existing teams will generally practice on the same days and times that they always did. Until we get field allocations from the cities in January, February, and March, we won't know anything with certainty.

Q. Can we play other sports? A. Yes.  Most players simultaneously play baseball, softball, and/or basketball in the spring. Everyone tries to work around the conflicts. Sometimes you'll miss baseball. Sometimes you'll miss soccer. We all (parents, coaches, and players) just do the best we can.

Q. When, where, how do we get our uniforms, bags, balls, and other equipment? A. You'll receive information about uniforms and equipment in January. Basically, however, you'll be going to Kickers Soccer Shop in Belmont to try on different sizes. Then, you'll place an order with the correct sizes through SAYSO. Eventually, your team manager will pick up your uniform and distribute the items to you at a practice in early March.

Q. Do we have tryouts again for the fall teams? A. Most SAYSO spring players will continue with their teams or age group academy into the fall. We always add a few new players during the spring, as well. SAYSO doesn't have big public tryouts as we just had for fall teams. The entire spring is one big tryout. Players who want to play with SAYSO will come to spring practices and games to be evaluated.

Did you have a question that wasn't answer by these FAQs? Send us an email.