Frequently Asked Questions

Registration

Please see our refund policy. Our refund policy is very strict as a player’s acceptance has the effect of denying another player an opportunity to play on an MVLA team. Additionally, MVLA 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.

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:

Birth certificate/passport
Headshot photo
Address
For teams playing in NorCal league: R002 waiver must be filled out and uploaded to the Documents tab of Byga.
Concussion form: MVLA San Jose requires our families to read and sign the Concussion Info Fact Sheet. Please read, sign, and upload to Byga under the Documents tab.

When these documents are in place, the Ops Staff can request the player pass.

Fees

MVLA Soccer Club 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 MVLA San Jose's Financial Aid Program, please contact admin@mvlasj.com.

Byga

Byga is the system used by MVLA San Jose 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.

Uniforms

Generally, MVLA San Jose teams will wear their blue jerseys and blue socks at home games and white jerseys and white socks at away games. Always bring both sets to all games. The home team is obligated to change if there is a conflict. However, ECNL rules are opposite (home team wears white, away team wears dark). Also, some tournaments are reverse (home team wears white, away team wears dark), so managers should always check the tournament rules.

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 (which 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 MVLA San Jose practices which are based around the coaches’ schedules (such as their other teams’ practice schedule). Most practices are held in the San Jose area.

For most teams, practice will start the first week of August for the fall season and will end in early/mid December. ECNL, NPL, and some other teams may start practicing in July for late July/early August tournaments. 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 start in early January 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.

Games

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/ECRL 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. MVLA San Jose participates in both NorCal and Cal North. The 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 into best support the development of the team.

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” team. The G represents the girls team. The teams in a given age group have a name (e.g., “Gunners”), followed by a color (e.g., Green). The colors in order of level are Blue, White, Green, Black, Gold (This may change). Some larger age groups will have Silver and Red teams as well. A few age groups may have a Navy team, just below Blue. Regardless of level, the team will be placed in the appropriate league division to maximize player development.

Each player must have a laminated player pass with his/her photo and information. MVLA San Jose 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 MVLA San Jose 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. Staff passes are valid for two years. If a player guests with another MVLA San Jose team, he/she must have the appropriate pass for the league in which they are guesting.

Team Roles

MVLA San Jose teams are coached by licensed professional soccer coaches. MVLA San Jose’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 Head Program Coach for each age group who works closely with the other coaches of that age group.

The team manager is the liaison between the coach, the club and the parents. The team manager handles and oversees the team administration which includes communication, scheduling, registering for tournaments, ensuring players are eligible for games (player passes, rosters, forms, etc.), team finances, etc. Tasks can and should be delegated to other parents on the team. The team manager does NOT coach, sit on the players’ side, make decisions about rosters or playing time, and decide on tournaments.

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/ECRL 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.

MVLA San Jose Programs

(When we start our "in-house" program) Our youngest age group will be part of our "in-house" program which means two practices a week along with weekend in-house, small-sided games among our own players. There are no "teams" for the in-house program. The focus is on developing the individual skills of players at this young age group rather than on league games against other clubs. The small-sided games will allow players to have a high amount of touches on the ball, be able to be creative, and play without any pressure of winning.

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.