News
  1. MARCH WITH US AT THE HERMOSA BEACH ST. PATTY’S DAY PARADE!
  2. LEGENDS / BCS STORE NOW OPEN!
  3. SPRING 2024 PARENT FORUM & COACHES CLINIC – 3/2/24
  4. SPRING DATES UPDATED, 3/7
  5. BCS 7-VS-7 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Please scan entire page (and rest of the website) before contacting the league with questions. Chances are your answers are here, or on our About page. Scroll towards bottom for non-registration related info. 

We highly encourage all families interested in playing to sign up soon. WE DO NOT ALLOW LATE REGISTRATION (Late entries will be WAIT LISTED ONLY, and added only if players drop). Every season, we get about 25 calls the day after registration closes – so don’t wait! One season we had 56 kids on the wait list.

General Questions D6 – D13

Spring 2024 BCS & GBCS is currently priced at $475.00. We are offering an early bird price of $449.00 until 1/1/24.

Future Stars (kids aged 5 year as of 7/1/23, but not yet 6), and GBCS 3GU (girls in K-3) will pay a discounted, introductory rate of $395.00. We are offering an early bird price of $375.00 until 1/1/24.

This season we are also offering a 10% sibling discount, which will come in the form of a refund, once registration is closed.

This price includes: League operating fees, videography and editorial fees, field monitor fees, practice field fees, game field fees, full uniform, player insurance, league insurance and more.

FALL REGISTRATION ENDS 8/11/23 (midnight).

SPRING 2023 REGISTRATION ENDS 2/1/24 (midnight).

Spring registration doesn’t start until Fall Season is almost over.

A $50 registration fee will be deducted from all refunds, prior to the season and $100 will be deducted from in-season refunds. “In season” is once jerseys and insurance have been ordered, usually about a week after registration closes. No refunds will be allowed after Game 4 of the season.

BCS is our traditional flag football league – featuring boys and girls playing together, from ages 6 – 13 (as of 7/1/23).

GBCS is our girls-only league – we are currently going by GRADE in GBCS – 1st through 8th grade. If your daughter is in Kindergarten, please contact [email protected] to discuss.

Future Stars is our Spring only, 5 year old division (age as of 7/1/23).

Again BCS/Future Stars goes by age as of 7/1/23, GBCS goes by GRADE,

All uniforms include a custom jersey with the player’s last name printed on the, color rush pants and matching socks. Players will no longer be able to elect to not purchase pants, as we are no longer reusing the black practice pants since the league began.

The price of the uniform is included in your registration, along with their individual insurance policy, practice field and game field rentals.

Playing Age

YOUR CHILD’S AGE ON 7/1/2023  IS YOUR LEAGUE PLAYING AGE – for the year (Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 Seasons).

For example, if your child turns 10 on July 16th, he/she will still be eligible to play in D9 all year, since he/she was 9 on July 1st. However, if your child turns 10 on June 30th, he/she will need to play in D10. Kids can also “play up” a division (not in D6, unless approved by the league) to play with friends. A child can NOT “play down” no matter the circumstanceAnd we highly discourage “playing up” for kids under 7.

Even if your child has played up in the past – we do not automatically play them up every season – so please let us know if you want to do that.

We generally do not allow 5 year olds to play no matter their grade, except in our Spring Future Stars division.

What grade your child is does not matter in the BCS. Again, BCS works on a “League Playing Age” system – the age your child is on 7/1/2023 is the division the play in for BOTH the Fall and Spring. The GBCS however, IS currently by grade.

None older than 13 – as of 7/1/2023. So a child can play at 14, but only if he/she turned 14 AFTER 7/1/2023 .

Kids aged 5 as of 7/1/23 – but not yet 6 on that date can play Future Stars in the Spring

• D5 Future Stars (Spring only), D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12, D13

Note: League reserves the right to merge age groups if we have low registration in specific division. We generally don’t do that in the Fall where registration is historically higher, but we have done it in the Spring. We have added D13 during Spring of 2024, but generally our cut off is age 12.

Because the GBCS team format is “Coach Formed” vs. draft (like the BCS), we have decided to place the girls by grade vs. age – to keep friends and classmates together.

In our first GBCS season (Spring 2023) we divided the girls into two divisions – 3rd grade and Under (3GU), and 6th grade and Under (6GU). We had over 130 girls!

For the Fall of 2023, we opened things up to 7th and 8th graders. We had 3GU (1st – 3rd Grade), 5GU (4th – 5th grade), MS (6th – 8th grade/Middle Schoolers). we plan to continue this in the Spring of 2024

Note: League reserves the right to merge age/grade divisions if we have low (or high) registration in specific divisions. Our goal is as to have a small age/grade bands as possible!

If we do not have your child’s birth certificate on file, you MUST scan and either upload when you register or email his/her legal birth certificate or Passport to: [email protected]. Again, your child will not be allowed to play without a birth certificate on file – so if your child is a new player, send it in right away.

GBCS Information

We are the first all-girls flag football league in LA County and one of the few in the entire United States.

We are helping prepare girls to play high school flag football – which is now an official CIF sport.

Two local high schools – Mira Costa and Redondo Beach now have teams, featuring former BCS players who played in our Boys/Coed division (before we had the GBCS).

In our first GBCS season (Spring 2023) we divided the girls into two divisions – 3rd grade and Under (3GU), and 6th grade and Under (6GU). We had over 130 girls!

For the Fall of 2023, we opened things up to 7th and 8th graders, and broke the girls into three divisions: 3GU (1st – 3rd Grade), 5GU (4th – 5th grade), MS (6th – 8th grade/Middle Schoolers). We had over 200 girls registered – talk about rapid growth!

If your daughter is in Kindergarten, please contact [email protected] to discuss.

Note: League reserves the right to merge age/grade divisions if we have low (or high) registration in specific divisions. Our goal is to have as slim of an age/grade gap as possible!

The free-standing GBCS board is led by Vanessa Shay, former President of the LA Sparks WNBA team, as well as multiple female Coaches.

This season, the 3GU girls will continue to play by the same rules as the boys (you can review them here). The 5GU and MS divisions will play by a modified version of the CIF Rules.

The girls division has the same playoff and championship structure as the boys as well.

Know a young female athlete that would love an opportunity to participate? Help us spread the word, because Future Legends Are Girls!

Rosters

The BCS (mixed boys and girls) is Draft format. That means Head Coaches may partner with two Assistant coaches PRIOR to the draft. If the players are highly ranked, they may incur draft penalties – ie not picking until later rounds.

For Spring 2024, the GBCS is moving to a “Hybrid” Draft model, allowing Head Coaches to have a limited number of players prior to the draft, and then draft the balance of their team.

Future Stars (Spring only) – League forms teams with input from coaches – various factors considered, including school affiliation, geography, friendships and talent parity.

The Draft is a week or so after the combine, and Teams generally start practicing a week or two before the season starts.

Teams generally carry between 12-14 kids. Each team is required to have at 13 – as long as there are enough kids registered in that division. Since every player is required to get at least 14 plays, smaller teams are preferred, but with kids often playing multiple sports, teams need to make sure they can afford to miss a player or two. Over 14 seasons we’ve found 13 to be the sweet spot in terms of size.

BCS D6 – D12 is draft format, so requests are just that. While coaches will see request notes during the draft, most tend to draft the best kid available.

The only way to “guarantee” your child plays with his/her friends is by becoming a Head Coach. You get to pick the kids (if available), your coaches (up to two Assistants, prior to the draft), team name, colors and practice time! Even if you’ve never played football — we’ll give you the tools to success, including a playbook, roster work book, and coaching mentorship with an experienced league coach (by request). So jump in and help out – your kid will thank you!

GBCS is currently “Coach Formed” only at the youngest division (currently 3GU) so you can request a team. However, if too many kids request one team, and another needs players we may not be able to accommodate the request.

GBCS is moving to a modified draft for Spring 2024, where coaches will be allowed to bring a specified number of friends to a team, and then must draft the rest – depending on some specific ranking factors.

Future Stars (Spring only) is also Coach Formed.

Yes – for the BCS , not the GBCS. We also ask every BCS Coach to be there. We are committed to having a fair and equitable playing field, and that starts with having as much info on the players teams are drafting.

The combine takes roughly an hour and is a lot of fun for the kids. They do a 40 yard dash, a flag pulling (and running with the ball) drill, a receiving drill, and passing for distance and accuracy. At each station they are given grades which the league the calculates to give each player a ‘Round” grade.

If we knew that answer, we’d all head to Vegas and make some big money gambling on Sports! In our 30 seasons what we’ve seen is that Coaching is the biggest part of success – but experienced Coaching is the key differentiator. Knowing how and who to draft, knowing how to explain the basics in a digestible manner, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work can take time. That said, we’ve had a few Head Coaches make and even win the Super Bowl in their first seasons coaching.

Since we’ve installed a full draft, we’ve seen a ton more parity in the league. For example, at the Fall 2022 Super Bowl all games were decided by one touch down or less – 4 by just one point!

Schedules

In the Fall, games are tentatively scheduled to start the first or second week of September. In the Spring they usually start the first week of March. Games are Friday Night, Saturday/Saturday Night or Sunday/Sunday Night.

For our Spring Season, we usually start in mid-March.

The season schedule will be posted online once field space is completely confirmed, which unfortunately isn’t generally until a week or so before the season starts due to field space assigning with municipalities/schools.

Teams practice at various (permitted) park and schools throughout the South Bay, depending on team make up and coach’s choice. Generally, teams practice once a week, usually for 1.5 hours – again depending on the team, age group, field space and coach.

PLEASE add that to your registration info in the notes/requests section. Because Coaches don’t usually know what day they will get field space to practice on prior to the draft, it’s a bit of a crap shoot. But if they plan to practice on Fridays and you know in advance your child is unavailable to practice that day they HOPEFULLY may not draft him or her.

GAME LOCATIONS:

Most games are played at Waller Field or the new West (Meadows) Field at Mira Costa High School or The Seahawk Bowl at Redondo Union High School. However, due to the incredible popularity of the league, we may play on some alternate fields like Pacific Elementary (MB), Manhattan Beach Middle School (MB), American Martyrs (MB), Aviation Field (RB), and Manhattan Village Park (MB). Where teams play is pretty much random, since we have 50+ teams a season, so we can’t take requests.

Coaching

Always! In fact one of our biggest challenges is finding Moms, Dads (even older brothers or Uncles over 18) to step up to be Head Coaches. So if you’re interested in being a Head Coach (or an Assistant), please mark it on your child’s registration and/or contact [email protected] for more details.

At a minimum, one practice a week (usually 1.5 hours), and a game (not every week). Most Coaches show up 45 minutes before their games to go over plays, etc, and then do a post game meeting.

Beyond that, spending an hour or so creating a weekly practice plan is a smart move. We also film every game, so doing a bit of film work – wether it’s to scout an opponent, or see what your players need to work on is helpful. some coaches even do an occasional film session with their kids, which is both fun and educational.

So realistically, we’re talking about 5 or so hours a week – but some coaches do a lot more (we have to have full transparency).

Currently, Head Coaches are allowed to team up with up to two Assistants prior to the draft. All coaches kids are given a “round” grade and are automatically drafted in that round. The Head coach then drafts the rest of his or her players. We send out info on the players prior to the draft – usually combine results, prior draft results, etc.

We try to remind ourselves… it’s for the kids. And we try our hardest to help new Coaches as best we can. Our constant refrain is “Coaches who ask for the most help, get the most help.”

We will have an experienced Coach help you with your practice plans, your game plans, pretty much anything you ask for. Just raise your hand.

On the plus side – as a Head Coach, you pick your team name, your team colors, the day you practice, who your assistants are, and of course who’s on your team

In our Resources section you’re find Coaching clinic Videos, Playbooks, Practice Plans and all sorts of stuff to help you out.

SAFETY

All Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches most undergo background screening.

  • BCS mandates compliance with a criminal background check and Livescan (as mandated by The State of California)
  • Criminal offenses that are flagged through either of the screenings may affect a coaches eligibility to coach.

Starting in the Fall of 2023, we are placing a more robust emphasis on Child Safety. Along with our league medical advisors, we created a MANDATORY Coaches Certification Clinic.

This certification is MANDATORY for any person who wishes to coach in BCS or GBCS.

Certification includes:

  • CDC Concussion Training
    Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) training led by local medical professionals Dr. Vivian Liu and Dr. Clark Fuller.
  • Player Safety
  • Coaches Conduct

League Features

  • Amazing Super Bowl that just keeps getting better – free food for the kids, fun run out with smoke machine, live PA, and much more. We elevated the experience and played ON THE FIELD at SoFi Stadium four times!
  • Friday/Saturday Night Lights games (they’ve become a community-wide event).
  • All Coaches receive a professional background check, and sign a Code of Conduct
  • Post-season playoff series — all teams go to the playoffs
  • Constantly updated website — your one stop for all BCS related info!
    Most games are professionally shot – on HD video, and posted the same week.

Contact

Please make sure to use a working email as this is our main means of communication.

Any further questions, contact: [email protected]

Submit comments/concerns/feedback

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