Age dispensations & Rules regarding number of rep players per team
Marlborough Football will not accept any age dispensation requests below 10th grade.
- A team may apply to have a maximum of two dispensations granted for a player coming one year below or one year above their normal age grade, but a dispensation form must be completed and approved by our FDO and grading coaches before the player is eligible.
- The maximum number for dispensations per team is two.
- A team can only have a maximum of five* academy/rep players. *Unless players were already registered to that team year prior. There will be no new transfers accepted for any academy/rep players if the team they are transferring to already has 5 academy players. This is the clubs responsibility to make sure this rule is adhered to, and where reps has not been played year prior - it is up to the club to make sure even ability is spread accross the club teams in one grade.
Senior Football Age Allowance*: A player has the ability to play Senior Football at the age of 16 without dispensation.
*At the age of 15 a player cannot be playing Senior Football unless dispensation has been granted by the Marlborough Football GM, FDO, and Rep/Academy Coaching team.
*Maximum of two dispensations granted per team.
A consent form will also be required to be signed by the player’s parents.
Playing in both Youth & Senior Grades: A player who is 16 years of age or older (must be 16 at the start of the playing season) has the opportunity to play in both Youth & Senior Competitions for their registered Club without dispensation. Must not play 2 full games in one day. Must be the same Club for both teams – You can NOT dual Club register.
*It is the Clubs responsibility to manage the wellbeing of that player and ensure they are not playing 2 full 90 minute games in one day. The purpose of this rule is to prosper young players in to senior football, eg registered to a youth team that plays in the morning and get called up for half a game for seniors in the afternoon. It is not for players who are registered to Senior teams and play full games in senior football to drop down to Youth Grade.
Girls/Women: The standard dispensation for girls to play one year below their age Grade still stands if they feel more comfortable in a lower grade.
We provide girls the opportunity to play alongside their male counterparts up to the age of 18 in the Youth league.
Girls/Women can play in the social women’s league from the age of 14.
Women can apply for dispensation to play in the senior men's grade (Div 2 or 3 only and max 3 women in a team). The dispensation request must come through your club, and female players must be 19 years of age or older. We will not grant any dispensations for women under the age of 19 as they can play with their male counterparts in the Youth League. We will also not grant any dispensations for women to play in senior mens Division 1.
Abiding by the Rules
If a team does not abide by the above rules - week 1 a $50 fine will be charged to the team/club.
If the same team break the rules again - week 2 the team will be suspended from the league for a 1 week stand down with a further $300 fine.
PLEASE NOTE: Winter Club football is community ‘Club’ football, not Rep football, so for the good of junior club football in Marlborough please DO NOT build ‘super’ teams. If your club has 2 teams in one grade, do the right thing and try to split them by even ability to make the playing experience a good competitve one for all kids. We provide the Marlborough Football Academy for those wanting to play with the best in their age group and these Academy teams train from May through to September/October and we send these teams away for competitive games and tournaments, so there is no excuse for you to build a ‘super’ team with Saturday morning winter club football. We are a small town and don’t have enough player power in each age group for you to do that.
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