We know you have questions and our aim is to be as transparent as possible given the information we have now and keep you updated with details as they continue to evolve. If you do not see your questions answered here, please feel free to reach out to questions@bcunited.com.
You can also re-watch our virtual Town Halls that happened in May as well as participate in future events as we solidify details. They are on our youtube and facebook page @BoulderCountyUnited
FAQS
Our Programs
Our club anchors on our players and their access to greater development -and- more programming options than if we remained a smaller club. Our vision is that every kid in Boulder county has access to soccer programming regardless of age, ability, ambition or socio-economic status.
Boulder County United will offer diverse programming to satisfy every kid’s desire and every family’s commitment to soccer keeping with our mission of soccer for all – and- soccer for life.
Please visit Our Programs page for more information.
Competitive
We welcome and support multi-sport athletes.
We will have a Secondary Season and play through the CSA Secondary league for those players who are not in High School, or choose not to play High School. This will be in the Spring season and will provide them this other opportunity.
We feel that the changes we have made to the staffing and set up will help provide some changes, while also aiming to focus on providing an experience that players don’t feel the need to leave Boulder County for. We have seen these same questions asked in previous years, and the same potential issues are there with other clubs having player platforms we do not. We will strive to provide a quality program that will retain and attract other players to come and join us.
We will continue to strive to elevate our Girls program, so that we can apply and participate in a player platform like EAL. We have placed Directors now on age groups, not genders, to promote a consistency and continuity across the club.
We will offer opportunities through our current programming at the Recreational levels, while having u9 and 10 Competitive and Academy programs for this age as well.
We will aim to provide a program that develops a goalkeeper whether this a desire to be full time or part time. If we have a full time keeper, that is great; otherwise we will use the entire team to fill in this position, like we would any other. We want the player to make their decision, not a coach/team.
Yes, we invite any Recreational player interested in trying out for a Competitive team to attend our Player Placement events.
Academy Program
We feel that the changes we have made to the staffing and set up will help provide some changes, while also aiming to focus on providing an experience that players don’t feel the need to leave Boulder County for. We have seen these same questions asked in previous years, and the same potential issues are there with other clubs having player platforms we do not. We will strive to provide a quality program that will retain and attract other players to come and join us.
Competitive and Academy programs main difference include the amount of soccer offered in the program and the level of league and competition they pay in.
Academy – 3 x training per week in the fall/ spring, 2/3 x training per week in the winter.
Competitive – 2 x training per week in fall/spring plus an optional third session, 1 x training per week in the winter.
Academy will most likely attend more tournaments and events than competitive teams.
Academy will play in CSA Champions League and high level Centennial League.
Competitive will play through CSA Centennial League.
We will target to be in Champions League divisions (P1, P2, P3) and Centennial Elite and Platinum divisions.
Elite platforms are available by qualifying application or invitation only. Our girl’s program has not qualified for an Elite program in recent years. We will continue to apply for inclusion and aim to join an Elite platform in the near future.
Recreational
Yes! As long as it is developmentally appropriate for you both to be on the same team. (ie if you are both the same birth year or are only one year apart, then definitely! If the age difference between you and your friend is greater than 1 year, then that will be evaluated on a case by case basis)
At the time of registration, make note of it in the questionnaire section of the registration.
$295. No payment plans will not be available. Yes, Financial Assistance is available.
Uniforms should be ordered as soon as possible after you register to make sure that they arrive in time before the first game. Uniforms can take from 3-6 weeks to arrive.
Opens: June 1st. Closes: August 23, or earlier if team rosters are filled
Both are options
For 5-8 who play through the YMCA, no travel will be involved. For players 9-19, they will play in the Denver West League, which includes Real CO Edge, Westminster, Wheat Ridge and CO Ice, so the longest distance travel will be 35-45 minutes depending on where you live.
Team training starts on August 30, first games will be September 11. The last week of the season will be October 25-30, with the last games of the fall season being the weekend of October 30-31.
No. All coaches are volunteers.
We are always looking for awesome volunteer coaches, so if you are interested in coaching with the BC United recreational program, please reach out to Lindsay.Hollingsworth@
Yes, all recreational coaches will be required to participate in our pre-season and during season in house coach education program, led by our Directors.
7v7 teams will have no more than 12 players on a team.
9v9 U11-14 teams will have no more than 13 players on a team.
9v9 U15-U19 teams will have no more than 16 players on a team.
U9-U10 teams play 7v7
U11-U14 teams play 9v9
U15-U19 teams can play either 9v9 or 11v11 depending on the field size and if the opponent team also has enough players available to play 11v11.
Each team will have one day of team training and it is up the discretion of the coach and team to organize a second day of training if they would like to.
The team training schedule will be posted 2 weeks before the start of the season (August 30th)
One week before the first games (early September)
In the event that a game is canceled, the Director of Coaching will work with your team’s coach and the opponent coach to facilitate rescheduling the game.
In the event that a team training session is canceled, we will not make this session up. Your coach/team/team manager are welcome to schedule and rent an indoor field space and move training indoors, but this is not required.
In the event of inclement weather (snow, rain, lightning) that produces an unsafe playing environment for the players and coaches, we will cancel training or games. The decision to cancel trainings will happen the day of, in the early afternoon, at or around 2pm, because we do not want to have to cancel if we do not have to, and we all know how quickly weather here can change.
In the event of lightning within a 10 mile radius of the field, all players/coaches/team managers/families should leave the field and seek the safety of shelter for 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes the lightning has moved outside the 10 mile radius training can resume. If after 30 minutes the lightning is still within the 10 mile radius of the field, training is canceled.
Cancelations will be communicated via teamsnap calendar event cancellation and via email.
If a coach has to cancel training at the field, they will not leave until every player has been picked up by their parents or guardians.
Our refund policy is that we offer prorated refunds if a player is injured during the season or if a player moves away greater than a 50 mile distance.
Yes! We support multi-sport athletes and we are flexible to find/create a schedule that works for your player and the other sports they play.
No, we do not.
Secondary Season (u15/2007’s and High School Soccer)
We will have a Secondary Season and play through the CSA Secondary league for those players who are not in High School, or choose not to play High School. This will be in the Spring season and will provide them this other opportunity.
During their High School soccer season U15 8th graders will train in the week with BC United in an 07 training pool. 9th graders (if they choose)will play on a High School team in the week and will be offered the opportunity to play in CSA secondary season games on the weekend. 9th graders also have the option to forego High School season and play U15 soccer with the club. Saying this, we support the experience players can get through a high school soccer season.
Team Formation and Player Placements
We will continue to offer soccer at all levels: Rec, Competitive, and Academy. We encourage families to review all of the offerings Our Programs Our Programs page to identify the ideal spot for their player(s). We will hold assessments and/or tryouts for all players (new and existing) that wish to play for BC United. Based on the pool of players attending tryouts, we will form teams based on skill, numbers, etc — just like we have historically done.
- We will place the player in what the coaches & DOCs believe to be the best environment for the player — one where they will be challenged but be successful.
- In some cases, as requested by some members already we’ll try and keep the teams as intact as possible for competitive and recreational reasons.
- Players will be offered a spot on what the Coaches deem to be their level, and they’ll have a right to accept or refuse their invitation as we’ve always done it.
- For those trying out for the Academy, the teams will be made up of what the Program Director and age group DOCs and coaches deem to be the top 36± players in that age group.
Placements will happen from the 1st through 3rd of June for U9 to U19. We are planning on having joint club kick arounds (team open training) on May 11th and 18th at Pleasant View. And an Open Training Camp on May 24 to 26th also at Pleasant View.
Please go to the Pricing page to see an explanation of all of our programs’ fees as well as what the All-Inclusive price includes for each.
We are in the process of changing our registration platform to PlayMetrics, a more dynamic, user-friendly, and integrated technical solution for registration as well as communications and team scheduling . More information will be coming in the next few weeks.
Each age group differs based on the depth of participation. We are projecting anywhere between 4 and 10 teams in an age group depending on the age. There is a team for your player!
Some teams will see little change in their make-up, especially those in our Competitive program. We will aim to keep as much consistency to rosters when possible.
Yes, we will use the Open Sessions and Placement Events to properly assess and evaluate players for the 2021/22 season.
We will aim to provide a fluidity between teams, coaches, directors, and programs that will allow for there to be movement. This movement will be seen with rostering for matches, training session attendance, and overall communication on where things are for the age group as a whole. We feel that our structure will allow all of this to best benefit the player, the team, and the club as a whole.
Fields, Practice Times, and Seasons
There will be no changes for the current spring season. As with every season, it is possible that your player’s training location and/or coach will change next season. Joining forces as BC United will allow for some additional practice locations but the specifics are still to be determined.
Great question. Space for indoor training is certainly a commodity in the county. In an effort to plan for the Summer and Fall with respect to BC United, we do not have new information to share yet about expanded opportunities for indoor training. Stay tuned though!
We will have an East County location for Competitive level teams. We will do our best to fill East based teams, but all events for placement will be at Pleasantview this year.
No! Nothing changes in the short term. The spring season will continue as planned, with BCSC and FCB playing as separate teams and clubs. The first real change will come with player assessments and tryouts, as these will be for all players across the newly-merged club. We will continue to share information relevant to the club evolution as well as upcoming player assessments as appropriate.
BC United teams will have access to BIS and LIS during the Winter months, while the facilities will still operate in their normal business of what they provide.
We will have an East County location for Competitive level teams. We will do our best to fill East based teams, but all events for placement will be at Pleasantview this year.
Ski families! All Winter training will take place during the week.
When signing to join a BC United team, you are making a year-round commitment, as we are providing a year-round experience.
BC United teams will have access to BIS and LIS during the Winter months, while the facilities will still operate in their normal business of what they provide.Each age group differs based on the depth of participation. We are projecting anywhere between 4 and 10 teams in an age group depending on the age.
Coaches Expectations and Trainings
We will begin announcing coaches ahead of our May 24-26 open training.
We have a club ‘game model’ that will be implemented consistently through all programs. The playing principles and concepts develop and progress through the ages and stages in our pathway. This is delivered with specific teaching methodologies that we believe in at the club. We are constantly evaluating our ‘game model’ and methodologies to deliver the best possible experience and development to our players.
We are hoping to bring in an injury prevention program that players are a part of and can also opt into that will help in giving them strategies to prevent injuries. This is similar to what FCB did in the past, as we look ahead to the future with BC United.
We encourage all coaches to have a coaching license, hopefully through United State Soccer Federation and United Soccer Coaches. This is not a requirement, but STRONGLY encouraged. We will also be providing in house licensure through BC United, to prepare and structure our coaches preparing for those USSF and USC licensure courses.
All of our coaches have to go through SafeSport training to ensure that this is of the highest standards for them. We also feel that we have a staff that is dedicated to developing and promoting the player and the person
1 to 1.5 team per Director of Coaching.
Yes, we are aiming to bring the Speed, Agility and Strenth component back to our club, especially for our older and Academy level players. This was a great addition in years past, and with COVID looking to be somewhat beyond us, we are aiming to bring this back in.
Uniforms
We acknowledge that kits and accessories are a costly investment. We also recognize that creating a BC United uniform brand and spirit is extremely important from the outset. This means that every player will require new kits. We understand this may be frustrating for some families. We can assure you that as parents of FCB & BCSC players, we board members made very careful choices based on extensive research and negotiations. We know kids grow quickly and many players need new uniforms every year regardless of whether required items change. So it is through that lens that we have approached this. The pricing for new uniforms will vary at every level but as you will learn, we kept the prices as low as possible for a custom uniform by negotiating strongly with Adidas now that we will have a louder voice with a club growing to the size it will be.
On top of that, we’ve negotiated a much better deal with Adidas that will give us resources to help more families that require financial assistance with the uniforms. Please visit Our Uniforms page for more information.
Yes, the new club will continue to offer scholarships to families that need them. Both leaderships are very committed to creating opportunities for all children to play soccer. In fact, we anticipate the union of the clubs will improve our ability to raise money for scholarships, as there will no longer be a competition between the clubs for existing funding. We also aim to create a separate foundation to focus efforts in this area. This foundation, with its own board and staff, will raise and distribute funds in partnership with the staff of the merged club.
Uniforms are not included in the costs, and area a separate cost. The uniform cost is less than $200 for adult, $180 for youth sizing.
Our New Union in Boulder
We have approached this union with player development and player opportunity in mind. Joining forces allows us to offer more programming with the combined talent of two staffs. This union affords players from both clubs, at every level, to have access to greater development and programming options than if the two clubs remain independent on their own. For example, more teams playing in more divisions allows for better team formation, player movement, and progression. A larger pool of recreational players will allow us to have opportunities for these players without having to travel. Additionally, a strong foundation of youth and rec players creates a stronger pipeline for players rising up into the Competitive and Academy programs.
We are targeting players from all over Boulder County with the name and brand BC United.
Our club has hired a great new Executive Director, Jen Beamer, who you can learn more about on our team page.
A new Board of Directors will be announced soon.
Both FCB and BCSC staffs are committed to helping answer questions about BC United and the changes. We invite you to reach out with your specific questions. We will share information as transparently as possible.
Please send questions to questions@fcboulder.org
The current leadership at both clubs believes Boulder County needs one strong club that serves every kid that wants to play soccer regardless of ability, ambition, and economic status. Having a bigger pool of players, all under one philosophy will also allow us to have more teams that can compete for regional championships at all levels, as it did before, against the likes of Real, Rush, Rapids, Broomfield.
We have certainly been rivals in the past but are looking forward to moving on together. We aim to be the best club in Colorado with the mantra of One Club, One County, United!
We feel strongly that there is strength in numbers as it relates to players and talented staff. There are many benefits to growing one club in this small community. Our club will be structured to offer different programming to provide for all. Our Academy, Competitive and Recreation offer 3 different options and experiences for families under one club.
Residents are fortunate to have opportunity and choice across many clubs in our greater Boulder area — far more than other cities with similar population size. You are welcome to scope out the soccer landscape in the area and will find several other clubs if interested in learning more.
Please send your questions to questions@bcunited.com