When is the auto annual de-registration (de-affiliation) taking place?
The auto annual de-registration (de-affiliation) for all RFU clubs with AG players will take place on the 1st July 2022; so, clubs will not need to contact us to request a de-affiliation for their club.
Note: Age Grade Registration will be referred to as ‘Player Affiliation’ in the Age Grade game from 21/22 season. AG Players that were ‘Registered’ in 21/22 can ‘Re-Affiliate’ to their club without the need for club administrators to approve, only new ‘Affiliations’ require club approval.
Why are these modifications coming now?
We have listened to your feedback and wanted to ensure that these enhancements are delivered in time for the key wave of administrative activity in preparation for the start of the new season.
When will the new season 22/23 be enabled? Will coaches move up Age Bands as well?
This will be done on the 1st July 2022 with start date for the playing season for 3rd Sept 2022 and new playing Age Grade regulations come into effect on 1st Aug 2022. All Age Grade players will now move up to the appropriate Age Band based on their DOB.
Those who are playing up or down will need to submit new forms as per the annual requirement and submitted via the Support Portal to action.
**Coaches are not moved automatically as all clubs differ, so any that wish to be moved up an Age Band will need to be manually assigned. Please see the portal guides if you need further instructions on how to do this.
What age groups need to affiliate online?
Age Grade Player Affiliation is an online annual process for club players between U6 to U18. RFU Regulation 15 requires players to be affiliated annually online each season. For parents of individuals U5 and below; the child’s account can be added to GMS and attached to a club but there is no requirement to formally affiliate.
Using the online affiliation and sign up process in GMS removes the need for paper forms, reduces administrative burden, increases data accuracy and places the ownership/update of data with the parents which complies with the RFU Minimum Data Standards.
What do parents need to do ahead of the new season?
We encourage all parents of players to login to GMS and ensure their details are up to date. The Personal Profile module and associated key tasks such as purchasing a membership, creating and updating an age grade affiliation have been optimised for mobile devices, so this makes it easier for parents.
What do club administrators and registrars need to do ahead of the new season?
As we have transitioned to an online self-affiliation process that will see auto de-affiliation (de-registration) of players annually, so there is less administrative work for club administrators. Clubs should encourage parents to log into their account and ensure their details are up to date ahead of the auto de-affiliation. But parents should be advised to wait to affiliate or renew their child’s player affiliation until after the auto de-affiliation takes place.
Club administrators will then simply need approve any new AG affiliation requests on their dashboards to make the AG player status ‘Active’. The player will then show up their appropriate AG band in the Team Management module as per normal.
Any player renewals will be made ‘Active’ status and you can view these on the Player Updates Grid on your dashboards. Please see the other portal guides should you need further information on this process.
Can Age Grade Players affiliate at multiple clubs?
Change to regulations in 2020 permits Age Grade Players to be affiliated at multiple clubs. This reduced the need to de-affiliate (de-register) and transfer players. Please note, this doesn’t apply in the Adult game.
How can I access more information?
Over the past year we have built out the content and populated the support portal with many articles, guides and videos. Please check our resources if you are unsure how to complete a task in GMS. If you feel there is an article missing for a key task in GMS; then please raise a ticket and let us know.
Following our recent webinar, please see the link below answering all the questions regarding the Age Grade Affiliation Process for the 2022-23 season:
Age Grade affiliation webinar Q&A