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Team Participation/Affiliation

Last Revised on February 24, 2023

The CYM athletic program exists to serve the children and families of the Diocese of Wilmington, both Catholic and non-Catholic. All athletes will be required to be affiliated to a parish/school in order to participate in the athletic program. “Affiliation” is the assignment of a child to the appropriate parish/school via one of the following criteria (generally in this order):

 

Important Clarifications:
  1. For families that struggle to make financial contributions to the parish, documented participation in parish events, fundraisers and volunteer opportunities (other than sports) fulfills the requirement. Non-parishioners or non-Catholic participants are expected to participate in and support that parish’s sports program.
  2. For those affiliated by geographical residence, CYM will generally look at the residence relative to the parish boundaries in order to determine primary affiliation. However, at times the CYM Office will consider the parish/schools with the greatest need in a particular sport and reserves the right to determine the affiliation based primarily on this issue after giving due consideration to any hardships it may place on a child.
  3. A child will have only ONE primary affiliation. In some cases a child may be initially eligible for more than one (active parish member at one parish but enrolled in school somewhere else); CYM will choose school first.
 
Specific Affiliation Rules for Schools:
  1. Private Catholic Schools (ex. Mount Aviat Academy, Nativity Prep, Serviam Academy, St. Edmond’s Academy, and Ursuline Academy) – To be affiliated with one of these schools, the student must be enrolled at that school.
  2. Diocesan Regional Schools (ex. Christ the Teacher) – to be affiliated with these schools, the student must:

 

If a student is enrolled at a different Catholic school that does not offer that sport, the principal/AD at the regional school may approve an exception to participate.


General Affiliation Rules:

Violations of any of these rules may result in disciplinary action taken by the CYM Office against the player, the team, the coach/coordinator and/or the AAP/AD. Actions could include warnings, suspensions or other sanctions.

 

Athletes Residing Outside Diocese of Wilmington:

Athletes that reside outside the physical boundaries of the Diocese of Wilmington may only participate for parish/school athletic programs within the Diocese of Wilmington if one of the following is met:

 
General Eligibility Rules:

Violations of any of these may result in the player in question being deemed ineligible for all future games, forfeits for any CYM game that the player participated in and possible exclusion from playoffs or other sanctions as deemed necessary by the CYM Director of Youth Sports and/or the Athletic Advisory Committee.

Related Policies:

All individuals shall be classified according to parish/school affiliations and are subject to the guidelines established by said parish/school. 2223

CYM cannot guarantee that all individuals requesting to participate in the CYM athletic program will be placed on a CYM team. 10535

An individual assigned an affiliation at a parish program is subject to approval by the parish athletic association. Parishes may refuse to accept an individual assigned to a parish for a variety of reasons, such as registration may have been closed, teams are filled, or accepting an individual may adversely impact a team's eligibility for playoffs, etc. In such cases, the parish athletic association is to refer the individual back to CYM for possible placement on another CYM team. 10536

The CYM Office will make affiliation assignments after a review of the CYM Online Registration information for the individual. No individual may tryout, practice or play with a team until authorization has been received from CYM. 2224

It is the responsibility of a parent/guardian of a child wishing to play CYM sports to register said child at the parish/school by the deadline set by that parish/school. CYM will not consider requests for changes in affiliation if a parish/school deadline has not been met. 2225

Recruitment of players must be done carefully, conservatively, and at all times in compliance with CYM affiliation rules and policies. When talking to a prospective player, coaches and athletic associations must explain the affiliation rules, and make clear to the player and his/her parents that those rules may dictate assignment to a different parish/school. No coach, coordinator or athletic association member has the authority by him/her self to decide on any athlete's affiliation. 2144

Church Bulletins, School News Letters, Parish/School websites, and posting signs on church/school property are all appropriate means of advertising and recruitment that may be done at any time, without explicit permission. An athlete's affiliation must still be presented to the CYM office before any final parish/school affiliation is decided. 2145

Any advertising beyond normal parish means, or outside of normal parish communications and property, may still be permitted. However, the CYM office must be notified of those methods of communication before they occur, and all communications must list the phone number of the CYM Office (302-658-3800). Parishes and schools will be held to the same affiliation rules, and players outside of their boundaries may not be assigned to their parish/school. 2146