SECTION 3: PLAYER PERSONNEL

3.1 MASTER ROSTER. During the duration of the League season, each Club’s Master Roster shall be unlimited. Players are eligible to participate in GCPL matches once they have been approved and added by the League to the Master Roster.

3.1.1 MATCH DAY ROSTER. A total of 20 eligible Players for each Team may be  placed on the Team’s Game Roster for any League Game. Only 18 players are allowed to dress for the game. In addition to 5 non-playing personnel, 1 Manager, 3 coaches, and 1 Field Manager. All individuals listed on the match day roster must have a form of ID to present to the referee. A physical ID card or photo copied version, either printed or  electronic is acceptable.

3.1.2 AMATEUR PLAYER. An amateur player is a player who signs an amateur registration form with the team’s applicable Federation and does not receive payment for playing soccer. Amateur players may be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses as allowed by the applicable Federation, GCPL, NCAA or NAIA rules. An amateur player may only be registered with one GCPL club and may not be loaned to another club. Because amateur players are not held to contracts, they are free to leave a club at any time, provided he/she returns the club’s equipment. An amateur player may be registered simultaneously with a Gulf Coast Premier League amateur club and another league’s team. 

An amateur player that has been registered with one team, amateur or professional, for at least one-half (50%) of its regular season games may not play for another team in the same League without written authorization from the original team. Gulf Coast Premier League will reserve the right to review a player’s appeal if he is denied permission to play for another team. A player who wishes to sign with a professional team as an amateur must have completed their College Eligibility or be advised that upon signing as an amateur player on a Professional team, they lose all college eligibility. An amateur player may only be registered for the playing year, which begins the first of the year (Jan. 1),  or not more than sixty (60) days prior to the first league game, and extends through the last league competition.

3.1.3 PROFESSIONAL PLAYER. Gulf Coast Premier League teams may carry professional players on their Master Roster provided they are not being paid per the terms of their contract ($0 contracts/compensation).

A professional player is a player who signs a professional registration form with the team’s appropriate Federation, a professional player contract with any professional league and receives, or has received payment beyond actual and reasonable expenses for playing soccer. A professional player may only be registered with one club and may play only for the club to which they are registered. 

The following documents are required to register a professional player on an amateur team:

• USSF Player Registration Form
• The Gulf Coast Premier League Contract for Professional Players on Amateur Teams ($0 compensation)
• Proof of Identification (birth certificate, passport, green card)
• USASA Waiver and Liability Release Form
• Insurance Acknowledgment Form

3.1.4 PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS ON MATCH DAY ROSTER. Only 3 professional players are eligible to be on the 20-man Match Day roster and participate in a Gulf Coast Premier League official match. 

3.2 PLAYER REGISTRATION. To register a Player, a club must use the online league registration system (Stack Sports) to do so. Training will be provided to the clubs by the league registrar.  Once a player is registered in the Gulf Coast Premier League registration platform, no matter if they appeared in an official match or not, they will count towards the clubs total number of registered players and the club will be charged the league set player registration fee. 

The following information is required for each registered player:

• last name
• first name
• date of birth
• gender identification
• e-mail address
• complete mailing address
• country of birth
• copy of photo ID (Driver’s license or Passport)

3.2.1 REGISTRATION WINDOW. Clubs participating in the League may Register their Players beginning 30 days prior to the first week of competition. Players may be added to rosters at any time throughout the League competition. The League deadline for registering players is the Friday before the last league game. 

Note: Any players added beyond the start of the season must be added to a club roster no later than 48 hours prior to the club’s next match. All registrations within 48 hours leading up to the scheduled contest will be considered ‘Urgent Registrations’ and will cost an additional $10 per player. 

Any questions regarding registration should be directed to the league Registrar, Jonathan Rednour, at admin@gcplsoccer.com.  

3.2.2 INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE. Any player who is at least 18 years of age, and has played for a club/league affiliated with a federation outside of the United States (amateur or pro), must complete the International Clearance (ITC) Certificate before they are eligible to compete in a Gulf Coast Premier League match.

Please see the ITC application below for more information:

USSF – Adult International Clearance Application

3.2.3 AMATUER REINSTATEMENT. Any player who was last registered as a professional, will hold professional status, and are not permitted to register with amateur clubs until the reinstatement of amateur status. In order to have amateur status reinstated, the player must have played in their last professional match at least 31 days prior, can no longer be under contract with the professional club, must complete the Amateur Reinstatement Form and then be approved by US Soccer.

Please visit US Soccer’s Amateur reinstatement policy for more information:

https://www.ussoccer.com/federation-services/international-clearance/amateur-reinstatement

3.2.4 SAFE SPORT AND BACKGROUND CHECKS. Every member club’s staff (owners, presidents, GMs, coaches, assistant coaches, u23 coach, etc.) MUST COMPLETE the SafeSport training course and conduct a background check from the websites listed here. All players will need to complete the SafeSport training and background check requirements. 

Please visit the GCPL’s SafeSport Portal for more information:  

SafeSport documentation is required upon registering players. (If needed; see above) 

3.3  RECRUITMENT AND TAMPERING. ($500 FINE) Gulf Coast Premier League team rosters are not limited to any geographical region. Notwithstanding the foregoing, during the Gulf Coast Premier League season, Gulf Coast Premier League clubs may not contact, train, or tryout a player that is rostered by another Gulf Coast Premier League club unless agreed upon by the rostering team. Any rostered player wishing to contact, train with, or tryout for another Gulf Coast Premier League club must obtain written permission from his rostering club before doing so. For purposes of  this provision, the “Gulf Coast Premier League Season” begins 30 days before opening week and ends the day after the last Gulf Coast Premier League match. Any club that violates this provision shall be subject to a $500 fine payable to Gulf Coast Premier League within 30 days of receiving notice from Gulf Coast Premier League Operations that the Advisory Committee has determined that a violation of this provision has occurred. 

3.4 PLAYER RELEASE. If the club that initially rostered the player agrees to release said player to an offending club, said player shall not be allowed to compete against his former club during the same season. If the rostering club does not agree to release said player to the offending club, said player will be considered an illegal player for any club other than the rostering club. 

3.5 PLAYER TRANSFER. Players, subject to Rule 3.3, may make a one-time Gulf Coast Premier League team switch per Gulf Coast Premier League season. 

3.6 INELIGIBLE AND ILLEGAL PLAYERS ($500 FINE) An Ineligible Player is a player listed on the Master Roster, but not eligible to play due to reasons such as missing registration paperwork, awaiting international clearance, serving a League suspension, not being listed on the Official Game Day Lineup Sheet, or any player who enters the game after the substitution allotment or moment allotment has been used shall be considered an ineligible player (not limited to these examples). Knowledge of the eligibility status of a player is ultimately the responsibility of the team, not the referee.

An Illegal Player is any player that does not appear on the Master Roster.