Bateau Bay Dolphins is a grading club.
All players in 10’s, 11’s and 12’s are graded within their own age group. All players in these ages MUST attend grading.
To attend grading you must be registered (closes 13 Feb 2026). If you can not attend grading you MUST email dolphinsrego@hotmail.com before the day providing details as to why you cannot attend, these will be considered case by case.
2026 GRADING DATES:
- 10s/2016 – Wednesday 25th February at OLR Shelly Beach Primary School @ 4.00pm for 4.15pm start.
- 11s/2015 – Wednesday 18th February at OLR Shelly Beach Primary School @ 4.00pm for 4.15pm start.
- 12s/2014 – Wednesday 18th February at OLR Shelly Beach Primary School @ 4.00pm for 4.15pm start.
- 13s and over – Tuesday 17th February at Baker Park Wyong @ 6.15pm (Rep players please join once training is completed).
NOTE: 13s and over grading is for registered players who are not in a full team or would like to trial for a higher grade.
WHAT TO WEAR: Appropriate training clothes. Please keep forearm and calves clear for grading numbers to be written on.
FINISHING TIME: There is no set finish time as it depends on how many players and graders we have on the day. In previous years it has gone between 1 and 2 hours.
GRADING POSITIONS: On the registration form there is a question that asks what 2 positions you would like to play at grading. It is not guaranteed that you will get to play both positions on the day. The graders may also ask to see a player in a different position.
SELECTORS: Each year, the club uses independent graders to volunteer their time to attend grading sessions. These graders have no association with any player in the ages that they are grading. Therefore, attendance is necessary for a player to be seen and placed into divisions with other players of similar skill level.
Players aged 13 and over are placed into teams of similar skill level – these players are generally with players of a similar age also where possible.
SELECTION CRITERIA: can vary from grader to grader, however, key areas are:
- Footwork
- Ball handling
- Game and positional awareness
- Team work
There are a couple of reasons that some players may spend more time on the court at grading than others or may be in a position that they do not normally play:
- Positions – every year there are generally more of some types of players than others. For example: If there are only two players that have listed GK in their positions but there are twenty players that have listed C. For the games to proceed, players that have listed GK will have to play more than the rest for all players to be able to grade in their preferred positions.
- For the same reason as above, if all players are only put into the positions that they have listed as their preferred positions, grading would have to go for many hours. Therefore, at times, players are asked to play in a position that they would not normally play.
- Skill levels are sometimes very clear for our selectors, at times, they may request to see more of certain players to be able to determine which team they are best suited to.
ON GRADING DAY: Please do not approach the selectors during grading, there will be other committee members available if you have a pressing question or issue. Please refrain from coaching your child from the sideline during grading. This can be distracting for your child and other players and you may be asked to move away.
TEAM ALLOCATIONS: Teams will NOT be announced on the day of grading. Team announcements will be made via our Facebook page and will not be posted until ALL teams have been finalised and coaches allocated. This may take a few weeks so please be patient. We are a big club and it takes a lot of organisation from our committee members to make sure everyone ends up in a team with a coach. If you are not on social media, coaches will be given contact details for their teams and they will reach out to team members.