Grassroots football categories by age in Spain: 2025/26 guide

Spanish grassroots football is organised into two-year categories by natural birth year, from prebenjamín to juvenil. This is the reference table for the 2025/26 season:

Your category does not depend on when your birthday falls in the school year, but on the year you were born (1 January to 31 December). A child born in January and one born in December of the same year play in the same category.

Each category groups two birth years (juvenil groups three). That is why coaches talk about first year and second year: a first-year alevín (10) competes against second-year alevines (11), which at these ages means large physical differences the coach has to manage.

Before prebenjamín there is an introductory stage (querubín, 4-5) that not every federation runs as official competition; it is usually school and play, with no league table.

The big step in grassroots football is moving from small-sided play to 11-a-side. In most federations it happens at infantil (age 12): full pitch, full-size goals and offside applied across the whole opponent's half. Many federations, though, keep the size-4 ball in first-year infantil (12) and move to size 5 in the second year (13) or at cadete.

Before that — prebenjamín, benjamín and alevín — the game is small-sided (7-a-side or 8-a-side) with a smaller pitch, fewer players and an offside line pushed up near the box. The point is for every child to touch the ball and take part more.

That change of space is what forces coaches to introduce width and depth before the jump. We cover it in how to coach alevín (U-12), the age where the move to 11-a-side is prepared.

The RFEF sets the category names and ages but delegates the competition format to the regional federations. That is why the same alevín plays 8-a-side across most of Spain and 7-a-side in the Madrid region.

Some federations bring the move to 11-a-side forward or push it back, or keep 8-a-side in the first year of infantil. Before planning the season, check your regional federation's competition rules: that is where the exact format, pitch dimensions and ball size for your league are set.

To find the federation you belong to, use the regional federations list.

The team's category sets the coach's minimum licence. For grassroots football, from prebenjamín to cadete, a UEFA C is enough; from juvenil and the national categories the requirement rises to UEFA B or higher.

The full map of what each licence qualifies you for is in what you can coach with UEFA C, B, A and Pro. If you do not yet know which course suits you, the assistant recommends one in 60 seconds based on your goal and region.

To start from scratch, the usual route is the course catalogue, either the federation pathway (UEFA) or the academic one (Sports Technician).

Coaching is not the same in every category: what works at benjamín bores or overwhelms at cadete. The general rule is not to rush content — individual technique first, collective concepts later.

The detail of what to train at each age band is in grassroots football exercises by age, and a full session template for the pivot age is in how to coach alevín (U-12).

Respecting the age progression is what prepares a healthy jump to 11-a-side and, later, to senior competition.