A program declares. Two objective tests confirm. The season itself has the last word — on which championship you contest, never on whether you compete at all.
Your registration count in each age band determines how many teams you must field and at which levels. It is a table, not a petition. There is no waiver to request and no favour to ask.
Four things are counted from data the league already collects: how many players sit above the weight line, how many are in the older year of the band, how many played at a higher tier before, and how many seasons of football your squad has between them. Clear the limits and your declaration is guaranteed for the season.
At season's end every team is rated in points from the games it actually played. A team that turned out to belong a tier up plays for that tier's championship. It moves teams up and never down — so there is nothing to gain by losing on purpose, and no team is ever left out of the postseason.
The full rulebook citations sit in the founding-program prospectus.