If youve been off the game for a year your team must not be very good now or have you restarted, starting at Assoc bronze level 3 would prob be a very good idea, to build your team again for a few seasons . unless your lucky and find a good active assoc in gold or platinum you should take the offer, joining a gold one after a prolonged period of inactivity may end up in you getting booted from most gold assocs due to poor results.
I had a 2nd team level 60 last year and moved it into a bronze three assoc to help them out, it works both ways.