How did you get your body fat measured? If you did a proper bodpod test then there's a good chance it is accurate. Most people are fatter than they appreciate. 26% is not as fat as the internet would have you believe - I understand the upper limit (roughly) for the Navy Seals is 23% (I read that somewhere from an ex-combat diver in SWCC (I think that is the correct acronym, but I'm not American)). Of course most would expect to be significantly lower than that, but it sounds about right to me as a viable upper limit. The British Army reckons the typical BF% of a soldier is around 20%.
To address what you seem to be asking:
What are your goals? at 6'1 208lbs 26% bf you probably don't look all that good. It means you are probably 20lbs or so of fat away from looking good naked, perhaps more, since you're unlikely to have built much significant muscle due to your relative inexperience and the sheer amount of time it takes to build a good body for most of us.
If, as you stand on the cusp of manhood, your goal is to be fit, healthy and attractive, I would suggest your gut instinct to cut is a good one. Since you say you're a soccer player rather than a competitive powerlifter, you really have no reason to be overweight. However, your goals are your own and you must make them for yourself.
Most of us have drunk the cool-aid at some point about needing X many thousand calories to bulk, and have got fat as a consequence. Don't worry about it, it is useful experience and at your age you can make extremely quick progress in any direction you want. You are almost certainly eating too much, probably by around 1000 calories, unless you are working a manual labour job. If you're an ordinary 17 year old kid, you'd probably make as much progress on 2500-2800 calories as you are now, without the excessive fat gain. Your fat will not turn to muscle and statistically you are unlikely to grow meaningfully now. That means at some point you will have to cut and lose the excess fat.
Maintenance is a very vague term that can have different meanings. Generally it is only useful in the short term, during one of life's busy spells, though as you get older it may come to represent progress of a kind. Whilst you're young you should be trying to improve constantly, so that you have something that is worth maintaining when you are older. That may mean cutting, that may mean trying to eat a little more and gain some muscle, but fundamentally you should be trying to get better by whatever metric you are measuring.
If you'd like to post your training and a typical day's eating up here, as well as your training goals, I am sure we could help you along. If you prefer to do it over PM then I'm sure many of us would be happy to help.
To address what you seem to be asking:
What are your goals? at 6'1 208lbs 26% bf you probably don't look all that good. It means you are probably 20lbs or so of fat away from looking good naked, perhaps more, since you're unlikely to have built much significant muscle due to your relative inexperience and the sheer amount of time it takes to build a good body for most of us.
If, as you stand on the cusp of manhood, your goal is to be fit, healthy and attractive, I would suggest your gut instinct to cut is a good one. Since you say you're a soccer player rather than a competitive powerlifter, you really have no reason to be overweight. However, your goals are your own and you must make them for yourself.
Most of us have drunk the cool-aid at some point about needing X many thousand calories to bulk, and have got fat as a consequence. Don't worry about it, it is useful experience and at your age you can make extremely quick progress in any direction you want. You are almost certainly eating too much, probably by around 1000 calories, unless you are working a manual labour job. If you're an ordinary 17 year old kid, you'd probably make as much progress on 2500-2800 calories as you are now, without the excessive fat gain. Your fat will not turn to muscle and statistically you are unlikely to grow meaningfully now. That means at some point you will have to cut and lose the excess fat.
Maintenance is a very vague term that can have different meanings. Generally it is only useful in the short term, during one of life's busy spells, though as you get older it may come to represent progress of a kind. Whilst you're young you should be trying to improve constantly, so that you have something that is worth maintaining when you are older. That may mean cutting, that may mean trying to eat a little more and gain some muscle, but fundamentally you should be trying to get better by whatever metric you are measuring.
If you'd like to post your training and a typical day's eating up here, as well as your training goals, I am sure we could help you along. If you prefer to do it over PM then I'm sure many of us would be happy to help.