I heard NEFC is this Fall.

NEP and Maple will be organized by birth year, so the clubs that can handle the change will, and will be most successful on the field with older players. The clubs that can't won't and will lose players.

I assume all the big clubs will make the change this coming fall. Maney Maple small clubs already have mixed year teams to fill out their rosters, so chances are that those won't change. However, I do think that the small clubs who cannot help the 8th grade 2002's next fall will lose those kids to larger clubs who can probably field a mixed level 2002 team for the fall.

I agree. The sept-dec kids at big clubs will likely have multiple teams (ie reginal teams) grouped together for fall and then in November will join their regular team. Small clubs will lose those players that don't want to miss the fall of 8th grade, but they will also lose kids whose families won't want to be on a team where 50% of the team is playing up and the team as a whole starts losing to the teams that switched to birth year. Also those mixed teams may play in low brackets at tourneys and you will always have parents who are concerned with playing in high brackets and winning. Take the 2002 fall birthdays as an example- most are currently on a team of 7th graders. If you take that 7th grade team at a small cub and tell the entire team that in order to stay together for 2016-17 the entire team has to skip the fall next season, I would think people would look for a club fielding a 2003 team for the 2016-17 year. The impact on large clubs will be insignificant.

Possibly playing in maple will help those smaller clubs. If you look at the club list for maple over half the clubs are now town programs. I would guess less than 10 clubs have been around more than 5 or 6 years (Liverpool, Jssa, Hamlets, Galway-to name the few I think play in maple still). That may mean that the majority of maple clubs would have teams where 50% of the team is "playing up" so perhaps the impact even on smaller clubs wouldn't be that significant. Who knows.

Tryout season is going to be interesting that's for sure

MA Youth soccer released their statement overview today. Note that MAPLE with be labeled "U" group while MTOC travel and recreational leagues will be "School Grade".

http://files.ctctcdn.com/043d5f95501...m_medium=email

So the school grades are two year increments ...

Always have been at Town level

First, the statement MAPLE League is redundant.

Second, I'm not sure there is a more confusing way of describing age groups than what Mass Youth Soccer just did. My head is spinning.

Yes, the grade group labeling is hard to grasp when reading that document. This matrix may be helpful for better understanding...

http://files.ctctcdn.com/043d5f95501...m_medium=email

Interesting that AYSO is waiting until 2017/2018. I wonder if they are considering splitting off and are buying that year to consider it. SAY and USSSA not commenting at all also speaks volumes.

Because programs like AYSO/rec level shouldn't be calendar year. Those programs are generally for the wee littles where playing with classmates/friends is important. It can make the difference between getting a child to try it for the first time vs not. We're not talking about U13s who are mature and have been playing for a long time. Rec is about teaching elementary skills, developing a love of the game, having fun.

Only the highest leagues should be going to the new birth year age groups. All others should be school year for friends to play together and have fun.

I think it should be kept by grade level. In high school that is who they will be playing with anyway so why change it for club?