2021 Recruiting: 2002 v. 2003 evaluation

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Agree but not sure all college coaches realize the big difference. For example, the coach poster above yours didn’t realize that this whole discussion is about players who are the SAME graduation year. The problem now is the same graduation year players are forced to be on very different teams: In the 2021 example, all are in 10th grade but some are playing with a bunch of 11th graders and a some older 10th graders. The other 10th graders are playing with and against a bunch of younger sophomores and 9th graders. That’s a critical 2 year difference in experience, strength and skills! The smart college coaches will understand this and not be fooled by the 10th graders who only look like stars because they are playing against 9th graders. There will be coaches that are fooled though and their programs will suffer.

Agree. That’s not to say that some of those 2003 born 2021s (current 10th graders) that do well against 9th graders and young 10th graders won’t pan out great but the mistake would be overlooking the 2002 born 2021s that are doing very well against 11th graders and would be even more of a star than the 2003 born 2021 if they were still on the same team (like before change to birth year). That’s why Ecnl going to grad year age groups will help both the players and the college coaches! Much easier to compare apples when they are in the same store in the same bin.

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Agree. That’s not to say that some of those 2003 born 2021s (current 10th graders) that do well against 9th graders and young 10th graders won’t pan out great but the mistake would be overlooking the 2002 born 2021s that are doing very well against 11th graders and would be even more of a star than the 2003 born 2021 if they were still on the same team (like before change to birth year). That’s why Ecnl going to grad year age groups will help both the players and the college coaches! Much easier to compare apples when they are in the same store in the same bin.

I think this is a fair post but the facts are in our state there are more 2021 03's that are committed than 2021 02's. Maybe the teams are better in each club or the players are better. The BB players on last year's 03 team were recruited in higher number than the 2021's on the 02 team. The 03 SSS player committed to BC doesn't play up she plays at her age. Don't know about Stars or GPS.

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I think this is a fair post but the facts are in our state there are more 2021 03's that are committed than 2021 02's. Maybe the teams are better in each club or the players are better. The BB players on last year's 03 team were recruited in higher number than the 2021's on the 02 team. The 03 SSS player committed to BC doesn't play up she plays at her age. Don't know about Stars or GPS.

If you think back a few years before age change, I bet those younger 03s that got recruited where rock stars on their teams. Then the age change comes and they take a step back. Two years later, they caught up and surpassed the older players. The age change was a temporary setback for those with real skill. If they go back to calendar year, those kids will look even better. May actually have been a blessing in disguise for those trapped 8th graders.

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If you think back a few years before age change, I bet those younger 03s that got recruited where rock stars on their teams. Then the age change comes and they take a step back. Two years later, they caught up and surpassed the older players. The age change was a temporary setback for those with real skill. If they go back to calendar year, those kids will look even better. May actually have been a blessing in disguise for those trapped 8th graders.

Finally an intelligent post. Those younger 03's were rock stars. They also were given a chance to stand out when their 02 classmates had to struggle with the established older girls. Ended up being a big advantage for them. It is true that the 03's who are already recruited are the top players in the state. One that was mentioned is on the National Team. It didn't matter what age they played at they were going to catch coaches attention. If the birth year becomes graduation year they will be further along when playing alongside their classmates.

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Congrats to AS givin the opportunity and having the talent to make it work.Not everyone gets the opportunity that may have the talent.

Kids that have that talent are few and far between. No fair to compare anyone to her.

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Agree. That’s not to say that some of those 2003 born 2021s (current 10th graders) that do well against 9th graders and young 10th graders won’t pan out great but the mistake would be overlooking the 2002 born 2021s that are doing very well against 11th graders and would be even more of a star than the 2003 born 2021 if they were still on the same team (like before change to birth year). That’s why Ecnl going to grad year age groups will help both the players and the college coaches! Much easier to compare apples when they are in the same store in the same bin.

100% true. This is a recruiting issue NOT and advantage/disadvantage issue. Colleges recruit by graduation year. 99.9% of girls are aiming for college. Making some 2021s play down with the grade below and some 2021s play up with the grade above makes direct comparison almost impossible. This is regardless of whether the ones playing down or the ones playing up are at any advantage or disadvantage. Bottom line is the same grade players (not the same birth year players!) are competing with each other for college roster spots but almost never compete with each other on the field. That is a huge disconnect! It is also the exact reason USSF forced everyone to change to birth year teams - because US Soccer had a disconnect not being able to compare all players born in a particular birth year (other than the ones id’d for birth year pools) for its all birth year teams. Birth year works to compare same birth year players for national teams which are birth year. Graduation year works best to compare players for college recruiting which recruits by grad year! 99.99% of players are actually competing for college spots. ECNL will gain a huge percentage of players simply by switching to graduation year because college recruits by high school graduation year!

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When is ECNL going to grad year?

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Kids that have that talent are few and far between. No fair to compare anyone to her.

I think the National Team player referred to as a 2021 and part of this discussion was LR.
AS is not relevant to this discussion because she is a 2022. Yes she is in a class by herself.
The poster referred to LR because she is a 2021 who plays "down" with freshmen. It didn't hurt her or the BB girls or Star's girl when they were recruited before their 02 peer group. I think 2021 parents who have 02 daughters want to say they are better than 03 girls because they play with juniors. JUST NOT TRUE and LR and others proves that.

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I think the National Team player referred to as a 2021 and part of this discussion was LR.
AS is not relevant to this discussion because she is a 2022. Yes she is in a class by herself.
The poster referred to LR because she is a 2021 who plays "down" with freshmen. It didn't hurt her or the BB girls or Star's girl when they were recruited before their 02 peer group. I think 2021 parents who have 02 daughters want to say they are better than 03 girls because they play with juniors. JUST NOT TRUE and LR and others proves that.

How is a 2021 player playing with freshmen? Even if she is what was considered a trapped player, she would be playing with sophomores. No?

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How is a 2021 player playing with freshmen? Even if she is what was considered a trapped player, she would be playing with sophomores. No?

LR's SSS 03 team is made up of freshmen and sophomores. The 02 team would be sophomores and juniors. The initial argument was if you are born in 03 and have a graduation year of 2021 you are worse off than born in 02 and have a graduation year of 2021 because that group has juniors on their team. Talent is talent. If you are a 2021 already recruited you are talented whether or not you are born in 03 or 02 but I don't believe the 03 players are at any disadvantage and LR, BB, and Stars 03 players that are currently recruited prove that.

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We can't look at one or two players and say there is a trend. This whole thing is a double edge sword for the end of the year births under current system. If they rise to the top, playing with kids that would graduate a year ahead of them, then they will land well. The few per team who are end of year, will get seen at college showcases a year earlier than their older teammates. That is an extra year to figure this recruiting mess out. On the other hand, at those showcases, they will be compared directly to those graduating a year earlier, rather than their graduating class. It will come down to whether they are good enough to stand out against those a year older.

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LR's SSS 03 team is made up of freshmen and sophomores. The 02 team would be sophomores and juniors. The initial argument was if you are born in 03 and have a graduation year of 2021 you are worse off than born in 02 and have a graduation year of 2021 because that group has juniors on their team. Talent is talent. If you are a 2021 already recruited you are talented whether or not you are born in 03 or 02 but I don't believe the 03 players are at any disadvantage and LR, BB, and Stars 03 players that are currently recruited prove that.

So she is not playing down, she is with her correct age as long as the team is playing at U16.

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We can't look at one or two players and say there is a trend. This whole thing is a double edge sword for the end of the year births under current system. If they rise to the top, playing with kids that would graduate a year ahead of them, then they will land well. The few per team who are end of year, will get seen at college showcases a year earlier than their older teammates. That is an extra year to figure this recruiting mess out. On the other hand, at those showcases, they will be compared directly to those graduating a year earlier, rather than their graduating class. It will come down to whether they are good enough to stand out against those a year older.

This is a good post to explain the 2021 02 situation. For the 03 2021 players it means does a coach take into account they are the oldest and use that to modify their evaluation. I don't think a coach says that player is good but she is older than the rest of the players. I think realistically the coach says that player is good and I need that type of player.
So maybe both groups can work their situation to be a plus rather than a minus. In the end the data won't lie. Are more 02 2021's recruited than 03 2021's at least here in MA. If someone has those numbers come forward.

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So she is not playing down, she is with her correct age as long as the team is playing at U16.

She is playing at her correct age AND there are freshmen on her team which clearly has made zero difference in her getting recruited which posters had mentioned was a concern for birth year 2003 players who are sophomore class of 2021.

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She is playing at her correct age AND there are freshmen on her team which clearly has made zero difference in her getting recruited which posters had mentioned was a concern for birth year 2003 players who are sophomore class of 2021.

I think you misunderstood the original concern being tossed around. The concern is for the younger players that are forced to play up. With most patch high level teams there are only two or three end of the birth year players forced to play up with kids a graduating class above them. The concern was that they are being compared to older players.