Rumor is birth year mandate will be changed

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Word amongst our circle is the birth year mandate has been a total failure and will back to August 1. Anyone else hearing this

Sounds like a circle of 1

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My son team has kids from his own grade and the grade above I don't see the problem. When I was a kid the age groups were 2 years not 1 year. While we are moving backward maybe we should go back to the 2 year age groups. I'm not really advocating for that but showing how silly some people are.

[Unregistered]

My son team has kids from his own grade and the grade above I don't see the problem. When I was a kid the age groups were 2 years not 1 year. While we are moving backward maybe we should go back to the 2 year age groups. I'm not really advocating for that but showing how silly some people are.

The biggest issue is when most of the team is off playing high school soccer and the few kids who are still in middle school do not have the team to continue with for 3 months. This issue was created with the age change.

[Unregistered]

The only place I've heard it as a strong rumor is ECNL to assist with recruiting. It would give them another point of differentiation vs GDA. I haven't heard it for any other leagues. If it's going to happen it would need to announced soon before tryouts really ramp up later this spring. Has it negatively impacted youth soccer participation? I think it has some. No doubt it has created more headaches with 8th and 12th graders. It isn't all of what ails youth soccer right now, but adds to frustrations of families who are already tired of the travel and cost. Baseball did this a few years back and then returned to school year.

[Unregistered]

My son team has kids from his own grade and the grade above I don't see the problem. When I was a kid the age groups were 2 years not 1 year. While we are moving backward maybe we should go back to the 2 year age groups. I'm not really advocating for that but showing how silly some people are.

In reality kids should be banded based on skill, not age. But 99% of US clubs are completely incapable of doing this correctly and parents would throw fits. Having 2 year teams in DA is one of the few positive things about it but even they are moving away from it.

[Unregistered]

The biggest issue is when most of the team is off playing high school soccer and the few kids who are still in middle school do not have the team to continue with for 3 months. This issue was created with the age change.

There is no issue because DA is where the best players SHOULD be. HS and Middle Soccer is fun but won’t get you better due to the low quality. If your kid is playing at that level then the age structure was not meant for you and it correlates to your issues. But in DA where the top players are, it works fine. Rules are shaped for the best, the lower levels need to adjust.

[Unregistered]

There is no issue because DA is where the best players SHOULD be. HS and Middle Soccer is fun but won’t get you better due to the low quality. If your kid is playing at that level then the age structure was not meant for you and it correlates to your issues. But in DA where the top players are, it works fine. Rules are shaped for the best, the lower levels need to adjust.

No, not all the top players are in DA. It's people that think like you is why we are way behind in Development.

[Unregistered]

No, not all the top players are in DA. It's people that think like you is why we are way behind in Development.

to say "all" is ridiculously high standard. not all people that smoke die of lung cancer. but do you smoke 3 packs a day? no, you do not want lung cancer. most of the top players in an area are playing DA if there is a DA close enough.

[Unregistered]

Word amongst our circle is the birth year mandate has been a total failure and will back to August 1. Anyone else hearing this

It’s about time...a complete failure! My son is in 8th grade and lost half his team for 3 1/2 months for high school ball. It was a bad idea from the start and it is a bad system today.

[Unregistered]

The only place I've heard it as a strong rumor is ECNL to assist with recruiting. It would give them another point of differentiation vs GDA. I haven't heard it for any other leagues. If it's going to happen it would need to announced soon before tryouts really ramp up later this spring. Has it negatively impacted youth soccer participation? I think it has some. No doubt it has created more headaches with 8th and 12th graders. It isn't all of what ails youth soccer right now, but adds to frustrations of families who are already tired of the travel and cost. Baseball did this a few years back and then returned to school year.

It would be great for ECNL to go back to School year. It helps with recruiting. I have seen 2020 graduates that are on the 2002 team not get the same recruiting attention as the 2020’s on the 2001 team.

[Unregistered]

Very academy is a great example of why da is a failure. 20 some families of which all kids are da quality are paying 15k per year to do soccer training and Florida virtual school which is free. Everyone of these kids could make da but they are playing for Verizon and la logs instead

[Unregistered]

There is no issue because DA is where the best players SHOULD be. HS and Middle Soccer is fun but won’t get you better due to the low quality. If your kid is playing at that level then the age structure was not meant for you and it correlates to your issues. But in DA where the top players are, it works fine. Rules are shaped for the best, the lower levels need to adjust.

Besides the fact that isn't true, there is nothing stopping USSF from keeping DA calendar year. It's everyone else that wants to go back. No need to upend everything for the very few players that might play professionally years from now.

[Unregistered]

Holy sh1t.

I’m caught in a time machine having to read this regurgitated thread / arguement from years ago. It’s all been covered before.

Just deal with it.

[Unregistered]

Besides the fact that isn't true, there is nothing stopping USSF from keeping DA calendar year. It's everyone else that wants to go back. No need to upend everything for the very few players that might play professionally years from now.

Just to be clear, we aren't going back to flip phones, printed newspapers or VHS Players either. The effects of the birth year mandate have proven to be nearly negligible outside of the first year or two of implementation.

Keep pretending everyone wants to go back if it makes you feel better. Kids can play up as much as many age groups as you want these days without special state approval. If you want to play up with your best buddy, go ahead. All the younger teams don't know anything about pre-birth year groupings so they and their parents couldn't care less.

[Unregistered]

Just to be clear, we aren't going back to flip phones, printed newspapers or VHS Players either. The effects of the birth year mandate have proven to be nearly negligible outside of the first year or two of implementation.

Keep pretending everyone wants to go back if it makes you feel better. Kids can play up as much as many age groups as you want these days without special state approval. If you want to play up with your best buddy, go ahead. All the younger teams don't know anything about pre-birth year groupings so they and their parents couldn't care less.

Since the results are negligible all the more reason to go back. Far more kids benefit from no longer being trapped + kids enjoy it more. Riddle me this - why did baseball and Lacrosse try this then go back? Because they saw school year was a positive. And don't tell me it's for international equivalence. That impacts less than .5% of all US soccer players.