Let the fun begin again

[Unregistered]

It would be a huge plus if US soccer (and ECNL) moved to graduation year. In addition to all the social issues at the younger ages and the "trapped 8th grade" issue, college showcases are also a problem. As the older grade-year kids on the team make their college selections, they are less invested in the team, making it more difficult for the younger grade year kids to get good looks. At U18/U19, the younger kids are only in 11th grade. If D3 is the goal, 11th grade is the prime recruiting time for these kids. The 11th grade kids are trying to play on teams that are hobbled together with mostly seniors, many of whom have already checked out.

Additionally, you would think it would be easier for college coaches to be able to evaluate kids on even ground when they are all playing with/against the same grade too.

[Unregistered]

It would be a huge plus if US soccer (and ECNL) moved to graduation year. In addition to all the social issues at the younger ages and the "trapped 8th grade" issue, college showcases are also a problem. As the older grade-year kids on the team make their college selections, they are less invested in the team, making it more difficult for the younger grade year kids to get good looks. At U18/U19, the younger kids are only in 11th grade. If D3 is the goal, 11th grade is the prime recruiting time for these kids. The 11th grade kids are trying to play on teams that are hobbled together with mostly seniors, many of whom have already checked out.

Additionally, you would think it would be easier for college coaches to be able to evaluate kids on even ground when they are all playing with/against the same grade too.

College coaches have adjusted out of necessity but yes it certainly would be much easier/less complicated not having to keep track of everyone. They largely recruit by grade.

[Unregistered]

So this is based is the same Aspen study that prior poster did not bother to read to prove a point.:

"The top reason kids want to play sports, the report indicates, is a desire to be with friends, not winning. That may have hurt soccer participation, which dropped 9.5 percent year over year due to a U.S. Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams, according to the report. (Players are now grouped by birth year, rather than school grade.)"

"Baseball, basketball, football all experience participation growth in 2017. Soccer though continued a decline Aspen links back to a US Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams."

Hey Dumass the report is from before the rule change. Nice try to spin it.

[Unregistered]

Hey Dumass the report is from before the rule change. Nice try to spin it.

Chill dude. Earlier poster posted the aspen institute report from 2015 without actually reading findings. Second source someone posted was also based on Aspen Institute findings and in Washingtonpost article.

Oct. 16, 2018 at 12:10 p.m. EDT
More American children ages 6 to 12 were physically active in 2017

Report clearly calls out age change as a factor in soccer participation while other sports actually rose in participation for 2017.

Try reading both before you respond next time. Slowly

[Unregistered]

It would be a huge plus if US soccer (and ECNL) moved to graduation year. In addition to all the social issues at the younger ages and the "trapped 8th grade" issue, college showcases are also a problem. As the older grade-year kids on the team make their college selections, they are less invested in the team, making it more difficult for the younger grade year kids to get good looks. At U18/U19, the younger kids are only in 11th grade. If D3 is the goal, 11th grade is the prime recruiting time for these kids. The 11th grade kids are trying to play on teams that are hobbled together with mostly seniors, many of whom have already checked out.

Additionally, you would think it would be easier for college coaches to be able to evaluate kids on even ground when they are all playing with/against the same grade too.

This is the crux of the matter! Tons of kids quit because of their teams blowing up at the birth year change, then at the 8th and 9th grade and then again at the junior and senior high school level. It’s a cluster for the players, the teams, the leagues, colleges and US Soccer. Going to grad year would give a full team to every grade. College coaches could recruit watching same grad year vs same grad year for an apples to apples comparison. Should’ve been changed to grad year, years ago.

[Unregistered]

This is the crux of the matter! Tons of kids quit because of their teams blowing up at the birth year change, then at the 8th and 9th grade and then again at the junior and senior high school level. It’s a cluster for the players, the teams, the leagues, colleges and US Soccer. Going to grad year would give a full team to every grade. College coaches could recruit watching same grad year vs same grad year for an apples to apples comparison. Should’ve been changed to grad year, years ago.

Well here's the thing - it WAS grad year and had been for, well, forever. USSF f'd it up 4 years ago, making everyone go to calendar year. They can keep it that way DA if they still think it matters and let everyone else go back to grade based teams. Talented kids who need more challenges play up when appropriate just like they do now

[Unregistered]

Well here's the thing - it WAS grad year and had been for, well, forever. USSF f'd it up 4 years ago, making everyone go to calendar year. They can keep it that way DA if they still think it matters and let everyone else go back to grade based teams. Talented kids who need more challenges play up when appropriate just like they do now

It was not actually “grad year” - it was birthdays from Aug.1st to July 31st. Due to different states having different school cut offs, this was not a simply grade based system. Moving it from date ranges to actual grade/graduation year, would vastly simplify things. It would be consistent and standard across the country and align perfectly with college. Colleges don’t care what month or year a kid is born. Colleges recruit by grad year. Rules and paperwork for leagues and tournaments wouldn’t constantly be needed to be updated based on which group is U16, etc. This year it’s 04s. Last year it was 03s. Every year would be the same:
U19=seniors
U18=juniors
U17=sophomores
U16=freshmen
U15=8th graders
Etc.
A tournament or college coach or parent or whoever would know that in 2021, 2024, 2028, 2033 or ANY year U16 is teams of high school 9th graders, U19 is teams of seniors. Colleges don’t care if you were born in January, June or November. Colleges don’t care if you skipped a grade or were held back a grade, colleges care what year you graduate. Colleges recruit by graduation year. Like lacrosse, going to grad year age groups makes by far the most sense and will help increase youth soccer participation numbers leading to more money and more possible superstars. It’s a no brainer.

[Unregistered]

For the most part it was grad year. Nearly all states have a kindergarten start cut off of around the beginning of the school year. CT is one of the few states that has such a late date. So in most states, unless you held your kid back for some reason, most likely they would have been playing with their classmates. There were a few donut hole kids who might have fallen in that August drop, but it would be easy enough to let it run by whatever the state rule is. It's only a matter of weeks. If state Y has a cutoff of Sept 1, that's their soccer cutoff. State Z has August 15, that's their cutoff (many states in the south start mid August). We're talking about a much smaller group of kids vs the thousands who are screwed now by the calendar year system. Because of our late date not that many kids are impacted in CT. But in other states you're talking about most kids born September to December - nearly 1/3.

[Unregistered]

i don't understand how it's a dead year for high schoolers? isn't HS soccer eligibility grade based anyway? so you get to play 4 years of HS soccer regardless of how old you are when you start 9th grade. it's only the 8th grade gap for older kids that seems to be an issue.

The issue with the highschool players is that 1/2 team is juniors and the other 1/2 team are seniors. Seniors not playing in college are likely not to play premier in spring and hence those juniors will not have a good team to play on prior to their upcoming senior season

[Unregistered]

The first report shows a drop in soccer before 2015 and before the rule change. The second report shows the same drop from 2014 to 2016 and then it continues to drop from 2016 to 2017 and the author blames the rule change.

The second one must have been written by a parent with a kid born between September and December.

[Unregistered]

The first report shows a drop in soccer before 2015 and before the rule change. The second report shows the same drop from 2014 to 2016 and then it continues to drop from 2016 to 2017 and the author blames the rule change.

The second one must have been written by a parent with a kid born between September and December.

Soccer participation is down - a lot - that is a fact. There are many reasons, not just this, and if there was more recent data we would see if it is flattening out or not. But, no doubt the age change has had some impact. US soccer should be doing everything it can to bump participation back up again. It is a stupid rule with very few benefits to a very limited number of players, but one that negatively effects thousands.

[Unregistered]

The first report shows a drop in soccer before 2015 and before the rule change. The second report shows the same drop from 2014 to 2016 and then it continues to drop from 2016 to 2017 and the author blames the rule change.

The second one must have been written by a parent with a kid born between September and December.

The first report says all sports are declining. The second report notes increases in other sports in 2017 while soccer continued to decline. Both reports were done by Aspen.

[Unregistered]

The first report says all sports are declining. The second report notes increases in other sports in 2017 while soccer continued to decline. Both reports were done by Aspen.

my kids playing aau basketball instead of premier soccer this year. It was mainly because of the cost of the premier soccer that we decided to do other sports instead of focusing on soccer.

Does that mean the decline in soccer participation is due to cost? Using your logic it does.

[Unregistered]

my kids playing aau basketball instead of premier soccer this year. It was mainly because of the cost of the premier soccer that we decided to do other sports instead of focusing on soccer.

Does that mean the decline in soccer participation is due to cost? Using your logic it does.

Aspen has stated that cost and travel also have contributed to declines in all sport participation (soccer isn't the only sport that's being monetized) and sports participation in general is slowly slipping. But, soccer suffered some of the largest drops. If they did surveys today they'd be lucky if it had flattened out, My hunch is it continues to fall but maybe not as fast as the first few years. THAT is what US Soccer should be paying attention to.

[Unregistered]

Pay

Soccer is way too expensive here. That is clearly leading to players quitting soccer as rec and town travel teams lose all their top players to premier at very young ages. The players who don’t want to commit to premier at 9 years old for 2500 a year are left with mostly weak town programs with any weaker players remaining. As much as the premier teams want to sell it as a sport that needs tons of technical training etc...soccer is not an elitist sport in any other country. Kids learn on the playground and then the top players and athletes get picked up to play for free academies.

The scary thing is other sports are now following that model more and more. And it isn’t a winning model Baseball and basketball now with year round aau programs. You really aren’t likely to ever play varsity high school without some sort of travel Experience now. You just can’t keep up without it.

Long term all it is doing is shrinking the pool of players to the rich suburb kids. Basketball gets saved by the evil sneaker companies that run the free top aau programs.