Fake BCs very common

[Unregistered]

Note the 4th paragraph in the story below:

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-...m_medium=email

Great way to get your kid ID'd - have them play down an age group with a fake BC - especially if born abroad where things can be "fixed", and checking is more difficult. This is just one that was "caught" ... how many more out there (e.g. in our USDA system, for example?).

Parents and players consider this gamesmanship. Kind of like "simulating" a foul or injury to waste time. Many probably do it in their daily business lives, where if you can steal it you must have earned it.

Of course these kids are playing down, the opposite of what you should do to improve at the fastest rate, and they eventually get what they deserve as they get passed up, but they are literally stealing spots from other more honest kids. This matters because being on the MNT opens so many doors (e.g. tryouts for pro teams) and can literally be a life changer.

[Unregistered]

Note the 4th paragraph in the story below:

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-...m_medium=email

Great way to get your kid ID'd - have them play down an age group with a fake BC - especially if born abroad where things can be "fixed", and checking is more difficult. This is just one that was "caught" ... how many more out there (e.g. in our USDA system, for example?).

Parents and players consider this gamesmanship. Kind of like "simulating" a foul or injury to waste time. Many probably do it in their daily business lives, where if you can steal it you must have earned it.

Of course these kids are playing down, the opposite of what you should do to improve at the fastest rate, and they eventually get what they deserve as they get passed up, but they are literally stealing spots from other more honest kids. This matters because being on the MNT opens so many doors (e.g. tryouts for pro teams) and can literally be a life changer.

Actually 5th paragraph. And though the article says the "semantics hardly matter", one must realize that the birth year is a HUGE component of being ID'd in the US as the competition is based on birth year not school year (e.g. U15, U16 or U17 even though thats what they call the teams strangely enough). If he were competing against other '98s quite likely he wouldnt have been selected in the first place.

[Unregistered]

And guess what? College/pro only care about the best players not what age they are. So either they are good enough or they aren't. Look at Freddy Adu. He looked like a superstar against younger players but was exposed as a fraud when he tried to con his way into the big leagues.

[Unregistered]

Fake BCs very common

And guess what? College/pro only care about the best players not what age they are. So either they are good enough or they aren't. Look at Freddy Adu. He looked like a superstar against younger players but was exposed as a fraud when he tried to con his way into the big leagues.

True. It eventually catches up to you but it does open doors to begin with. ODP national camps are great places to watch this phenomenon in action. Several u15 and u16 teams in south florida have rosters that feature 2 to 3 players playing down using fake birth certificates. The parents and coaches know it but it helps the team win so it is encouraged. It is cheating but once you visit the countries where these players come from it is easy to understand why they do it. Honduras in particular is famous for fake birth certificates. Jamaica is not far behind.

[Just a Coach]

And guess what? College/pro only care about the best players not what age they are. So either they are good enough or they aren't. Look at Freddy Adu. He looked like a superstar against younger players but was exposed as a fraud when he tried to con his way into the big leagues.

No, Freddy was a great talent who was forced into the adult game at age 14, when he was not yet ready for it.

[Unregistered]

Freddy was quick to lie about his age and sign for cash. Was all over tv being shown as this kid with unlimited potential meanwhile those years were behind him and what you saw was only what it was.

Plenty of kids coming to this county with parents saying no birth certificate and then they are instructed to tell department of health a younger age so they can catch up with their schooling and the soccer is a bonus. They usually drop off the map in time for playing down works better the younger the other players are.

[Unregistered]

Can't read the fourth paragraph without a membership

Post it here

[Unregistered]

Can't read the fourth paragraph without a membership

Post it here

Lara is a similar story. He was part of the Residency Program for some time, but he fell out of favor and Mexico welcomed the left back with open arms. Lara was a star of the 1999 age group for the U.S., but multiple sources have told TopDrawerSoccer that there has been some mix-up with his birth certificate and he was born in 1998. The semantics of it hardly matter, as he is age-eligible for this U17 World Cup whether he was born in 1999 or 1998. He looks to be in line for starting minutes with Mexico and a budding star with Pachuca.

[Unregistered]

True. It eventually catches up to you but it does open doors to begin with. ODP national camps are great places to watch this phenomenon in action. Several u15 and u16 teams in south florida have rosters that feature 2 to 3 players playing down using fake birth certificates. The parents and coaches know it but it helps the team win so it is encouraged. It is cheating but once you visit the countries where these players come from it is easy to understand why they do it. Honduras in particular is famous for fake birth certificates. Jamaica is not far behind.

So maybe 1 or 2 kids get cut that wouldn't have. Sucks but if they were bottom of the roster at that level, they weren't moving on to the next level.

[Unregistered]

So maybe 1 or 2 kids get cut that wouldn't have. Sucks but if they were bottom of the roster at that level, they weren't moving on to the next level.

The point is not whether they make/start on South Florida U15 teams, but whether kids are being left off ODP or national teams (and access to future pro opportunities) because kids with cheating parents take those slots.

When they get caught there are no consequences (as with the kid referenced in OP - the article says it was just a "mixup", no harm no foul). Its fraud and should be prosecuted as such. The fraud deprives other more deserving kids of opportunities they would otherwise have earned (ODP state teams, MNT slots, pro tryouts).

Same with many "connected daddy coach" kids. They get on high profile teams, get high profile tryouts, coveted slots, no better than other talented but non-connected kids. The parents do it, reap the rewards, unfairly, and then they and everyone else looks back and say obviously it would have happened anyway.

Of course, life is unfair. But life is what we make of it. If we tolerate cheating, cheating we will get. My 00 played U14DA last year and went up against a handful of high profile 00s that everyone knew was probably a 99 based on the fact they were a foot or two higher than everyone else, wider chest/shoulders, more mature facial features (less neotenous, or youthful) , two steps faster, all most likely born outside the US ... it was so obvious it was ridiculous. We evaluated his performance against them with this in mind (e.g. he was most likely playing up in those matchups, they were playing down). And I give him credit because he knows without us telling him that karma is a bitch.

[Unregistered]

Lara is a similar story. He was part of the Residency Program for some time, but he fell out of favor and Mexico welcomed the left back with open arms. Lara was a star of the 1999 age group for the U.S., but multiple sources have told TopDrawerSoccer that there has been some mix-up with his birth certificate and he was born in 1998. The semantics of it hardly matter, as he is age-eligible for this U17 World Cup whether he was born in 1999 or 1998. He looks to be in line for starting minutes with Mexico and a budding star with Pachuca.

As I know Edwin Lara personally I can say that his birthdate is confirmed to be 9/8/1999. He was not part of the residency program, only brought in for the Nike friendlies in 2013. Edwin chose Mexico over the US for many reasons.

[Unregistered]

As I know Edwin Lara personally I can say that his birthdate is confirmed to be 9/8/1999. He was not part of the residency program, only brought in for the Nike friendlies in 2013. Edwin chose Mexico over the US for many reasons.

Of course he is a 99 mr Weston da dad of a 00 kid really a 99 wink wink

[Unregistered]

Of course he is a 99 mr Weston da dad of a 00 kid really a 99 wink wink

Its like politics - if you say it enough times it becomes true ...

[Unregistered]

Its funny how this kind of BC cheating is only a problem in youth soccer.

In youth football nobody gives a rats arse what your birthyear is. There are guidelines, for safety's sake, and more advanced/mature kids play at higher levels like soccer, but there is no advantage to cheating and playing down because there is no stupid National team of specially chosen princes. Its a dogfight to develop until High School, and then the scholarships go out to the winners. In soccer, its a dogfight to get into the National pool at the age of 11-13.

I think among the DAs, Weston has the worst BC problem, but I also think OCYS has one and wouldnt be surprised if Kendall had one as well. Basically Orlando and Miami is the cesspool for this type of cheating. Thats because it is perpetrated by immigrant parents who were former low level players themselves. They are "simulating" just like they used to do on the field, and there is big money in the scam if their kid can get a pro contract through MNT exposure.

An easy way to fix this problem is to require kids born in a country to play for that country or no country at all. It should be where you are born, not where you move to.

[Unregistered]

Fake BCs very common

Its funny how this kind of BC cheating is only a problem in youth soccer.

In youth football nobody gives a rats arse what your birthyear is. There are guidelines, for safety's sake, and more advanced/mature kids play at higher levels like soccer, but there is no advantage to cheating and playing down because there is no stupid National team of specially chosen princes. Its a dogfight to develop until High School, and then the scholarships go out to the winners. In soccer, its a dogfight to get into the National pool at the age of 11-13.

I think among the DAs, Weston has the worst BC problem, but I also think OCYS has one and wouldnt be surprised if Kendall had one as well. Basically Orlando and Miami is the cesspool for this type of cheating. Thats because it is perpetrated by immigrant parents who were former low level players themselves. They are "simulating" just like they used to do on the field, and there is big money in the scam if their kid can get a pro contract through MNT exposure.

An easy way to fix this problem is to require kids born in a country to play for that country or no country at all. It should be where you are born, not where you move to.

I agree but then we better accept the US continuing being a substandard soccer nation.