Changes to age groups

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Exactly. Playing up is always an option. Playing down (when you have no team in the fall of 8th grade) is not.

Unless you are DA

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It will always have some people upset no matter which way it is done.

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Very few kids in CT are trapped because of the late cutoff here. Most other states have a school cutoff close to September 1st. That means 1/3 of players having issues in other states. You also didn't like the old way because it impacted YOUR kid. Too bad. There will always be someone who is the youngest. Going back to the old system means far fewer players face trapped issues.

My point is, I don't buy into the whole "trapped" nonsense. Most middle schools have soccer teams and for those who don't, JV is usually an option. And almost every league is "U19" to avoid the supposed "trapped" senior. The whole thing is a weak argument and 8/1 is a crap National cutoff when it's not consistent across different states.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;2641473]My point is, I don't buy into the whole "trapped" nonsense. Most middle schools have soccer teams and for those who don't, JV is usually an option. And almost every league is "U19" to avoid the supposed "trapped" senior. The whole thing is a weak argument and 8/1 is a crap National cutoff when it's not consistent across different states.[/QUOTE

First of all, they are trapped in 8th grade and without a team in 12th grade. Yes they can try out for another team in 12th grade, but the rest of their team has graduated. My D was a trapped 8th grader and her school had no middle school team. In CT you are not allowed to play high school sports until you are in 9th grade, so "JV" is not an option. You're the one with the weak argument.

[Unregistered]

My point is, I don't buy into the whole "trapped" nonsense. Most middle schools have soccer teams and for those who don't, JV is usually an option. And almost every league is "U19" to avoid the supposed "trapped" senior. The whole thing is a weak argument and 8/1 is a crap National cutoff when it's not consistent across different states.

You are very disconnected with the reality of the soccer landscape! Most middle schools do not have soccer teams. There are no u19 teams. There are u18/19 teams. Although we are not yet there, I look forward to the day when my kid who has endured the trapped 8th grade crap, gets to take the place of one of those u18s because she endured all this crap and played up for years with the next grade level.

[Unregistered]

You are very disconnected with the reality of the soccer landscape! Most middle schools do not have soccer teams. There are no u19 teams. There are u18/19 teams. Although we are not yet there, I look forward to the day when my kid who has endured the trapped 8th grade crap, gets to take the place of one of those u18s because she endured all this crap and played up for years with the next grade level.

Question-how was your kid a trapped 8th grader when CT schools are birth year based? The cutoff is 12/31, no? Me thinks your full of BS...

[Unregistered]

You are very disconnected with the reality of the soccer landscape! Most middle schools do not have soccer teams. There are no u19 teams. There are u18/19 teams. Although we are not yet there, I look forward to the day when my kid who has endured the trapped 8th grade crap, gets to take the place of one of those u18s because she endured all this crap and played up for years with the next grade level.

From another state and that’s what happened on our team. 11 ‘01 seniors had to be added to 19 ‘02 players (seniors and juniors) to form one u18/u19 team. They made a new u18/19 B team and demoted half the players.

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Question-how was your kid a trapped 8th grader when CT schools are birth year based? The cutoff is 12/31, no? Me thinks your full of BS...

You really need to get out more. People do move as on our case. However, not all kids that play on CT teams, live in CT.

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You really need to get out more. People do move as on our case. However, not all kids that play on CT teams, live in CT.

Additionally, not all parents send their kid to kindergarten at age 4 just because Cat says you can.

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Additionally, not all parents send their kid to kindergarten at age 4 just because Cat says you can.

So you redshirt your kid in life and then get pissed when the rules of extra-curricular activities don't fit your parenting model? Really? Basically you held your kid back a year in school and are now mad that they can't play with kids in their grade because they're older than all the kids in their grade. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

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So you redshirt your kid in life and then get pissed when the rules of extra-curricular activities don't fit your parenting model? Really? Basically you held your kid back a year in school and are now mad that they can't play with kids in their grade because they're older than all the kids in their grade. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

^^^^ Winner winner, chicken dinner ..... We need grad year to allow our little Landon and Mia to be studs playing against kids more than a year younger. Help us beat the system please.

[Unregistered]

So you redshirt your kid in life and then get pissed when the rules of extra-curricular activities don't fit your parenting model? Really? Basically you held your kid back a year in school and are now mad that they can't play with kids in their grade because they're older than all the kids in their grade. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

Not the poster but many people do wait for Kindergarten an extra year, more because they feel the child isn't ready. Now that may or may not be a legit reason for some kids, but Kindergarten is a lot more intense than we all went. If I were unsure about my kid's readiness I'd rather hold them back then vs having to maybe hold them back after first grade. Anyway, worst case call that redshirting for academic reasons. It's silly since by 3rd grade most kids are on an equal academic footing but ok. Now, red shirting for sports is absolute insanity, yet I know people who have done it. At first they might mention school, but then they talk about how well it will work out with sports being one of the older kids. That's failed parenting.

Also, in most states you do have to be 5 when you start Kindergarten. CT has such a late date. I wonder how many kids get redshirted in other states where the decision is more straightforward?

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Not the poster but many people do wait for Kindergarten an extra year, more because they feel the child isn't ready. Now that may or may not be a legit reason for some kids, but Kindergarten is a lot more intense than we all went. If I were unsure about my kid's readiness I'd rather hold them back then vs having to maybe hold them back after first grade. Anyway, worst case call that redshirting for academic reasons. It's silly since by 3rd grade most kids are on an equal academic footing but ok. Now, red shirting for sports is absolute insanity, yet I know people who have done it. At first they might mention school, but then they talk about how well it will work out with sports being one of the older kids. That's failed parenting.

Also, in most states you do have to be 5 when you start Kindergarten. CT has such a late date. I wonder how many kids get redshirted in other states where the decision is more straightforward?

I live in MA. My daughter is an October birthday and kids have to be 5 by 8/31 in order to start Kindergarten. I don't know of a single kid in her grade that was "redshirted" going into kindergarten. I know of one in the grade below her that was held back after kindergarten.

This is not as common as people make it out to be. Happens more often if kids go from public school to prep school--you will see kids repeat 8th grade or freshman/soph year (depending on when they make that move).

Bottom line, grad year would make the most sense for age groups as it gives every player a team to play on every year without the frustration of cobbling together "fall only" U15 teams for 1/3 of the kids. Clearly it's not as big of an issue in CT, but almost every other state has this problem.

[Unregistered]

Not the poster but many people do wait for Kindergarten an extra year, more because they feel the child isn't ready. Now that may or may not be a legit reason for some kids, but Kindergarten is a lot more intense than we all went. If I were unsure about my kid's readiness I'd rather hold them back then vs having to maybe hold them back after first grade. Anyway, worst case call that redshirting for academic reasons. It's silly since by 3rd grade most kids are on an equal academic footing but ok. Now, red shirting for sports is absolute insanity, yet I know people who have done it. At first they might mention school, but then they talk about how well it will work out with sports being one of the older kids. That's failed parenting.

Also, in most states you do have to be 5 when you start Kindergarten. CT has such a late date. I wonder how many kids get redshirted in other states where the decision is more straightforward?

I know parents in CT that sent their kid to kindergarten at age 4 and when they realized a couple years later they made a mistake, the school will not let them repeat a grade if the child is considered "on par" with the rest of the kids in the grade. This is one of the reasons kids end up in private school Most parents of 2 income households want to send their kid to kindergarten as early as possible to save them $$. I wouldn't call holding back a December kid from starting kindergarten until he/she is 5 years old "red shirting." I'd call it sensible.

[Unregistered]

I know parents in CT that sent their kid to kindergarten at age 4 and when they realized a couple years later they made a mistake, the school will not let them repeat a grade if the child is considered "on par" with the rest of the kids in the grade. This is one of the reasons kids end up in private school Most parents of 2 income households want to send their kid to kindergarten as early as possible to save them $$. I wouldn't call holding back a December kid from starting kindergarten until he/she is 5 years old "red shirting." I'd call it sensible.

But if your school cutoff is Sept 1 and you think your kid July baby isn't ready, it's the same thing. I think CT's is worse because 1) the later date makes it more confusing (maybe Suzy will catch up a big when in school full time? Maybe not?) and 2) there are some crazy azzed competitive parents here.

Some kids are totally ready for K, others just aren't. I agree I'd much rather them keep them in preschool longer than have to hold back later on.