ECNL wants to switch back to school year from birth year

[Guest]

Do you think something like the way lacrosse does it would work?

I saw this in another thread and seems interesting enough to consider exploring…

They allow organizations to either use the 12-month window most aligned with school classes, or use a 15-month window to flex summer birthdays to stay with their school class:
https://www.usalacrosse.c...guidelines

100% yes. Given that lacrosse is growing much faster than soccer, it should be considered. I also saw that Little League changed out of school year alignment years ago, saw participation drop, changed back to school year alignment, and participation grew. The people in charge might want to look at that as well.

[Guest]

Do they really though? Stars Blue has 5 trap kids on a roster of 22. Just under 25% for last quarter birthdays. That’s even distribution rather than a Q1 heavy roster that you seem to think is the norm.

Every study I've read for youth soccer talent ID and ECNL numbers shows most Q1, generally around 2-3x the number of Q4 kids in U13-U18 range. So the average experience is probably more in line with that. That said, I suspect some clubs are doing a better job than others at giving younger kids the benefit of the doubt on the borders of teams. So their numbers may be much different. My daughter is at an ECNL club, just went to U13. First team has mostly older girls. Second team is fully *half* Q4. Either they know something might be coming down the pipe, or they just really made an effort to hang out to the young kids to plan for some late-bloomers to come up. They ride those girls as hard or harder than the top girls, so it doesn't feel like they've given up on them because they are B team material. I did not see a similar phenomenon at her prior club.

[Guest]

Do they really though? Stars Blue has 5 trap kids on a roster of 22. Just under 25% for last quarter birthdays. That’s even distribution rather than a Q1 heavy roster that you seem to think is the norm.

What are they doing for those 5 this fall? Are they playing with the 11s?

[Guest]

Do they really though? Stars Blue has 5 trap kids on a roster of 22. Just under 25% for last quarter birthdays. That’s even distribution rather than a Q1 heavy roster that you seem to think is the norm.

5/22 is 22.7% when it should be 33% given even distribution. This is true across all levels and all ages in soccer. There’s a shortage of Q4 players due to BY driving kids to other sports to play with classmates/friends.

[Guest]

5/22 is 22.7% when it should be 33% given even distribution. This is true across all levels and all ages in soccer. There’s a shortage of Q4 players due to BY driving kids to other sports to play with classmates/friends.

Fake news. Most teams have an even distribution especially as they get older. Once again, if your kid can’t play up a year you shouldn’t worry about any of this. What are you going to do in high school or college? Every elite team anywhere play up a year all the time. This is a silly conversation

[Guest]

Fake news. Most teams have an even distribution especially as they get older. Once again, if your kid can’t play up a year you shouldn’t worry about any of this. What are you going to do in high school or college? Every elite team anywhere play up a year all the time. This is a silly conversation

Yep, all these parents, coaches league administrators, and researchers with their BS fabricated statistics... RAE doesn't exist, and even if it does it disappears quickly. Every college player was already dominating older kids by 8 years old. It's just a mass hallucination by loser parents searching for excuses. Be better, people.

[Guest]

Yep, all these parents, coaches league administrators, and researchers with their BS fabricated statistics... RAE doesn't exist, and even if it does it disappears quickly. Every college player was already dominating older kids by 8 years old. It's just a mass hallucination by loser parents searching for excuses. Be better, people.

Glad you get it.

[Guest]

Fake news. Most teams have an even distribution especially as they get older. Once again, if your kid can’t play up a year you shouldn’t worry about any of this. What are you going to do in high school or college? Every elite team anywhere play up a year all the time. This is a silly conversation

There are literally no teams structured this way. Stop lying. There have been at least 30 soccer specific studies in every country of the world about Relative Age Affect and how it re-shapes participation in competitive teams, academies, etc. You are the only one making this silly.

[Guest]

There are literally no teams structured this way. Stop lying. There have been at least 30 soccer specific studies in every country of the world about Relative Age Affect and how it re-shapes participation in competitive teams, academies, etc. You are the only one making this silly.

Like i said id a few months are going to be a barrier to getting on the top team at your club then you shouldn’t worry. None of this matters to you. If your kid can’t play soccer with kids they don’t know none of this matters to you. If you can’t play vs kids 2-3 years older in 8th grade you have no shot to play varsity as a freshman or in college. Ulittle parents whining about something that doesn’t matter.

[Guest]

Like i said id a few months are going to be a barrier to getting on the top team at your club then you shouldn’t worry. None of this matters to you. If your kid can’t play soccer with kids they don’t know none of this matters to you. If you can’t play vs kids 2-3 years older in 8th grade you have no shot to play varsity as a freshman or in college. Ulittle parents whining about something that doesn’t matter.

Q4 kids drop out at the starting gate. They don’t think about college ball in grade 3/4. They just want to play with friends.

[Guest]

Q4 kids drop out at the starting gate. They don’t think about college ball in grade 3/4. They just want to play with friends.

That is what town soccer is for. And it's grade based. And it blows.

[Guest]

Do they really though? Stars Blue has 5 trap kids on a roster of 22. Just under 25% for last quarter birthdays. That’s even distribution rather than a Q1 heavy roster that you seem to think is the norm.

Can only have 18 on a ECNL roster. That are legit players. Practice players don’t count. And if it’s 5 that’s pretty good if they are all in Q4 Oct-Dec. But if that’s 5 between Q3 and Q4 then that’s still an issue. But most clubs according to the ECNL president have 3 (on average) for all Q3 and Q4 which is too low.

[Guest]

I don’t see what the problem is with SY? Why would you argue against it? If you take younger 2010s merge with older 2011s it makes the team stronger and the competition better. My kid has Feb birthday excited to have some older kids come “down” and help build up the team.

[Guest]

Can only have 18 on a ECNL roster. That are legit players. Practice players don’t count. And if it’s 5 that’s pretty good if they are all in Q4 Oct-Dec. But if that’s 5 between Q3 and Q4 then that’s still an issue. But most clubs according to the ECNL president have 3 (on average) for all Q3 and Q4 which is too low.

ECNL can have 30 on a roster. 18 is a game day roster. Doesn’t have to be the same 18 every game.

[Guest]

I’d say it’s the parents who appreciate their players current team, and look at the older age wondering what crap is gonna be forced on them.

Like... Yeah Please send down a handful of cliquey older girls who will tear apart team chemistry that had been built over years. Thanks...

The Q4 girls are not the cliquey girls. That's actually one of the biggest problems with BY. Kids in the same grade are much more likely to have team chemistry.