Age group changes?

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Has anyone heard that age groups are going back to school or grade based versus birth year?

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Lots of rumors, nothing announced, not even if they're just considering it. Youth soccer participation is dropping fast. Need to stem the bleed. Cost and travel are also stumbling blocks but the age change was poorly thought out, if at all. Younger kids want to play with friends/classmates.

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Sport participation in general are decreasing across the US, not just soccer. I do not think age group has anything to do with it, but cost may. I bet video games are also at fault.

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Sport participation in general are decreasing across the US, not just soccer. I do not think age group has anything to do with it, but cost may. I bet video games are also at fault.

Yep, now that they have scholarships to play on college gaming teams, parents are letting their kids drop outside sports. Kids can participate in practice and some tournaments all from their basement, no travel involved!

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Sport participation in general are decreasing across the US, not just soccer. I do not think age group has anything to do with it, but cost may. I bet video games are also at fault.

I think the age change is a factor, along with cost and travel. The degree of each of those can be debated, but participation is dropping and it is a concern. You can fix the age thing. Cost and travel is a harder nut to crack without a radical restructuring of the entire pyramid/landscape. Good luck trying to make that happen.

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Yep, now that they have scholarships to play on college gaming teams, parents are letting their kids drop outside sports. Kids can participate in practice and some tournaments all from their basement, no travel involved!

You may laugh but there are a bunch of college team gaming competitions with big rewards. Friend's kid was on a top team, got to travel all over, won some cool stuff, and landed a great job well before graduation that pays nearly double what my kid's lowly business degree pays.

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Sport participation in general are decreasing across the US, not just soccer. I do not think age group has anything to do with it, but cost may. I bet video games are also at fault.

Demographics kicking in. Births dropped dramatically in the recession from 2008. We’re now at the point 12 years later where those kids should be participating in sports, including soccer. It only gets worse from here... all sorts of industries from college (smaller colleges folding due to lower enrollment) to housing will be impacted over the next few decades. Club soccer is just starting to feel the effects.

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You may laugh but there are a bunch of college team gaming competitions with big rewards. Friend's kid was on a top team, got to travel all over, won some cool stuff, and landed a great job well before graduation that pays nearly double what my kid's lowly business degree pays.

I was not laughing. A lot of parents are probably tired of trying to push their kids off of video games to play outside and dragging them to sports practices. Now that gaming has become lucrative, not only for college scholarships, but as you mentioned, attractive to employers beyond college, parents will be more likely to just let their kids sit in front of the game console all day. It's more convenient and less costly for families, so I see further drops in youth sports participation in the coming years, including soccer.

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I was not laughing. A lot of parents are probably tired of trying to push their kids off of video games to play outside and dragging them to sports practices. Now that gaming has become lucrative, not only for college scholarships, but as you mentioned, attractive to employers beyond college, parents will be more likely to just let their kids sit in front of the game console all day. It's more convenient and less costly for families, so I see further drops in youth sports participation in the coming years, including soccer.

Biggest drops in soccer and overall sports participation is in lower and middle income families. If it weren't for the more affluent families going up the numbers would be worse. Good for the clubs - they can charge those families more - but bad for sports and kids overall. Youth sports is its own megabusiness that fewer families can afford any longer. .

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Biggest drops in soccer and overall sports participation is in lower and middle income families. If it weren't for the more affluent families going up the numbers would be worse. Good for the clubs - they can charge those families more - but bad for sports and kids overall. Youth sports is its own megabusiness that fewer families can afford any longer. .

The age group changes did impact my small town travel league. Teams were split up and kids couldn’t play down with the kids they had played with for years yet there weren’t enough to form an older age group team. It’s starting to readjust now but going back to school calendar year will only help. The teams will become larger and kids can still play up if they want.

But you are also correct in that club teams are now everywhere. Stars NH for example has some very low level/skill teams that would have been town travel teams in years past. Now instead of paying $300 for the entire year the parents are paying $2000. Big difference. ECNL/DA level is $15000 for the year with travel expenses.

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The age group changes did impact my small town travel league. Teams were split up and kids couldn’t play down with the kids they had played with for years yet there weren’t enough to form an older age group team. It’s starting to readjust now but going back to school calendar year will only help. The teams will become larger and kids can still play up if they want.

But you are also correct in that club teams are now everywhere. Stars NH for example has some very low level/skill teams that would have been town travel teams in years past. Now instead of paying $300 for the entire year the parents are paying $2000. Big difference. ECNL/DA level is $15000 for the year with travel expenses.

First, if ECNL (can't speak to DA) is costing you $15K per year, you're doing it wrong...Maybe if you are going to National finals and taking the entire family on every single trip, which definitely isn't required.

Second, ECNL going to grad year is likely a very real possibility and would be a very smart move for them. The league promotes itself as a path to playing in college and grad year makes the most sense for recruiting. Easier for college coaches at a showcase to watch players that are all in the same recruiting class on one field. Not to mention that it solves the problem of "trapped players" in 8th grade and senior year of HS. If ECNL makes this move, it will put some pressure on US Soccer and GDA.

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First, if ECNL (can't speak to DA) is costing you $15K per year, you're doing it wrong...Maybe if you are going to National finals and taking the entire family on every single trip, which definitely isn't required.

Second, ECNL going to grad year is likely a very real possibility and would be a very smart move for them. The league promotes itself as a path to playing in college and grad year makes the most sense for recruiting. Easier for college coaches at a showcase to watch players that are all in the same recruiting class on one field. Not to mention that it solves the problem of "trapped players" in 8th grade and senior year of HS. If ECNL makes this move, it will put some pressure on US Soccer and GDA.

It’s so obviously a huge benefit to ecnl that I can’t believe ecnl hasn’t made the official change to graduation year yet. The longer they wait, the more market share they lose to GDA and just plain girls dropping out of elite travel soccer.

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It’s so obviously a huge benefit to ecnl that I can’t believe ecnl hasn’t made the official change to graduation year yet. The longer they wait, the more market share they lose to GDA and just plain girls dropping out of elite travel soccer.

ECNL voting on it this week. ECNL is holding its own for now and is stronger in some areas than others. The only clubs DA is getting are former NPL clubs with NPL players, many of whom shouldn't be in Da to begin with.

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ECNL voting on it this week. ECNL is holding its own for now and is stronger in some areas than others. The only clubs DA is getting are former NPL clubs with NPL players, many of whom shouldn't be in Da to begin with.

Aaaaaannnndddd, there it is!