US soccer age change

[Guest]

Again, now you are screwing kids born in May June and July, just because your kid was born in October , November or December. Also, the school argument doesn't hold the water since there is a ton of kids that are born in June and July that are trapped players (we have 4 of 6 on our team).
Is there any official statement from any youth soccer organization or league that they area considering change or is just two guys talking on soccer podcast? And what is MLS and NWSL stand on the issue?

How would June and July kids be trapped players??? Because their parents held them back?? That’s on the parent then.

[Guest]

How would June and July kids be trapped players??? Because their parents held them back?? That’s on the parent then.

[Guest]

Again, now you are screwing kids born in May June and July, just because your kid was born in October , November or December. Also, the school argument doesn't hold the water since there is a ton of kids that are born in June and July that are trapped players (we have 4 of 6 on our team).
Is there any official statement from any youth soccer organization or league that they area considering change or is just two guys talking on soccer podcast? And what is MLS and NWSL stand on the issue?

You are not making much sense? A June or July child would not be trapped players..unless their parents held them back. Or they were left back. Many school cutoff is Oct 1 in NJ so October, Nov and Dec kids are basically forced to wait to start school. It’s not in their control. When a parent hold their kid back for their own reasons, well now that was in the parents control. Those kids that were held back would still have to play with the age they are supposed to play with. This ain’t basketball with re-classing .

[Guest]

The never playing with kids in her grade is my daughters issue.

This is a big deal at U12 with the difference between 5th & 6th graders (ES/MS here) and the puberty lottery.

[Guest]

How would June and July kids be trapped players??? Because their parents held them back?? That’s on the parent then.

There doesn't seem to be much sympathy floating around for the few kids who would continue to be trapped because they decided to redshirt.

[Guest]

This is a big deal at U12 with the difference between 5th & 6th graders (ES/MS here) and the puberty lottery.

U12-u14 is a big difference and that is where the new cutoff would help most!

[Guest]

Are the MLS academies and clubs in the leagues associates with MLS changing? If they don't, is that mean the teams playing in their leagues will not be able to play teams that are based on August 1st cutoff date? MLS Next and NAL teams are not playing ECNL and ECNL RL teams on tournaments and showcases?

[Guest]

Are the MLS academies and clubs in the leagues associates with MLS changing? If they don't, is that mean the teams playing in their leagues will not be able to play teams that are based on August 1st cutoff date? MLS Next and NAL teams are not playing ECNL and ECNL RL teams on tournaments and showcases?

MLSN doesn't allow high school play, so they don't care one whit about so-called "trapped players." They are much more interested in matching the rest of the world, so they can easily enter international tournaments, etc. Most of the rest of the world does calendar year.

[Guest]

Are the MLS academies and clubs in the leagues associates with MLS changing? If they don't, is that mean the teams playing in their leagues will not be able to play teams that are based on August 1st cutoff date? MLS Next and NAL teams are not playing ECNL and ECNL RL teams on tournaments and showcases?

if us soccer makes the change then everyone will follow it.

[Guest]

The move was done to align with the rest of the world not for the betterment of the multitude of rec players. Any change, as evident from the last one isn't short term. You will always have people that will complain either way and you will have that 1 age group (the youngest) that will be forever hurt the most. As I said, the 08s were the ones hit hardest during the last change as those Aug-Dec babies went from rec ball to facing players with 1+ years of exp in travel which is huge at that age. If you haven't noticed, the 08s have a very large cap still between the top and bottom on teams and an even wider gap between top level club teams vs even USYS level teams.

Everyone also loves bringing up trapped players...Those trapped players generally have been allowed to train with the club while the older ones play HS if the HS ages don't train during HS. I know several that have added them to the younger teams for fall tournaments and played up an age and ECNL and RL allow 2 trapped players to play during the fall season per game. They don't miss out on anything with their own team as their seasons don't start until after HS has finished and if anything get the bonus of being at showcases a year earlier then players in there grade. While you complain about trapped players, why isn't their more towards the clubs for not having teams or events, even small sided, for them? Why don't these clubs allow players to play on outside teams during the fall? Everyone just wants to whine about it but no one seems to want to do anything about it other then change it back. Plus, even if they did change back, you would still have trapped players. If it went back to Aug 1st cut off then every Aug-Oct baby would now be trapped instead of those Oct-Dec ones.

You can't do school year simple because every state has a different start period and even within that state you have different cut offs. On top of that, if you did it strictly on grad year, how do you handle players that reclassify once or even twice before HS? You would have all of the negative issues like basketball does with out any benefits. Imagine the current 2011s, in 8th grade now, facing against teams with reclassed players that could be a year or 2 older but in 8th grade. About the only thing BY has done is kept clubs/teams on a level playing field based on relative age. You know if your kid steps on the pitch the other team's kids have been training as long as yours and they are the same age. You can move up if able but there is no moving down while a school year classification would allow kids to play down. This was why bio-banding was being looked into but even that had drawbacks as it emphasized physical characteristics over actual skill.

There isn't any perfect solution, I was against the change the 1st time even though my kid benefited because her team stayed together and played up the year for a few years until her team folded and every upper level club decided that kids would play on teams in their own age group. I am against this change because I've seen 1st hand the problems major changes like this cause and the lasting effects.

the move was not done "to align with the rest of the world." first of all, who cares what the rest of the world does? second, England for example doesn't do it based on birth year - they run basically based on grade - Sept 1-Aug 31. third - lots of countries have different rules for this. Some let boys play on girls teams. Some play 7 or 8 a side until HS ages. Some even allow for a handful of players born before the calendar cut off.

the REASON it was done was more about trying to define small-sided standards, meaning rather than kids playing 8v8, then 11v11, they would play 4v4, 7v7, 9v9, then 11v11 at prescribed ages. in reality, they could have done that without changing cutoffs and some idiots at US Soccer probably thought "what's the big deal," not thinking through the impacts this would have.

At the time, USYS and USSF thought they were going to own youth soccer with the Development Academy, ODP, USYS National League (they were going to do an RL also) all of which have mostly faded into obscurity

[Guest]

the move was not done "to align with the rest of the world." first of all, who cares what the rest of the world does? second, England for example doesn't do it based on birth year - they run basically based on grade - Sept 1-Aug 31. third - lots of countries have different rules for this. Some let boys play on girls teams. Some play 7 or 8 a side until HS ages. Some even allow for a handful of players born before the calendar cut off.

the REASON it was done was more about trying to define small-sided standards, meaning rather than kids playing 8v8, then 11v11, they would play 4v4, 7v7, 9v9, then 11v11 at prescribed ages. in reality, they could have done that without changing cutoffs and some idiots at US Soccer probably thought "what's the big deal," not thinking through the impacts this would have.

At the time, USYS and USSF thought they were going to own youth soccer with the Development Academy, ODP, USYS National League (they were going to do an RL also) all of which have mostly faded into obscurity

Great post, thanks.

[Guest]

if us soccer makes the change then everyone will follow it.

MLS academies are not changing, i can guarantee you 100%.

[njguy0717]

Tryouts for Fall 2025 is right around the corner. If this was happening, everyone would know about it.

[Guest]

MLS academies are not changing, i can guarantee you 100%.

Why do you think MLS Next clubs care? Most run player pools anyway and it might be the easiest for them to change out of anyone

[Guest]

Tryouts for Fall 2025 is right around the corner. If this was happening, everyone would know about it.

Not sure what region you're from NJGuy but tryouts are in April-ish. Wouldn't call that right around the corner.