ECNL moving to school year part 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

I think for next year, for MLSNext teams, certain Q4 players will be asked if they want to play in their SY group. Or perhaps told. Otherwise any other Q4 players who are starters or top players will just play up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

US soccer could give us the numbers for participation and we could then see, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

Nobody credible talking about anything particular with August births and their specific switch to SY now that 8/1 is the date

The rule to not allow Aug birthdays to play down in SY will just happen. It's not in league, club, player, or recruiter best interest to allow it. No need to open up for debate

Doesn't even rise to the I heard it from Trish rubbish then

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

US soccer could give us the numbers for participation and we could then see, I guess.

Doesn't really work. The number of babies has been going down yoy since 2010. There may or may not be less or more registrations. But its a fact that theres less kids in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

Doth protest a bit too much, me thinks. In BY, mixed-grade play is the norm. At least Aug b-days have POSSIBLE options to play with their grade, if they go up, but there's no mandate, nor should be. It just might not be the league desired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

No, the PP exactly got it. You went down your own rabbit hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

US soccer could give us the numbers for participation and we could then see, I guess.

Doesn't really work. The number of babies has been going down yoy since 2010. There may or may not be less or more registrations. But its a fact that theres less kids in general.

Well, you can caluate it on % of youth population, too, and judge whether there's been improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

Doth protest a bit too much, me thinks. In BY, mixed-grade play is the norm. At least Aug b-days have POSSIBLE options to play with their grade, if they go up, but there's no mandate, nor should be. It just might not be the league desired.

If you're going to go though all the effort of switching from BY to SY might as well address all the issues so they dont continuing being problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

US soccer could give us the numbers for participation and we could then see, I guess.

Doesn't really work. The number of babies has been going down yoy since 2010. There may or may not be less or more registrations. But its a fact that theres less kids in general.

Well, you can caluate it on % of youth population, too, and judge whether there's been improvement.

Theres probabaly many ways to calculate it that might show some kind of value. I have two playing an older and a younger. To me it feels like more kids are playing today then there was 10 years ago. I highly doubt this is because of BY or SY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im glad thr 9/1+30 guy is forcing the 8/1 guy to see (kicking and screaming) that change can be good. 8/1 guy is just being a stubborn troll.

I agree with 9/1+30 that if leagues stay with 8/1 that they're going to implement a rule not allowing Aug birthdays to play fown. The reason for this is because there's no advantage in allowing playing down. In fact it actually causes problems as players get older with recruiters.

The 8/1 troll monitors this thread. He's probably sleeping. In a couple of hours he'll be back pushing the same nonsense.

I don't understand what he gets from allowing Aug birthdays to play down. Maybe his kid is an Aug birthday and he views it as a way to make them a superstar.

There is no 8/1 guy or 9/1 guy. Not for or against anything. Leagues made the rules for a reason. You not liking hearing what leagues are doing isn't relevant.

Leagues said they changed from BY to SY because they thought allowing more players to play with kids in their grade would translate into more players. Ironically this is the same arguement they said back in 2017 when switching from SY to BY.

That's not what happened at all. This was the reason for the 2017 change from SY to BY:

The rationale behind U.S. Soccer’s switch from school to birth year in 2017 was to align with international standards. This was supposed to strengthen our US national and youth national teams so we had more success in international play and set up more players to go pro.

https://goodgamekid.substack.com/p/us-soccers-missed-goal-the-case-for

You must have written the article that was cited. Just another super SY person that doesnt understand soccer from an international perspective.

I was around in 2017 and yes the people pushing for BY said it would translate to more players. It's the same thing the SY people are claiming today. (Neither group can prove their statements)

Increased participation was not a reason they switched to By as part of the PDI, https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/08/five-things-to-know-about-birth-year-registration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

Doth protest a bit too much, me thinks. In BY, mixed-grade play is the norm. At least Aug b-days have POSSIBLE options to play with their grade, if they go up, but there's no mandate, nor should be. It just might not be the league desired.

If you're going to go though all the effort of switching from BY to SY might as well address all the issues so they dont continuing being problems.

Protesting even more isn't helping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the feeling a parent and their kid would have by having their August kid play down a grade level to bump a kid who has been playing on that team for years just because you want your kid to get more playing time while disrupting a team and players on grade level. Dealing with all the people talking about you and your kid should be reason alone to stay on your SY team. Pretty embarrassing just to think about it.

Exactly, nobody wants Aug birthdays playing down other than the one crazy parent. Theres just no upside. This is why SY leagues will make a rule not allowing it. Which will make 8/1 the same thing as 9/1+30.

I think after all this time, I finally get it. ... Next year, the largest Aug birthdays will become the oldest kids on the team, no matter what grade they are in. That's how it will go, because of the desire for a hard 12-month window. If they want to stay with their grade -- and it's a higher grade -- they need to have the ability to play up on THAT team, no matter the level (ECNL, GA, MLSN, NAL, USYS, rec, etc). This will cause misalignment issues BUT that's where the GY for showcases kicks in. Not perfect but where we are headed.

You kind of get it.

Next year ECNL will switch to an 8/1 cutoff from a 1/1 cutoff. Some schools districts start in Sept and some start in Aug. What this means is 8/1-9/1 birthdays might be either grade. This opens the door for a player who is in 8th grade in school to be the youngest on a team with 8th grade players. Or to be in 8th grade but playing on a 7th grade team as one of the oldest players.

When players are young playing down doesnt really matter. Other than screwing over the 7th grade players for minutes. However when the get older playing down will screw players when it comes to recruitment by colleges.

Doth protest a bit too much, me thinks. In BY, mixed-grade play is the norm. At least Aug b-days have POSSIBLE options to play with their grade, if they go up, but there's no mandate, nor should be. It just might not be the league desired.

If you're going to go though all the effort of switching from BY to SY might as well address all the issues so they dont continuing being problems.

But you can't and you shouldn't box people into a corner by mandating rules other than a strong 12-month window, where you CAN play up (but no guarantees, tho).