ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to think the biggest RAE advantage was for u9 and under and now I see the most pronounced differences at u13-15. There is no way that kids "catch up" by u18.

Kids born earlier in the cycle enjoy a huge advante for the entirety of the process.

Testosterone in boys is a game changer and the players with the most first are bigger faster more agressive that the ones without. They also get more fast twitch muscle sooner.

This is why -- even if it's not stated -- the switch from BY to SY really is a phased in change. Yeah, there'll be a few SeptQ4s that make the most of it, but the biggest impact will be seen/felt at the youngest age groups going forward. Anyone playing 11v11 now, the cake is largely already baked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there even that many Sept-Dec Bdays left in the U13 and above? I imagine the ones that have stuck with it may be very gifted but there probably isn’t that many left

Just to give an example at our club for our large club the age group i know.
0 on ecnl
2 on rl
8 on 3rd team.

Maybe true. But weird that you’d know the birth month of some 60+ kids.

Also at an ECNL club and we can see birthdays in our team management app. We have almost the same split in our age group among 3 teams at U13. 0 NL, 3 RL, half the third team. Also, lots of opponents have their graduation year posted on their roster on the ECNL website, so you can often guess how many Fall birthdays they have. Spoiler, it is not very many on NL teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there even that many Sept-Dec Bdays left in the U13 and above? I imagine the ones that have stuck with it may be very gifted but there probably isn’t that many left

Just to give an example at our club for our large club the age group i know.
0 on ecnl
2 on rl
8 on 3rd team.

Maybe true. But weird that you’d know the birth month of some 60+ kids.

Also at an ECNL club and we can see birthdays in our team management app. We have almost the same split in our age group among 3 teams at U13. 0 NL, 3 RL, half the third team. Also, lots of opponents have their graduation year posted on their roster on the ECNL website, so you can often guess how many Fall birthdays they have. Spoiler, it is not very many on NL teams.

Also on an ECNL team; quick check of TeamSnap shows only 4 kids born in the fourth quarter. fully 2/3 are born in Jan/Feb/Mar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over half of our RL team are July and after.
U15. 1/3 4Q.
None of NL team are 4Q.
That’s all the proof I need for RAE. The delta starts at very young ages.

Very similar here, our club at U13 (2012 boys):

ECNL National -> Academy1 (17 players) = 10Q1 + 6Q2 + 1Q3 + 0Q4

ECNL Regional -> Academy 2 (17 players) = 2Q1 + 3Q2 + 5Q3 + 7Q4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to think the biggest RAE advantage was for u9 and under and now I see the most pronounced differences at u13-15. There is no way that kids "catch up" by u18.

Kids born earlier in the cycle enjoy a huge advante for the entirety of the process.

Testosterone in boys is a game changer and the players with the most first are bigger faster more agressive that the ones without. They also get more fast twitch muscle sooner.

This is why -- even if it's not stated -- the switch from BY to SY really is a phased in change. Yeah, there'll be a few SeptQ4s that make the most of it, but the biggest impact will be seen/felt at the youngest age groups going forward. Anyone playing 11v11 now, the cake is largely already baked.

We'll see. For sure at the upper end of the age groups (u17/18/19) there will likely be minor changes, with a few Q4s reaping benefits. But the last time the age groups shifted (2016?) there was a massive shake up at almost every competitive club I knew (including the large club I worked for). There was a lot of pretending nothing much would change until we did tryouts and actually got to see the new groupings in person and not on paper. Even average Q4s U12-u15 will see benefits in recruiting and league opportunities.

[Anonymous]

This is what I wish coaches cared about. No wins or losses until U13 would allow every player to develop. Not just the big ones. Same coaches for each birth year would prevent top coaching for top teams. Etc
My U15 late bday and small girl simply had no chance because of the bias at age 7 and up.

[Anonymous]

How will parents react when clubs have to be ECNL boys and girls or MLSN/ GA? Id be pretty pissed off if club chose boys MLSN over girls staying in ECNL.

[Anonymous]

Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

Only US Club Soccer and US Youth Soccer made a change - not the United States as a whole. Here is why they did it:

“The three organizations coming together to put our nation’s youth soccer players first is a positive move. Soccer, regardless of the level of competition, is meant to be fun – and it is more fun when players can play with their friends and classmates. This decision is the right move for the millions playing in each of our respective systems and we are thrilled to establish this standard and find common ground.”

https://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/2025/03/05/us-youth-soccer-us-club-soccer-and-ayso-returning-to-seasonal-year-age-group-formation-in-2026/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

If you really want to go down that rabbit hole again. Most other countries define their SY by BY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

If you really want to go down that rabbit hole again. Most other countries define their SY by BY.

Sure…provide evidence…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

If you really want to go down that rabbit hole again. Most other countries define their SY by BY.

False claim. “Most other countries” do use calendar year / BY regardless of school year/grade. A simple google search would tell you that. They actually specify which countries use SY and it’s a small minority.

But our country insists on using inches, pounds, Fahrenheit, 110 volt, and “soccer”. So it seems consistent to be different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over half of our RL team are July and after.
U15. 1/3 4Q.
None of NL team are 4Q.
That’s all the proof I need for RAE. The delta starts at very young ages.

Very similar here, our club at U13 (2012 boys):

ECNL National -> Academy1 (17 players) = 10Q1 + 6Q2 + 1Q3 + 0Q4

ECNL Regional -> Academy 2 (17 players) = 2Q1 + 3Q2 + 5Q3 + 7Q4

Similar here also
ECNL - 2 Q4
ECNL-RL - 8 Q4

Is there a pattern forming here??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

Only US Club Soccer and US Youth Soccer made a change - not the United States as a whole. Here is why they did it:

“The three organizations coming together to put our nation’s youth soccer players first is a positive move. Soccer, regardless of the level of competition, is meant to be fun – and it is more fun when players can play with their friends and classmates. This decision is the right move for the millions playing in each of our respective systems and we are thrilled to establish this standard and find common ground.”

https://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/2025/03/05/us-youth-soccer-us-club-soccer-and-ayso-returning-to-seasonal-year-age-group-formation-in-2026/

This quote from the press release announcement is so nauseating. Stating the benefits to the kids by moving to SY but then denying those very benefits to thousands of kids who have August birthdays and are forbidden from playing with any classmates/friends in their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't feel like reading through the 870+ pages to see if this was previously asked. Most other countries use BY. FIFA has U-15 tournaments, U-17 and U-20 world cups. They all align with BY. Why are we (the US) trying to be different (again)?

Only US Club Soccer and US Youth Soccer made a change - not the United States as a whole. Here is why they did it:

“The three organizations coming together to put our nation’s youth soccer players first is a positive move. Soccer, regardless of the level of competition, is meant to be fun – and it is more fun when players can play with their friends and classmates. This decision is the right move for the millions playing in each of our respective systems and we are thrilled to establish this standard and find common ground.”

https://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/2025/03/05/us-youth-soccer-us-club-soccer-and-ayso-returning-to-seasonal-year-age-group-formation-in-2026/

This quote from the press release announcement is so nauseating. Stating the benefits to the kids by moving to SY but then denying those very benefits to thousands of kids who have August birthdays and are forbidden from playing with any classmates/friends in their grade.

Lobby your state association. You may win.