GA adding u11-12 for Fall 26, thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Well yeah, they are prioritizing money, but most parents buy in so until people speak with their wallet then nothing will change.

[Anonymous]

Local leagues and tournaments run by local clubs are better for players, parents and local clubs.

National leagues just makes everything more expensive and we have to travel farther for games. On top of that national leagues take all the money that used to go to local clubs when they ran local tournaments.

[Anonymous]

These are conflicting statements.

A Strategic Step in Player Development

The U11–U12 platform is designed to:
– Introduce players earlier to the Girls Academy environment
– Strengthen the transition into U13 Girls Academy competition
– Provide a development-first model with reduced travel and flexible scheduling
– Ensure alignment with GA standards in coaching, game-day environment, and player experience

Competitions will focus on regional play, flexible formats, and player development, with opportunities to participate in Girls Academy regional events alongside U13 and U14 age groups.

[Anonymous]

There are really no details about what this looks like in practice. How are parents/players supposed to decide in the next couple weeks?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are really no details about what this looks like in practice. How are parents/players supposed to decide in the next couple weeks?!

100%. And we are at LS so how is that going to work with NVA/LS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are really no details about what this looks like in practice. How are parents/players supposed to decide in the next couple weeks?!

100%. And we are at LS so how is that going to work with NVA/LS?

Both would probably be in. Obviously this is an after thought and will be messy for a few years. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are really no details about what this looks like in practice. How are parents/players supposed to decide in the next couple weeks?!

100%. And we are at LS so how is that going to work with NVA/LS?

Both would probably be in. Obviously this is an after thought and will be messy for a few years. Good luck.

And by both I mean first and second team. Pre ECNL does that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Absolutely trending wrong. More travel time earlier. Higher cost earlier. Early-developers locking down badge league spots earlier.

It's hard to see any actual development advantage for the kids from moving this race earlier, but we all know that's not the real goal. The development benefits from extreme talent aggregation aren't worth the costs until the kids are exiting puberty. And there's no showcase value this early.

My kid is older, so it doesn't affect her, but having watched the existing U13 transition, imo it's not a positive step for kids and parents to do it at U11.

[Anonymous]

The teams who jump right into this with no notice to families, explanations, plans tip their hand about what this is about.

The ones who dip a toe in with committing to a few of the tournaments while maintaining their original league plans for the benefit of their families who have zero info should be at a minimum encouraged to do so.

Unsure which category your team falls into? There’s your answer…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Absolutely trending wrong. More travel time earlier. Higher cost earlier. Early-developers locking down badge league spots earlier.

It's hard to see any actual development advantage for the kids from moving this race earlier, but we all know that's not the real goal. The development benefits from extreme talent aggregation aren't worth the costs until the kids are exiting puberty. And there's no showcase value this early.

My kid is older, so it doesn't affect her, but having watched the existing U13 transition, imo it's not a positive step for kids and parents to do it at U11.

Completely agree. As a parent of a rising U11 player, though, what do we do? Every club around us with strong teams and coaching is moving toward the younger travel leagues. My kid loves soccer. I love sport (D1 athlete) but this is just insane. We could probably afford it cost-wise (although not my preference for where money goes) but not really timewise with two working parents and young siblings. Does my kid...just not play competitive soccer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Absolutely trending wrong. More travel time earlier. Higher cost earlier. Early-developers locking down badge league spots earlier.

It's hard to see any actual development advantage for the kids from moving this race earlier, but we all know that's not the real goal. The development benefits from extreme talent aggregation aren't worth the costs until the kids are exiting puberty. And there's no showcase value this early.

My kid is older, so it doesn't affect her, but having watched the existing U13 transition, imo it's not a positive step for kids and parents to do it at U11.

Completely agree. As a parent of a rising U11 player, though, what do we do? Every club around us with strong teams and coaching is moving toward the younger travel leagues. My kid loves soccer. I love sport (D1 athlete) but this is just insane. We could probably afford it cost-wise (although not my preference for where money goes) but not really timewise with two working parents and young siblings. Does my kid...just not play competitive soccer?

That's entirely up to you. Your kid will probably be fine, but a lot won't be if they are at the "lower" levels and trying to catch up later. It's like this for almost every sport today though. This is not soccer specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Absolutely trending wrong. More travel time earlier. Higher cost earlier. Early-developers locking down badge league spots earlier.

It's hard to see any actual development advantage for the kids from moving this race earlier, but we all know that's not the real goal. The development benefits from extreme talent aggregation aren't worth the costs until the kids are exiting puberty. And there's no showcase value this early.

My kid is older, so it doesn't affect her, but having watched the existing U13 transition, imo it's not a positive step for kids and parents to do it at U11.

Completely agree. As a parent of a rising U11 player, though, what do we do? Every club around us with strong teams and coaching is moving toward the younger travel leagues. My kid loves soccer. I love sport (D1 athlete) but this is just insane. We could probably afford it cost-wise (although not my preference for where money goes) but not really timewise with two working parents and young siblings. Does my kid...just not play competitive soccer?

That's entirely up to you. Your kid will probably be fine, but a lot won't be if they are at the "lower" levels and trying to catch up later. It's like this for almost every sport today though. This is not soccer specific.

It certainly is frustrating. There's nothing realistic for individual parents to do to fix it. Youth soccer leagues are like a natural monopoly, but US Soccer has let it fracture so different leagues can make more money from parents. Parents have no way to coordinate to force maximization of network effects or lower costs.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard if their club is going to participate in this league?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are trending in the wrong direction here. There is too much of a push in general to move these age groups up in format (from 9v9 to 11v11) and in travel. They should all be playing games more locally. I’d like to see it go backward to push at least U13 and maybe even U14 down to locally as well and start the National league madness at U15. There is so little upside before then.

Absolutely trending wrong. More travel time earlier. Higher cost earlier. Early-developers locking down badge league spots earlier.

It's hard to see any actual development advantage for the kids from moving this race earlier, but we all know that's not the real goal. The development benefits from extreme talent aggregation aren't worth the costs until the kids are exiting puberty. And there's no showcase value this early.

My kid is older, so it doesn't affect her, but having watched the existing U13 transition, imo it's not a positive step for kids and parents to do it at U11.

Completely agree. As a parent of a rising U11 player, though, what do we do? Every club around us with strong teams and coaching is moving toward the younger travel leagues. My kid loves soccer. I love sport (D1 athlete) but this is just insane. We could probably afford it cost-wise (although not my preference for where money goes) but not really timewise with two working parents and young siblings. Does my kid...just not play competitive soccer?

That's entirely up to you. Your kid will probably be fine, but a lot won't be if they are at the "lower" levels and trying to catch up later. It's like this for almost every sport today though. This is not soccer specific.

It certainly is frustrating. There's nothing realistic for individual parents to do to fix it. Youth soccer leagues are like a natural monopoly, but US Soccer has let it fracture so different leagues can make more money from parents. Parents have no way to coordinate to force maximization of network effects or lower costs.

Thanks for this perspective. It helped me let go a bit. Kid is on a good solid team now, maybe with some baggage that I can just tolerate. We will see how things go moving forward.

[Anonymous]

well my kid did pre-ECNL in the north atlantic last year and it was functionally exactly the same as NA ECNL this year with teams being extremely similar. It helps a lot that NA doesn't have too much travel (and we're PA so in the middle).

As long as the travel isn't too bad and most of the teams are up to par, I don't see it as a bad thing.