Important Update: US Soccer Birth Year Change

[Anonymous]

Assuming this happens, when do you think the change will be effective?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming this happens, when do you think the change will be effective?

Fall 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming this happens, when do you think the change will be effective?

Fall 2025

1/1/2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

Except the school districts that start Sept 1 or any date after Aug 1. Oh and home school. and private school kids.

But don't let detailed get in the way.

Redshirted and home school kids aren’t trapped if they’re in the wrong grade by choice. Fall birthday kids are trapped by being in their correct grade for school but a different grade for soccer. Get it now?

Here's an example of a school who's grade cutoff is July 1
https://www.tildenschool.org/why-did-we-set-the-cutoff-date-to-july-1/

This school would create 1 month of trapped players if ECNL switched to SY with an Aug 1st cut off date.

There's all kinds of schools like this one.

How does ECNL plan to address July birthdays from this school? I can tell you how. Welcome to the wonderful world of waivers. Which parents will (unofficially) pay over 10k each to make happen.

Come on…don’t gaslight. There are not ‘all kinds of schools like this one’ it is an outlier and if they picked July 1 vs Aug 1 there would not be an issue . Go back about 10 pages in the other thread and there is data by state if the school district cut offs. Will there be a small segment of exceptions- sure..but it’s .001%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

August and September kids who went to school on time.

[Anonymous]

I have an August boy who started school on time, so is in 4th grade. 2015 birth year. I feel like this will be a negative change for us. Can someone tell me why it wont?

He is a mid pack player, not always a starter. He is relatively new to travel and is still developing. The majority of kids on his team are in 4th grade like him. He loves his team. They are his best friends. They mostly all go to different schools.

So next year he would miss the Aug 1 cut off and need to try out for a different team? Being a mid pack player right now that could be an advantage if he is put up with kids with less experience. But he would he starting all over with team dynamics and would desperately miss his friends. I also think he would be offended by playing with "younger kids" who are all a grade below him.

In this instance would you ask the club to include him in tryouts for the older age group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correcr grade. How is this better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an August boy who started school on time, so is in 4th grade. 2015 birth year. I feel like this will be a negative change for us. Can someone tell me why it wont?

He is a mid pack player, not always a starter. He is relatively new to travel and is still developing. The majority of kids on his team are in 4th grade like him. He loves his team. They are his best friends. They mostly all go to different schools.

So next year he would miss the Aug 1 cut off and need to try out for a different team? Being a mid pack player right now that could be an advantage if he is put up with kids with less experience. But he would he starting all over with team dynamics and would desperately miss his friends. I also think he would be offended by playing with "younger kids" who are all a grade below him.

In this instance would you ask the club to include him in tryouts for the older age group?

Yes, obviously there is a huge difference between asking to play up vs. down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

But Aug and Sept birthdays would have to play up to be kept with their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

But Aug and Sept birthdays would have to play up to be kept with their grade.

Yes, the proposed rules are designed to *allow* kids to play with their grade. No set of rules will guarantee that every kid can *make* their desired team with their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

But Aug and Sept birthdays would have to play up to be kept with their grade.

Yes, the proposed rules are designed to *allow* kids to play with their grade. No set of rules will guarantee that every kid can *make* their desired team with their grade.

I'm not sure why this is so hard for everyone to grasp since it keeps coming up again and again, but thanks for explaining it clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

Except the school districts that start Sept 1 or any date after Aug 1. Oh and home school. and private school kids.

But don't let detailed get in the way.

There may still be some trapped players but it will be reduced by a lot. Going from 4 months worth of trapped players to 1 month or less is a significant improvement. No solution is perfect but can we at least agree that having less trapped players is a good thing?

According to https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp the only trapped players under a return to 8/1 cutoff would be redshirted kids. There will be some kids who are misaligned on the non-trapped side of the cutoff, requiring them to play up to stay with class, but even that group will be far less than the current trapped kids. If this changes, I'd expect leagues to recommend to clubs that they play kids up whenever possible to stay with class. The tough decision will be for clubs/parents when a kid can only make the B team with class but can make the A team below class.
Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

Saying nobody will be trapped doesn't sound accurate to me. Our club has already indicated that they will stick to the dates and not grades. My kid is Sept baby and will then be moved back based on dates. So playing with a team of mostly kids the grade below him. That sounds a bit trapped to me...please correct me cause i'm not an expert.

Change clubs if it bothers you. It’s a free market and people change clubs all. the. time. Your situation is NOT being trapped. If you had a trapped player you would understand the difference. You will have options to play with current BY is your kid is good enough and can make the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

But Aug and Sept birthdays would have to play up to be kept with their grade.

Yes, the proposed rules are designed to *allow* kids to play with their grade. No set of rules will guarantee that every kid can *make* their desired team with their grade.

I'm not sure why this is so hard for everyone to grasp since it keeps coming up again and again, but thanks for explaining it clearly.

Its hard to grasp because its not a clearly better system. Its still kind of messed up and confusing and puts a lot of kids already in the system in a weird position. And for kids moving forward they would like default to playing with the grade below them in the u little rec teams, which is a direct contradiction to all of the "but now she can play with her friends" crying. It still leaves a chunk of kids that wont.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School year increases participation at the youngest ages, which increases the quantity and quality of players later. School year also eliminates trapped players in the MS/HS and HS/college transitions. It was a shortsighted switch to BY and it should be corrected. It will be a headache to correct, but it will be good for players (trapped players) and good for the system in the long run.

No it is not an issue. It is not worth the effort for few the “trapped” players. Go play rec.

Why are there so few trapped players? Oh, because they all drop out and stop playing.....

And there will still be trapped players with SY.

Since you are so knowledgeable please list all the school districts that begin the school year before 8/1.

My son is an August birthday in a state where the enrollment cutoff is September 1st. He'll go from playing with his grade level to playing with the class behind him who he has no connection to.

Same here. Its so odd to me that this seems like the better solution. It just leaves a different set of kids trapped.

Nobody is trapped if they can play with their grade. Right now Fall birthday kids are not allowed to play with their correct grade so they’re trapped. With the change nobody will be trapped.

On BY there was no "play with your correct grade" it was just birth year, so obviously mixed grades. Now anyone born in August or September is placed with a lower grade, not their correct grade. How is this better?

Because they don't have to be placed with the lower grade. My October 2014 son in 4th grade *cannot* play with the kids in his grade who are almost entirely 2015s. He *must* play with 5th graders. The trap is that when his teammates all play high school when he's in 8th grade he *cannot* play down with the 8th graders.

SY is a better (at least for trapped players) because the fall birthday kids in an SY scheme have options. They even have part time options, for example my October 2014 son could lets say, actually make the team up, the one he's on now and stay with them, but then when they all go to high school and he isn't, he could play that season down with the 15s, in that way SY completely eliminates the trapped problem, so why not do it?

The key here is whether kids are being forced or not. Now clubs may only offer fall birthday kids a team down, so it might not feel like options, and thats the club's choice, but what club you play for is your choice!

But Aug and Sept birthdays would have to play up to be kept with their grade.

Yes, the proposed rules are designed to *allow* kids to play with their grade. No set of rules will guarantee that every kid can *make* their desired team with their grade.

I'm not sure why this is so hard for everyone to grasp since it keeps coming up again and again, but thanks for explaining it clearly.

Its hard to grasp because its not a clearly better system. Its still kind of messed up and confusing and puts a lot of kids already in the system in a weird position. And for kids moving forward they would like default to playing with the grade below them in the u little rec teams, which is a direct contradiction to all of the "but now she can play with her friends" crying. It still leaves a chunk of kids that wont.

As a parent of several kids who played under the old system, it's not that difficult. At rec and lower travel levels, most clubs allowed an August birthday to play "up" with kids in their grade, as long as it wasn't a safety issue. At higher levels, a skilled August player may still be selected for a team in a higher age group, and if not, it's a nice opportunity for kids who are always the youngest in their grade to be one of the oldest on their sports teams.