ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

Exactly all the August players that started school on time, it will be real interesting if they play a grade lower to be on a higher team than they would make in their school grade group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

Exactly all the August players that started school on time, it will be real interesting if they play a grade lower to be on a higher team than they would make in their school grade group.

I still think Aug kids are better served playing on a team that matches their grade, especially when they’re sophomores. Being on a “better team” won’t matter if scouts aren’t there to watch you play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what ECNL 25/26 rules come out? Is it August?

Meant When?

Not certain, but seem to recall it's been right around when they release all-conference teams, which is usually mid-August

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

Exactly all the August players that started school on time, it will be real interesting if they play a grade lower to be on a higher team than they would make in their school grade group.

And what do you think will happen if an aug birthday kid does well playing down a grade? Thats right the parents will hold them back a year to redo classes and get better grades the 2nd time. Which along with being the oldest on a team will make them more appealing to scouts.

This is what leagues are trying to avoid. They dont want to be responsible for causing kids to be held back in school.

Other sports deal with this type of thing all the time. In Lacrosse theres literally 20 year old high school seniors. This happens because parents hold their kid back 2 times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

Exactly all the August players that started school on time, it will be real interesting if they play a grade lower to be on a higher team than they would make in their school grade group.

And what do you think will happen if an aug birthday kid does well playing down a grade? Thats right the parents will hold them back a year to redo classes and get better grades the 2nd time. Which along with being the oldest on a team will make them more appealing to scouts.

This is what leagues are trying to avoid. They dont want to be responsible for causing kids to be held back in school.

Other sports deal with this type of thing all the time. In Lacrosse theres literally 20 year old high school seniors. This happens because parents hold their kid back 2 times!

If they were trying to avoid this they would have stuck with the original 9/1 date or been creative with exceptions. They did neither.

[Anonymous]

SY+30 or SY+60 with a 9/1 cutoff date addresses all the playing down nonsense.

What this does is make 9/1 the cutoff but if a player was born +30 or +60 days before 9/1 they can play with their grade with proof of grade enrolled in school. This makes things incredibly easy for clubs because all they have to do is ask players what grade they are in school and that's the team they play on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SY+30 or SY+60 with a 9/1 cutoff date addresses all the playing down nonsense.

What this does is make 9/1 the cutoff but if a player was born +30 or +60 days before 9/1 they can play with their grade with proof of grade enrolled in school. This makes things incredibly easy for clubs because all they have to do is ask players what grade they are in school and that's the team they play on.

Continual utter nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

Very, very few kids will play up. How many Jan and Feb kids are playing up now so they aren't the oldest and to get a challenge? Very, very few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SY+30 or SY+60 with a 9/1 cutoff date addresses all the playing down nonsense.

What this does is make 9/1 the cutoff but if a player was born +30 or +60 days before 9/1 they can play with their grade with proof of grade enrolled in school. This makes things incredibly easy for clubs because all they have to do is ask players what grade they are in school and that's the team they play on.

This is a neat idea. Are there and downsides?

[Anonymous]

The downside is it would promote redshirting in soccer. As it is my kid has several kids on her team older than her. But a year lower grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY+30 or SY+60 with a 9/1 cutoff date addresses all the playing down nonsense.

What this does is make 9/1 the cutoff but if a player was born +30 or +60 days before 9/1 they can play with their grade with proof of grade enrolled in school. This makes things incredibly easy for clubs because all they have to do is ask players what grade they are in school and that's the team they play on.

This is a neat idea. Are there and downsides?

There are a couple of "differences" I wouldn't call the downsides. First you'd need to keep track of where players born +30 or +60 maintain their proof of grade status. Second you'd need some way to verify grade status. (All other players would only need a birth certificate)

The biggest reason some people are against SY+30/60 is because it specifically bars hold backs / regrades from participating. With a single 8/1 cutoff theres still wiggle room with Aug birthdays. Which they intend to exploit and pressure on to eventually make soccer grade year. Which means playres are grouped by the year they graduate high school. In this configuration parents are rewarded by holding their kid back because they can redo a year in school, get better grades, and play against younger kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The downside is it would promote redshirting in soccer. As it is my kid has several kids on her team older than her. But a year lower grade.

SY+30/60 with a 9/1 cutoff specifically does not allow redshirting. Unless the player was born 30 or 60 days before 9/1. In this case its not really redshirting because if the kid grew up in a different part of America with an 8/1 or even 7/1 start date that is the grade they would be in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The downside is it would promote redshirting in soccer. As it is my kid has several kids on her team older than her. But a year lower grade.

SY+30/60 with a 9/1 cutoff specifically does not allow redshirting. Unless the player was born 30 or 60 days before 9/1. In this case its not really redshirting because if the kid grew up in a different part of America with an 8/1 or even 7/1 start date that is the grade they would be in school.

School cutoff dates are different across America. This is a fact. Because of it no single cutoff date will work for everyone. Mathematically the only way to make it all work is if the cutoff "date" is a range and the range is qualified by something other than a birth certificate ie proof of grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want, try to play up (with your current team for those Aug/Dec kids) until it matters - recruiting age. Then, it makes no sense to be the youngest on an older team who is all going to graduate a year before you, if of course the goal is to go to college. Scouts will be looking at your teammates, and not you. And then when it’s time for them to look at you, your team will be too old for prime recruiting.

If you've done your homework and you're a younger birth month on a top team, the scouts know who you are. The problem now will be the misaligned grades from kids who are in an actual higher grade then their soccer age group.

Exactly all the August players that started school on time, it will be real interesting if they play a grade lower to be on a higher team than they would make in their school grade group.

And what do you think will happen if an aug birthday kid does well playing down a grade? Thats right the parents will hold them back a year to redo classes and get better grades the 2nd time. Which along with being the oldest on a team will make them more appealing to scouts.

This is what leagues are trying to avoid. They dont want to be responsible for causing kids to be held back in school.

Other sports deal with this type of thing all the time. In Lacrosse theres literally 20 year old high school seniors. This happens because parents hold their kid back 2 times!

No following. There is a year cutoff no matter where you put it. This isn’t lacrosse. And yeah, Aug kids will be at an advantage with options to hold back, but that certainly won’t be the norm. And it won’t be enough to have a noticeable impact on any team or league.