youth soccer participation down 23.5% in key 6-12 year age group...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

Actually most kids play with their grade, and no one cares about this issue besides one poster here. My son did not play with his grade under the old age breakdown, and it was not a big deal.

I agree. This is madness. Kids should play rec if they want to play with their friends in their grade. My son doesn’t go to school with any of his teammates and hasn’t since he was a U9. Even then, that was one person on an 11 kid roster.

I agree. My daughter hasn’t played with any of her classmates since leaving Rec Soccer 4 years ago. There is life and social groups outside of school and classmates.

[Anonymous]

US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

[Anonymous]

How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

Actually most kids play with their grade, and no one cares about this issue besides one poster here. My son did not play with his grade under the old age breakdown, and it was not a big deal.

I agree. This is madness. Kids should play rec if they want to play with their friends in their grade. My son doesn’t go to school with any of his teammates and hasn’t since he was a U9. Even then, that was one person on an 11 kid roster.

I agree. My daughter hasn’t played with any of her classmates since leaving Rec Soccer 4 years ago. There is life and social groups outside of school and classmates.

Totally agree. I always thought it was a good thing for my kids to meet other kids outside of their school and neighborhood groups. They made plenty of good and different friends that way - many of which have grown and persisted outside soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

Costs more .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

Costs more .

I was going to say cheaper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

Only issues with any validity as far as I am concerned are
(1) birth year does complicate college recruitment somewhat
(2) the act of changing from one EOY date to another is disruptive and a pain for clubs, coaches, kids and parents and should be avoided again if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

Costs more .

I was going to say cheaper

rec cheaper than travel. But travel soccer costs more than other travel sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

It will only cause more kids to quit — I don’t really have a Preference between the two, but the change itself was incredibly disruptive and shouldn’t happen to the same generation of kids again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

It will only cause more kids to quit — I don’t really have a Preference between the two, but the change itself was incredibly disruptive and shouldn’t happen to the same generation of kids again.

Kids are leaving soccer and not coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

Costs more .

I was going to say cheaper

rec cheaper than travel. But travel soccer costs more than other travel sports.

From experience, soccer is far cheaper than volleyball and softball

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

Only issues with any validity as far as I am concerned are
(1) birth year does complicate college recruitment somewhat
(2) the act of changing from one EOY date to another is disruptive and a pain for clubs, coaches, kids and parents and should be avoided again if possible.

College recruitment issues is not a problem for youth soccer to solve. Players reach out to coaches and inform them of their graduation year. Coaches watch player at a showcase or ID Camp and the problem is solved.

College coaches don’t really watch random tournament games to window shop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

It will only cause more kids to quit — I don’t really have a Preference between the two, but the change itself was incredibly disruptive and shouldn’t happen to the same generation of kids again.

Agreed. The kids are on teams that have now been together for awhile and are just returning to play with COVID restrictions. Why disrupt that?

I disagreed with this change when it was made but if they want to go back, they should roll it in for younger groups. Like K-1 and just let it work it’s way through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US Youth Soccer has asked its State Association Presidents to provide feedback on the impacts that occurred when changes were made from a school year to calendar year, and what they’d foresee as impacts if we went back.

It will only cause more kids to quit — I don’t really have a Preference between the two, but the change itself was incredibly disruptive and shouldn’t happen to the same generation of kids again.

Agreed. The kids are on teams that have now been together for awhile and are just returning to play with COVID restrictions. Why disrupt that?

I disagreed with this change when it was made but if they want to go back, they should roll it in for younger groups. Like K-1 and just let it work it’s way through.

I totally agree with this. My kids were really hurt when the age groups changed, but now that they are older, changing back wouldn't make much of a difference. Personally, I preferred the older age group, mostly because of the year when part of a team is in 8th grade and part is in 9th. However, if they change it back, I hope it is phased in for younger kids only.

I don't even understand any of these discussions anyway. US Soccer makes policies for the thousands of kids playing soccer based on concerns that might only impact the top 1% of players. If coaches and scouts were better at assessing talent, there would be no need to play with age groups. We should be less concerned with identifying the top 1% and more concerned with the vast majority of players who will never be professionals or on the national team. Let's care about keeping them playing soccer as long as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is soccer different from any other sport, rec versus travel

Costs more .

I was going to say cheaper

rec cheaper than travel. But travel soccer costs more than other travel sports.

From experience, soccer is far cheaper than volleyball and softball

Cheaper than year-round swimming too