Bethesda Soccer On Way Down

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This will be a huge headache for clubs like Bethesda. It means a kid born in September 2014 can play down U12 for the 26-27 season unless he's on the top team and then he'll play U13. If he plays U12 it will be harder to jump to the top team at U14 the following season (27-28). Unless BSC comes up with its own rules.....

Why is it playing down if you're following the league cutoff rules and playing your correct month and year placement like everyone else?

Not sure why you arent getting it. PP is spot on. MLS created a giant mess that Q4 second team kids will struggle to make MLS, so may as well realign to ECNL. ECNL boys could strengthen, especially with teams that only have MLS2 (Loudoun, VRSC, McLean, etc.).

The question, again, is, why is it playing down if you're playing in your correct age group cutoff?

For a player with a September 2014 birthday who plays U12 next season it means that they're not on the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team and won't be eligible for the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team the following season either. He's playing in a younger team with weaker teammates and opponents. He will have to be head and shoulders above the U12 kids to make the U14 the following season.

The U12's have about 6-8 Aug-Dec 2014's between White and Silver 1st teams. They will choose to tryout and play for the U13 Homegrown next year or they will choose to repeat U12 and 9v9. They are eligible for U13 Homegrown. They have the options of playing U13 Homegrown or U12 White/Silver again with the new age group. Depending on tryouts, all of these group will probably look materially different than the current groups although most parents are in extreme denial of this.

This will be a really interesting question for the club. Would you put a 4Q 2014 who didn’t make the MLS Next Homegrown U13 on the top 2015 team at U12 knowing that the following season (27-28) that same kid can’t be on the 2015 MLS Next Homegrown roster? Seems a little shortsighted.

There are a number of Q4 2014's who see playing a 3rd year at 9v9 as beneficial. There is at least one coach at BSC who believes strongly that delaying full-sided for as long as possible is beneficial. It is the reverse effect of all of the local clubs who push their 2014's to play up at 11v11 right now but having a poor technical foundation. We'll ultimately see how it all plays out. SYC routinely beats BSC in the younger ages, rushes to 11v11 and we routinely began to beat them starting at U15 and beyond. Development takes time.

Great points; this is why it will be tricky for the club. Who does the club favor or give an advantage to, the Q4 kids or the 2015s.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I was surprised that only one 2017 team was in the top bracket. The way the Club has described the new system is that the 2015s will be the last of the youth teams designated as A1 and that going forward all the birth years will have two teams that are supposed to be relatively even. Again, watch what they do, not what they say.

Is this for Boys or Girls (or both)? As I can definitely say that both 2016 and 2017 girls have an A1 team and then everyone else.

This is on the Boys Youth side (U7-U11). The club had said that they're no longer going to rank teams Academy 1, Academy 2, Academy 3, colors, etc. after the 2015 team which is still tiered. I was told that for 2016 and younger they will use names of national team players and that the "top" team will be split evenly into two groups. The justification was that they lose too many A2 players who develop later on. On the surface it makes sense but it feels like a fig leaf to manage the tricky situation with the 2016s.

This makes sense, my kid is on the 2nd team and I am seriously considering moving them to another club. The kid can absolutely play on A1 and would likely be somewhere in the top 5 (not the best, but definitely better than half the team). Unfortunately, the chance of actually moving up to A1 without club hopping is minimal.

I know who this parent is

If your kid could be top 5 on A1, they should be DOMINATING on A2. I have not seen any kid dominating on A2 including my own. Let the kids sort it out on the pitch in the spring.

Kid ain't no Top 5 for 1st team and the coach plus club all missing it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will be a huge headache for clubs like Bethesda. It means a kid born in September 2014 can play down U12 for the 26-27 season unless he's on the top team and then he'll play U13. If he plays U12 it will be harder to jump to the top team at U14 the following season (27-28). Unless BSC comes up with its own rules.....

Why is it playing down if you're following the league cutoff rules and playing your correct month and year placement like everyone else?

Not sure why you arent getting it. PP is spot on. MLS created a giant mess that Q4 second team kids will struggle to make MLS, so may as well realign to ECNL. ECNL boys could strengthen, especially with teams that only have MLS2 (Loudoun, VRSC, McLean, etc.).

The question, again, is, why is it playing down if you're playing in your correct age group cutoff?

For a player with a September 2014 birthday who plays U12 next season it means that they're not on the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team and won't be eligible for the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team the following season either. He's playing in a younger team with weaker teammates and opponents. He will have to be head and shoulders above the U12 kids to make the U14 the following season.

None of that makes sense

If he's a U14 and good enough he'll play U14
Unless the club/coach is against having strong performers on their teams

Yes, talent will almost always win out. The point is that the differing age groups will add an additional challenge for boys born in the 4Q. If he’s on the second team and on the edge of being good enough for the top MLS Next team he won’t get the same level of competition because he’s playing against kids who are younger. If MLS Next Academy (tier 2) was staying calendar birth year he would be getting better competition against kids who are older (all 2014) than playing with younger players (4Q 2014-3Q 2015) with the switch to school birth year for Academy.

If playing against younger kids was a problem, then the Q1 kids wouldn't get most the selections

The competition isn't your kid's problem, it's what he's doing or not doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will be a huge headache for clubs like Bethesda. It means a kid born in September 2014 can play down U12 for the 26-27 season unless he's on the top team and then he'll play U13. If he plays U12 it will be harder to jump to the top team at U14 the following season (27-28). Unless BSC comes up with its own rules.....

Why is it playing down if you're following the league cutoff rules and playing your correct month and year placement like everyone else?

Not sure why you arent getting it. PP is spot on. MLS created a giant mess that Q4 second team kids will struggle to make MLS, so may as well realign to ECNL. ECNL boys could strengthen, especially with teams that only have MLS2 (Loudoun, VRSC, McLean, etc.).

The question, again, is, why is it playing down if you're playing in your correct age group cutoff?

For a player with a September 2014 birthday who plays U12 next season it means that they're not on the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team and won't be eligible for the Homegrown MLS Next U13 team the following season either. He's playing in a younger team with weaker teammates and opponents. He will have to be head and shoulders above the U12 kids to make the U14 the following season.

None of that makes sense

If he's a U14 and good enough he'll play U14
Unless the club/coach is against having strong performers on their teams

Yes, talent will almost always win out. The point is that the differing age groups will add an additional challenge for boys born in the 4Q. If he’s on the second team and on the edge of being good enough for the top MLS Next team he won’t get the same level of competition because he’s playing against kids who are younger. If MLS Next Academy (tier 2) was staying calendar birth year he would be getting better competition against kids who are older (all 2014) than playing with younger players (4Q 2014-3Q 2015) with the switch to school birth year for Academy.

If playing against younger kids was a problem, then the Q1 kids wouldn't get most the selections

The competition isn't your kid's problem, it's what he's doing or not doing.

This isn't a problem for me or my kid, he's not Q4. The Q1 kids are the oldest and have the advantage because they're physically stronger. I don't think there are many Oct-Dec kids on any of the A1 teams.