ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going cynical here. This all has felt like a play for ECNL to gain market share.

Now there is definitely logic behind a switch, but I don't think ECNL is acting in good faith here. I think there hope is to split the MLS Next/ GA clubs to gain market share either on the boys side and/or eliminate GA once and for all. I don't see MLS switching, the vast majority of their clubs also have GA/DPL. From a chess perspective, it seems like a shrewd business move on the part of ECNL guised in the trapped player problem.

Nothing ECNL can do will change it's second tier status to MLSN on the boys side.

GA and DPL will switch to BY and nothing will change.

NWSL Next will become even more of a possibility because it would likely be aligned to BY like MLSN and completely separate from SY (ECNL) leagues. Which would make it easy to implement for clubs because it would be completely separate from everything that already exists.

You and your MLSn kid is going to get smacked in the face come recruiting time. There really is no difference, even with most of the kids on DCU. They will go to college and ride the bench just the like the encl kid that gets recruited. That's if your kid gets recruited. Most likely with what is happening with college soccer, your DS won't get recruited and will just go to college like 99.5% of soccer kids.

Haha so not true. But have fun thinking it is.

MLSN is first tier ECNL is second tier

For now. Wait and see how many Aug to Dec kids will jump ship. It’s an easy to decision between the two with the same rules in place. I’m willing to bet ECNL boys teams in 2 years are the better teams. Especially if they have the older kids playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going cynical here. This all has felt like a play for ECNL to gain market share.

Now there is definitely logic behind a switch, but I don't think ECNL is acting in good faith here. I think there hope is to split the MLS Next/ GA clubs to gain market share either on the boys side and/or eliminate GA once and for all. I don't see MLS switching, the vast majority of their clubs also have GA/DPL. From a chess perspective, it seems like a shrewd business move on the part of ECNL guised in the trapped player problem.

Nothing ECNL can do will change it's second tier status to MLSN on the boys side.

GA and DPL will switch to BY and nothing will change.

NWSL Next will become even more of a possibility because it would likely be aligned to BY like MLSN and completely separate from SY (ECNL) leagues. Which would make it easy to implement for clubs because it would be completely separate from everything that already exists.

You and your MLSn kid is going to get smacked in the face come recruiting time. There really is no difference, even with most of the kids on DCU. They will go to college and ride the bench just the like the encl kid that gets recruited. That's if your kid gets recruited. Most likely with what is happening with college soccer, your DS won't get recruited and will just go to college like 99.5% of soccer kids.

Haha so not true. But have fun thinking it is.

MLSN is first tier ECNL is second tier

For now. Wait and see how many Aug to Dec kids will jump ship. It’s an easy to decision between the two with the same rules in place. I’m willing to bet ECNL boys teams in 2 years are the better teams. Especially if they have the older kids playing.

Just to clarify MLS free academies will still be elite top teams in the nation but don’t count ECNL out just yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

How is June 1 early?! My kid’s birthday is right around then. He started K at 5. Sure his birthday is later in the school year than many kids in his class, but he started on time — not early. Holding him back would have meant starting K late. Most parents do not consider that unless their kid is much closer to the cutoff like August or September. Parents who redshirt early June bday kids (without any issues) are doing it because they think there will some advantage like their kid will be a “leader”. Pretty silly to be smug about how well your kid is doing when they have some classmates a year or more younger than them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

This makes sense. Thanks for explaining. I dont love it because it complicates matters, but i understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

I can already hear it...

"My poor 16 year old freshman in high school just wants to play on the same team as their friends. Why does it matter if they're a year older? College recruiters only care about grad year."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

I can already hear it...

"My poor 16 year old freshman in high school just wants to play on the same team as their friends. Why does it matter if they're a year older? College recruiters only care about grad year."

If this was going to happen, why isn't it happening now? ECNL has some trapped player rules that are barely used. MLS has biobanding. Those haven't been abused to crush other leagues' teams in cross-league tournaments. Why hasn't a league like GA just said, let's waiver in a bunch of Aug-Dec kids from the team above and crush the ECNL teams in this tourney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

I can already hear it...

"My poor 16 year old freshman in high school just wants to play on the same team as their friends. Why does it matter if they're a year older? College recruiters only care about grad year."

That already happens in mls next with biobanding. You can have a January kid play an age group down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

I can already hear it...

"My poor 16 year old freshman in high school just wants to play on the same team as their friends. Why does it matter if they're a year older? College recruiters only care about grad year."

If this was going to happen, why isn't it happening now? ECNL has some trapped player rules that are barely used. MLS has biobanding. Those haven't been abused to crush other leagues' teams in cross-league tournaments. Why hasn't a league like GA just said, let's waiver in a bunch of Aug-Dec kids from the team above and crush the ECNL teams in this tourney?

I would be surprised if ECNL isn’t using grad year by 2026. They want it the college coaches want it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

I think you mean the opposite. June 1 is firmly in the "go to school at age 5" camp. If a family did not send their kid on time, they would then be forced to play with the grade level above them if they play soccer. They would be trapped come 8th grade.

Don't forget about allowing players to play down via a waiver process. ECNL might not offer this but other leagues will.

Guess what will happen when a waiver league team beats the top ECNL girls teams. That's right suddenly ECNL will start allowing waivers for redshirt kids to play down in ECNL.

I can already hear it...

"My poor 16 year old freshman in high school just wants to play on the same team as their friends. Why does it matter if they're a year older? College recruiters only care about grad year."

That already happens in mls next with biobanding. You can have a January kid play an age group down.

Here in my son's MLSN team, a 09 play down in 10 team and play full time. What a shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SY means August 1-July 31 cut off. One calendar year. Please stop the incorrect argument that kids that are redshirted with be playing with little Johnny after the age change. It’s not happening.

But school year cut off isnt August 1. It's September 30. So SY should mean Oct 1 - Sept 30.

That is where this doesn't make sense.

My 9 year old August born child is in 4th grade. He plays on a 2015 team with mostly other 4th graders and a few late year 3rd graders. He would be either the very oldest on a new team with kids entirely in the grade below him, or he would need some sort of waiver to stay with his current team?

No waiver required to play up. You just have to make the team. Let's say he wants to make the 4th grade A team. If he can make it, great, no issues, he plays with his class on his desired team. If he can't make it, the club may offer a choice to play with the B team with 4th grade, or with the A team for 3rd grade. He would have to decide which to accept. Basically, he *could* play for many teams, but it will come down to which teams he can make, i.e., which teams the clubs offers him.

Correct, it feels like they wanted to go with the earliest school cut off, 7/31 or 8/1, to make sure everyone had the opportunity to play with their grade if they wanted to, but also take into account you can always play up but you cant always play down. The kids hurt the most, and there probably aren't many of them, are the kids that were accelerated and started K before they "needed" to. Like a June 1st birthday who was mature and parents wanted to get them started in school early

How is June 1 early?! My kid’s birthday is right around then. He started K at 5. Sure his birthday is later in the school year than many kids in his class, but he started on time — not early. Holding him back would have meant starting K late. Most parents do not consider that unless their kid is much closer to the cutoff like August or September. Parents who redshirt early June bday kids (without any issues) are doing it because they think there will some advantage like their kid will be a “leader”. Pretty silly to be smug about how well your kid is doing when they have some classmates a year or more younger than them.

You are obviously correct. My mistake