ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still struggling with this. My DD now in HS has August 31 bday. Her school year teammate has Sept 2 bday. They are a full year apart in age and play on two different BY teams for club. but in the same grade as both met the Sept 1 cutoff for being xx age in kindergarten.
What happens with the new system? Same team or different team?

Just offering empathy. My dd is August 3rd, our school cut off is Sept 1. Her team bffs are June and later August (who did start school late so a year behind). I’m hopeful they let my dd stay with her current team and play up but also recognize it is what it is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLS Next and GA look like they are staying BY

My daughter plays GA our club manager said we will change with whatever US soccer decides. Which looks like it’s going to be School year.

My Daughter plays GA and out club manager hasn't said anything.

Have you asked him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLS Next and GA look like they are staying BY

My daughter plays GA our club manager said we will change with whatever US soccer decides. Which looks like it’s going to be School year.

My Daughter plays GA and out club manager hasn't said anything.

Have you asked him?

Actually I have and they have no clue. I've also spoken with several ECNL coaches and they said same thing. The ECNL coaches were aware of the rumors but nothing official has been communicated.

I know all this because we're trying out at different clubs and age groups. (Kid was born in Sept)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLS Next and GA look like they are staying BY

My daughter plays GA our club manager said we will change with whatever US soccer decides. Which looks like it’s going to be School year.

My Daughter plays GA and out club manager hasn't said anything.

Have you asked him?

Actually I have and they have no clue. I've also spoken with several ECNL coaches and they said same thing. The ECNL coaches were aware of the rumors but nothing official has been communicated.

I know all this because we're trying out at different clubs and age groups. (Kid was born in Sept)

To be fair my club manager has not made any official club announcement. I just asked if ECNL switches is the Ga he said if US soccer approves then change that Ga will follow with everyone else. He also said GA admin are anticipating it being approved.

[Anonymous]

I've poked a few times our DoC just to see but he's tight lipped about the whole thing. I don't know what my DS will want to do if it happens.

[Anonymous]

This will go live for 2025-26. Have heard some clubs plan on doing more internal reviews to re-juggle the teams appropriately.

Think the school year is the correct decision and wish they did not change it in 2016.

[Anonymous]

There’s no reason for any club admins to want to advertise this until it’s official. Because most people still have no idea this is even being considered. No reason to throw people into a panic and have to answer a million questions about what’s happening with their team.

Our club director made the joke he’s going on vacation starting May 1st and will be back in July when the madness is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s no reason for any club admins to want to advertise this until it’s official. Because most people still have no idea this is even being considered. No reason to throw people into a panic and have to answer a million questions about what’s happening with their team.

Our club director made the joke he’s going on vacation starting May 1st and will be back in July when the madness is over.

Completely understand this approach and what I’ve been telling my August kid who will be playing down a grade if this happens. Just wait and see. We may know nothing for sure until spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s no reason for any club admins to want to advertise this until it’s official. Because most people still have no idea this is even being considered. No reason to throw people into a panic and have to answer a million questions about what’s happening with their team.

Our club director made the joke he’s going on vacation starting May 1st and will be back in July when the madness is over.

I totally agree. Many parents have no clue about this potential change and why should they. For those of us like me, who are wayyyyy to interested in youth soccer, I have heard from multiple credible sources (TDs, GA coach, etc), including the post by the CEO of Youth Soccer, that this is happening. If I ask other parents what they think about it, most are none the wiser.

[Anonymous]

We received an email from the club regarding the proposed change. Basically outlining that it's being considered by these groups, not yet approved, stay tuned for more info.

Also sent out what the upcoming age groups would look like for next year.

It did not address anything about potential roster compositions - that is staying with your current group is you are past the cutoff date.

FWIW, our club is NOT in the DC metro area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We received an email from the club regarding the proposed change. Basically outlining that it's being considered by these groups, not yet approved, stay tuned for more info.

Also sent out what the upcoming age groups would look like for next year.

It did not address anything about potential roster compositions - that is staying with your current group is you are past the cutoff date.

FWIW, our club is NOT in the DC metro area.

What league is your club in? ECNL? GA? DPL? MLS Next? EDP? AYSO?

[Anonymous]

If the change happens it would not go in effect until next fall, right? I’d be happy if it took effect sooner. My kid’s team is having serious problems. Would love for a few late birthday kids from the age group above to be able to join the team. Some kids on the current team absolutely do not belong there, and they aren’t even the youngest ones. Those kids would probably prefer to drop down with their grade, as it’s a strong age group and they can be stars there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s no reason for any club admins to want to advertise this until it’s official. Because most people still have no idea this is even being considered. No reason to throw people into a panic and have to answer a million questions about what’s happening with their team.

Our club director made the joke he’s going on vacation starting May 1st and will be back in July when the madness is over.

I totally agree. Many parents have no clue about this potential change and why should they. For those of us like me, who are wayyyyy to interested in youth soccer, I have heard from multiple credible sources (TDs, GA coach, etc), including the post by the CEO of Youth Soccer, that this is happening. If I ask other parents what they think about it, most are none the wiser.

Eh, I’ve talked to majority of the ECNL/ga clubs near me and not one club will confirm this is happening, as they will be voting in November.

It’s funny that ECNL never put out any sort of statement or even asked if anyone wants this change because they knew the backlash they would get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We received an email from the club regarding the proposed change. Basically outlining that it's being considered by these groups, not yet approved, stay tuned for more info.

Also sent out what the upcoming age groups would look like for next year.

It did not address anything about potential roster compositions - that is staying with your current group is you are past the cutoff date.

FWIW, our club is NOT in the DC metro area.

What league is your club in? ECNL? GA? DPL? MLS Next? EDP? AYSO?

ECNL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will the age brackets be named?

Maybe with school grade ordinal numbers?

Something like Chicago Fire 6th grade, Cleveland Force 3rd grade etc ….

I guess this all U14, U13, U12 naming will go away forever.

Example using current BY bracket for 2015s below:

BY = Jan 1 - Dec 31 2015 = U10
SY = Aug 1 2015 - Sep 30 2016 = U10

The only thing that would go away is teams that formally/informally use the actual birth year (e.g., “2015B Color”) in their team name…

Actually, this example would result in a new age bracket classification for anyone with a birthdate from 08/01 and beyond. This is because the age classification is based off the end of the Spring Season.

Example for Spring Season ending May 2025:

Birth Year = Jan 1, 2015 - Dec 31, 2015 = U10 (all kids playing will be 10-years-old or younger by May of 2025)
School Year = Aug 1, 2015 - July 31, 2016 = U9 (all kids playing will be 9-years-old or younger by May of 2025)

Essentially, every child born between August 1 - December 31 will be gaining the opportunity to play with/against their school age appropriate peers that they will be potentially competing against for college recruitment.