p2p MLSN makes sense. MLS Academy is free, so it does not care about BY or SY from a business perspective, which SY has an edge.  | 
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						Many clubs will have teams at both MLSN 1 and 2 tiers.
 So, they cannot afford having two different age systems. MLSN 1 and 2 will follow same cutoff age.  | 
							
						
 The funding has to come from somewhere, I promise you it isn’t free. I recently talked to someone at a top mls academy and he was saying there were talks of the academy shutting down because of funding. That’s was before the mls next 2 rollout. Reading the tea leaves, it appears Ecnl checkmated them into sy  | 
							
						. Yes, MLSN2 has been created as a money grabber for parents. I also think ECNL is going to win this SY war. ECNL has on its SY side all under U12 soccer, most of girls business (GA is the exception), and USCS, USYS, AYSO boys.  | 
							
						
 I don’t understand what having “rec” aligned with ECNL in SY does for “winning this war.” ECNL doesn’t have a pro pathway, USL is awful, but maybe that is the pathway in the future? But until the boys side of ECNL is more competitive, the “war” isn’t even happening. Age cutoffs aligned with rec aren’t the big boost ECNL needs to compete with MLSN that you think it is.  | 
							
						
 Grad year incoming. Be ready folks.  | 
							
						With ECNL boys and P2P MLSN being equivalent and both getting watered down, the war isn't who can get one player a year to an MLSN academy, the war is who can siphon the most cash at the younger ages with the most teams. Fake elite leagues have gone bankrupt pretty quickly in youth soccer without the big feeders supplying cash.  | 
							
						
 Since parents are paying for NAL team now which will become MLSN2 team tomorrow and parents will be paying same amount to the club and NAL is still the administration for this MLSN2 division Where's the money grab from parents part?  | 
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						Sporting AC announces 2 new divisions‼️👀 They have officially introduced Sporting PA and Sporting NJ. This elevates their pathway even more as they reach out to more talent in the east coast. At the two divisions, the top teams will play in NAL and then there will be NL and EDP reserve squads. This is only the start as players from the expansion divisions can even have the chance to move up to Sporting AC’s MLS Next 2 or MLS Next squads. They are truly proving themselves as one of the best clubs in the nation. The future is bright for Sporting AC
 How will this pathway work if USYS NL is SY registration?  | 
| MLSnext was against the age change when US Soccer was setting the cutoff for everyone so it was consistent across all governing bodies. It’s no secret that MLSnext didn’t want to move from BY to SY. Now that US Soccer is leaving it up to the governing bodies to determine age cutoff and everyone is now moving from BY to SY, including all u12 and younger leagues, MLSnext is going to be forced to change. The logistical challenges of staying BY on their own have been described repeatedly on here. MLSNext will absolutely make some sort of change. Maybe they will have a 9/1 cutoff. Maybe they will expand biobanding for sept-dec birthdays and be BY in name only. We all have to wait and see what happens, but people hoping for a strict BY cutoff and no changes are going to be disappointed. | 
						
 I think the announcement and subsequent press release yesterday was indication of what is to come, it will probably be an expansion of the late developer program. I will tell you in a few months b/c my son is Q4 that competes at a high level in his current age group but is probably closer to the younger age group maturity wise, it will be up to the coaches how they want to use him.  | 
							
						
 What press release?  | 
							
						
 MLSnext no longer ranking u13 and u14 based on wins/losses and now ranking them based on quality of play. It’s nice to see a national league even pretend to care about development. Pre ga and pre ecnl have 11 year old girls playing 11v11 on a full sized field to get ready for national playoffs at u13. The play doesn’t remotely resemble anything that looks like soccer.  | 
							
						
 Grad year with bumpers, if they do go straight grad year. Can't have 16 year old freshman soccer players like you see in basketball. Give each grad year a few months leeway at most if you must. But pure grad year isn't the way to go.  | 
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						I see a distinct possibility that MLS Next and clubs with a combination of MLS Next and ECNL/RL teams are compelled to go SY. 
 But I also see a possibility that MLS Next sticks with birth year to force clubs to choose whether to be ECNL/RL or join the growing MLSN org. It's a way MLS Next could siphon more players from ECNL/RL (they're already doing this with MLS Next 2). This would be a strategy to get more customers from a competitor rather than following the move of a lesser league. Also let's them continue to be aligned with the rest of the world and the US national teams. No idea what happens, but could see it going either way.  |