ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The USYS, US Club, and AYSO statement emphasized them acting together and those groups constitute most leagues.

According to Skip Gilbert, "Once passed, we'll work to ensure a smooth transition with toolkits and other resources to ensure all kids want to stay in the sport and take their game as far as they can."

Not sure what the "toolkits" are or if they are for leagues, clubs and/or parents/players but would imagine someone is putting together that info as we speak.

That’s definitely what’s going on behind the scenes everyone is making their plans. But outside of ECNL I have not heard anyone has solidified their plans yet. Which is why I think we will see Fall 26 for the vast majority of teams and this potentially being done is phases between Jan 1 2025 and Fall 2026.

The big governing bodies involved do not want mass distribution or want to look at all avenues to make as little disruption as possible.

My prediction is ECNL and possibly the other academy leagues will start asap or keep things the same. The leagues like ECNL-RL/NPL down to Rec will start fully by Fall 26.

Potentially leagues will allow 3-4 Aug to Dec kids to play down for tournaments or state cup or other things like that.

But sounds like most clubs will have to play up next fall if they want to jump right into it.

If any change, all will adapt by Fall 2025. It's too much of a logistic nightmare for ECNL or anyone else to destabilize current teams by making those switches January 2025. They have nothing to gain for it but unhappy customers. It'll all take place with ID events and tryouts.

ECNL is ready you can trust me on that. They have their plan ready to go. Also their won’t be unhappy customers because it sounds like only a current rostered 2010 ECNL can play spring 2011 with their same club. No new outside the club kids no club hopping.

Also the 2011 and 2012 teams would need to have space on their roster of 26.

Some parents will be upset but an equal amount of more will be happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demonization of bio-banding on this forum shows how out of touch with reality US soccer has become. The program was never designed to give teams an advantage. It was started in Europe to serve the purpose of what most of us agree is a huge problem - focusing on the development of players and not winning trophies at youth levels. Just as trees grow at different rates, so do kids. Anyone involved in youth soccer who is worth their salt will tell you that the smaller kids get pushed out at younger ages. Biobanding is SUPPOSED to provide skilled, smaller kids with an opportunity to be challenged at a high skill level while not being pushed out of their game because of their size. Unfortunately, in the US they implemented it in just one league with no guidelines. As can be totally expected, a few a'hole adults have abused the rule by bio-banding kids who do not fit the model - to get a competitive advantage. It would be very easy to work with a pediatric chart for the bottom five percent of growth tables and say...unless you are this height and weight and below, you're not eligible. Unfortunately, there are really no rules like this in place for MLS Next. There should be, and in my opinion other leagues should adopt bio=banding while capping it to a couple kids per team with the aforementioned size restrictions. And, again, because it has been misrepresented in other parts of DCUM, bio-banding has NOTHING to do with birth date in terms of 4th quarter, etc. Some kids are extremely late bloomers and some are early bloomers. It is completely possible for a 13 year old boy to be smaller than the average 11 year old. That kid could go on to be a great soccer player, and should be given the chance. The adults should be sensible about these things and play the bigger kids up when it makes sense and make exceptions for the skilled smaller kids as well. That's not cheating. It's good practice for developing players. But, I'm sure we'll all go back to figuring out how we're going to collect our U13 trophies, because that's what really matters, right?

I wish that biobanding player who is 20 months older than your kid, take over your kid's position and play full time. Let's see if you have a different thought after you sit on the bench along with your kid in his age group for the whole game.

If your kid is sitting on the bench the whole game in youth soccer, it sure isn't the fault of a biobanded kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demonization of bio-banding on this forum shows how out of touch with reality US soccer has become. The program was never designed to give teams an advantage. It was started in Europe to serve the purpose of what most of us agree is a huge problem - focusing on the development of players and not winning trophies at youth levels. Just as trees grow at different rates, so do kids. Anyone involved in youth soccer who is worth their salt will tell you that the smaller kids get pushed out at younger ages. Biobanding is SUPPOSED to provide skilled, smaller kids with an opportunity to be challenged at a high skill level while not being pushed out of their game because of their size. Unfortunately, in the US they implemented it in just one league with no guidelines. As can be totally expected, a few a'hole adults have abused the rule by bio-banding kids who do not fit the model - to get a competitive advantage. It would be very easy to work with a pediatric chart for the bottom five percent of growth tables and say...unless you are this height and weight and below, you're not eligible. Unfortunately, there are really no rules like this in place for MLS Next. There should be, and in my opinion other leagues should adopt bio=banding while capping it to a couple kids per team with the aforementioned size restrictions. And, again, because it has been misrepresented in other parts of DCUM, bio-banding has NOTHING to do with birth date in terms of 4th quarter, etc. Some kids are extremely late bloomers and some are early bloomers. It is completely possible for a 13 year old boy to be smaller than the average 11 year old. That kid could go on to be a great soccer player, and should be given the chance. The adults should be sensible about these things and play the bigger kids up when it makes sense and make exceptions for the skilled smaller kids as well. That's not cheating. It's good practice for developing players. But, I'm sure we'll all go back to figuring out how we're going to collect our U13 trophies, because that's what really matters, right?

I wish that biobanding player who is 20 months older than your kid, take over your kid's position and play full time. Let's see if you have a different thought after you sit on the bench along with your kid in his age group for the whole game.

I’d agree the big difference is parents here are paying way too much money. If it was a free program most parents would maybe have a different out look on things. We are paying for development which most clubs do not have the ability to offer the level of development kids need.

Lots of roadblocks in the US that will always create issues.

What are the biobanded kids parents paying for?
Aren't they paying for development too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

Very confusing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

Movement and disorganization, sounds like every year at tryout time!

DOC at my kids club said essentially these age changes don't phase them, another day at the office. Every year they adjust rosters, move kids around, manage feelings (parents and kids), pick up kids, lose kids, soothe worries, and ride the wave until everyone settles in again. Age changes would make more movement than usual, but wouldn't' change the fundamentals of that situation, or how they assess anything. They said they don't need another year to adjust, especially since you don't have to move anyone the way they did in 2017, this time they aren't forced into anything, they can just make the best decisions for kids and teams and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

Yes my daughter’s friend is actually 3 days younger than she is and is in the grade above she started school when she was 4 we waited until my daughter was 5. Cut off dates will not settle all trapped player problems but it will for the vast majority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is it a birth month or School grade? Or a combination of both?

I think we will see each league by state doing something different. The change will be to School year cut offs but will vary by each state for the lower level leagues.
ECNL and ECRL will be based off similar cutoffs from what I was told. With ECNL starting up to a year early potentially.

Why? Such a money grab. Should be Pre-whatever until HS years. All the other traveling is a complete waste of time.

Different states have different school cut offs. But it will either be 8/1 or 9/1 depending. ECNL and ECRL team will have their own unified cut off dates.

I heard of cases where there are late birthdays, but same grades. How that is a trapped player? Would it play for that too? This is really confusing, and I think will create a lot of movement and disorganization. A lot of older players per team.

Movement and disorganization, sounds like every year at tryout time!

DOC at my kids club said essentially these age changes don't phase them, another day at the office. Every year they adjust rosters, move kids around, manage feelings (parents and kids), pick up kids, lose kids, soothe worries, and ride the wave until everyone settles in again. Age changes would make more movement than usual, but wouldn't' change the fundamentals of that situation, or how they assess anything. They said they don't need another year to adjust, especially since you don't have to move anyone the way they did in 2017, this time they aren't forced into anything, they can just make the best decisions for kids and teams and go from there.

Most well ran clubs have no worries over this. It will be confusing and a major pain more so than your average tryout but shouldn’t take two years to figure out.

[Anonymous]

What is the exact rule for this? At this point, all seems speculation. A good link explaining the details will be great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the exact rule for this? At this point, all seems speculation. A good link explaining the details will be great.

https://www.soccerparenting.com/blog/school-year-age-grouping-us-soccer/

The is the most fact filled discussion of what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the exact rule for this? At this point, all seems speculation. A good link explaining the details will be great.

https://www.soccerparenting.com/blog/school-year-age-grouping-us-soccer/

The is the most fact filled discussion of what is going on.

Thanks so much, really helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the exact rule for this? At this point, all seems speculation. A good link explaining the details will be great.

https://www.soccerparenting.com/blog/school-year-age-grouping-us-soccer/

The is the most fact filled discussion of what is going on.

Thanks so much, really helpful.

Was it?

It basically admits that the movement against BY was a PR campaign because (some) “parents voices need to be heard.”

It also poses the question sarcastically about the YNT but then later admits “yea, this will hurt our most elite youth soccer players” but “parents voices need to be heard.”

Basically this is the “ballad of the second team bench warmers parent.” If my kid sucks, everyone must suffer.

I understand the Tyler Durden approach, but it’s just awful. This whole thing has been a crock.