MLS Next Announcement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does this work for non MLS events. Do tournaments starting follow School-Year age groups. They haven't allowed players to "play down" an age year.

We have biobanding players, so we haven't played summer tournaments for the past 2 summers. We only paly league, fest and flex with some preseason scrimmage vs some ECNL teams, so our biobanding players can play.

Which MLS Next team in the country can't play in a tournament because of biobanded players?
What a LIE, since there is a maximum of 3 for every roster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beginning in the 2026-27 season, player registration for within MLS NEXT will be as follows: Allstate Homegrown Division will continue to use Birth-Year age groups (January 1 - December 31). Academy Division will change to School-Year age groups (August 1 - July 31).

Player registration via Birth-Year remains the optimal structure for the Allstate Homegrown Division, as it aligns with FIFA standards, the global professional pathway and greatly benefits our youth national teams.

The School Year age group system is the most suitable structure for the Academy Division, as it aligns with the broader youth soccer landscape across the United States and creates opportunities for continued collaboration and growth between MLS NEXT and the wider youth soccer ecosystem.

Discuss!

it's been confirmed by our club. email went out today

What club is this? Fake

It was officially announced by MLS Next themselves

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRvD1A9EoD2/?igsh=YmE2M3FkdGp3dDhq

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beginning in the 2026-27 season, player registration for within MLS NEXT will be as follows: Allstate Homegrown Division will continue to use Birth-Year age groups (January 1 - December 31). Academy Division will change to School-Year age groups (August 1 - July 31).

Player registration via Birth-Year remains the optimal structure for the Allstate Homegrown Division, as it aligns with FIFA standards, the global professional pathway and greatly benefits our youth national teams.

The School Year age group system is the most suitable structure for the Academy Division, as it aligns with the broader youth soccer landscape across the United States and creates opportunities for continued collaboration and growth between MLS NEXT and the wider youth soccer ecosystem.

Discuss!

it's been confirmed by our club. email went out today

What club is this? Fake

It was officially announced by MLS Next themselves

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRvD1A9EoD2/?igsh=YmE2M3FkdGp3dDhq

This seems like a cluster. Few kids will ever move from MLSN2 to MLSN unless they are playing a year up. And how does this work for a club if it gets promoted or demoted?

[Anonymous]

AND they will lose many games to their own club’s (and other clubs’) SY AD team which will be filled with older players. Yes a few months older (5-17 months in the case of a U14 AD team playing a U14 HG team) does make a big difference. This is coming from a parent who has observed tons of older biobands coming down and making huge impact in MLS 1.

Seen it as well. This is exactly what will happen.

And then say you have a March 2013 stud on the u14 MLS 1 HG team. Would he be better suited developmentally to train/play with the U14 AD team where he is facing a bunch of 2012 kids in his same school grade?

[Anonymous]

BY parents had meltdowns when ECNL decided to go SY and came up with a bunch of gripes disguised as logical arguments. Now the SY parents are having meltdowns and coming up with their own gripes disguised as logical arguments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how would it work when the MLS next team is playing in a tournament? For example, mls next team is birth year U14 playing in the Columbia cup. They play against the u14s that are an MLS next to team at a different club that have to play school year. So it’s feasible there would be a full year of difference between the kids if you had one team have mainly older kids and the other team have mainly younger kids in their school year. What would you do in that case? That’s not fair.

Mlsn1 teams won’t play outside tournaments or if they did a u15 BY team would be playing up against a u15 SY team.

Since both leagues are always trying to top each other MLSN1 will have to move to school year at some point, otherwise SY teams will have the advantage at every tournament.

THEY. DON'T. CARE. ABOUT. TOURNAMENT. RESULTS.

They care about developing 1-2 sellable players. At a certain point, you parents will understand development.

MLS 1 is mostly p2p clubs. They don’t care about developing 1-2 players. They also don’t care about outside tournaments but they do care about the neverending headache that this decision will be.

Mls1 p2p is not mls academies.

The BY top tier players will still be better than 2nd tier SY players

Agree, the ECNL parents are doing whatever they can to make it sound like the sky is falling but its not.

Splitting the MLSN Homegrown teams from the P2P teams is something that had to happen. MLS needed a place to park ECNL + other SY teams before they switch to BY MLS. MLS can still do things like MLS2 talent id events that get looked at by MLS1 coaches for providing the pathway to pro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how would it work when the MLS next team is playing in a tournament? For example, mls next team is birth year U14 playing in the Columbia cup. They play against the u14s that are an MLS next to team at a different club that have to play school year. So it’s feasible there would be a full year of difference between the kids if you had one team have mainly older kids and the other team have mainly younger kids in their school year. What would you do in that case? That’s not fair.

Mlsn1 teams won’t play outside tournaments or if they did a u15 BY team would be playing up against a u15 SY team.

Since both leagues are always trying to top each other MLSN1 will have to move to school year at some point, otherwise SY teams will have the advantage at every tournament.

THEY. DON'T. CARE. ABOUT. TOURNAMENT. RESULTS.

They care about developing 1-2 sellable players. At a certain point, you parents will understand development.

You are an idiot. P2P MLSN clubs care about revenue. They don't own their players.

You're in idiot if you believe in tournament results over development. Slice it anyway you want it and parse my words any way you want. The gist is the gist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how would it work when the MLS next team is playing in a tournament? For example, mls next team is birth year U14 playing in the Columbia cup. They play against the u14s that are an MLS next to team at a different club that have to play school year. So it’s feasible there would be a full year of difference between the kids if you had one team have mainly older kids and the other team have mainly younger kids in their school year. What would you do in that case? That’s not fair.

Mlsn1 teams won’t play outside tournaments or if they did a u15 BY team would be playing up against a u15 SY team.

Since both leagues are always trying to top each other MLSN1 will have to move to school year at some point, otherwise SY teams will have the advantage at every tournament.

THEY. DON'T. CARE. ABOUT. TOURNAMENT. RESULTS.

They care about developing 1-2 sellable players. At a certain point, you parents will understand development.

You are an idiot. P2P MLSN clubs care about revenue. They don't own their players.

You're in idiot if you believe in tournament results over development. Slice it anyway you want it and parse my words any way you want. The gist is the gist.

MLSN p2p believes in revenue, the whole soccer p2p system in the US is all about REVENUE. What brings revenue? wins because everyone wants to be in the winning team.
Losing against ECNLN teams at tournaments its not going to be a good look for MLSN1 teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And just think, only a few months ago, clubs (probably via MLSN's rec) were selling MLS2 by saying each age group of tier 1 and tier 2 were "a pool of players" where tier 2 standouts could be moved up and tier 1 bench players could be moved down to get more minutes.

What a steaming crock of sh*t that was, lmao.

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This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And just think, only a few months ago, clubs (probably via MLSN's rec) were selling MLS2 by saying each age group of tier 1 and tier 2 were "a pool of players" where tier 2 standouts could be moved up and tier 1 bench players could be moved down to get more minutes.

What a steaming crock of sh*t that was, lmao.

[/

This.

That’s called a business move by MLSN p2p

[Anonymous]

U12 Q4 kid. Between 2nd and 3rd team. love our club which is MLS, not their fault, but we will now look to move to ECNL. My guess is MLS is gonna have to keep figuring things out and it's not worth potentially wasting a year or two while they do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U12 Q4 kid. Between 2nd and 3rd team. love our club which is MLS, not their fault, but we will now look to move to ECNL. My guess is MLS is gonna have to keep figuring things out and it's not worth potentially wasting a year or two while they do it.

Every Q4 kid will make an attempt to move to an ECNL National team. 1st team is ALWAYS the clubs priority

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U12 Q4 kid. Between 2nd and 3rd team. love our club which is MLS, not their fault, but we will now look to move to ECNL. My guess is MLS is gonna have to keep figuring things out and it's not worth potentially wasting a year or two while they do it.

Every Q4 kid will make an attempt to move to an ECNL National team. 1st team is ALWAYS the clubs priority

Every kid that wants to play pro will do MLSN1 or MLSN2 and try to get noticed by a MLS1 team. ECNL players will start getting ignored soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U12 Q4 kid. Between 2nd and 3rd team. love our club which is MLS, not their fault, but we will now look to move to ECNL. My guess is MLS is gonna have to keep figuring things out and it's not worth potentially wasting a year or two while they do it.

Every Q4 kid will make an attempt to move to an ECNL National team. 1st team is ALWAYS the clubs priority

Every kid that wants to play pro will do MLSN1 or MLSN2 and try to get noticed by a MLS1 team. ECNL players will start getting ignored soon.

Delusional August guy is on this thread too! No one is getting ignored. Kids who want to play pro are playing mls academies, usl, or abroad. They aren’t playing mls1 p2p or mls2.

[Anonymous]

Q4 parent from earlier post. 1. Not worried about pro, but nowhere currently for him to fit well in the MLS system. 2. Not many Q4s, so yes, I agree many will depart, but, there arent many to begin with. At least not on the higher teams.