US Soccer age changes - what are the area leagues doing? are all the kids moving up? u11-u13

[Anonymous]

Most have heard that next years soccer age cutoffs are changing. Someone at a game last week mentioned that they think all the leagues are grandfathering in most U ages and that they will move up all the kids, even though only the Aug-Dec kids are expected to move up.

Is this actually the case? My son is right before the old cutoff. July. His coach recently mentioned they will probably have my son "move up". He is small and thin (like a lot of players). If he doesn't grow much I would rather have him stay where he is. Unless all the leagues are actually grand fathering kids and moving them all up. I worry about injuries and the next age is the age where a lot of kids have started spurting and I'm not seeing any spurting happening here (though it is early).
He is talented yet not superstar talented, He is in NCSL play now.

Does anyone know what their leagues are doing ?

[Anonymous]

I think the bottom line is they are going to change the travel leagues to calendar year birth year boundaries from aug 1 to july 31 like ODP. Not sure about rec leagues. it is not moving up or moving down although a kid can still play up (ie born in 2002 but plays with 2001 kids).

i think they have to do this all at once. you can't have some travel leagues playing with old boundaries and others playing with the calendar years playing each other. or split at say u12 and above because you would have weird teams to say the least.

seems like a lot of hassle. not sure what the benefit is.
my son is most unhappy about it because he will be split from most of his friends.

[Anonymous]

Our club is doing it next year and I hope they do not have kids playing up because the clubs are already artificially inflated with older kids playing with younger kids-the year is actually 18 months-I know sounds strange but do the math on it. a kid who is at the cut off now will play up with a group that is a year older but the older kid could be 18 months older than the younger kids. Not a good thing in terms of size and speed.

we are keeping our kid in the proper age group, late july now so he is the youngest he could possibly be and although he plays in the top 3rd of the team he is a grade younger.

[Anonymous]

The age cut off for all us soccer leagues will be January 1. There will be no more "u9" or "u11" Teams will be referred to as 2005 etc. . . based on the year kids were born.

Initially there will be a fair amount of restructuring for teams. Yes some teams/clubs will say "we will just play you up", but that does not help kids who will then be among the youngest on the team versus being among the oldest on the team. It is never a good idea to play up unless your kid really is just eating up the competition at this age level, and you cannot move him/her to a higher level of play at that same age.

US Soccer will NOT grandfather in kids already playing. State organizations under the US Soccer umbrella are making the call whether to (a) convert everyone starting with next summer's tryouts; (b) convert everyone in the summer of 2017; or (c) allow local leagues to decide for themselves whether to convert this coming summer or next. It seems like most states as saying -- convert this summer. That, in turn, will affect how big tournaments are handled as teams will likely need to be set up to comply with the Jan 1 age cutoff.

Again -- DO NOT have your kid play up simply because it is easier for a club, or to "stay together". Your kid will make friends playing on their appropriate age team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The age cut off for all us soccer leagues will be January 1. There will be no more "u9" or "u11" Teams will be referred to as 2005 etc. . . based on the year kids were born.

Initially there will be a fair amount of restructuring for teams. Yes some teams/clubs will say "we will just play you up", but that does not help kids who will then be among the youngest on the team versus being among the oldest on the team. It is never a good idea to play up unless your kid really is just eating up the competition at this age level, and you cannot move him/her to a higher level of play at that same age.

US Soccer will NOT grandfather in kids already playing. State organizations under the US Soccer umbrella are making the call whether to (a) convert everyone starting with next summer's tryouts; (b) convert everyone in the summer of 2017; or (c) allow local leagues to decide for themselves whether to convert this coming summer or next. It seems like most states as saying -- convert this summer. That, in turn, will affect how big tournaments are handled as teams will likely need to be set up to comply with the Jan 1 age cutoff.

Again -- DO NOT have your kid play up simply because it is easier for a club, or to "stay together". Your kid will make friends playing on their appropriate age team.

I agree with most of this post, but wanted to make a couple of points. First, I don't think State organizations will have too much say over when the change happens. USYSA and US Club have already announced that they'll be implementing the change for this coming Fall, and I think most State organizations belong to one or the other, so they'll have to follow along.

There still will be "U9", "U10" etc., because you need to have general categories that apply to the rules for each age group (field size, roster size, etc.), and the soccer bodies won't want to update their materials each year. There will just be a one year transition period during which the Fall birthday kids will move up an age group (say from U9 to U10) as they would have without the change, and the Jan-July kids will stay in the same age group they currently are in if they don't play up (current U9s will be U9s next year again).

Going back to the OP, decisions about allowing kids to play up with their old teams vs. being divided by calendar year will not be made by leagues, it will be made by clubs and/or teams.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP -- that is a helpful summary/description. I am wondering how our club will deal with the elite teams. I am thinking of one team in particular that has developed strong chemistry, is highly successful and is divided about half and half between fall birthdays and the Jan-July birthdays. The club could keep the team together but only if several players play up. I guess this would have a domino effect on other teams in the club and arguably the team could lose some of its edge in competition against other teams? It seems that some internal politics within clubs/among coaches could come into play in these decisions....

[Anonymous]

Yes. Arguably as I don't know every league/team but with the teams I do know, at little over half of the elite teams is fall bday. Not surprisingly the B teams are more than half late spring, summer birthdays.

Potentially a high change year during next years tryouts. Nobody's spot is guaranteed I'm guessing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, PP -- that is a helpful summary/description. I am wondering how our club will deal with the elite teams. I am thinking of one team in particular that has developed strong chemistry, is highly successful and is divided about half and half between fall birthdays and the Jan-July birthdays. The club could keep the team together but only if several players play up. I guess this would have a domino effect on other teams in the club and arguably the team could lose some of its edge in competition against other teams? It seems that some internal politics within clubs/among coaches could come into play in these decisions....

It depends on your club's philosophy and location, but if the team is highly successful regionally or nationally, then I think there is a decent chance that the team will be split into two and there will be recruiting to fill the empty spots on both with talented kids from other clubs. By doing that, clubs have a chance to end up with two elite teams instead of one. This is probably more likely to occur at the late middle school/high school ages where the showcases matter for the kids and the clubs' reputation.

[Anonymous]

Can you help me to understand what the benefit to doing this is? My child is only currently a U8, and I'm not knowledgeable about soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you help me to understand what the benefit to doing this is? My child is only currently a U8, and I'm not knowledgeable about soccer.

We think it's how soccer is set up in the rest of the world. That's not quite true, but it hasn't stopped anyone.

It IS how the major international tournaments are set up. Somehow, we've managed to find a bunch of kids born in January through March for the current U.S. U17 team without changing every team in the USA.

In any case -- there's some solid pushback at the younger age groups, and I can tell you rec leagues will have a lot of leeway in how they set things up.

[Anonymous]

Just going back to how things were previously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you help me to understand what the benefit to doing this is? My child is only currently a U8, and I'm not knowledgeable about soccer.[/quote]

We think it's how soccer is set up in the rest of the world. That's not quite true, but it hasn't stopped anyone.

It IS how the major international tournaments are set up. Somehow, we've managed to find a bunch of kids born in January through March for the current U.S. U17 team without changing every team in the USA.

In any case -- there's some solid pushback at the younger age groups, and I can tell you rec leagues will have a lot of leeway in how they set things up.

There is a long discussion of this topic over in the travel soccer in NoVa thread (much of it overwrought in my view, but there is some good information there). I think the impetus was not so much to blindly copy what the countries who are good at soccer development do, but to make the path into elite soccer smoother. The change will be beneficial not only for international tournaments, but also for evaluating kids who are candidates to play on a Development Academy team. DAs are now the primary feeder system for the youth national teams, and they have always been birth year. Starting next year or the year after, the program will expand to cover U12s (currently U14 is the youngest age group). Evaluating kids will be simpler if they are already on birth year teams.

Many people feel that the change will cause all sorts of problems at the rec level. I don't share that view. As an earlier poster said, it just means that your child will end up with some extra friends in addition to the ones they have from their grade at school. The current age group classifications are pretty bizarre if you think about it. Most school cut offs around here are Sept. 1, but soccer age groups are August 1-July 31. Other parts of the country have different school cutoffs. The calendar year approach seems more sensible to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you help me to understand what the benefit to doing this is? My child is only currently a U8, and I'm not knowledgeable about soccer.[/quote]

We think it's how soccer is set up in the rest of the world. That's not quite true, but it hasn't stopped anyone.

It IS how the major international tournaments are set up. Somehow, we've managed to find a bunch of kids born in January through March for the current U.S. U17 team without changing every team in the USA.

In any case -- there's some solid pushback at the younger age groups, and I can tell you rec leagues will have a lot of leeway in how they set things up.

There is a long discussion of this topic over in the travel soccer in NoVa thread (much of it overwrought in my view, but there is some good information there). I think the impetus was not so much to blindly copy what the countries who are good at soccer development do, but to make the path into elite soccer smoother. The change will be beneficial not only for international tournaments, but also for evaluating kids who are candidates to play on a Development Academy team. DAs are now the primary feeder system for the youth national teams, and they have always been birth year. Starting next year or the year after, the program will expand to cover U12s (currently U14 is the youngest age group). Evaluating kids will be simpler if they are already on birth year teams.

Many people feel that the change will cause all sorts of problems at the rec level. I don't share that view. As an earlier poster said, it just means that your child will end up with some extra friends in addition to the ones they have from their grade at school. The current age group classifications are pretty bizarre if you think about it. Most school cut offs around here are Sept. 1, but soccer age groups are August 1-July 31. Other parts of the country have different school cutoffs. The calendar year approach seems more sensible to me.

6 of the 8 2nd grade boys my husband coaches are in the same 2nd grade this year. It is really sweet. They are a tight knit bunch. Our school only has recess 1 grade at a time. There isn't a lot of mixing with kids in other grades. These kids attend the same bday parties, etc. It really forms a tight knit group---even after they get older and some concentrate on a different sport that initial bond with the early classmates/teammates is still there. My 5th grader has been doing travel since 3rd grade and has made friends from many different schools--but most parties are still the old classroom/first sports team buddies. I am one of those that feels Rec should run independently. Kids choosing to stay in Rec, for the most part, will not have any interest in DA, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you help me to understand what the benefit to doing this is? My child is only currently a U8, and I'm not knowledgeable about soccer.[/quote]

We think it's how soccer is set up in the rest of the world. That's not quite true, but it hasn't stopped anyone.

It IS how the major international tournaments are set up. Somehow, we've managed to find a bunch of kids born in January through March for the current U.S. U17 team without changing every team in the USA.

In any case -- there's some solid pushback at the younger age groups, and I can tell you rec leagues will have a lot of leeway in how they set things up.

There is a long discussion of this topic over in the travel soccer in NoVa thread (much of it overwrought in my view, but there is some good information there). I think the impetus was not so much to blindly copy what the countries who are good at soccer development do, but to make the path into elite soccer smoother. The change will be beneficial not only for international tournaments, but also for evaluating kids who are candidates to play on a Development Academy team. DAs are now the primary feeder system for the youth national teams, and they have always been birth year. Starting next year or the year after, the program will expand to cover U12s (currently U14 is the youngest age group). Evaluating kids will be simpler if they are already on birth year teams.

Many people feel that the change will cause all sorts of problems at the rec level. I don't share that view. As an earlier poster said, it just means that your child will end up with some extra friends in addition to the ones they have from their grade at school. The current age group classifications are pretty bizarre if you think about it. Most school cut offs around here are Sept. 1, but soccer age groups are August 1-July 31. Other parts of the country have different school cutoffs. The calendar year approach seems more sensible to me.

6 of the 8 2nd grade boys my husband coaches are in the same 2nd grade this year. It is really sweet. They are a tight knit bunch. Our school only has recess 1 grade at a time. There isn't a lot of mixing with kids in other grades. These kids attend the same bday parties, etc. It really forms a tight knit group---even after they get older and some concentrate on a different sport that initial bond with the early classmates/teammates is still there. My 5th grader has been doing travel since 3rd grade and has made friends from many different schools--but most parties are still the old classroom/first sports team buddies. I am one of those that feels Rec should run independently. Kids choosing to stay in Rec, for the most part, will not have any interest in DA, etc.

at a neighborhood school---it is usually how many become friends with their neighbors that live 4 streets over, etc. A lot of Kindergartners are timid enough to be starting school, new sport, etc...throw them in with First graders that already have 2 seasons of Rec under their belt and it's not a great mix for them---especially because are K teams are co-ed to begin with. Many girls drop out because of the boys in K soccer....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

6 of the 8 2nd grade boys my husband coaches are in the same 2nd grade this year. It is really sweet. They are a tight knit bunch. Our school only has recess 1 grade at a time. There isn't a lot of mixing with kids in other grades. These kids attend the same bday parties, etc. It really forms a tight knit group---even after they get older and some concentrate on a different sport that initial bond with the early classmates/teammates is still there. My 5th grader has been doing travel since 3rd grade and has made friends from many different schools--but most parties are still the old classroom/first sports team buddies. I am one of those that feels Rec should run independently. Kids choosing to stay in Rec, for the most part, will not have any interest in DA, etc.

I completely agree that the bonds kids form on their first sports team are often special ones. My kids are still really tight with most of the kids they played with in kindergarten and 1st grade many years later. In our case though, the teams included kids from a few schools, some public and some private. They all still play soccer on a variety of different teams at a variety of levels, but they have continued to play rec basketball together in the winter for almost a decade now.

I also agree that kids who choose to stay in rec after a certain age are not the ones who are interested in the high level teams. But when kids start out, they don't know yet whether they'll love the sport, or want to be serious about it. I'd love to see rec soccer leagues across the board have a strong focus on teaching kids the skills they'll need if they do want to keep progressing. I am hopeful that some of the US soccer changes will make parents more aware of the effort to change the soccer culture in the country for the better, even if their kids end up happy playing their whole career at the rec level.