ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note from a parent of a trapped player (Q4). She is best technical player on her team (top 100 nationally) and one of the most valuable in terms of wins and losses, but she is small. I want the status quo as the other two options are not as good. She can either A) stay on the current team but now there will be even bigger/older girls by an additional 5 months so she could be playing with girls 14/15 months. older or B) drop down and totally outclass her correct grade. Both options worse in my eyes.

Also, I dont think trapped, for recruiting purposes, is a big deal at all. Your club should be advocating for you, you should be advocating for you, you should be attending ID camps, etc. If you use trapped as a recruiting excuse it means you aren't trying hard enough. Period.

Your story is what some pro SY people don't understand and why they should slowly phase this in starting with the younger age groups. With what's been shared and a possible rollout now in fall 26, hopefully that will happen OR at least the inclusion of flexible rules where people can more easily stay with their current teams. With such a big change, they should try to minimize disruption which also then minimizes harm.

You can stay in the team if you pass the tryout. No club will be tough on a star player. Melanie played two years up in Surf.

Of course not. But there's already been talk in forums about supposed "rules" informal or otherwise of no playing up that'll affect the vast majority of players.

Absolutely not true.

Any player can play up if their patents want them to.

The catch is that if your kid chooses to play up they need to be better than players that are that age.

My kid is a late Sept trapped birthday birthday on her team but there's also an early Jan (a year down) player that's playing up essentially 2 grades. She's the daughter of a pro sports parent and has freaky natural talent. Both my kid and the pro sport parent kid start so everything works out.

Before the pearl clutchers start. I'm not worried about recruitment at all. This is a top 50 nationally team + recruiters are already sniffing around. At both my kid and the pro sports kid.

Just to add a little more...

The people that complain about trapped players and BY wont stop complaining if leagues change to SY. They'll just change what they complain about.

At the highest levels nobody cares what age players are. They either produce on the field or they don't.

Unfortunately there's more ulittle players/parents than there are high level competitive players. They think that they're doing the right thing what they don't understand is that it doesn't matter.

Doesn’t this mean SY is the obvious solution? If low level players want SY, and it doesn’t matter to high level players, that leaves no one wanting BY.

The current system is propped up by BY bubble players. Common sense would say if you aren't playing with your classmates you're already 'playing up' or 'playing down'. The majority of soccer kids are January to August 'playing down'. They have zero interest in finding out how good their older classmates are and because Q4 players drop out at alarming rates, it gives January kids a small edge to get a scholarship.

My DD goes to high school next year. Her first chance to make a school team. Her whole club team (she's better than all of them) made the team this year. She is chomping at the bit. One, to show her classmates how good she is. And two, to play varsity as a freshman. My kid survived the gauntlet, so Im not complaining. The system forced her to mature ahead of her classmates. When this change happens she's going to dominate the U14 ranks and make every showcase and first team around. I'm glad for the struggle but it has definitely been a struggle and I feel bad for all the Q4 kids that dropped out early. Finally a fix is on the way for the next generation.

[Anonymous]

The January kids will probably be fine. They go from oldest to middle. I feel for the Q2 kids. June/July. They are the new Q4. But, in the new system, the Q2s won't have it as bad as the Q4s had in the old system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still nothing from the 5 stages of grief BY guy?? He tucked tail and ran quick when the real news starting coming out. lol.

Now its just the BY bubble parents trying to find any remaining way to hold on to this broken system. Face it, you'll need to compete with your peers. Stop being afraid. You have one more season to play with little kids, then it'll be time to grow up. You know your kid wasn't getting a scholarship anyway so relax.

Except there aren't THAT many younger players who will challenge those Q1 kids because a lot of them, especially the better ones, don't want to play with their grade until HS. Their SOCCER peers are their BY. They probably will be happy to avoid the so-called trap year BUT that's only if you wanted to play HS and HS ball is actually decent enough for your player development (It's not in a lot of places ... and I'm sure the debate whether high-level club players actually play HS will be back soon). This change would work best in terms of minimizing disruption for existing players and teams if they started it at U6 next fall and grew it from there (because yes, SY likely does make more sense for the vast majority of youth soccer -- except those already in the current system).

[Anonymous]

I have not seen a statement from US Club or ECNL other than the US Soccer statement/pdf. Have I missed that?? Just curious

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand why the parents of the current version of “trapped” players don’t sympathize with the kids who will be “trapped” albeit in a different way under the new system. I realize this is a smaller group and so I support the change from a “what’s best for the system” perspective, but they’ll be disadvantaged just as unfairly as your kids were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why the parents of the current version of “trapped” players don’t sympathize with the kids who will be “trapped” albeit in a different way under the new system. I realize this is a smaller group and so I support the change from a “what’s best for the system” perspective, but they’ll be disadvantaged just as unfairly as your kids were.

Great point. It'll depend on the state your in AND league. There may be some that stick with BY, too, although it's hard to know at this point. If there ends up being both, that might be helpful to players who are potentially trapped by SY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our director is talking about forming SY teams and having them play up since 25/26 is now a wash. So the 2012 age group is now Aug 1 2012 to July 31 2013. 2013 is now Aug 1 2013 to July 31 2014

Where do Q3 kids who started school early go under the new approach? For example, October 2013 birthday currently playing U12 and already in 6th grade? The above cutoffs would move them down a soccer year, but that would have them playing with kids a grade below them. Maybe an advantage playing against younger kids, but they’re already used to playing with older kids and moving down would mess up their recruiting cycle.

I don’t feel bad for kids who started school early or late. It’s a problem of your own making.

Again, many of the kids in these situations are in states that have a 9/1 or later deadline for school enrollment. For example, August birthday's in a state with a September 1 deadline started school exactly on time. They didn't start early.

How will one of these kids handle the recruiting process when their teammates are one grade behind them? They have an athletic advantage because they are the oldest on their team, but will recruiters even see them when they’re playing with kids who are a full grade behind the grade the recruiters typically focus on? And will their success on the field be heavily discounted by recruiters because they’re playing against kids a grade below?

Just use some simple math and logic here. This keeps coming up now that BY parents are panicking. These kids ARE NOT trapped, they are just in a strange situation with options and there will be a very small number of them. In the case where school cutoff is 9/1. Your DD birthday is in August and ECNL decides 8/1 is the cutoff. She'll be in 10th grade and all her club teammates are in 9th grade. Only 1% of all players go to college, but lets say that is her aspiration and she thinks she is good enough. The answer is simple, she needs to be in the top 1%, not of her club team but of her graduating year. So play up and find out. There is no disadvatage here AT ALL. She is in 10th grade. She is getting recruited with 10th graders. Club soccer didn't determine her grade. So play with 10th graders. Im not sure why this is so complicated.

My DD is currently trapped. And yes, trapped. No options. She is forced to play above her grade. When she is in 10th grade her teamates will be 11th graders. No option to play with 10th graders and to develop and be recruited with her class. Its really strange, its screws with her development over the years and there are TONS of kids locked into this dumb situation. You can't make it perfect for everyone in a large country that has school dates starting randomly and where we're tied to the NCAA system as the most likely path post HS. Everyone is looking to USYS to fix it all. How? Just do what is best for the majority of kids and move on. This isn't that hard.

1% statistic that has been used since the 70s, is a base rates issue.

It is NOT 1% of ECNL players that play collegiate soccer.

[Anonymous]

Current trapped players (mostly Q4 birthdays) are forced to play with kids a grade above them. Harder for them to make / succeed on the top teams, because they’re young and so are physically and emotionally behind developmentally. And playing with kids in their grade isn’t permitted because they are too old.

New trapped players (mostly Q3 birthdays) need to be good enough to “play up” to be able to play with kids in their grade, and if they are good enough to make an ecnl team but they are not a unicorn, they’ll struggle to get recruited because they are as many as 14 months younger than their teammates and so are physically and emotionally behind. They have the option to “play down” with kids a grade below them, where they’ll look like unicorns, but then they’re off their grade’s recruiting cycle.

Sort of sucks for both groups, because for them school and soccer “cohorts” are not aligned. That’s different than being relatively older or younger under the CY/SY systems but having your school and soccer “cohorts” aligned in both (mostly Q1/Q2 kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why the parents of the current version of “trapped” players don’t sympathize with the kids who will be “trapped” albeit in a different way under the new system. I realize this is a smaller group and so I support the change from a “what’s best for the system” perspective, but they’ll be disadvantaged just as unfairly as your kids were.

Great point. It'll depend on the state your in AND league. There may be some that stick with BY, too, although it's hard to know at this point. If there ends up being both, that might be helpful to players who are potentially trapped by SY.

Because it isn’t about the “trap!” It’s about RAE. Nobody on the pro-SY side is being honest about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current trapped players (mostly Q4 birthdays) are forced to play with kids a grade above them. Harder for them to make / succeed on the top teams, because they’re young and so are physically and emotionally behind developmentally. And playing with kids in their grade isn’t permitted because they are too old.

New trapped players (mostly Q3 birthdays) need to be good enough to “play up” to be able to play with kids in their grade, and if they are good enough to make an ecnl team but they are not a unicorn, they’ll struggle to get recruited because they are as many as 14 months younger than their teammates and so are physically and emotionally behind. They have the option to “play down” with kids a grade below them, where they’ll look like unicorns, but then they’re off their grade’s recruiting cycle.

Sort of sucks for both groups, because for them school and soccer “cohorts” are not aligned. That’s different than being relatively older or younger under the CY/SY systems but having your school and soccer “cohorts” aligned in both (mostly Q1/Q2 kids).

This is MAYBE accurate at 8-12, once puberty hits it no longer accurate. But again, this is an RAE argument, not a “participation” argument. And if it’s RAE none of this matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still nothing from the 5 stages of grief BY guy?? He tucked tail and ran quick when the real news starting coming out. lol.

Now its just the BY bubble parents trying to find any remaining way to hold on to this broken system. Face it, you'll need to compete with your peers. Stop being afraid. You have one more season to play with little kids, then it'll be time to grow up. You know your kid wasn't getting a scholarship anyway so relax.

Except there aren't THAT many younger players who will challenge those Q1 kids because a lot of them, especially the better ones, don't want to play with their grade until HS. Their SOCCER peers are their BY. They probably will be happy to avoid the so-called trap year BUT that's only if you wanted to play HS and HS ball is actually decent enough for your player development (It's not in a lot of places ... and I'm sure the debate whether high-level club players actually play HS will be back soon). This change would work best in terms of minimizing disruption for existing players and teams if they started it at U6 next fall and grew it from there (because yes, SY likely does make more sense for the vast majority of youth soccer -- except those already in the current system).

Spoiler alert! High level soccer players seldom play HS, and often only once committed to a college. Also they often play a different position in HS (ie a WB club playing HS striker) for a variety of reasons, but typically because they’re the best player on the field at all times.

[Anonymous]

When ECNL makes the switch, it is going to be so much fun watching the posts proliferate in this forum for club switching. There is going to be so much losing in the u13-u15 range and tons of the parents are going to be on full tilt because they forget that it isn’t about them.

Stock up on popcorn! 2026-2028 will be a wild window until the balance gets restored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our director is talking about forming SY teams and having them play up since 25/26 is now a wash. So the 2012 age group is now Aug 1 2012 to July 31 2013. 2013 is now Aug 1 2013 to July 31 2014

Where do Q3 kids who started school early go under the new approach? For example, October 2013 birthday currently playing U12 and already in 6th grade? The above cutoffs would move them down a soccer year, but that would have them playing with kids a grade below them. Maybe an advantage playing against younger kids, but they’re already used to playing with older kids and moving down would mess up their recruiting cycle.

I don’t feel bad for kids who started school early or late. It’s a problem of your own making.

Again, many of the kids in these situations are in states that have a 9/1 or later deadline for school enrollment. For example, August birthday's in a state with a September 1 deadline started school exactly on time. They didn't start early.

Right so 9/1 or a 9/30 date makes more sense than 8/1.

No, anything other than 8-1 creates too many trapped kids. Possible to play up, not possible to play down. Been pointed out to you over and over, pay attention.

No wrong.

They could make the cutoff 7/1.

Thev"issue" if you want to call it that is if a school started Sept 1 players born between July 1 and Sept 1 could play down a grade. Most people in this situation would choose to play up (which is complely allowed) with their grade in school for recruiting by the time they hit u14.

The difference here is that yes there will be some parents that choose to let their kid play down for wins.

Wouldn’t playing down for wins be counterproductive if your goal is to keep playing in college, even D-3?

Kids classified by soccer year below their school grade would be playing soccer on age.

Their choice would be to play on age to get picked for the best teams, best coaches and best positions and get optimal playing time versus playing up with their school grade peers, a better challenge in practice, possibly having to play on a lower level team and to align for possible college recruitment. There is not a one size fits all to this choice which seems to bother people.

They could play on age (and benefit from being the oldest), get recruited on their team’s timeline (not their fault their school has a late cutoff), take a gap year between highschool and college to get school and soccer aligned, and continue to play with their club team during the gap year.

Ugh... Cheaters gonna cheat.

This is why we can't have anything nice.

Instead of working the system to play down just play up and at least try to makenyour kid a better player.

The same exact thing can be said about Q1 kids’ parents not wanting to change to SY. Why care about whether your Q1 kid is going to play against younger Q3 and Q4 kids? You can make your kid better by playing older Q3 and Q4 kids of their same grade level by going SY.

[Anonymous]

CY traps Q4 kids on a team full of kids a grade ahead of them. SY traps Q3 kids on a team full of kids a grade below them. CY drags kids up, SY drags them down. The issue is a disconnect between grade and soccer level, and both systems have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current trapped players (mostly Q4 birthdays) are forced to play with kids a grade above them. Harder for them to make / succeed on the top teams, because they’re young and so are physically and emotionally behind developmentally. And playing with kids in their grade isn’t permitted because they are too old.

New trapped players (mostly Q3 birthdays) need to be good enough to “play up” to be able to play with kids in their grade, and if they are good enough to make an ecnl team but they are not a unicorn, they’ll struggle to get recruited because they are as many as 14 months younger than their teammates and so are physically and emotionally behind. They have the option to “play down” with kids a grade below them, where they’ll look like unicorns, but then they’re off their grade’s recruiting cycle.

Sort of sucks for both groups, because for them school and soccer “cohorts” are not aligned. That’s different than being relatively older or younger under the CY/SY systems but having your school and soccer “cohorts” aligned in both (mostly Q1/Q2 kids).

This is spot on, and the Q4 animosity for Q1 is going to hit a reality wall when they see that it doesn’t make much difference in the ECNL years.