ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are delusional if they feel RAE is not present in the soccer ecosystem. 5 years in the game, and have seen this first hand with my daughter at tryouts when she was 8 or 9. Have a daughter that is q3 that was placed on the "B" team, that eventually moved up to "A" team after a year and half.
"A" team had better coaching/ training times,better tournament's ect...when inclement weather canceled training "B" team stayed home "A" team moved indoors. 12 of the 14 girls on "A" team were Q1/Q2 with the other 2 being placed because of transion from a competing club in the area.
After 2 years I would say most of the "B" team girls either quit soccer all together or choose diffrent sports.
Clubs definitely put all these Q1/Q2 girls at a young age on the top team initially because it is harder to evaluate talent at 9 years old.
I guess I was naive when this came up on the ECNL podcast over the summer regarding age bias. As the team manager I went though all my game cards from last year and looked at the opposing birthday's of all the teams we played and it was overwhelmingly Q1/Q2 girls we were playing. (Ohio/Michigan ECNL)
Yes your kid is given an advantage before they even step on the pitch at 8 years old when they start club due to there age, and given more attention on the "A" at such a young age.

My kid is a Sept g2010 who starts and has played on the top team since she was 5.

While I acknowledge that some kids are going to be bigger because they were born in Jan. By the time they're u14 things even out.

Also my daughter also has played high level futsal since age 6, does strength training, when younger guested for all kinds of different teams, and occasionally does private lessons.

There's a reason she's on the top 2010 starting as a "trapped" player.

Sometimes I feel the RAE patents need to give it a rest. Either get better or move onto a different sport. Things don't get easier as they get older and after u14 nobody cares about RAE anymore.

OMG, so I guess the reason 70% of D1 recruits are born Jan-June is because Q4 kids just aren't trying hard enough or didn't have the talent your kid has. That's not smug or elitist at all.

RAE is very real. Its heavily affects kids and causes them to drop out of the sport. Lets all just admit it and move on. Then we can start thinking through ways to help kids on the lower end of the band. Get better or move to another sport, lol. What a pompous blowhard. As your daughter does private coaching (money), training (money), tons of club teams (money, money, money). Your kid is privileged, we get it. The rest of us peasants will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go find a new sport I guess.

Then funny thing is, is that there is some inner-city kid that given the same opportunities turns into the US Yamal, but we would never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It helps if you've coached or managed human beings. Children especially. They are sponges picking up on tiny signals telling them who they are and what they're worth.

My daughter is a Q4 kid that believes she's amazing. She's an incredible athlete that is far faster and stronger than 2013's but average for 2012's because she's a year behind her peers.

Keeping her motivated and loving soccer has been intentional and difficult at times. Let's just accept RAE and find ways to mitigate it the best we can along a childs journey. We'll keep more kids playing that way and develop a stronger soccer culture in the US, which the the goal we all have.

A year? So every other child on every team she has been on was born 11.75 months before her? Come on. Some of the girls are only a few months older than yours. And don't give me the grade level argument, especially for a girl. Being in a grade below some or most teammates does not cause some dramatic change in how a child is able to learn how to play a sport.

Stop acting like every kid not born in Q4 is so much older and more mature than your child. She is playing against plenty of kids born in Q2 and Q3. The drama from the Q4 parents is ridiculous. Your kid is not "playing up" right now and they will not be "playing down" if the age cutoffs change. If your kid was truly good none of this would matter. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are delusional if they feel RAE is not present in the soccer ecosystem. 5 years in the game, and have seen this first hand with my daughter at tryouts when she was 8 or 9. Have a daughter that is q3 that was placed on the "B" team, that eventually moved up to "A" team after a year and half.
"A" team had better coaching/ training times,better tournament's ect...when inclement weather canceled training "B" team stayed home "A" team moved indoors. 12 of the 14 girls on "A" team were Q1/Q2 with the other 2 being placed because of transion from a competing club in the area.
After 2 years I would say most of the "B" team girls either quit soccer all together or choose diffrent sports.
Clubs definitely put all these Q1/Q2 girls at a young age on the top team initially because it is harder to evaluate talent at 9 years old.
I guess I was naive when this came up on the ECNL podcast over the summer regarding age bias. As the team manager I went though all my game cards from last year and looked at the opposing birthday's of all the teams we played and it was overwhelmingly Q1/Q2 girls we were playing. (Ohio/Michigan ECNL)
Yes your kid is given an advantage before they even step on the pitch at 8 years old when they start club due to there age, and given more attention on the "A" at such a young age.

My kid is a Sept g2010 who starts and has played on the top team since she was 5.

While I acknowledge that some kids are going to be bigger because they were born in Jan. By the time they're u14 things even out.

Also my daughter also has played high level futsal since age 6, does strength training, when younger guested for all kinds of different teams, and occasionally does private lessons.

There's a reason she's on the top 2010 starting as a "trapped" player.

Sometimes I feel the RAE patents need to give it a rest. Either get better or move onto a different sport. Things don't get easier as they get older and after u14 nobody cares about RAE anymore.

OMG, so I guess the reason 70% of D1 recruits are born Jan-June is because Q4 kids just aren't trying hard enough or didn't have the talent your kid has. That's not smug or elitist at all.

RAE is very real. Its heavily affects kids and causes them to drop out of the sport. Lets all just admit it and move on. Then we can start thinking through ways to help kids on the lower end of the band. Get better or move to another sport, lol. What a pompous blowhard. As your daughter does private coaching (money), training (money), tons of club teams (money, money, money). Your kid is privileged, we get it. The rest of us peasants will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go find a new sport I guess.

I've seen Jan birthdays now make the top teams. Mostly because they're not doing all the extras and being the best player possible.

[Anonymous]

So much drama over something so insignificant! It will work out. Play up or play your age. It's simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The RAE deciples realize that going from BY to SY doesn't change anything. Correct?

All you're doing is shifting those most affected from December birthdays to July birthdays. The exact same amount of players are affected.

Using RAE to justify SY is laughable and disingenuous.

You mean, as has been stated in 400 pages of this thread?? Can you read? Yes, everyone is aware going to SY changes nothing with RAE but it solves for a bunch of other issues....hence its better and wanted by the majority of stakeholders. Not one person here is using RAE as a reason to move to SY, your comprehension is near zero, get that checked.

If RAE doesn't change with BY or SY why do people keep bringing it up on a thread about BY and SY.?

New here? So many reasons.

Some struggle with being smart enough to know it exists, it changes as kids age, changes can change who gets affected, it has a cumulative effect that may not be erased at a certain age (and it isn't clear on what that age is, and it could differ for girls and boys), coaches/clubs/scouts focus more on wins than skills and they don't seem sharp enough to know RAE exists or don't care, etc.

Would be surprising if it wasn't discussed.

And note, that competitive travel youth soccer isn't really changing from BY to SY in fall 2026 (the opposite of changing from SY to BY). It is changing from BY to both BY and SY. Details to be TBD. Having both seems like the best solution to try to limit RAE effects, increase participation and increase the pool of players for the men's and women's national teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are delusional if they feel RAE is not present in the soccer ecosystem. 5 years in the game, and have seen this first hand with my daughter at tryouts when she was 8 or 9. Have a daughter that is q3 that was placed on the "B" team, that eventually moved up to "A" team after a year and half.
"A" team had better coaching/ training times,better tournament's ect...when inclement weather canceled training "B" team stayed home "A" team moved indoors. 12 of the 14 girls on "A" team were Q1/Q2 with the other 2 being placed because of transion from a competing club in the area.
After 2 years I would say most of the "B" team girls either quit soccer all together or choose diffrent sports.
Clubs definitely put all these Q1/Q2 girls at a young age on the top team initially because it is harder to evaluate talent at 9 years old.
I guess I was naive when this came up on the ECNL podcast over the summer regarding age bias. As the team manager I went though all my game cards from last year and looked at the opposing birthday's of all the teams we played and it was overwhelmingly Q1/Q2 girls we were playing. (Ohio/Michigan ECNL)
Yes your kid is given an advantage before they even step on the pitch at 8 years old when they start club due to there age, and given more attention on the "A" at such a young age.

My kid is a Sept g2010 who starts and has played on the top team since she was 5.

While I acknowledge that some kids are going to be bigger because they were born in Jan. By the time they're u14 things even out.

Also my daughter also has played high level futsal since age 6, does strength training, when younger guested for all kinds of different teams, and occasionally does private lessons.

There's a reason she's on the top 2010 starting as a "trapped" player.

Sometimes I feel the RAE patents need to give it a rest. Either get better or move onto a different sport. Things don't get easier as they get older and after u14 nobody cares about RAE anymore.

OMG, so I guess the reason 70% of D1 recruits are born Jan-June is because Q4 kids just aren't trying hard enough or didn't have the talent your kid has. That's not smug or elitist at all.

RAE is very real. Its heavily affects kids and causes them to drop out of the sport. Lets all just admit it and move on. Then we can start thinking through ways to help kids on the lower end of the band. Get better or move to another sport, lol. What a pompous blowhard. As your daughter does private coaching (money), training (money), tons of club teams (money, money, money). Your kid is privileged, we get it. The rest of us peasants will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go find a new sport I guess.

No not privileged, she just likes to play so we work our buts off to give her the best environment to be the best player possible.

You seem to be full of excuses. RAE, Poor, BY, bla bla bla.

[Anonymous]

I’ll start with this I have two kids a May pre ECNL girl and a November ECNL boy. So regardless of how they change things I’m in the same boat essentially.

I am still not completely sold US club/ECNL are not going to adjust in some way for Fall 25 or spring 26. I’m not saying they will completely go against the mandate but the way the ECNL prez mentions again what authority US soccer has is interesting. It’s also a rumor the mls and MLSN are the reason us soccer isn’t going with a full mandate change even though the majority wanted SY.

Seems like they are getting into a puffing of the chests. I still think ECNL will play nice but just a feeling I have knowing how much ECNL and MLSN people don’t like each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It helps if you've coached or managed human beings. Children especially. They are sponges picking up on tiny signals telling them who they are and what they're worth.

My daughter is a Q4 kid that believes she's amazing. She's an incredible athlete that is far faster and stronger than 2013's but average for 2012's because she's a year behind her peers.

Keeping her motivated and loving soccer has been intentional and difficult at times. Let's just accept RAE and find ways to mitigate it the best we can along a childs journey. We'll keep more kids playing that way and develop a stronger soccer culture in the US, which the the goal we all have.

A year? So every other child on every team she has been on was born 11.75 months before her? Come on. Some of the girls are only a few months older than yours. And don't give me the grade level argument, especially for a girl. Being in a grade below some or most teammates does not cause some dramatic change in how a child is able to learn how to play a sport.

Stop acting like every kid not born in Q4 is so much older and more mature than your child. She is playing against plenty of kids born in Q2 and Q3. The drama from the Q4 parents is ridiculous. Your kid is not "playing up" right now and they will not be "playing down" if the age cutoffs change. If your kid was truly good none of this would matter. Get over it.

Umm...yes. A year. Stick to subjects you know, this clearly isn't one of them. Half the team is Jan-Mar (not uncommon on high level teams BTW), she's early December and most other scatter between Mar and July. 90% of the team is in junior high and she goes to a small elementary school. Do you have ANY idea the disparity between a small elementary school and junior high girls?? Bwahahaha, it wasn't this bad when they were all in elelmentary but this year has been a nightmare. The whole team turned into women and my kid still likes barbies. I'll spare you the things she learned about this year from her teammates. Let's just say she is now maturing rapidly past her classmates because this team spends so much time together and its straining her school relationships. She sees them as little kids, its WEIRD and unnecessary. My kids a killer on the field, Im not worried about soccer. I let her play with 6th graders once and by the time 3 of them cried due to her aggression I pulled her off the field after her 3rd goal. When this change goes down I feel bad for other 6th graders, I may just keep her playing up. None of that is the point. You're wrong all over. She is playing up on and off the field right now. Playing with 6th graders will be playing down...trust me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are delusional if they feel RAE is not present in the soccer ecosystem. 5 years in the game, and have seen this first hand with my daughter at tryouts when she was 8 or 9. Have a daughter that is q3 that was placed on the "B" team, that eventually moved up to "A" team after a year and half.
"A" team had better coaching/ training times,better tournament's ect...when inclement weather canceled training "B" team stayed home "A" team moved indoors. 12 of the 14 girls on "A" team were Q1/Q2 with the other 2 being placed because of transion from a competing club in the area.
After 2 years I would say most of the "B" team girls either quit soccer all together or choose diffrent sports.
Clubs definitely put all these Q1/Q2 girls at a young age on the top team initially because it is harder to evaluate talent at 9 years old.
I guess I was naive when this came up on the ECNL podcast over the summer regarding age bias. As the team manager I went though all my game cards from last year and looked at the opposing birthday's of all the teams we played and it was overwhelmingly Q1/Q2 girls we were playing. (Ohio/Michigan ECNL)
Yes your kid is given an advantage before they even step on the pitch at 8 years old when they start club due to there age, and given more attention on the "A" at such a young age.

My kid is a Sept g2010 who starts and has played on the top team since she was 5.

While I acknowledge that some kids are going to be bigger because they were born in Jan. By the time they're u14 things even out.

Also my daughter also has played high level futsal since age 6, does strength training, when younger guested for all kinds of different teams, and occasionally does private lessons.

There's a reason she's on the top 2010 starting as a "trapped" player.

Sometimes I feel the RAE patents need to give it a rest. Either get better or move onto a different sport. Things don't get easier as they get older and after u14 nobody cares about RAE anymore.

OMG, so I guess the reason 70% of D1 recruits are born Jan-June is because Q4 kids just aren't trying hard enough or didn't have the talent your kid has. That's not smug or elitist at all.

RAE is very real. Its heavily affects kids and causes them to drop out of the sport. Lets all just admit it and move on. Then we can start thinking through ways to help kids on the lower end of the band. Get better or move to another sport, lol. What a pompous blowhard. As your daughter does private coaching (money), training (money), tons of club teams (money, money, money). Your kid is privileged, we get it. The rest of us peasants will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go find a new sport I guess.

No not privileged, she just likes to play so we work our buts off to give her the best environment to be the best player possible.

You seem to be full of excuses. RAE, Poor, BY, bla bla bla.

Like I said, us peasants will just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. I'll swing by the tough neighborhoods full of great potential athletes after work and pass the message along. Keep telling us how privileged your kid is while trying to make it seem they're not. You're ridiculous and you don't even know it, which makes it pathetic.

This is a pay to play sport and Im sorry, not everyone can afford to pay. Its not just money BTW, its time and access and location and education and on an on. Forget it, you'd never understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll start with this I have two kids a May pre ECNL girl and a November ECNL boy. So regardless of how they change things I’m in the same boat essentially.

I am still not completely sold US club/ECNL are not going to adjust in some way for Fall 25 or spring 26. I’m not saying they will completely go against the mandate but the way the ECNL prez mentions again what authority US soccer has is interesting. It’s also a rumor the mls and MLSN are the reason us soccer isn’t going with a full mandate change even though the majority wanted SY.

Seems like they are getting into a puffing of the chests. I still think ECNL will play nice but just a feeling I have knowing how much ECNL and MLSN people don’t like each other.

Not a chance ECNL does anything. If they were even thinking about it they would have told the clubs to shut up for a while. Instead they are letting the clubs tell families no change for 25/26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are delusional if they feel RAE is not present in the soccer ecosystem. 5 years in the game, and have seen this first hand with my daughter at tryouts when she was 8 or 9. Have a daughter that is q3 that was placed on the "B" team, that eventually moved up to "A" team after a year and half.
"A" team had better coaching/ training times,better tournament's ect...when inclement weather canceled training "B" team stayed home "A" team moved indoors. 12 of the 14 girls on "A" team were Q1/Q2 with the other 2 being placed because of transion from a competing club in the area.
After 2 years I would say most of the "B" team girls either quit soccer all together or choose diffrent sports.
Clubs definitely put all these Q1/Q2 girls at a young age on the top team initially because it is harder to evaluate talent at 9 years old.
I guess I was naive when this came up on the ECNL podcast over the summer regarding age bias. As the team manager I went though all my game cards from last year and looked at the opposing birthday's of all the teams we played and it was overwhelmingly Q1/Q2 girls we were playing. (Ohio/Michigan ECNL)
Yes your kid is given an advantage before they even step on the pitch at 8 years old when they start club due to there age, and given more attention on the "A" at such a young age.

My kid is a Sept g2010 who starts and has played on the top team since she was 5.

While I acknowledge that some kids are going to be bigger because they were born in Jan. By the time they're u14 things even out.

Also my daughter also has played high level futsal since age 6, does strength training, when younger guested for all kinds of different teams, and occasionally does private lessons.

There's a reason she's on the top 2010 starting as a "trapped" player.

Sometimes I feel the RAE patents need to give it a rest. Either get better or move onto a different sport. Things don't get easier as they get older and after u14 nobody cares about RAE anymore.

OMG, so I guess the reason 70% of D1 recruits are born Jan-June is because Q4 kids just aren't trying hard enough or didn't have the talent your kid has. That's not smug or elitist at all.

RAE is very real. Its heavily affects kids and causes them to drop out of the sport. Lets all just admit it and move on. Then we can start thinking through ways to help kids on the lower end of the band. Get better or move to another sport, lol. What a pompous blowhard. As your daughter does private coaching (money), training (money), tons of club teams (money, money, money). Your kid is privileged, we get it. The rest of us peasants will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go find a new sport I guess.

No not privileged, she just likes to play so we work our buts off to give her the best environment to be the best player possible.

You seem to be full of excuses. RAE, Poor, BY, bla bla bla.

Like I said, us peasants will just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. I'll swing by the tough neighborhoods full of great potential athletes after work and pass the message along. Keep telling us how privileged your kid is while trying to make it seem they're not. You're ridiculous and you don't even know it, which makes it pathetic.

This is a pay to play sport and Im sorry, not everyone can afford to pay. Its not just money BTW, its time and access and location and education and on an on. Forget it, you'd never understand.

Not PP but what are you even talking about? It is what it is. Those are the rules. Play by them or move to another sport.

[Anonymous]

Which ECNL teams have been told no change for 25/26? Clubs that have teams that play USYS have put out general statements but I haven’t heard of ECNL teams playing US Club soccer being told.

[Anonymous]

What people are forgetting is that there are teams for everyone. BY, SY, GY it really doesnt matter. I honestly think it is a parent "cocktail party" issue to say that you play ECNL or GA. If you are a younger that is playing good minutes on a BY SoCal Blues or Solar then you are at the pinnacle. Literally everyone else can find perfectly good development opportunities in every major market in the country. In NOVA there are 4 clubs with 8 teams that play high level. Pick one where you vibe with the coach and your kid gets 60+min a game and they will be fine. FFS it is still just a game and if they are good enough to play in college the coaches will find them. If you have to work too hard on getting recruited to D1 then look at D2 or D3. I am over all the parents ruining the game for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Wasnt US CLub supposed to put out a statement? We have not herd anything from them.

https://usclubsoccer.org/registration-player-age-groups/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt US CLub supposed to put out a statement? We have not herd anything from them.

https://usclubsoccer.org/registration-player-age-groups/

My guess is we will know something more definitive in 2 weeks or so. The ECNL podcast seems to align with getting newish information, the chagrin of some on here.