ECNL moving to school year part 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL clubs are starting to figure it out.

https://mnthunderacademy.org/age-group-change-2026-2027-season/

https://forms.gle/3oh48imdcJrGkxJp9

MTA Grade Alignment Application
This optional application is ONLY for players with an August/September birthdate AND in a school grade that does not align with their typical birth-year group (e.g., they started school early) AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season.

If your child is already in the "correct" grade for their age group, no action is needed.

This Grade Alignment Application is not a "play up" request based on skill, but an application to tryout at the older age group to align a player on a team that matches their academic grade level.

The club will review all applications and confirm placement based on the provided school documentation. Once your petition has been accepted, you will only be required to tryout in the new age group. You will not be placed or considered for a team at the lower age group. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement this new structure to ensure the best possible development experience for all our players.

Nice of them to let players that aren't trying to play competitively play up for secondary even if they lack the talent to play up. "AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season."

It's standard case by case stuff.

Play up even if you’re not good enough to play up?

Does anyone take any of this crap seriously?

It's for rec and low level travel teams. Not sure why playing up is a problem if a kid wants to play with friends. Case by case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL clubs are starting to figure it out.

https://mnthunderacademy.org/age-group-change-2026-2027-season/

https://forms.gle/3oh48imdcJrGkxJp9

MTA Grade Alignment Application
This optional application is ONLY for players with an August/September birthdate AND in a school grade that does not align with their typical birth-year group (e.g., they started school early) AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season.

If your child is already in the "correct" grade for their age group, no action is needed.

This Grade Alignment Application is not a "play up" request based on skill, but an application to tryout at the older age group to align a player on a team that matches their academic grade level.

The club will review all applications and confirm placement based on the provided school documentation. Once your petition has been accepted, you will only be required to tryout in the new age group. You will not be placed or considered for a team at the lower age group. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement this new structure to ensure the best possible development experience for all our players.

Nice of them to let players that aren't trying to play competitively play up for secondary even if they lack the talent to play up. "AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season."

It's standard case by case stuff.

Play up even if you’re not good enough to play up?

Does anyone take any of this crap seriously?

It's for rec and low level travel teams. Not sure why playing up is a problem if a kid wants to play with friends. Case by case.

Not true under SY.

Clubs group teams by grade and Aug birthdays play up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

Because it doesn't match everything that actual college coaches have tried to tell people. Most college coaches rely on contact directly from players and ID camps they hold to scout players. None of those situations rely on what team an individual player is on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

Correct, age doesn't matter to college coaches. The bottom line is that you can be in any age group, they don't care. Grade or level therefore does not matter, only the quality of the player and their school marks. No player is unrecruitable, that's just silly nonsense.

August players playing on age will start over your daughter and go on to college. August girls playing up a year lacking the skills to do so will quit the sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL clubs are starting to figure it out.

https://mnthunderacademy.org/age-group-change-2026-2027-season/

https://forms.gle/3oh48imdcJrGkxJp9

MTA Grade Alignment Application
This optional application is ONLY for players with an August/September birthdate AND in a school grade that does not align with their typical birth-year group (e.g., they started school early) AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season.

If your child is already in the "correct" grade for their age group, no action is needed.

This Grade Alignment Application is not a "play up" request based on skill, but an application to tryout at the older age group to align a player on a team that matches their academic grade level.

The club will review all applications and confirm placement based on the provided school documentation. Once your petition has been accepted, you will only be required to tryout in the new age group. You will not be placed or considered for a team at the lower age group. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement this new structure to ensure the best possible development experience for all our players.

Nice of them to let players that aren't trying to play competitively play up for secondary even if they lack the talent to play up. "AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season."

It's standard case by case stuff.

Play up even if you’re not good enough to play up?

Does anyone take any of this crap seriously?

It's for rec and low level travel teams. Not sure why playing up is a problem if a kid wants to play with friends. Case by case.

Not true under SY.

Clubs group teams by grade and Aug birthdays play up.

What? Rules are by age. What's the score, like 30 clubs not forcing kids on grade and 2 low level in NJ forcing grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL clubs are starting to figure it out.

https://mnthunderacademy.org/age-group-change-2026-2027-season/

https://forms.gle/3oh48imdcJrGkxJp9

MTA Grade Alignment Application
This optional application is ONLY for players with an August/September birthdate AND in a school grade that does not align with their typical birth-year group (e.g., they started school early) AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season.

If your child is already in the "correct" grade for their age group, no action is needed.

This Grade Alignment Application is not a "play up" request based on skill, but an application to tryout at the older age group to align a player on a team that matches their academic grade level.

The club will review all applications and confirm placement based on the provided school documentation. Once your petition has been accepted, you will only be required to tryout in the new age group. You will not be placed or considered for a team at the lower age group. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement this new structure to ensure the best possible development experience for all our players.

Nice of them to let players that aren't trying to play competitively play up for secondary even if they lack the talent to play up. "AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season."

It's standard case by case stuff.

Play up even if you’re not good enough to play up?

Does anyone take any of this crap seriously?

It's for rec and low level travel teams. Not sure why playing up is a problem if a kid wants to play with friends. Case by case.

This the kids who grow up and have entitlement for an A when they turned in D quality work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL clubs are starting to figure it out.

https://mnthunderacademy.org/age-group-change-2026-2027-season/

https://forms.gle/3oh48imdcJrGkxJp9

MTA Grade Alignment Application
This optional application is ONLY for players with an August/September birthdate AND in a school grade that does not align with their typical birth-year group (e.g., they started school early) AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season.

If your child is already in the "correct" grade for their age group, no action is needed.

This Grade Alignment Application is not a "play up" request based on skill, but an application to tryout at the older age group to align a player on a team that matches their academic grade level.

The club will review all applications and confirm placement based on the provided school documentation. Once your petition has been accepted, you will only be required to tryout in the new age group. You will not be placed or considered for a team at the lower age group. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement this new structure to ensure the best possible development experience for all our players.

Nice of them to let players that aren't trying to play competitively play up for secondary even if they lack the talent to play up. "AND requesting to play with their grade level for the 26-27 season."

It's standard case by case stuff.

Play up even if you’re not good enough to play up?

Does anyone take any of this crap seriously?

It's for rec and low level travel teams. Not sure why playing up is a problem if a kid wants to play with friends. Case by case.

Not true under SY.

Clubs group teams by grade and Aug birthdays play up.

SY is Season Year
Not School Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

Because it doesn't match everything that actual college coaches have tried to tell people. Most college coaches rely on contact directly from players and ID camps they hold to scout players. None of those situations rely on what team an individual player is on.

1. College coaches cant speak with players before Junior year

2. If you want to take your kid to college id camps why are you even messing around with clubs soccer? Club soccer is designed for players to get showcased to college coaches without the need to attend college id camps. Meaning if you didnt choose to play down everything as designed at clubs would work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

Will this impact college recruiting?
The new two-year age group structure will not negatively impact college recruiting. College coaches evaluate players based on their performance, development, and potential—not the exact age grouping of their club team.

https://www.eastsidefc.org/agegroups

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FC Copa from transcript, "..had separate conversations with college coaches Those coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age the player is they will only recruit them when they hit their junior and senior years."

Eastside said something similar and a bunch of pages backnactual coaches said as much on Facebook.

Ample evidence, substantiated evidence, that playing in age will not hurt college recruiting according to college coaches. Horses mouth not opinion of random posters.

Age does not matter to college coaches. Grade or level played does matter. This is why FC Copa is grouping Aug birthdays "up" with their grade in school team.

Aug birthdays plaing down are misaligned to a lower level / grade team. Which makes them unrecruitable.

How do you not understand this?

Because it doesn't match everything that actual college coaches have tried to tell people. Most college coaches rely on contact directly from players and ID camps they hold to scout players. None of those situations rely on what team an individual player is on.

1. College coaches cant speak with players before Junior year

2. If you want to take your kid to college id camps why are you even messing around with clubs soccer? Club soccer is designed for players to get showcased to college coaches without the need to attend college id camps. Meaning if you didnt choose to play down everything as designed at clubs would work.

Everything works great playing on age, it's within the rules and league and club suggested while college coaches don't care, just be able to matriculate.

[Anonymous]

Some college coaches even recruit from HS so everyone is definitely recruitable regardless of club age group.

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1800711003856893&id=433734590554548

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some college coaches even recruit from HS so everyone is definitely recruitable regardless of club age group.

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1800711003856893&id=433734590554548

Bad link, try

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/862950587191584/posts/2644595809027044/&ved=2ahUKEwi64ZKRmLmSAxXaF1kFHbVMCOI4ChAWegQILhAB&usg=AOvVaw2ZxtnPl4oHf0HW7-OwDyiR

[Anonymous]

I think Arlington's approach makes sense. Our club does not allow play ups to non-1st teams, which makes sense as a policy. They will now allow misaligned August kids to request to play up with their academic year and participate in tryouts normally. For our club, this will make a big difference for the 2nd teams and lower. There are lots of 1st team kids who could make the 2nd or 3rd or 4th team of the year ahead of them and now, for certain kids, that's allowed. It makes complete sense to me. If August/September kids prefer to stay on their existing team even though the kids on it are a grade behind in school (perhaps because they'd rather play on a 1st team than a 2nd one, or perhaps because they're small for their age and don't want to exacerbate the issue), that's completely fine too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Arlington's approach makes sense. Our club does not allow play ups to non-1st teams, which makes sense as a policy. They will now allow misaligned August kids to request to play up with their academic year and participate in tryouts normally. For our club, this will make a big difference for the 2nd teams and lower. There are lots of 1st team kids who could make the 2nd or 3rd or 4th team of the year ahead of them and now, for certain kids, that's allowed. It makes complete sense to me. If August/September kids prefer to stay on their existing team even though the kids on it are a grade behind in school (perhaps because they'd rather play on a 1st team than a 2nd one, or perhaps because they're small for their age and don't want to exacerbate the issue), that's completely fine too.

Arlington is BY right now. This fall they will change to SY and magically more players will be playing up on top teams so they're on the correct grade team for college recruiting.