Meantime Sporting Blue Valley of the ECNL said: "School Grade is Irrelevant: It is much easier to consider the new age-group placement as relative to the August 1st cutoff and is not tied to their school grade level (whether they have been held back or are ahead)." |
If you click on individual teams they have rosters and it includes that info, but it's often left blank, too. |
From Matchfit an ECNL club in New Jersey. https://www.matchfitsurf.com/age-change-faqs "As we move toward the 2026–2027 season and beyond, our goal is for teams to be fully aligned with a player’s school grade whenever possible. This provides greater social continuity, roster stability, and a clearer long-term development pathway. That said, final age group placement must always comply with the nationally mandated date-of-birth ranges (August 1 – July 31). " |
Fact 1 Almost all teams, including Eastside and every team in the DMV and a bunch of top clubs nationally aren't forcing kids to play up based on their grade and will allow kids to play up based on a case by case basis. FC Copa, a few state clubs and a few others are pushing for grade to play up. The score is something around 35-4 of the announced clubs listed on this thread to not force kids to play on grade. Fact 2 College coaches on Facebook and in directly speaking with Eastside and FC Copa as reported by these clubs said the don't care what age group a kid is in when they are recruiting, only that they are eligible to attend college and they can't be contacted until their junior year. Note that these two facts are independent and do not prove or disprove each other. |
They also said …. (Which suggests fewer grade related play ups on national teams) “ Play-up opportunities on our national level teams will be minimized to safeguard long term player development, competitive integrity, and roster balance. State teams will have greater flexibility. Any consideration for team placement because of age/grade anomalies will be made collaboratively by the Directors and Coaching Staff. When considering a player to play up, the following criteria will guide the decision – Impact on player development, competition level and recruitment opportunities as well as team needs and roster balance. Guiding Principle – All decisions will prioritize what is best for the player and the overall team environment.” |
Hahaha you cant even keep your lies straight. I see you're finally starting to understand that FC Copa is grouping Aug/Sept players by grade based on college coach feedback who said that they dont wont to recruit misaligned players (Aug birthdays playing down). Next time before you cut and paste your previous comments you should real through and update FC Copa statements on the c+p parts. Your second "fact" is ridiculious the coaches you quoted as recruiting from high school were from a 2 year Community College in Arizona and a small private college somewhere in the Carolinas. I dont think either are even D3! They have to recruit from high schools because nobody else wants to play on their teams. |
Your game of but but but but doesnt matter Matchfit clearly stated that they plan to play Aug / Sept on their correct grade in school team. What is wrong with you? |
So case by case like most clubs with more latitude to play up for grade on lower level teams. |
College coaches on Facebook and in directly speaking with Eastside and FC Copa as reported by these clubs said the don't care what age group a kid is in when they are recruiting, only that they are eligible to attend college and they can't be contacted until their junior year. |
Junior college coaches and FC Copa https://youtu.be/H_MCwT85SKY? "So we will look to ensure that players are in their correct graduation year going into their high school years." Since you're too dumb to understand what this means I'll spell it out for you. FC Copa will play Aug and Sept birthdays (they're in New Jeresy who's school start date is in Sept) with their correct graduation year (grade in school team) team. This was decided after speaking with several college coaches and getting their feedback on aligned vs misaligned players. |
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Whatever Eastside and FC Copa and the rest of youth soccer are doing which almost all are playing on age with case by case playing up, they said this.
College coaches on Facebook and in directly speaking with Eastside and FC Copa as reported by these clubs said the don't care what age group a kid is in when they are recruiting, only that they are eligible to attend college and they can't be contacted until their junior year. |
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Guessing this is accepted because it hasn't been questioned. And how could you question the actual quote rather than some interpretation.
Eastside's age group change FAQ https://www.eastsidefc.or.../agegroups 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. For players already in the club, their body of work over the previous year—training, games, tournaments, and coach feedback—will continue to be the primary factor in college recruiting exposure. For new players, tryouts provide the opportunity to demonstrate skills and fit within the club environment. Additionally, Eastside FC will continue to provide structured recruiting support through workshops, panels, and guidance for players and families. The new age group system may actually provide more consistent training and development opportunities by balancing teams across two birth years, helping players continue to grow in a competitive and supportive environment. |
What did the college coaches tell them? Never mind, found it, "Those college coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age is they will only recruit them once they hit their junior and senior years." |
Sigh... No matter the age what FC Copa is sayjng is that you cant be in one grade in school while playjng down on a lower grade team in club. You're utopia of playjng down a grade is exactly what FC Copa doesnt want to allow and this decision was based on feedback from college coaches. |
It's on the website not the app for almost every team (and yes a lot are incorrect or missing for some players because it's self reported) |