A club that knows allowing Aug birthdays to play down creates long term issues. The short term wins arent worth the long term challenges. Also its better for the player to have club level and grade in school aligned for college recruiting. |
No, and repeating it doesn't make it true |
Our club will put players in the correct age grouping…Aug to July no matter the grade the best players in that range make the team. If they are in a grade above that’s for the kids family to deal with and make the decision I guess if they want on the team. I don’t understand all this talk about August players, it is what it is. |
So you think just saying "No" means that clubs wont do something that makes their business easier to manage? Clubs have two options with Aug birthdays. 1. Take their money and allow Aug players to play on grade down teams. Short term this will work. However long term its guaranteed to cause drama. Which likely will blow up teams. 2. Roster them on a correct grade in school B team. Parents may or may not choose to play on the team. If they do great the club gets more money. If they don't the club avoids all the drama that comes with players playing down a grade. You can see why clubs will abopt a no playing down policy. I keeps drama to a minimum and lets teams/coaches focus on playing with your grade only. |
This is a large ECNL club BTW |
Explain slowly, in point by point detail, exactly how grouping teams by school grade makes things easier for a club |
Because US Soccer didnt make a clear definition of what clubs should do with Aug birthdays its up to clubs/parents to make the decisions. It all comes down to when the school district your kids started school at defined their cutoff date and if parents chose to skirt the rules so their kid can be the oldest. Whats weird is in BY some Aug birthdays will be playing on a team thats mostly a players a grade older than they are. When we switch to SY this fall that same player will be the oldest on a team where they're a grade older than everyone else. In essence they'll be dropping down two levels in club soccer. How a club could allow this to happen and not play a player in this situation "up" so they're on the correct grade in school team is beyond me. |
Clubs want all levels of player playing on the correct grade in school A B C etc team. This is because its better for players when they get to recruiting years. Its better for the club because they avoid 8th grade teams with 9th grade players who do high school soccer for 4 months out of the year. And in general its easier for clubs to manage everyone when players are grouped by grade. (Think homecoming, or a school trip that only one grade participates in, etc) On top of everything else it keeps correct grade in school parents from getting pissed at the play down taking their kids minutes at events. (showcases) Which causes teams to blow up. |
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SY 8/1-7/31 is a dumb way to describe grouping eligibility when players are allowed to play up. This is because the 7/31 date is meaningless again if players are allowed to play up.
They should have labeled the grouping 8/1 and younger. Because this is what it actually is. People are getting humg up on 7/31 when its meaningless. |
| The homecoming and field trips explanation is the best one I’ve seen yet lol. You must have a kid in a small town where everyone on the team goes to the same school. Sure, that would help for planning purposes in that specific situation, but not around here where kids on the team go to a wide range of schools. Hint - different schools have different homecoming and field trip dates. |
Ok smart guy what happens when 90% of the team is in 8th grade and if the club allows Aug birthday play downs 10% is in High School? Attending homecoming, playing high school soccer, etc. This is why homecoming was selected as an example. |
Are you going to actually answer the question You've said nothing that shows club management is easier, better, using school grades than it is now going by calendar date of birth Also, why is the ease of club management more important than the soccer development of the kids? There are no 8th grade teams or 9th grade teams. There are players in 8th grade and players in 9th grade |
This is pure speculation and not grounded in any proof or evidence. Also, clubs allowing families to decide if they want to play up on grade is not evidence. Evidence would be forcing them to play up, or cutting them from age team A. Which we haven't seen yet. |
But you are using grade to determine up and down. Age should be used to determine up and down. What do you do with a player who went to school on time and is in advanced courses and may graduate early, do you play them up two grades? |
You forget its actually 8/1/XXXX to 7/1/XXXX |