ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

Parents ALWAYS complain about something. Guess what, if their kid goes anywhere in soccer, they'll face some adversity. They should look at this as a growth opportunity to learn from the more experienced players. Maybe that CB needs to learn the wing or defensive mid OR center forward. Mom and dad shouldn't always come to the rescue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

Clubs making these moves like this already? This is ECNL?

From all the convos here, this is an annual thing. The change is if they increased it beyond the current 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And just to boost our numbers, let me drop this nugget in here...my SY kid could beat up your BY kid. The only reason your BY kid is scoring 2 goals a year is because they are a March baby. Eat that

In your dreams! My Q4 kid playing 6 levels up scored 14 goals in the first half against the #2 ranked team in the country, while nursing a sore hammie. 456 scouts were at that game alone to watch. Could barely get out of the parking lot they were hounding my kid so bad. Had to get over to their training session with Pele (his ghost only charges $350/hr), so we couldn't sit around and sign any more autographs.

Oh now you've really done it...you just wait until we go SY and my kid dominates!

Funny how all the single date cutoff people go silent and slink away when it's called out that the smaller number of trapped players will be double screwed over.

Except the solution is to make them the oldest, perhaps by 14 months. AND trapped isn't ALWAYS the worst option. Sometimes playing with your club as an 8th-grader is superior than playing as an HS freshmen. Really depends on the individual case, including for college recruiting.

So now your thinking is that being a trapped player is a good thing.

Well, there are upsides. I know everyone likes to complain about the downsides, but trapped players are pretty much the most prepared for HS soccer by playing with older kids for years and instantly become the oldest of their 9th grade co-hort. This is also true if they make it to college.

Yep. My "trapped" 09 player played up on 08 for a number of years - and trained with the 07s as well. So by the time he got to high school (this fall), he was well used to playing against older kids and did really well.

That said, he was the only one. A lot of kids had to drop out due to these circumstances.

Yeah, it is unfortunate in a very competitive youth soccer world. Another reason Q4 tend to drop out is because they usually get the B team, making it harder. Still, you don't eliminate the problem of younger players struggling to succeed. You just move it from Q4 to summer bdays OR May unless there are still BY options. Sure they may be in their grade, but maybe they end up still not do sports where bigger/stronger is most rewarded. Maybe they do more academic pursuits OR noncut sports like cross-country or track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

how is this happening, when we are still BY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

how is this happening, when we are still BY?

Apparently under existing rules, ECNL teams can have up to 2 trapped players on younger teams those seasons, although many clubs try to form trapped teams instead. For example:

"We offer a Spring Friendly season for all trapped players. A trapped player is an 8th grader who is
playing on a U15 team with high school-age players. For Elite and Premier level teams, our aim is
to create teams who would compete in a local league. If we are unable to form a team, we will offer
training to our trapped players. Trapped ECNL and ECNL-R players will be integrated with U14 ECNL
and ECNL-R level teams."

https://dt5602vnjxv0c.cloudfront.net/portals/1559/docs/2024-25%20season%20packet/2024-2025_afu%20program%20league%20and%20tryout%20overview.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

how is this happening, when we are still BY?

It's always been happening with BY. These are the trapped players that get to play with their grade while their teammates are playing HS soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

how is this happening, when we are still BY?

Apparently under existing rules, ECNL teams can have up to 2 trapped players on younger teams those seasons, although many clubs try to form trapped teams instead. For example:

"We offer a Spring Friendly season for all trapped players. A trapped player is an 8th grader who is
playing on a U15 team with high school-age players. For Elite and Premier level teams, our aim is
to create teams who would compete in a local league. If we are unable to form a team, we will offer
training to our trapped players. Trapped ECNL and ECNL-R players will be integrated with U14 ECNL
and ECNL-R level teams."

https://dt5602vnjxv0c.cloudfront.net/portals/1559/docs/2024-25%20season%20packet/2024-2025_afu%20program%20league%20and%20tryout%20overview.pdf

Man, what a shame it would be to leave the older July/August kids with this crappy situation on steroids in fall 2026.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just chatted with some 2011 parents who are getting two trapped 2010s this spring. They are pissed off. Not a great situation for the unwelcome trapped players coming in taking playtime and not a great situation for the 2011 starting CB that’s losing her spot to a 2010 this spring.

how is this happening, when we are still BY?

Apparently under existing rules, ECNL teams can have up to 2 trapped players on younger teams those seasons, although many clubs try to form trapped teams instead. For example:

"We offer a Spring Friendly season for all trapped players. A trapped player is an 8th grader who is
playing on a U15 team with high school-age players. For Elite and Premier level teams, our aim is
to create teams who would compete in a local league. If we are unable to form a team, we will offer
training to our trapped players. Trapped ECNL and ECNL-R players will be integrated with U14 ECNL
and ECNL-R level teams."

https://dt5602vnjxv0c.cloudfront.net/portals/1559/docs/2024-25%20season%20packet/2024-2025_afu%20program%20league%20and%20tryout%20overview.pdf

Man, what a shame it would be to leave the older July/August kids with this crappy situation on steroids in fall 2026.

Actually, that would mean a lot fewer kids than the current situation -- not that it isn't disruptive for those in that situation, but there's always going to be these issues. And if you go down the SY+60 path, you just create other problems for other kids.

[Anonymous]

Problems created by SY + 60 are less damaging than the alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Problems created by SY + 60 are less damaging than the alternative.

BY-240 is even better let’s go!

[Anonymous]

Again people... You're going crazy about 2 months!

Think about it. Yes some players might be 2 months older with SY+60 but you've completely addressed trapped players.

Seems like a fair tradeoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Problems created by SY + 60 are less damaging than the alternative.

And around and around we go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again people... You're going crazy about 2 months!

Think about it. Yes some players might be 2 months older with SY+60 but you've completely addressed trapped players.

Seems like a fair tradeoff.

I know this is a nationwide issue and this thread has picked up non-DMV posters, but who in the DMV will be trapped due to school cutoffs being earlier than a 9/1 SY cutoff for soccer? Aren’t all the local school, public and private, in DC, MD, and VA either a 9/1 or 9/30 cutoff? Are we really thinking about +60 to help kids whose parents tried to game the system by having their July and August kids start school a year later than they were supposed to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again people... You're going crazy about 2 months!

Think about it. Yes some players might be 2 months older with SY+60 but you've completely addressed trapped players.

Seems like a fair tradeoff.

Depends on your individual situation, perhaps. That said, you are going crazy about trapped players being SOL and avoided at all costs when they actually get to play up grade for years without doing a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again people... You're going crazy about 2 months!

Think about it. Yes some players might be 2 months older with SY+60 but you've completely addressed trapped players.

Seems like a fair tradeoff.

I know this is a nationwide issue and this thread has picked up non-DMV posters, but who in the DMV will be trapped due to school cutoffs being earlier than a 9/1 SY cutoff for soccer? Aren’t all the local school, public and private, in DC, MD, and VA either a 9/1 or 9/30 cutoff? Are we really thinking about +60 to help kids whose parents tried to game the system by having their July and August kids start school a year later than they were supposed to?

Game the system? Your ignorance is glaring if you believe late summer kids are held back simply to "game the system". And who decides when kids are "supposed" to start school? Clearly its not a easy/hard cutoff given all the different state imposed cutoffs throughout the country.