ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if we know anything about RAE, it’s that it will exist no matter what. SY proponents (I think) understand it will exist no matter what, but state if we’re going to have RAE anyway, might as well align the cutoff so kids can play with their own grades. That would, arguably, increase participation which would increase the player pool, which would increase money for clubs. At the highest level, that doesn’t matter as much, and I get that. But this is being driven by money, which is really just increased participation.

I think playing with your grade is right now a "grass is always greener" view because there are other larger trends that affect participation growth, including the growth and popularity of other sports and hobbies.

Don’t disagree. I think playing with grades is probably the largest driver of the suggested change, followed by recruiting at the older ages (can be debated). But you’re right in that it’s not a singular problem that is impacting retention. Kids move on the new sports, or flat out quit, all the time. I think middle school is the transition age where you’ll lose a lot for various reasons. If you can get the number of kids making it to middle school, then the hit of those that leave, isn’t as great.

But the issue with U little soccer is Sep- Dec must play with kids a grade above them while the other months don’t…so that discourages later months kids which over time affects retention and we are probably missing talent because of that.

When they are in elementary it's not that big of an issue, especially if it's travel and the kids only know each other from soccer. It's more about size, speed, extra attention by coaches that is discouraging. And now you just move the month where the kids are the youngest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if we know anything about RAE, it’s that it will exist no matter what. SY proponents (I think) understand it will exist no matter what, but state if we’re going to have RAE anyway, might as well align the cutoff so kids can play with their own grades. That would, arguably, increase participation which would increase the player pool, which would increase money for clubs. At the highest level, that doesn’t matter as much, and I get that. But this is being driven by money, which is really just increased participation.

I think playing with your grade is right now a "grass is always greener" view because there are other larger trends that affect participation growth, including the growth and popularity of other sports and hobbies.

Don’t disagree. I think playing with grades is probably the largest driver of the suggested change, followed by recruiting at the older ages (can be debated). But you’re right in that it’s not a singular problem that is impacting retention. Kids move on the new sports, or flat out quit, all the time. I think middle school is the transition age where you’ll lose a lot for various reasons. If you can get the number of kids making it to middle school, then the hit of those that leave, isn’t as great.

But the issue with U little soccer is Sep- Dec must play with kids a grade above them while the other months don’t…so that discourages later months kids which over time affects retention and we are probably missing talent because of that.

When they are in elementary it's not that big of an issue, especially if it's travel and the kids only know each other from soccer. It's more about size, speed, extra attention by coaches that is discouraging. And now you just move the month where the kids are the youngest.

It’s always an “issue” as a first grader playing with second graders is more likely to get discouraged playing with older bigger kids. The difference would be if with any month start and end line there will always be younger players is a kid who’s the youngest first grader on their team more likely to continue playing?

The reason the US switched to By in the first place was our youth national teams were made up of Aug to November players which put them at an age disadvantage compared to other countries. We decided to switch so our best players would be January to May players on average.

So even us soccer acknowledged wherever the line was drawn would create the better players as the older kids do get more early success and favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:D1 Soccer to align with US Soccer.
How does this change the landscape?

Changes everything. Leagues will have to keep their most competitive pathways aligned as well, if they have any hope of staying in the game.

When you enter college would still be based on when you graduate high school (so your SY), though, and trapped players would still continue to remain a larger problem under BY.

Won’t D1 teams under the new pro-model (National - International) mean that identification of most competitive youth players will have to be the same? It seems that any league that aims to develop top players for these competitive college spots will have to be similarly aligned and have a BY option too?

Age only matters before college or before going pro. Once you are in college (or on a pro team), age doesn’t matter since they don’t sort college or pro teams by age.

National teams would still care about age, though (such as U-20 World Cup).

There are youth national teams at younger ages as well (BY) and many more players on top teams that are invited for regular national training camps and ID sessions a few times a year (also BY). Now with a D1 college pro model in the works won’t the more competitive youth players and teams want (have) to stay on this track?

No, as those items don’t change the reasons given for the move to SY. College moving to pro might actually bolster the move to SY since entry to college is based on when kids graduate high school (SY) - thus, there would now be a pro league in which the players’ initial eligibility aligns with SY.

But who are the players that will make these now pro, even more competitive D1 teams? Won’t they be those top players on the top teams already in the USYNT (BY) identification pipeline?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:D1 Soccer to align with US Soccer.
How does this change the landscape?

Changes everything. Leagues will have to keep their most competitive pathways aligned as well, if they have any hope of staying in the game.

When you enter college would still be based on when you graduate high school (so your SY), though, and trapped players would still continue to remain a larger problem under BY.

Won’t D1 teams under the new pro-model (National - International) mean that identification of most competitive youth players will have to be the same? It seems that any league that aims to develop top players for these competitive college spots will have to be similarly aligned and have a BY option too?

Age only matters before college or before going pro. Once you are in college (or on a pro team), age doesn’t matter since they don’t sort college or pro teams by age.

National teams would still care about age, though (such as U-20 World Cup).

There are youth national teams at younger ages as well (BY) and many more players on top teams that are invited for regular national training camps and ID sessions a few times a year (also BY). Now with a D1 college pro model in the works won’t the more competitive youth players and teams want (have) to stay on this track?

No, as those items don’t change the reasons given for the move to SY. College moving to pro might actually bolster the move to SY since entry to college is based on when kids graduate high school (SY) - thus, there would now be a pro league in which the players’ initial eligibility aligns with SY.

But who are the players that will make these now pro, even more competitive D1 teams? Won’t they be those top players on the top teams already in the USYNT (BY) identification pipeline?

The top men’s national team players go play in Europe (Pulisic, Adams, etc.)

[Anonymous]

It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

And all switching to SY is just re-arranging the deck chairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

And all switching to SY is just re-arranging the deck chairs.

Yes but I believe the thinking is kids in the same grade are more likely to stick around and continue to play because they are competing with kids from their class or graduating class. Compared to a kid who is smaller and playing against the grade above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

And all switching to SY is just re-arranging the deck chairs.

Yes. Switching to SY is not intended to solve RAE. But having both BY and SY leagues may (hopefully will) help with RAE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

And all switching to SY is just re-arranging the deck chairs.

Yes but I believe the thinking is kids in the same grade are more likely to stick around and continue to play because they are competing with kids from their class or graduating class. Compared to a kid who is smaller and playing against the grade above.

You can tell the BY crowd this over and over but to them they just don’t understand and purposefully disregard this. Any mention of why SY has more benefits just leads to them foaming at the mouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an issue between u12 and u15. The Q4 kids will generally hit puberty and that growth spurt 10months earlier. So q4 kids get relegated to B team. Many quit the sport even though they are as talented as the q1 & q2 just smaller and thus able to be pushed off ball because they haven't hit the growth spurt. The clubs and coaches focusing on short term wins causes this problem.

And all switching to SY is just re-arranging the deck chairs.

Yes but I believe the thinking is kids in the same grade are more likely to stick around and continue to play because they are competing with kids from their class or graduating class. Compared to a kid who is smaller and playing against the grade above.

You can tell the BY crowd this over and over but to them they just don’t understand and purposefully disregard this. Any mention of why SY has more benefits just leads to them foaming at the mouth.

Mediocre Q1/Q2 players' parents hope ECNL postpone SY change as long as possible so their kids can stay on the ECNL team. Their worst nightmare is that ECNL drops the bomb to allow 3/4 of Q3/Q4 players to join their grade team this fall.

[Anonymous]

So what are we waiting for now? ECNL to confirm at some point? Something?

[Anonymous]

Do you think Messi would be the player he is today if Rodrigo De Paul didn't invite him to tryouts after school?

Would Messi's parents have signed him up if he couldn't play with Rodrigo and the other kids from his class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think Messi would be the player he is today if Rodrigo De Paul didn't invite him to tryouts after school?

Would Messi's parents have signed him up if he couldn't play with Rodrigo and the other kids from his class?

Well the soccer season in Argentina lines up with the Argentinian SY, so looks like that strategy to use SY worked out well for Messi and Argentina.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe no one has any news to leak. They are apparently working on a website that will be ready in a month right? Surely the content is basically done by now….. no one knows anyone who works …. Anywhere useful for this??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think Messi would be the player he is today if Rodrigo De Paul didn't invite him to tryouts after school?

Would Messi's parents have signed him up if he couldn't play with Rodrigo and the other kids from his class?

Well the soccer season in Argentina lines up with the Argentinian SY, so looks like that strategy to use SY worked out well for Messi and Argentina.

Yep…but the BY crowd will make you believe that all our talent is concentrated in Jan-March…but ignore other countries that go SY and have produced great talents…