Reply to ECNL moving to school year part 2

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]

You forget its actually 8/1/XXXX to 7/1/XXXX[/quote]
How does that make a difference?

Levels...
8/1/2008 and younger
8/1/2009 and younger
8/1/2010 and younger
8/1/2011 and younger
8/1/2012 and younger
8/1/2013 and younger
etc [/quote]

Why have more under 8/1/2008 and younger? [/quote]
Because these are the different levels defined in SY. Which roughly aligns to grade in school. You pick the level that is your kids grade in school.[/quote]Bad advice that local clubs aren't buying. They assign your age group based on DOB. Play on age here, best play up which is limited. For rec or lower level teams, playing up considered more likely.

Colorado Rapids sums things up.

Will players be organized strictly by their school grade? No. Players will be organized by "School-Year Age Groups" (August 1-July 31), not by their specific academic grade.

Here is the difference: While the new system will naturally align most players with their classmates, "Grade Level" is an academic designation that varies from family to family (due to children starting school early or late, repeating a year, or varying state enrollment dates).

"School-Year Age Groups" use a strict national birthdate range (August 1 to July 31). This ensures a nationwide consistent, fair, and objective standard for safety and competition, regardless of a player’s individual academic path.

Why are teams organized by the August 1–July 31 date range rather than strictly by "Grade Level"? While the new age group system is often referred to as "School Year" because it aligns better with school grades than the calendar year, we will use the nationwide age groupings of August 1st to July 31st date range for safety and fairness.

We cannot organize strictly by "Grade" because grade levels are variable, whereas birth dates are factual. Organizing strictly by grade can create significant risks:

The Age Gap Risk: Because kids start school at different ages, are held back, or skip grades, a single grade level can include children whose ages span 2+ years.

Physical Safety: We already see significant physical differences within a standard 12-month age gap. If we were to widen that window to 24+ months (as seen in strict grade-based grouping), the physical disparity becomes dangerous. A "held-back" 13-year-old competing against a young 11-year-old in the same grade poses a real safety concern.

Developmental Fairness: When age gaps widen beyond 12 months, the disparity in talent and physical maturity widens considerably. Keeping the grouping within the August 1–July 31 window ensures players compete with and against peers of similar physiological, emotional, and social maturity.[/quote]

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