Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

It's not playing down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

It's not playing down.

It is playing down

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

It's not playing down.

It is playing down

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

It's not playing down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate

And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Depends on the club. Your experience is just 1 situation. I know of an instance at a club where one of the best age groups (which went to a national tournament last year) the kids were divided up based on size when going into 11v11. That's what the coach (who's a fair/strong coach, btw) told the parents, point blank, even though the year before some of the top goal scorers were smaller and more skilled. The coach said they needed the size to compete at the higher level, period, and made the case that the smaller players could shine at level 2. That 2nd team is still pretty damn good BUT is slowly falling apart as the tournaments and opportunities are just fewer. That's just the reality. I think some are holding out because of the switch to SY to get on a top team next year, but it seems pretty clear few of them, if any, will otherwise get a shot to get to the BY version of top team at this point at this club. That's RAE at work.

You're experience is just 1 situation. (Notice how I just copied what you wrote)

11v11 is a much different game than 9v9. The field is huge and players need to be able to kick harder/farther and run longer/faster to play at that level.

I highly doubt a coach would drop down goal scorers simply for size. I do bet that parents try to make size an issue if their kid is small. I also noticed that you wrote that super amazing top team players that got dropped to the second team are now struggling and falling appart. So youre saying the coaches assessment was right. Ive seen top team players get dropped down to the second team and literally score at will. When this happened the coach that cut them and the club were begging them to play on the top team again.

It was funny to go from 9v9 to 11v11. At 9v9 the kids that could work in space rose to the top over fast kids with heavy toches but then at 11v11 it reverted back to fast kids and kids who can kick far. A few years in on 11v11 and the spaces are getting smaller. The big and fast kids thrive getting bottled up compared to the other kids that can use both feet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not

Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

Wouldn't surprise me that the Magic teams had a few youngers. Regardless, the Hawks will recruit like crazy to get all the Sep-Dec. That's just how it is.

If you want to isolate BY trapped players. Just break a 12 month year into 3 groups of 4 months. 4 months is 33% of 12 months.

The average youth team has 22 players. 33% of 22 is roughly 7.

What this means is if everything was 100% even on average there would be 7 players born Jan-Apr, 7 players born May-Aug, and 7 players born Sept-Dec.

This isnt socialist Russia or some kind of DEI. So forcing percentage quotas on teams makes no sense. My experience is top teams have between 2-5 trapped players per team. While this does show that some players benefit from being oldest. Its not as bad as the super RAE advocate is trying to make it sound.

Based on your numbers, the best trapped players having about a 50 percent reduced chance of being on a top team is huge. And then they often get fewer minutes and lesser valued positions. Makes sense why they get pushed to other sports.

Um I don't know where you got 50% from but yes 1/3 is less than 2/3. Take your issue up with the 12 month calendar.

How do you justify the "pushed to other sports" statement? Theres always a 2nd team available to play on. Sounds to me more like parent ego won't let 2nd teams happen so they put their kid in other sports.

RAE is just an excuse thats convenient. Here's another excuse for you to keep in your back pocket. Black kids tend to be bigger and stronger at younger ages. I bet if I had all the details I could show a bias for these kids. But we all know you wont use this excuse publicly.

Thanks Jimmy “the Greek” valentine

Haha, if you hadn't discovered rae as your go to excuse. You'd be complaining up a storm about how black kids had more advantages when younger and how this translates into them being over represented on top teams bla bla bla. At least you would to any white person that would listen.

Just stop with the excuses. Work with your kid. Help them to get better. If things work out they'll work out.

Do you wear your white hood at matches?

Instead of black kids advantages you could talk about how some parents have more money and its not fair that your kid doesnt.

Meanwhile latin leagues happen every weekend in every major city and are cheap to play in.

It just gets old reading your nonstop excuse s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Depends on the club. Your experience is just 1 situation. I know of an instance at a club where one of the best age groups (which went to a national tournament last year) the kids were divided up based on size when going into 11v11. That's what the coach (who's a fair/strong coach, btw) told the parents, point blank, even though the year before some of the top goal scorers were smaller and more skilled. The coach said they needed the size to compete at the higher level, period, and made the case that the smaller players could shine at level 2. That 2nd team is still pretty damn good BUT is slowly falling apart as the tournaments and opportunities are just fewer. That's just the reality. I think some are holding out because of the switch to SY to get on a top team next year, but it seems pretty clear few of them, if any, will otherwise get a shot to get to the BY version of top team at this point at this club. That's RAE at work.

You're experience is just 1 situation. (Notice how I just copied what you wrote)

11v11 is a much different game than 9v9. The field is huge and players need to be able to kick harder/farther and run longer/faster to play at that level.

I highly doubt a coach would drop down goal scorers simply for size. I do bet that parents try to make size an issue if their kid is small. I also noticed that you wrote that super amazing top team players that got dropped to the second team are now struggling and falling appart. So youre saying the coaches assessment was right. Ive seen top team players get dropped down to the second team and literally score at will. When this happened the coach that cut them and the club were begging them to play on the top team again.

It was funny to go from 9v9 to 11v11. At 9v9 the kids that could work in space rose to the top over fast kids with heavy toches but then at 11v11 it reverted back to fast kids and kids who can kick far. A few years in on 11v11 and the spaces are getting smaller. The big and fast kids thrive getting bottled up compared to the other kids that can use both feet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Depends on the club. Your experience is just 1 situation. I know of an instance at a club where one of the best age groups (which went to a national tournament last year) the kids were divided up based on size when going into 11v11. That's what the coach (who's a fair/strong coach, btw) told the parents, point blank, even though the year before some of the top goal scorers were smaller and more skilled. The coach said they needed the size to compete at the higher level, period, and made the case that the smaller players could shine at level 2. That 2nd team is still pretty damn good BUT is slowly falling apart as the tournaments and opportunities are just fewer. That's just the reality. I think some are holding out because of the switch to SY to get on a top team next year, but it seems pretty clear few of them, if any, will otherwise get a shot to get to the BY version of top team at this point at this club. That's RAE at work.

You're experience is just 1 situation. (Notice how I just copied what you wrote)

11v11 is a much different game than 9v9. The field is huge and players need to be able to kick harder/farther and run longer/faster to play at that level.

I highly doubt a coach would drop down goal scorers simply for size. I do bet that parents try to make size an issue if their kid is small. I also noticed that you wrote that super amazing top team players that got dropped to the second team are now struggling and falling appart. So youre saying the coaches assessment was right. Ive seen top team players get dropped down to the second team and literally score at will. When this happened the coach that cut them and the club were begging them to play on the top team again.

It was funny to go from 9v9 to 11v11. At 9v9 the kids that could work in space rose to the top over fast kids with heavy toches but then at 11v11 it reverted back to fast kids and kids who can kick far. A few years in on 11v11 and the spaces are getting smaller. The big and fast kids thrive getting bottled up compared to the other kids that can use both feet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

They gave you a real life example and you discount it.

This is exactly what a "professional rae victim" would do.

So if 100 teams have no youngers and 1 team has 5 youngers does RAE exist or not? You honestly cant be that stupid..........

You are this stupid.

You've also provided no proof for your statement. Unless your kid has been on 100 teams and you documented evey Q4 player.

Just because you see rae in everything doesnt mean its always there.

There's always one communist in the group looking for an excuse. Your kid will age out soon and you'll find some other excuse to talk about online 24/7.

Jesus, you really are this stupid. Your proof that RAE doesnt exist is that some random team, that is not documented either, is proof that RAE doesn't exist because it has 5 youngers.

I am not OP. I am just pointing out that taking a singular data point for anything (durr my team has 5 youngers so RAE must not exist) is just plain moronic. Read Gadwell, listen to the ECNL podcast, understand the makeup of the older USYNT roster. RAE is documented over and over and obviously real. Not that age change does anything but shift the curve, but to say it doesnt exist is akin to thinking the world is flat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Because of my survey of 1 RAE doesn’t exist🙄

The Hawks, out of their ~120 kids on ECNL rosters, have virtually no youngers.

Now what?

A statistics course should be a high school requirement.

They have interviewed every person that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. 100% of them lived. Therefore it is completely safe to jump out an airplane without a chute.

Wouldn't surprise me that the Magic teams had a few youngers. Regardless, the Hawks will recruit like crazy to get all the Sep-Dec. That's just how it is.

If you want to isolate BY trapped players. Just break a 12 month year into 3 groups of 4 months. 4 months is 33% of 12 months.

The average youth team has 22 players. 33% of 22 is roughly 7.

What this means is if everything was 100% even on average there would be 7 players born Jan-Apr, 7 players born May-Aug, and 7 players born Sept-Dec.

This isnt socialist Russia or some kind of DEI. So forcing percentage quotas on teams makes no sense. My experience is top teams have between 2-5 trapped players per team. While this does show that some players benefit from being oldest. Its not as bad as the super RAE advocate is trying to make it sound.

Based on your numbers, the best trapped players having about a 50 percent reduced chance of being on a top team is huge. And then they often get fewer minutes and lesser valued positions. Makes sense why they get pushed to other sports.

Um I don't know where you got 50% from but yes 1/3 is less than 2/3. Take your issue up with the 12 month calendar.

How do you justify the "pushed to other sports" statement? Theres always a 2nd team available to play on. Sounds to me more like parent ego won't let 2nd teams happen so they put their kid in other sports.

RAE is just an excuse thats convenient. Here's another excuse for you to keep in your back pocket. Black kids tend to be bigger and stronger at younger ages. I bet if I had all the details I could show a bias for these kids. But we all know you wont use this excuse publicly.

Ok, do you are racist and bad at math. About 2-5 Sept-Dec kids on top teams according to you but proportionally there should be 7.33 kids so about fifty percent got blocked because of date cutoffs.

It's more like 10% not 50% (it depends on the age and level of competiton of the team). The number of Sept-Dec players grows as the players get older regardless.

No, Sept-Dec has about 3 players but would have about 6 if proportional, around 50 percent reduction.

Seems to me I wrote 2-5 Q4 players

5 Q4 players happens more often as they get older.

Hence 10%

You chose an upward bias this time. And with your 5, you are still missing 2.33 kids, aka more than 10 percent missing

Here's exactly what I wrote. Its hard to give an specifc number because rosters vary between 18 and 24...

If you want to isolate BY trapped players. Just break a 12 month year into 3 groups of 4 months. 4 months is 33% of 12 months.

The average youth team has 22 players. 33% of 22 is roughly 7.

What this means is if everything was 100% even on average there would be 7 players born Jan-Apr, 7 players born May-Aug, and 7 players born Sept-Dec.

This isnt socialist Russia or some kind of DEI. So forcing percentage quotas on teams makes no sense. My experience is top teams have between 2-5 trapped players per team. While this does show that some players benefit from being oldest. Its not as bad as the super RAE advocate is trying to make it sound.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on an olders top team of a top 20 nationally club. She's played on the same top club/team since she was 5.

There are 5 players currently on the team now that were on the team when they were 5 years old. There's currently 4-5 trapped players (one is out hurt). My daughter is a Sept birthday. Current roster is 22

What all this means is 17 of the players weren't with the team at 5 years old. It also means that 17-18 were born Jan 1st to Sept 1st. This means 23% are trapped players but Sept-Dec is 33% of a 12 month calendar. This means that theres 10% variance that can be attributed to RAE if you believe in that kind of thing. On a BY team!

The person that keeps posting about RAE is ridiculious. They're likely a professional victim that's latched onto an excuse that can be molded into whatever that want it to be. At some point thet need to step up and stop making excuses.

I like how the professional rae victim said that the biggest kids are always Jan birthdays. This can be true but it can also be false. Not every Jan birthday will be the biggest kid. I also like how the professional rae victim said that being on the top team means getting the best coachs and resources. This is not true, theres good 1st team coaches and really poor 1st team coaches. Also on a 2nd team players will get more opportunities to play multiple positions. This is important because positions players play when they're 5 most likely wont be what they play at 16. Then they bring up the confidence thing. Some of the most confident players Ive seen stayed on the 2nd team for a long time just to build up confidence.

The professional rae victim is mostly nonsense. Yes there are a large number of Jan birthdays. But this doesn't mean if your kid isnt doing private lessons and futsal 2-3 hours a week on top of regular practice that they cant be a top player. My daughter played soccer with the boys every lunch in elementary school. I've never seen a trapped player sept-dec birthday that puts in the extra work not get noticed and opportunities. I have seen parents talk about rae when their kid got cut. As a parent you humor them but everyone knew that the issue wasnt rae.

Depends on the club. Your experience is just 1 situation. I know of an instance at a club where one of the best age groups (which went to a national tournament last year) the kids were divided up based on size when going into 11v11. That's what the coach (who's a fair/strong coach, btw) told the parents, point blank, even though the year before some of the top goal scorers were smaller and more skilled. The coach said they needed the size to compete at the higher level, period, and made the case that the smaller players could shine at level 2. That 2nd team is still pretty damn good BUT is slowly falling apart as the tournaments and opportunities are just fewer. That's just the reality. I think some are holding out because of the switch to SY to get on a top team next year, but it seems pretty clear few of them, if any, will otherwise get a shot to get to the BY version of top team at this point at this club. That's RAE at work.

You're experience is just 1 situation. (Notice how I just copied what you wrote)

11v11 is a much different game than 9v9. The field is huge and players need to be able to kick harder/farther and run longer/faster to play at that level.

I highly doubt a coach would drop down goal scorers simply for size. I do bet that parents try to make size an issue if their kid is small. I also noticed that you wrote that super amazing top team players that got dropped to the second team are now struggling and falling appart. So youre saying the coaches assessment was right. Ive seen top team players get dropped down to the second team and literally score at will. When this happened the coach that cut them and the club were begging them to play on the top team again.