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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

It would affect all teams equally because league play is at the same time.
But I agree it’s easier to not change until Aug 26.

I dont think this is true, at least at high school level ages. Different states have high school season in fall vs spring so games are front/back loaded at times. And yes, some ECNL clubs dont allow high school but many do.

And the showcase not counting adversely impacts those teams in the tougher conferences. All conferences not created equal but showcases level the playing field a bit in terms of PPG.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:ECNL announced they are getting into U littles

They ALREADY are. Pre-ECNL, anyone?

I understand why US Club goes along with ECNL wanting to switch from BY to SY. But why all the others? ECNL is just creeping into the littles. Stealing clubs from all the local leagues and player pipelines from USYS clubs. They're going to do the same thing with youngers that they've done with olders. All the random leagues are going to be locked out.

Its going to force GA and MLSN to creep down into the youngers as well to protect player pipelines

Fortunately this will make youth soccer expensive for everyone. Which sounds amazing. Can't wait.

The difference from USYS to pre-ECNL for u12g in my fairly wealthy suburb was a rounding error. The $$$ argument is a losing one since all sports are expensive now. Actually get more hours of training from ⚽ than all of the other local travel options.

The danger for pre-ECNL is a good chunk of those players end up either on the B team or leave the club because of all the recruiting that goes on. It's no guarantee ... In some ways, you might have to work even harder because some ECNL clubs hire former players with no experience to coach these teams, trying to skate on reputation. You gotta make sure they actually have good coaching and development. Not all do.

I totally agree. In the case of my son’s I little club, the development of the players was quite strong. Of the 12 players that were together from U8 to U12, 9 are now playing at the ECNL, ECNL RL, MLSN, and MLSN2 level. Once it became U13 most of the kids left and the team really has zero legacy players left. It’s great development but too bad for the club that developed them!

https://theecnl.com/news/2025/8/1/general-ecnl-announces-new-pre-ecnl-commissioners.aspx


The ECNL is excited to announce the hiring of two Pre-ECNL Commissioners to lead the newest platform in the league as it expands its scope and impact on younger age groups. Together, Ruairi McGuinness and Bob Reiss will serve and support the existing Pre-ECNL leagues and clubs around the country, build and expand new Pre-ECNL leagues and events, and work to help clubs improve the local competition environment for their players, coaches, families and referees.

“This commitment by the league to the Pre-ECNL age groups is a big step to support forward-thinking clubs in improving the training and competition environment for players in Zone 1,” McGuinness said. “This platform will provide a better and more exciting competition level and experience for these players, driving improvement in coaching and training at an earlier age, while understanding and respecting the unique age-appropriate needs of these players and their families.”

McGuinness joined the ECNL as the girl’s National Selection Program Director in 2022, and has served as Director of Coaching of East Meadow SC (NY) since 2014. He has experience as a Division I coach with Hofstra University from 2018-2024 and as a US Youth National Team scout for four years. McGuinness grew up in Northern Ireland, played semi-professional soccer in Northern Ireland and England, and coached in Luton Town FC’s academy before moving to the United States.

Reiss joins the ECNL after spending the past six seasons with San Diego Surf, initially as a head coach before being promoted to General Manager in 2022. As Surf’s General Manager, Reiss and the club have won 10 ECNL national championships and were named overall club champion three separate times. Prior to coaching, Reiss was a four-year starter at Cal State Fullerton and played professionally with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the NASL in 2013 and 2014, the latter of which the club finished the season as a league finalist.

“Our league is committed to supporting the work of clubs in the Pre-ECNL age groups, and we will be putting more and more focus and resources into this Zone moving forward,” Reiss said. “The Pre-ECNL ages are some of the most important stages in player development, and the competition environment for these players is over-due for improvement. Together with the clubs we will be working to make a positive difference in these age groups to better develop and prepare players for competition in the older age groups in America’s best youth soccer platform.”

After rapid growth over the past 2 years, more than 300 clubs and 800 teams will participate in various Pre-ECNL Boys and Pre-ECNL Girls leagues around the country in the 2025-2026 season. These teams each compete in developmentally appropriate league play that matches players and teams of similar development stage against each other and provides a preview of ECNL and ECNL Regional League play of the future. The scope of league programs and services in these age groups will expand rapidly and dramatically in the coming year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL announced they are getting into U littles

Where's the annoucement?

ECNL announced today and officially appointed a commission for u little the plan is for all clubs/leagues to have U11/12 teams for 9v9.

https://theecnl.com/news/2025/8/1/general-ecnl-announces-new-pre-ecnl-commissioners.aspx

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL announced they are getting into U littles

Where's the annoucement?

ECNL announced today and officially appointed a commission for u little the plan is for all clubs/leagues to have U11/12 teams for 9v9.

Anonymous wrote:You might be able to say after X number of games you can play 3-4 players down. But even then its variable because different regional leagues play more/less games. It would be a nightmare to figure out at which game players playing down would be allowed.

They already do that with trapped player rules. Some leagues can use 2 u15 players per game for league U14.
Some leagues can’t because of when their high school season takes place.

So to say it won’t work because it isn’t fair doesn’t hold weight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

It would affect all teams equally because league play is at the same time.
But I agree it’s easier to not change until Aug 26.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has there always been 5 game suspension for moving clubs? 25/26 rule book.

Player Transfers
Players may only play for one Club during an ECNL season unless the League Office grants a transfer. The Season is defined as the start of the fall season through the final ECNL weekend in the spring. If a transfer request is granted, a transferred Player must sit out five (5) ECNL games before being eligible to play for his/her new club. Any Player not sitting out will be considered an illegal Player. The League Office has the final say on all transfers.

This must be new - and wow what a penalty. We had a player who moved to our club and started right away. We only had 6 games left when they joined. Seems ridiculous when ECNL only has 14 league games a season in total. They need to get rid of this rule unless they schedule more games.

Who is transferring mid season to a competing club and expecting to play immediately? It seems reasonable if a family is completely relocating since there should be some downtime in between.

Midseason changes should be uncomfortable, especially in the same league.
You sign a contract and make a commitment, you stick out the year.
I assume GA and MLSNext nonAcademy teams have something similar. Obviously with Academy you should be able to be "called up" with no penalty.
Tryouts are when you change teams, poaching mid season is slimy and says more about the parents and poaching Club.
Good for ECNL.

No way! They don’t own kids you should be able to leave whenever you want and play for who ever you want.

I’ll never be club first always player first.

We are the ones paying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Oh the integrity. We don't want to reward all of those people that held didn't start their August/September kids to be the youngest in school 10 years ago so they could "play down" in the spring of 2025. They knew they would be able to mess up the system and win some extra, life-changing U15 soccer games. Oh the horror. Soon we'll have 20 year old U15s and all integrity will be lost.

Wow...

No the integrity would be compromised because some teams records would include more games than others with older kids playing down. This could potentially affect who makes playoffs. ECNL could get around this by not including showcase results in playoff calculations. ECNL would also need to figure out the exact game + going forward older players playing down would be allowed. Which would be different for each regional league.

I think ECNL does nothing except maybe if they are smart they allow new age groups for Pre-ECNL showcases. At least allow their about to be ECNL teams to try different configurations.

This is correct. They will do something like that and publish a bunch of 'recommendations' but nothing forced or bending of current rules. They will allow trapped players to practice with the age below (but not play in games). Why complicate their lives and the lives of the clubs? Their lives will be complicated enough at next tryouts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Oh the integrity. We don't want to reward all of those people that held didn't start their August/September kids to be the youngest in school 10 years ago so they could "play down" in the spring of 2025. They knew they would be able to mess up the system and win some extra, life-changing U15 soccer games. Oh the horror. Soon we'll have 20 year old U15s and all integrity will be lost.

Wow...

No the integrity would be compromised because some teams records would include more games than others with older kids playing down. This could potentially affect who makes playoffs. ECNL could get around this by not including showcase results in playoff calculations. ECNL would also need to figure out the exact game + going forward older players playing down would be allowed. Which would be different for each regional league.

I think ECNL does nothing except maybe if they are smart they allow new age groups for Pre-ECNL showcases. At least allow their about to be ECNL teams to try different configurations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Oh the integrity. We don't want to reward all of those people that held didn't start their August/September kids to be the youngest in school 10 years ago so they could "play down" in the spring of 2025. They knew they would be able to mess up the system and win some extra, life-changing U15 soccer games. Oh the horror. Soon we'll have 20 year old U15s and all integrity will be lost.

Wow...

No the integrity would be compromised because some teams records would include more games than others with older kids playing down. This could potentially affect who makes playoffs. ECNL could get around this by not including showcase results in playoff calculations. ECNL would also need to figure out the exact game + going forward older players playing down would be allowed. Which would be different for each regional league.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Oh the integrity. We don't want to reward all of those people that held didn't start their August/September kids to be the youngest in school 10 years ago so they could "play down" in the spring of 2025. They knew they would be able to mess up the system and win some extra, life-changing U15 soccer games. Oh the horror. Soon we'll have 20 year old U15s and all integrity will be lost.

You might be able to say after X number of games you can play 3-4 players down. But even then its variable because different regional leagues play more/less games. It would be a nightmare to figure out at which game players playing down would be allowed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.

It's a big deal if you care about league integrity. Different parts of the US play league games at different times. If you give a single cutoff date some teams would be able have players play down for more games and some less.

Same situation for showcases. If you just allowed playing down in them. Certain teams would be able to start earlier and some wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a player 9-11 but starter with a Q4 birthday, best advice is getting on grad year, right? Entering recruiting years in next 12-18 months.

Oct-Dec are Q4 currently.
Best advise would be to compete at the highest level where your kid showcases the best.

I would definitely not play up U16-19

It's going to be interesting to see if US Club / ECNL allow a limited number of Aug-Dec bdays to "play down" next spring in US Club competitions. Let's hope.

It cant happen in league, or playoffs because you'd have different teams half (depending where you live) of the season.

It could happen at showcases. But the problem with this is showcases are often bundled in with other events like playoffs, finals, etc. Which means the top teams wouldn't have as many opportunities to play new players down as everyone else because theyre still doing league games.

It's easier to not jump the gun.

It can happen. If the league rules are out this month or September, clubs have PLENTY of time to adjust to the spring rules. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're BY diehard.