Anonymous
03/27/2025 13:22
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
The previous age change from SY to BY was because they were trying to give the advantage of the RAE to the January-march birthdays as those birthdays are the oldest possible group for youth national teams as those teams are also BY. Having the RAE benefit from the August-October birthdays on SY teams wasn’t as helpful as those birthdays were younger on the ynt.
Unfortunately for US soccer, success at the ynt age groups doesnt necessarily translate to the senior level. In order to improve the senior teams, we need a better overall soccer culture in the US. Maybe more kids playing because of SY teams will help that.
School year is the way to go to reduce trapped players and they probably never should have changed it, but I'm pretty skeptical that declining participation rates in soccer are due to not being aligned with SY. I haven't seen any data that confirms that.
I suspect any declining participation rates are primarily due to this:
1. Pay-to-play, and add in economic downturn cycles and fewer folks can afford it.
2. Travel requirements - most working families don't have the time. Forget about it for single-parent households. Also adds to costs.
3. COVID
4. The rise of Pickleball (kidding!)
Just because you haven’t seen or looked for the data doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Sports participation rates have been declining for all sports. Not just soccer. Attributing a decline for soccer to SY/BY is a stretch.
Anonymous
03/27/2025 12:55
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
The previous age change from SY to BY was because they were trying to give the advantage of the RAE to the January-march birthdays as those birthdays are the oldest possible group for youth national teams as those teams are also BY. Having the RAE benefit from the August-October birthdays on SY teams wasn’t as helpful as those birthdays were younger on the ynt.
Unfortunately for US soccer, success at the ynt age groups doesnt necessarily translate to the senior level. In order to improve the senior teams, we need a better overall soccer culture in the US. Maybe more kids playing because of SY teams will help that.
School year is the way to go to reduce trapped players and they probably never should have changed it, but I'm pretty skeptical that declining participation rates in soccer are due to not being aligned with SY. I haven't seen any data that confirms that.
I suspect any declining participation rates are primarily due to this:
1. Pay-to-play, and add in economic downturn cycles and fewer folks can afford it.
2. Travel requirements - most working families don't have the time. Forget about it for single-parent households. Also adds to costs.
3. COVID
4. The rise of Pickleball (kidding!)
Just because you haven’t seen or looked for the data doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Anonymous
03/27/2025 11:59
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
The previous age change from SY to BY was because they were trying to give the advantage of the RAE to the January-march birthdays as those birthdays are the oldest possible group for youth national teams as those teams are also BY. Having the RAE benefit from the August-October birthdays on SY teams wasn’t as helpful as those birthdays were younger on the ynt.
Unfortunately for US soccer, success at the ynt age groups doesnt necessarily translate to the senior level. In order to improve the senior teams, we need a better overall soccer culture in the US. Maybe more kids playing because of SY teams will help that.
School year is the way to go to reduce trapped players and they probably never should have changed it, but I'm pretty skeptical that declining participation rates in soccer are due to not being aligned with SY. I haven't seen any data that confirms that.
I suspect any declining participation rates are primarily due to this:
1. Pay-to-play, and add in economic downturn cycles and fewer folks can afford it.
2. Travel requirements - most working families don't have the time. Forget about it for single-parent households. Also adds to costs.
3. COVID
4. The rise of Pickleball (kidding!)
Anonymous
03/27/2025 10:28
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
The previous age change from SY to BY was because they were trying to give the advantage of the RAE to the January-march birthdays as those birthdays are the oldest possible group for youth national teams as those teams are also BY. Having the RAE benefit from the August-October birthdays on SY teams wasn’t as helpful as those birthdays were younger on the ynt.
Unfortunately for US soccer, success at the ynt age groups doesnt necessarily translate to the senior level. In order to improve the senior teams, we need a better overall soccer culture in the US. Maybe more kids playing because of SY teams will help that.
Anonymous
03/27/2025 10:14
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Reading is fundamental needs to be your friend.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
Anonymous
03/27/2025 10:09
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
How can they have kids older than the age group on the USYNTs?
Anonymous
03/26/2025 18:48
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Um, no, they are not trying to help anything other than having older kids on the U.S. U-kid international teams. That's it.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
Anonymous
03/26/2025 18:20
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
MLSN is going SY sorry
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:27
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Some kids will never learn any language but English.... Especialy from an impatient euro coach.
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:25
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
His dad was coaching there at the time, I believe.
After Pulicic moved there, his dad coached U10. Pulicic didn't know any German and had to learn the language. Crazy story. Good documentary on Paramount about him (if you can handle the commercials lol).
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:14
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Mlsnext doesn’t want to go SY but logistically impossible to stay BY on their own… my bet is they stay BY with unlimited “biobanding” (with zero forms or regulation around it) for 9/1-12/31. So SY in all but name.
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:14
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
His dad was coaching there at the time, I believe.
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:14
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best league in the world plays on a 9/1 calender. USA would be stupid to do anything but especialy with our trapped player and college issues.
Premier League and all European leagues start the season in August
That said, England hasn't won an International Trophy in centuries
So why follow them?
Because we want and need to sell players to the Premier League, and it is still the most popular league in the world.
Top US players would be sold to the academy level though. Yes, English Premier is solid, but when you look at opportunities across all global academies, there are far more academy opportunities when combining Spain (Barcelona's La Mesia is the absolute best academy in the world), Italy, Germany (Pulicic went to BvB first), France, the Netherlands, etc.
But I'm not sure any of this even matters. Every academy would want a Cavan Sullivan or Pulicic regardless of whether his US club was SY or BY
I just think it will be more palatable to international competition and at home. Saying as a country we are changing to SY to better align with Premier League would get peoples check books out, imho.
Yup
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:10
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:common language for most american players.... culture etc.
Sending an 18 year old from Iowa to italy/spain would be a complete disater.
Not necessarily. Pulicic, from Hershey, PA, went to Brossia Dortmund at age 16 I think? Point is that MLS and Youth Soccer are trying to make the US more competitive and developmentally mature, and I can see why MLS Next sticking to BY might be their preference to align with the majority of the world. That was their argument when the change to BY happened in '16.
Whether that is realistic or would work out over time is TBD. It would take generations before an answer is known.
Anonymous
03/26/2025 16:07
Subject: MLSnext 2 and GA moves to school year cutoff from 26-27 season
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best league in the world plays on a 9/1 calender. USA would be stupid to do anything but especialy with our trapped player and college issues.
Premier League and all European leagues start the season in August
That said, England hasn't won an International Trophy in centuries
So why follow them?
Because we want and need to sell players to the Premier League, and it is still the most popular league in the world.
Top US players would be sold to the academy level though. Yes, English Premier is solid, but when you look at opportunities across all global academies, there are far more academy opportunities when combining Spain (Barcelona's La Mesia is the absolute best academy in the world), Italy, Germany (Pulicic went to BvB first), France, the Netherlands, etc.
But I'm not sure any of this even matters. Every academy would want a Cavan Sullivan or Pulicic regardless of whether his US club was SY or BY
I just think it will be more palatable to international competition and at home. Saying as a country we are changing to SY to better align with Premier League would get peoples check books out, imho.