and this is the best part of it

Odds of a high school athlete playing College Soccer * Men Women

Number of High School Soccer players 417,419 374,564
Number of College Soccer players 37,890 37,760
% of High School players competing in College 9.1% 10.1%


So does this shift in age really matter? There are 4 pages of posts on this. Let's say 25 people have been the ones creating the 4 pages. 2 of them will have their child play in college.

We are not looking forward to the transition. My son has played with his friends on the same travel team for the last four years and although there are a few changes in team make-up each year, we expect the age change will prompt significant changes. My junior 1998 son will have only @3-4 months worth of players (@Sept-Dec birthdays) available to play on his team as a senior (not sure if a lot of 1999 players will play up...) -- the January - August 1998 players will be in college....

that copy and paste didn't work out so well so here is the link instead that spells out a lot of info.

http://scholarshipstats.com/soccer.html

What is the end goal for you and your kid? most of them will nto paly past high school if they even make the team. Yes travel soccer kids get cut all the time from high school teams. is it to get a scholarship?

If so try this on for size: They have a better shot at being a brain surgeon.

1,667 schools sponsored varsity soccer teams during 2014:











Athletic Scholarships Average Athletic
Number Number of teams Varsity Athletes (1) Average team size limit per team ** Scholarship (2)
Division of Schools Men's Women's Men Women Men's Women's Men Women Men Women
NCAA I 331 203 328 5,750 8,998 28 27 9.9 14 $ 14,264 $ 15,411
NCAA II 257 204 255 5,873 6,766 29 27 9 9.9 $ 5,958 $ 7,258
NCAA III 446 410 437 11,742 10,559 29 24 - - $ - $ -
NAIA 204 193 197 5,457 4,712 28 24 12 12 $ 6,473 $ 6,982
NJCAA 236 216 184 5,065 3,602 23 20 18 18 $ 1,670 $ 2,028
Other Divisions 193 165 156 4,003 3,123 24 20 n/a n/a $ 296 $ 391
Totals 1,667 1,391 1,557 37,890 37,760 27 24 $ 4,815 $ 5,366

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

If you shift your thinking from U-whatever teams to your kid playing on a 2006 team or a 2005 team, it's not daunting anymore. Your child still plays with his/her peer group, more or less, even if it doesn't match your school system's age cutoffs. Really not a big deal.

Except that the age still dictates the number of players, the size of the field, etc.

Why does this matter when your child's peers will be making the same change? It's not as though your child is being singled out. It's still a span of 12 months per age group, but a different subgroup of kids will have the (small and questionable) age advantage now.

Less touches on the ball--that's why it matters.

These kid skip a year with two less players on a smaller field.

Yes. My December 2005 kid would play U12 next year, 9 v 9, and then after one year move up to 11 v 11 on a full field for U13, when he is still 11 years old. He's actually ok with it because it plays to his strengths -- speed and passing -- but that's pretty crazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

If you shift your thinking from U-whatever teams to your kid playing on a 2006 team or a 2005 team, it's not daunting anymore. Your child still plays with his/her peer group, more or less, even if it doesn't match your school system's age cutoffs. Really not a big deal.

Except that the age still dictates the number of players, the size of the field, etc.

Why does this matter when your child's peers will be making the same change? It's not as though your child is being singled out. It's still a span of 12 months per age group, but a different subgroup of kids will have the (small and questionable) age advantage now.

Less touches on the ball--that's why it matters.

These kid skip a year with two less players on a smaller field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

If you shift your thinking from U-whatever teams to your kid playing on a 2006 team or a 2005 team, it's not daunting anymore. Your child still plays with his/her peer group, more or less, even if it doesn't match your school system's age cutoffs. Really not a big deal.

Except that the age still dictates the number of players, the size of the field, etc.

Why does this matter when your child's peers will be making the same change? It's not as though your child is being singled out. It's still a span of 12 months per age group, but a different subgroup of kids will have the (small and questionable) age advantage now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

If you shift your thinking from U-whatever teams to your kid playing on a 2006 team or a 2005 team, it's not daunting anymore. Your child still plays with his/her peer group, more or less, even if it doesn't match your school system's age cutoffs. Really not a big deal.

Except that the age still dictates the number of players, the size of the field, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

If you shift your thinking from U-whatever teams to your kid playing on a 2006 team or a 2005 team, it's not daunting anymore. Your child still plays with his/her peer group, more or less, even if it doesn't match your school system's age cutoffs. Really not a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

This is what I thought originally also but U.S. Youth Soccer initially provided incorrect/confusing information. If you have a daughter in the older group -- a U11 with an October birthday for example, she will play U13 next year and players with a Jan-July birthday will move up to U12 as before. No one will be able to play another year of the current age group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

He's not playing up. According to US Soccer, player born in 1999 will be a U18 in the 2016-17 season and a U19 in 2017-18.

See http://www.soccerwire.com/news/clubs/which-year-determines-your-age-group-youth-soccer-organizations-move-to-clarify/

Anonymous wrote:So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

Have him play at the age he is supposed to be playing in. No need to have him play up a year. Our daughter will play another year of the age group she currently is in. not a big issue.

So My U16 1999 born player will play U18 next year and will lose a year of eligibility then? That's crazy - he will skip right over U17 at a critical time for college recruiting. Are the leagues going to go up to the U19/U20 range to deal with HS kids then? He's a sophomore this year, so he'd be U18 as a HS Junior, then U19 as a HS Senior? Or am I reading the chart incorrectly?

there are also indications that additional clarifications will be coming out from US Soccer, so best to wait for things to settle down

I think no one (clubs included) really knows what's going to happen yet. The leagues have to make their decisions first.