Anonymous wrote:https://www.clevelandforcesc.com/transition-to-grade-year

The Exception: Delayed School Entry (Redshirting)
While the August 1st cutoff aligns with most school systems, issues can still arise in two main scenarios:

Varying School Cutoffs: States and counties across the country have widely different school year cutoffs (e.g., some use September 1st, others August 1st, etc.). No single soccer cutoff date can eliminate every single conflict with every school district.
Parental Decision (Redshirting): If a parent chooses to hold a child back a year (for academic, social, or maturity reasons, often called "redshirting"), that player will be chronologically older than the majority of their actual classmates.
Since the Force Soccer Club matrix is based on the Academic Grade Year a player is enrolled in, this player would be placed with their classmates.
The potential "trap" here is less about separation from the team, but rather an issue of eligibility in high school sports, where age rules are very strict (often barring participation if a student turns 19 before August 1st of the school year, depending on the state athletic association).

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mlusoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=195043

Exceptions

August/September-born players may choose either their birth year or grade-appropriate placement. For example, if someone is born in August or September, they may have chosen to go to school early and may choose to play with their grade. However, they are eligible under the new guidelines, to play at a younger age. MLU highly suggests they try to play with their grade
Players entering high school in Fall 2026 may play in their mandated age group or one year above.
Any current MLU player trying to play up more than one year up requires board approval prior to tryouts

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mlusoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=195043

Exceptions

August/September-born players may choose either their birth year or grade-appropriate placement. For example, if someone is born in August or September, they may have chosen to go to school early and may choose to play with their grade. However, they are eligible under the new guidelines, to play at a younger age. MLU highly suggests they try to play with their grade
Players entering high school in Fall 2026 may play in their mandated age group or one year above.
Any current MLU player trying to play up more than one year up requires board approval prior to tryouts

Seriously dude. $350 a year at HS for volunteer coached team in the middle of nowhere NJ where nobody is forced to play up. Not sure how you view this as relevant to DMV competitive soccer. Maybe you'll get a win some day.

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mlusoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=195043

Exceptions

August/September-born players may choose either their birth year or grade-appropriate placement. For example, if someone is born in August or September, they may have chosen to go to school early and may choose to play with their grade. However, they are eligible under the new guidelines, to play at a younger age. MLU highly suggests they try to play with their grade
Players entering high school in Fall 2026 may play in their mandated age group or one year above.
Any current MLU player trying to play up more than one year up requires board approval prior to tryouts

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UFA just put up a pretty good posting on FB covering all possibilities. Some will still find a way not to understand, but it seems it made it dummy proof.

UFA?

Anonymous wrote:UFA just put up a pretty good posting on FB covering all possibilities. Some will still find a way not to understand, but it seems it made it dummy proof.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UFA just put up a pretty good posting on FB covering all possibilities. Some will still find a way not to understand, but it seems it made it dummy proof.

UFA?

Anonymous wrote:UFA just put up a pretty good posting on FB covering all possibilities. Some will still find a way not to understand, but it seems it made it dummy proof.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of an August misaligned player, I hear the concerns about playing on age and how it could affect recruiting.

But I also wonder, what are the college recruiting chances when playing up with your grade if you are now the youngest competing with players 12 months older.

One way or another your player is going to be competing for college spots against other players who are available on the market (graduating) the same year.

This is correct. College coaches will compare your kid with other players in their grade for who they want to recruit. If an Aug birthday is playing up on a team thats their grade in school they're the same as all other players in their graduating class/year. If an Aug birthday is playing down on a team thats a grade below them in school they're considered worse across all attributes college coaches are looking for. Which puts them at a serious disadvantage for being recruited.

What the age guy doesnt understand is top college coaches will only be interested in the top 1-2 players on each team. And guess what? If these players are August birthdays they're the ones most likely to be playing up on a correct grade team. Lather rinse repeat and what happens is college coaches quickly (re)discover that Aug birthdays that choose to play down are a waste of their time.

In which league and how does a player play down in age group?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of an August misaligned player, I hear the concerns about playing on age and how it could affect recruiting.

But I also wonder, what are the college recruiting chances when playing up with your grade if you are now the youngest competing with players 12 months older.

One way or another your player is going to be competing for college spots against other players who are available on the market (graduating) the same year.

This is correct. College coaches will compare your kid with other players in their grade for who they want to recruit. If an Aug birthday is playing up on a team thats their grade in school they're the same as all other players in their graduating class/year. If an Aug birthday is playing down on a team thats a grade below them in school they're considered worse across all attributes college coaches are looking for. Which puts them at a serious disadvantage for being recruited.

What the age guy doesnt understand is top college coaches will only be interested in the top 1-2 players on each team. And guess what? If these players are August birthdays they're the ones most likely to be playing up on a correct grade team. Lather rinse repeat and what happens is college coaches quickly (re)discover that Aug birthdays that choose to play down are a waste of their time.