Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:28     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:If this is your logic then it is clear you lack the ability for inference Basing a conclusion on 2 out of about 500 clubs is unwise.


If you read all of Penn Fusion, it's clear they are talking about grade for those who neatly align. For exceptions, it's really case-by-case.

"Selected players may be asked to play in an age group different to their school grade for developmental reasons per the Technical Staff (*only if their DOB allows this).

Academy/Travel:

Playing up may be an option for select players, for developmental reasons only.

These ‘select’ players will be contacted by the Technical Staff ahead of tryouts.

Communication will be only initiated by the Technical Staff to families (not in reverse order).

Rec Players:

Players may only ‘play up’ if it aligns players with their appropriate school grade."

Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:25     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
If this is your logic then it is clear you lack the ability for inference Basing a conclusion on 2 out of about 500 clubs is unwise.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:23     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Where does it say kids should play on grade whenever possible? Your reading into it.


It's call inference - a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. I learned it along with my other reading comprehension skills in grade school.
So you drew your own conclusion based on your biases and a lack of information when the statement didn't say at all that kids should be forced to play up. Got it. Because the no guidance has said go grade year whenever possible. Ecnl and Ncsl said to follow birthdays and limit playing up.


If ECNL told clubs this, then why are both MatchFit and Penn Fusion stating on their websites they will align with school grade whenever possible? Would love to get your thoughts, given you are so much smarter than everyone else.
If this is your logic then it is clear you lack the ability for inference Basing a conclusion on 2 out of about 500 clubs is unwise.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:22     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Also, Penn Fusion really shades to case-by-case in their fine print. The whole -- it's all about -- grade refers to the large group where that happens regardless. Maybe that's good PR.

"Academy/Travel:

Playing up may be an option for select players, for developmental reasons only.

These ‘select’ players will be contacted by the Technical Staff ahead of tryouts.

Communication will be only initiated by the Technical Staff to families (not in reverse order).

Rec Players:

Players may only ‘play up’ if it aligns players with their appropriate school grade."
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:19     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Where does it say kids should play on grade whenever possible? Your reading into it.


It's call inference - a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. I learned it along with my other reading comprehension skills in grade school.
So you drew your own conclusion based on your biases and a lack of information when the statement didn't say at all that kids should be forced to play up. Got it. Because the no guidance has said go grade year whenever possible. Ecnl and Ncsl said to follow birthdays and limit playing up.


If ECNL told clubs this, then why are both MatchFit and Penn Fusion stating on their websites they will align with school grade whenever possible? Would love to get your thoughts, given you are so much smarter than everyone else.


Then, please share your thoughts about Sporting Blue Valley who say grade is irrelevant. Different clubs will follow different practices on this. That's probably a good thing, because there's no single right answer that fits EVERYONE.

And Penn Fusion gives even themselves an out, even though they start by favoring grade:

"Selected players may be asked to play in an age group different to their school grade for developmental reasons per the Technical Staff (*only if their DOB allows this)."
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 13:00     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Where does it say kids should play on grade whenever possible? Your reading into it.


It's call inference - a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. I learned it along with my other reading comprehension skills in grade school.
So you drew your own conclusion based on your biases and a lack of information when the statement didn't say at all that kids should be forced to play up. Got it. Because the no guidance has said go grade year whenever possible. Ecnl and Ncsl said to follow birthdays and limit playing up.


If ECNL told clubs this, then why are both MatchFit and Penn Fusion stating on their websites they will align with school grade whenever possible? Would love to get your thoughts, given you are so much smarter than everyone else.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:43     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Everyone has a plan untill a group of missaligned players punches them in the mouth at a tournament. Then watch the deck chairs shuffle.
Especially true if the club is from a state with late school starts. No way they are going to want to be handicapped in the league against other states.


OR if they draw kids from multiple states who all have different cutoffs.
That would be a nightmare for a club. Especially with all different school district documents which you wouldn't be able to police authenticity.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:38     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Everyone has a plan untill a group of missaligned players punches them in the mouth at a tournament. Then watch the deck chairs shuffle.
Especially true if the club is from a state with late school starts. No way they are going to want to be handicapped in the league against other states.


OR if they draw kids from multiple states who all have different cutoffs.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:37     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Everyone has a plan untill a group of missaligned players punches them in the mouth at a tournament. Then watch the deck chairs shuffle.
Especially true if the club is from a state with late school starts. No way they are going to want to be handicapped in the league against other states.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:29     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:It's obvious that you're a youngers parent and dont understand how olders + college recruiting works (with girls).


I'm in the middle of it AND what I see are players from AugDec showing up at A team practices with the younger team REGARDLESS of grade, including from the older B team. We're in a top league. We have kids who get recruited. Maybe others will do it differently but that's not what most of their messages say.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:04     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
It's obvious that you're a youngers parent and dont understand how olders + college recruiting works (with girls).
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 12:02     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Everyone has a plan untill a group of missaligned players punches them in the mouth at a tournament. Then watch the deck chairs shuffle.

Once you get to the High School level clubs rarely play in tournamants outside their league.

Misaligned players wont have a chance to group together and play top teams.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 11:59     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Nobody cares what some random club in some random place is doing.

You keep bringing them up and trying to twist what they said. Specifically "college recruiters dont care about a players age". While this is true its because the only thing college recruiters care about is graduating year or grade in school.

FC Copa is a USL club and they're being honest with player and parents saying that Aug birthdays will play up on their teams based on feedback from college coaches.

If you wouldnt keep lieing about what they said others wouldnt have to keep correcting you.


That's fine -- Your problem is your not honest about all the other clubs doing case-by-case. You invent how they're doing something else behind the scenes. The poster is just doing what you are to "win" an online argument. So silly.

Its because I was around pre 2017 and you never heard of players playing down when it was SY back then.

It's also just easier for clubs to group Aug/Sept birthdays up with their correct grade in school team. Accommodating play downs is difficult and causes challenges for clubs. My experience in life is no matter what you can always count on people being lazy and choosing the easier path.


Yep lazy clubs who don't care about fielding the best teams OR caring about what's best for that kid. That tracks in youth soccer. But top level clubs with their sh*t together will do right and be rewarded.

No they wont.

Top clubs have a huge pool of players to choose from. They'll just ignore the Aug birthdays choosing to play down and move onto the next player. It's just easier to manage this way.

Eventually Aug birthday players will get the hint and choose to play of they want to get recruited to play on the best teams.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 11:59     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Where does it say kids should play on grade whenever possible? Your reading into it.


It's call inference - a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. I learned it along with my other reading comprehension skills in grade school.

FC Copa

https://youtu.be/H_MCwT85SKY?

"So we will look to ensure that players are in their correct graduation year going into their high school years."
That's one club that where they have a -78 GD in 10 games at my kids AG and just as bad in others. This is not the club setting the standard for the rest of us. Whatever they do, they aren't a vanguard, it fits a goal of the club that wasn't decided in a vacuum.

But they did talk to college coaches and fortunately told us what college coaches said. "We had separate conversations with several college coaches. Those college coaches made it incredibly clear that it does not matter what age is they will only recruit them once they hit their junior and senior years."

And your continued silence on Eastside is an admission that college recruiting is based on talent not age group.

Eastside

https://www.eastsidefc.or.../agegroups

Will this impact college recruiting?
The new two-year age group structure will not negatively impact college recruiting. College coaches evaluate players based on their performance, development, and potential—not the exact age grouping of their club team.

For players already in the club, their body of work over the previous year—training, games, tournaments, and coach feedback—will continue to be the primary factor in college recruiting exposure. For new players, tryouts provide the opportunity to demonstrate skills and fit within the club environment.

Additionally, Eastside FC will continue to provide structured recruiting support through workshops, panels, and guidance for players and families. The new age group system may actually provide more consistent training and development opportunities by balancing teams across two birth years, helping players continue to grow in a competitive and supportive environment.

Think about it...

Why would FC Copa choose to group Aug birthdays with their grade in school after speaking with college coaches and getting their feedback on the topic?
More importantly, out of thousands of clubs outside the DC area, why do you think anybody here cares how FC Copa runs itself?
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 11:59     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Everyone has a plan untill a group of missaligned players punches them in the mouth at a tournament. Then watch the deck chairs shuffle.