Its so weird and dumb to be posting about what these random clubs other places are doing (for their rec teams, LOL). Who cares? It doesn't matter what any club says publicly. Every situation will be case by case. Club doesn't have enough U14s to fill a team? Oh, suddenly kids can magically play up from U13. Etc etc etc.

All of this bloviating is so pointless.

Colorado will allow rec playing up and case by case.

Can my child "play up" to stay with their current recreational team? Generally, yes. In Recreational soccer, playing up to stay with friends or classmates is generally permitted. If your child is younger than the rest of the team but wants to stay with their established friend group, we are happy to discuss that opportunity.

Colorado also said

Will players be organized strictly by their school grade? No. Players will be organized by "School-Year Age Groups" (August 1-July 31), not by their specific academic grade.

Here is the difference: While the new system will naturally align most players with their classmates, "Grade Level" is an academic designation that varies from family to family (due to children starting school early or late, repeating a year, or varying state enrollment dates).

"School-Year Age Groups" use a strict national birthdate range (August 1 to July 31). This ensures a nationwide consistent, fair, and objective standard for safety and competition, regardless of a player’s individual academic path.

Why are teams organized by the August 1–July 31 date range rather than strictly by "Grade Level"? While the new age group system is often referred to as "School Year" because it aligns better with school grades than the calendar year, we will use the nationwide age groupings of August 1st to July 31st date range for safety and fairness.

We cannot organize strictly by "Grade" because grade levels are variable, whereas birth dates are factual. Organizing strictly by grade can create significant risks:

The Age Gap Risk: Because kids start school at different ages, are held back, or skip grades, a single grade level can include children whose ages span 2+ years.
Physical Safety: We already see significant physical differences within a standard 12-month age gap. If we were to widen that window to 24+ months (as seen in strict grade-based grouping), the physical disparity becomes dangerous. A "held-back" 13-year-old competing against a young 11-year-old in the same grade poses a real safety concern.
Developmental Fairness: When age gaps widen beyond 12 months, the disparity in talent and physical maturity widens considerably. Keeping the grouping within the August 1–July 31 window ensures players compete with and against peers of similar physiological, emotional, and social maturity.

Colorado Rapids said a bunch, first they see value in oldest via RAE.

My child was born between August 1 and December 31. What does this mean for them? Under the old system, these players were the youngest in their age group. Under the new School Year system, they will become the oldest in their age group. This often provides a leadership opportunity and a confidence boost.

They're describing the BY to SY change.

You're intentionally misquoting or maybe you're to dumb to understand that they're not talking about Aug and Sept players playing down in SY.

[quote=Anonymous]FC Copa seems big value in players dropping down an age group "My child's birthday is October 2013 so that would mean that they would be playing with those born in 2014? Correct, August 1st, 2013 to July 31st, 2014 is their new age group. This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."[/quote]
They're describing the BY to SY change.

You're intentionally misquoting or maybe you're to dumb to understand that they're not talking about Aug and Sept players playing down in SY.

FC Copa seems big value in players dropping down an age group "My child's birthday is October 2013 so that would mean that they would be playing with those born in 2014? Correct, August 1st, 2013 to July 31st, 2014 is their new age group. This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.

Nobody is misinterpreting anything.

There's one person giddy with joy for playing down against younger players and he's trying as hard as he can to get others to play their kids down.

No kid wants to be the oddball playing on a team of kids a grade younger than they are in school.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Almost a quarter of the team will be off grade, it will be normalized like it is now.

There you go again misquoting and not telling the truth.

What FC Copa is describing is under BY because its 1/1-12/31 there is a mix of players one grade and the grade below them. When BY changes to SY because SY is 8/1-7-31 almost all players will be the same grade in school.

The only variable is players born in Aug and Sept depending on when their school district starts. Fortunately you can play up which means if Aug Sept players are a grade older in school than their age eligible window would place them. They just play up a level and grade in school and level played in club are the same / aligned.

Do your homework before jumping to erroneous conclusions. You have grade itis on the brain and RAE blindness.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "My child's birthday is October 2013 so that would mean that they would be playing with those born in 2014? Correct, August 1st, 2013 to July 31st, 2014 is their new age group. This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Directly from the Colorado Rapids pdf...

Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior classes.
Will this hurt my child’s college recruiting process? No. In fact, it is expected to help. College coaches recruit by graduating class (e.g., "Class of 2028"). Aligning club soccer age groups with school grades makes it easier for scouts to evaluate players against their direct academic peers, streamlining the recruiting pathway

Heres a good one...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NFV9dUcyz6OnzzPG9N8zCNertkehJXtp/view?pli=1

Clearly describes everything Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer plans to do teguarding the BY to SY change. Colorado has an Oct 1st cutoff so CRYSC will need to deal with Aug and Sept birthdays.

What if my soccer age group is different from my actual school grade?
You will generally be placed in the age group determined by your birth date (August 1-July 31), but there is flexibility depending on your program level.
● The Rule: We use the August 1-July 31 birth date ranges to form teams. This ensures fair competition
and aligns with the new national standards.
● The Exception (Playing Up): If a player is "young for their grade" (e.g., they are in 8th grade, but their
birth date places them in the 7th-grade soccer group), they will be allowed to play up to stay with their classmates, provided they are developmentally ready.
● For Recreational Players: We know that for our recreational program, the priority is fun, friendship,
and playing with peers. If the new age group separates a recreational player from their classmates or
friends, we are very open to "play up" requests to keep those social groups together. Please reach out
to your Region's recreational director to discuss this.
● Playing Down: Consistent with national rules, playing down at the Rising Rapids, Competitive, or National Platform level (playing in a younger age group than your birth date allows) is generally not permitted, even if a player is in a lower grade at school. If your player is a recreational player, please contact us directly to discuss playing down.

Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior classes.
Will this hurt my child’s college recruiting process? No. In fact, it is expected to help. College coaches recruit by graduating class (e.g., "Class of 2028"). Aligning club soccer age groups with school grades makes it easier for scouts to evaluate players against their direct academic peers, streamlining the recruiting pathway

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.

Nobody is misinterpreting anything.

There's one person giddy with joy for playing down against younger players and he's trying as hard as he can to get others to play their kids down.

No kid wants to be the oddball playing on a team of kids a grade younger than they are in school.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Almost a quarter of the team will be off grade, it will be normalized like it is now.

There you go again misquoting and not telling the truth.

What FC Copa is describing is under BY because its 1/1-12/31 there is a mix of players one grade and the grade below them. When BY changes to SY because SY is 8/1-7-31 almost all players will be the same grade in school.

The only variable is players born in Aug and Sept depending on when their school district starts. Fortunately you can play up which means if Aug Sept players are a grade older in school than their age eligible window would place them. They just play up a level and grade in school and level played in club are the same / aligned.

Do your homework before jumping to erroneous conclusions. You have grade itis on the brain and RAE blindness.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "My child's birthday is October 2013 so that would mean that they would be playing with those born in 2014? Correct, August 1st, 2013 to July 31st, 2014 is their new age group. This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.

Nobody is misinterpreting anything.

There's one person giddy with joy for playing down against younger players and he's trying as hard as he can to get others to play their kids down.

No kid wants to be the oddball playing on a team of kids a grade younger than they are in school.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Almost a quarter of the team will be off grade, it will be normalized like it is now.

There you go again misquoting and not telling the truth.

What FC Copa is describing is under BY because its 1/1-12/31 there is a mix of players one grade and the grade below them. When BY changes to SY because SY is 8/1-7-31 almost all players will be the same grade in school.

The only variable is players born in Aug and Sept depending on when their school district starts. Fortunately you can play up which means if Aug Sept players are a grade older in school than their age eligible window would place them. They just play up a level and grade in school and level played in club are the same / aligned.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.

Nobody is misinterpreting anything.

There's one person giddy with joy for playing down against younger players and he's trying as hard as he can to get others to play their kids down.

No kid wants to be the oddball playing on a team of kids a grade younger than they are in school.

FC Copa giddy for players dropping down an age group "This would make your child now one of the earlier born players in the year group. This will bring about developmental advantages they previously did not have being a late one birthday in a birth year format."

Almost a quarter of the team will be off grade, it will be normalized like it is now.

The irony of that amazes me given the current situation where 75% of players are playing down and people are fighting tooth and nail to keep things exactly like they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.

Nobody is misinterpreting anything.

There's one person giddy with joy for playing down against younger players and he's trying as hard as he can to get others to play their kids down.

No kid wants to be the oddball playing on a team of kids a grade younger than they are in school.

Anonymous wrote:All these forced play up people are super Karens trying to play games to keep kids from competing.

F that.

It's just one hyped up person misinterpreting things to start a revolution. From a regional thread. Crazy but that's the web today.