Anonymous
02/23/2026 16:21
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Your focusing on USYS and college recruitment at the same time is inconsistent. You are trying to have it both ways but it doesn't work like that. Hinging an argument on King of Prussia on an ECNL thread for the DC area is an Achilles heal.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's sad but not surprising you don't know you lost and never had a chance to make youth soccer ditch ages and go grade year. It's been over since the summer when leagues announced.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:With them celebrating 4-5 teams outside of DMV out of thousands of teams as some kind of huge win, definitely this,Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Hahaha
I remember when you said nobody would group by grade now you're admitting that theres 4-5 at all different levels that will.
But dont worry what other clubs are doing. Even though its much easier for clubs to implement. It wont happen in the DMV.
No reason to continue keep posting that someday you will be right without any new info. Yet you can't stop yourself from pretending you won't and can't take the L and go away.
If you want, move your kid to King of Prussia and have them play Doylestown and Quakertown every weekend for $400 a year with a dad coach and scream that you won. In DMV, all ages everywhere.
I get that you're too elite for USYS clubs. But Arlington asking players for their grade in school at tryouts this year when they never did before should tell you where things are going.
No justification to wishcast on Arlington. They are transparent, case by case without being forced to play up.
Q: Can players play up an age group?
A: Playing up is a coaching and technical decision based primarily on the player’s skill level, soccer maturity, and overall development needs. While Arlington Soccer allows flexibility in certain cases, playing up is the exception rather than the rule. Each situation is carefully evaluated by the technical staff to ensure it is in the best interest of both the individual player and the team.
Q: Can a player born between August 1 and September 30 play up if they are in the higher school grade?
A: School grade may be considered as part of the evaluation, but the decision to allow a player to play up is ultimately based on technical criteria including the player’s skill, maturity, and readiness for the older age group. Grade alone does not guarantee that a player will play up.
Maybe leagues create grade rules for Fl 2027-sp 2028 but for Fl 2026-sp2027 it's been over since the summer. Your rambling for a special rule to bulldoze your Sept DD to be the oldest hasn't done a thing.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 15:57
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:It's sad but not surprising you don't know you lost and never had a chance to make youth soccer ditch ages and go grade year. It's been over since the summer when leagues announced.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:With them celebrating 4-5 teams outside of DMV out of thousands of teams as some kind of huge win, definitely this,Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Hahaha
I remember when you said nobody would group by grade now you're admitting that theres 4-5 at all different levels that will.
But dont worry what other clubs are doing. Even though its much easier for clubs to implement. It wont happen in the DMV.
No reason to continue keep posting that someday you will be right without any new info. Yet you can't stop yourself from pretending you won't and can't take the L and go away.
If you want, move your kid to King of Prussia and have them play Doylestown and Quakertown every weekend for $400 a year with a dad coach and scream that you won. In DMV, all ages everywhere.
I get that you're too elite for USYS clubs. But Arlington asking players for their grade in school at tryouts this year when they never did before should tell you where things are going.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 15:35
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
It's sad but not surprising you don't know you lost and never had a chance to make youth soccer ditch ages and go grade year. It's been over since the summer when leagues announced.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:With them celebrating 4-5 teams outside of DMV out of thousands of teams as some kind of huge win, definitely this,Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Hahaha
I remember when you said nobody would group by grade now you're admitting that theres 4-5 at all different levels that will.
But dont worry what other clubs are doing. Even though its much easier for clubs to implement. It wont happen in the DMV.
No reason to continue keep posting that someday you will be right without any new info. Yet you can't stop yourself from pretending you won't and can't take the L and go away.
If you want, move your kid to King of Prussia and have them play Doylestown and Quakertown every weekend for $400 a year with a dad coach and scream that you won. In DMV, all ages everywhere.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 15:10
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:With them celebrating 4-5 teams outside of DMV out of thousands of teams as some kind of huge win, definitely this,Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Hahaha
I remember when you said nobody would group by grade now you're admitting that theres 4-5 at all different levels that will.
But dont worry what other clubs are doing. Even though its much easier for clubs to implement. It wont happen in the DMV.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 14:28
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
With them celebrating 4-5 teams outside of DMV out of thousands of teams as some kind of huge win, definitely this,Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 14:08
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
More and more are announcing that they plan to group Aug birthdays by grade. Its just easier for clubs to do things this way. Once clubs start rostering teams for this fall when SY starts you're going to see 99% of top teams all be one grade (graduating year) in school. And yes I do enjoy the lulz.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 14:03
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Like many things on here, I'm torn between is this some idiot in his threadbare government office railing against the universe, a bored local trolling endlessly just for the lulz (yes I'm old), a researcher playing with an AI bot, or an online community researcher.
I contribute every 20 pages or so to try to present facts but I know better, and should stay away.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 13:50
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
All of this, what, 100 pages maybe, is one guy's (gal's?) crazed fear that their daughter is going to be dropped down a team or two because of the SY change, in particular, by a couple kids born in August. So they have waged an all out information war any where they can (even over on talking soccer lol). They have no previous experience in soccer, barely know the landscape and spend most of the day wine buzzed and misspelling words.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 13:49
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Adding grade to cards not realistic so forcing grade w/o is a big risk for clubs. Hurt kid forced up settlement would be big.
Why Player Cards Exist: Three Primary Functions
Function Why It Matters
1. Age Verification Prevents older players from competing in younger age groups (roster cheating). Ensures fair competition based on birth year.
2. Registration & Insurance Confirms player is officially registered with the league, paid appropriate fees, and covered by liability insurance during sanctioned play.
3. Eligibility Tracking Prevents players from being rostered on multiple teams in the same competition simultaneously (roster stacking). Tracks transfers and releases.
Why Player Cards Exist: Three Primary Functions
Function Why It Matters
1. Age Verification Prevents older players from competing in younger age groups (roster cheating). Ensures fair competition based on birth year.
2. Registration & Insurance Confirms player is officially registered with the league, paid appropriate fees, and covered by liability insurance during sanctioned play.
3. Eligibility Tracking Prevents players from being rostered on multiple teams in the same competition simultaneously (roster stacking). Tracks transfers and releases.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 13:18
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Makes no sense. Youth soccer rules are age based.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Clubs and insurance companies don't like the expense of litigation, win or lose. Probably why leagues collect and verify official government documents, birth certificates through a third party. And assuming a win makes it clear you are not an attorney.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's become very clear you are not a lawyer.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threat of lawsuit when grade lier breaks other kids leg makes it club's problem and a huge variable expense when getting insurance. Kids switch teams too often to figure out who lied, who planned to graduate in 3 years.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Recruiting won't be a problem because college coaches told clubs they don't care about kids age groups. Remember they evaluate transfers, foreign players and HS kids from various teams and pick the best no matter the team they play on.
Give me a break now you're talking about lawsuits?
Exactly how many documents did you sign in the beginning of the season absolving the club of any legal responsibility?
5 many 6?
I understand that you can sue for anything. But it doesnt mean you're going to win. Also if you sued a club because your kid got hurt they would quickly get blackballed by all the clubs in the area.
Remember the Colorado Rapids? You don't want what they posted in front of a jury.
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.
Give it up.
You've failed when you need to threaten to sue clubs if they dont give you what you want. Which is playing your older kid against younger players.
Grade in school can 100% be verified if needed.
It would be humorous if another idiot sued you for playing your kid on a grade down team endangering their kid.
How can kids grades be verified when no official documents exist? Homeschooling? Foreign kids moving in? Too many edge cases.
Foreign kids will need to be assessed for grade level. Which already occurs.
Homeschoolers will need to pick a grade. Which also already occurs when they announce a graduating year. Assuming they want to go to college and do something beyond a GED.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 12:56
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Makes no sense. Youth soccer rules are age based.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Clubs and insurance companies don't like the expense of litigation, win or lose. Probably why leagues collect and verify official government documents, birth certificates through a third party. And assuming a win makes it clear you are not an attorney.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's become very clear you are not a lawyer.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threat of lawsuit when grade lier breaks other kids leg makes it club's problem and a huge variable expense when getting insurance. Kids switch teams too often to figure out who lied, who planned to graduate in 3 years.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Recruiting won't be a problem because college coaches told clubs they don't care about kids age groups. Remember they evaluate transfers, foreign players and HS kids from various teams and pick the best no matter the team they play on.
Give me a break now you're talking about lawsuits?
Exactly how many documents did you sign in the beginning of the season absolving the club of any legal responsibility?
5 many 6?
I understand that you can sue for anything. But it doesnt mean you're going to win. Also if you sued a club because your kid got hurt they would quickly get blackballed by all the clubs in the area.
Remember the Colorado Rapids? You don't want what they posted in front of a jury.
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.
Give it up.
You've failed when you need to threaten to sue clubs if they dont give you what you want. Which is playing your older kid against younger players.
Grade in school can 100% be verified if needed.
It would be humorous if another idiot sued you for playing your kid on a grade down team endangering their kid.
How can kids grades be verified when no official documents exist? Homeschooling? Foreign kids moving in? Too many edge cases.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 12:29
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All kids except MLSN1 homies stuck playing SY. No grade rules implemented by leagues, case closed. Get over it, they are aren't creating some special unwritten rule in NOVA to protect your girl from competition. Everyone else excepted the rules and moved on but you.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Except they didn't do this for top teams.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Which is why clubs ask players their grade at tryouts before the season starts or before rosters are defined.
Just like Arlington did.
Did this for all teams and all players were evaluated. There is not a perfect scenario that can cover all kids. End of the day, if you are stuck on your kid playing SY, then there is a second team option or in this case RL. Get over it already,
This prior post to yours was referring to Arlington who has ECNL, are you saying that Arlington now has MLSN1?
He's either not from around here or a girl dad trying to apply what he knows to the boys game.
Arlington has no boys game.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 12:25
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Anonymous wrote:Clubs and insurance companies don't like the expense of litigation, win or lose. Probably why leagues collect and verify official government documents, birth certificates through a third party. And assuming a win makes it clear you are not an attorney.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's become very clear you are not a lawyer.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threat of lawsuit when grade lier breaks other kids leg makes it club's problem and a huge variable expense when getting insurance. Kids switch teams too often to figure out who lied, who planned to graduate in 3 years.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Recruiting won't be a problem because college coaches told clubs they don't care about kids age groups. Remember they evaluate transfers, foreign players and HS kids from various teams and pick the best no matter the team they play on.
Give me a break now you're talking about lawsuits?
Exactly how many documents did you sign in the beginning of the season absolving the club of any legal responsibility?
5 many 6?
I understand that you can sue for anything. But it doesnt mean you're going to win. Also if you sued a club because your kid got hurt they would quickly get blackballed by all the clubs in the area.
Remember the Colorado Rapids? You don't want what they posted in front of a jury.
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.
Give it up.
You've failed when you need to threaten to sue clubs if they dont give you what you want. Which is playing your older kid against younger players.
Grade in school can 100% be verified if needed.
It would be humorous if another idiot sued you for playing your kid on a grade down team endangering their kid.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 12:03
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Boy scouts signed documents. How did that work out?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threat of lawsuit when grade lier breaks other kids leg makes it club's problem and a huge variable expense when getting insurance. Kids switch teams too often to figure out who lied, who planned to graduate in 3 years.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Recruiting won't be a problem because college coaches told clubs they don't care about kids age groups. Remember they evaluate transfers, foreign players and HS kids from various teams and pick the best no matter the team they play on.
Give me a break now you're talking about lawsuits?
Exactly how many documents did you sign in the beginning of the season absolving the club of any legal responsibility?
5 many 6?
Google says Yes, youth sports teams, leagues, and organizations can be sued for negligence,, abuse, or failing in their duty of care to protect participants. While liability waivers are common, they do not protect organizations from gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or failure to properly supervise players and maintain safe facilities.
Anonymous
02/23/2026 11:58
Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2
Clubs and insurance companies don't like the expense of litigation, win or lose. Probably why leagues collect and verify official government documents, birth certificates through a third party. And assuming a win makes it clear you are not an attorney.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's become very clear you are not a lawyer.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threat of lawsuit when grade lier breaks other kids leg makes it club's problem and a huge variable expense when getting insurance. Kids switch teams too often to figure out who lied, who planned to graduate in 3 years.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You need paperwork and verification services. It's what happens now with birth certificates. Cheating, accusations of cheating, home schooling, being held back a grade, small schools without grades, skipping a grade and getting sued all present huge hassles. It's why leagues and teams use birthdays, that and the safety issues beyond a 12 month window, etc.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yup, always going to be a few outliers and rec going grade year but everyone else going age. It's easy. Imagine a bunch of club staff trying to collect and figure grades out across state lines without any recognized paperwork.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For NOVA, what happens in NJ and Wisconsin to a handful of their teams doesn't matter here. With those club are losing more because their players are younger on average, its not sustainable for them.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Will" Got any evidence or just your opinion?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got any college coaches to go on record with your baseless theory? Cause they told clubs the opposite.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ironically August players being the oldest will be the month with the most on top teams. Because nobody cares about grades when the leagues said Aug1 to July 31 and teams don't want players. playing up because it puts them and the teams at a disadvantage.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s club in California (ECNL-Girls MLSN-Boys) just had our age group change meeting lat night.
For the girls this is strictly Aug-July change, if a player wants to stay and play up that is decided by each individual coach/player, a players who is Aug-Dec wants to play with the age group closer aligned with their school grade will be allowed but again it’s up to each coach and families to decide based on playing time and other factors. No Aug-Dec player will be forced up.
Boys is still BY and nothing changes. However players who are Aug-Dec ca get additional playing time on the MLS2 team that switches to SY. Also a player who is Aug-Dec 2011 will be 2011/12 U15 next year for MLS2 they can bioband down to play in the U14 2012/2013 age groups.
Are club will also allow girls 2011 to bioband down and play 2012/2013 boys to get extra playing time and development opportunities.
A better way to put this is Aug birthdays can choose to try out on the correct grade A team or the A team a grade down. However coaches (and clubs) decide who makes the team. Clubs dont want Aug birthdays playing down on A teams and will offer players that choose to play down the option of playing on the correct grade in school B team or the grade down B team. Parents will choose the correct grade in school B team because playing on a grade down B team would hurt their ego too much and either way their kid doesnt want to be on a team with kids a grade below them.
Your example here basically says that all August players should be stuck on B team no matter what they do. That's not reality.
And will be ignored by college coaches when they try to get recruited.
College coaches dont need to tell clubs or leagues how to present players. They'll just ignore the play downs and move onto the clubs that provide players the way they want them presented.
Most people that have played sports are sickened by the patheticness of choosing to play down.
Also if you have100 players all playing on a correct grade in school team and competing for 3-4 roster spots why would anyone waste their time looking at play downs?
August players who are misaligned on grade would not be playing down if they play ON AGE with a lower grade. Guess what they would be doing? Playing ON AGE within the new age groups.
Guess what they would be doing if they played on grade? They would be PLAYING UP.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Most of the August kids I know started school a year late, so they will be with the correct grade under SY. Which, I assume, is fine with Delusional August Guy? I can't follow his logic so I'm not sure.
August birthdays play ON THEIR GRADE IN SCHOOL team. How do you not understand that this means they can potentially be playing up or down. It all depends on when the school district they are part of chose as a cutoff.
Some will be the oldest snd some will be the youngest. Its not a parent or club decision about which level players are rostered.
It you want your Aug birthday to play down so badly and you live in a district which makes them the youngest in club just hold them back a yrar in school. This will put them on the grade younger team and everything will be aligned.
BTW this is why everyone was laughing and making fun of you when you started commenting your nonsense on the New Jersey talking soccer thread.
The school cutoff in New Jersey is late Sept. This means they have Aug and Sept players that can be rostered either way. Which likely equates to 20% of each age level. You simply cant do "case by case" for 20% of the players on each team it doesnt scale. There has to be some kind of rule that's easily applied to all players. This why the New Jersey clubs are grouping Aug Sept birthdays by grade. It gets parents off coaches backs and addresses issues like recruiting and the 8th grade team with 9th grade high school soccer players.
Places like New Jersey and Wisconsin are telling parents that they plan to group Aug Sept players by grade because its more of an issue for them. NOVA clubs are being arrogant stupid and stubborn because thats what dumb sports people do when they get forced into reality and arent smart enough to understand whats happening around them. As fall gets closer and clubs start being forced to roster Aug birthdays. They'll figure it out and they'll roster the same way as New Jersey.
The easiest rule applied to all players is 8/1, very limited play up and it's skill based. Especially with birthdays documentable but grades aren't. It's why leagues and NOVA teams picked dates not grades. That's not going to change.
It is funny how simple the correct answer is. They usually are: simple, to the point and easy to understand. And based in history, since this is how it is being done now, and how it was done before BY.
A ton of NJ kids play for clubs based in PA. Do you think the PA clubs are going to go, 'oh jeez, this kid is technically in this grade in NJ, but in PA we have this cut off date so they would be in this grade here etc. etc.'? Of course not. They are playing by strict age group cut off. Everyone in PA already knows that.
You dont need any paperwork. You just ask players what grade they are in school at tryouts. Just like Arlington did. Then for the August and September birthdays you match them to their correct grade in school team / level.
You can't just hand wave and say grades are easy to collect and monitor across all the states, thousands of school districts and private schools when they are not.
You can lie about your grade in school but the only one that get hurt is your kid when it comes time for recruiting.
Also eventually clubs will figure out what grade your kid is in. Then it becomes an awkward situation.
Either way the problem will address itself.
Recruiting won't be a problem because college coaches told clubs they don't care about kids age groups. Remember they evaluate transfers, foreign players and HS kids from various teams and pick the best no matter the team they play on.
Give me a break now you're talking about lawsuits?
Exactly how many documents did you sign in the beginning of the season absolving the club of any legal responsibility?
5 many 6?
I understand that you can sue for anything. But it doesnt mean you're going to win. Also if you sued a club because your kid got hurt they would quickly get blackballed by all the clubs in the area.
Remember the Colorado Rapids? You don't want what they posted in front of a jury.
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.