Anonymous
Post 03/18/2026 02:10     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

I'll make it easy for everyone. At the younger ages be the oldest on the top team, regardless of grade in school. Reap all the benefits for 8 or 9 years then move to your grade year for recruiting in high school. Way more advantage to being the oldest from 6 to 14 than being aligned to your grade.
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2026 00:01     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:Another Facebook thread where all the parents are reporting that their kid is playing up.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2186399335005929/posts/4125521797760330/
Not even remotely true. Heck, the OP literally states nobody can play up at their kid's team. Again, do you read this stuff before you make nonsense comments?
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:50     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Another Facebook thread where all the parents are reporting that their kid is playing up.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2186399335005929/posts/4125521797760330/
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:48     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
You are misstating the optimization problem.

An easier situation for college coaches doesn't is not the same thing as the best scenario for each individual player. It's why clubs go case by case and why ECNL dude just figured out how to get twice the college coaches looks for many Aug births.

So grade in school matters to college coaches
Per Eastside Fc, college coaches evaluate players based on their performance, development, and potential—not the exact age grouping of their club team. They don't care what age recruits are.


Yes they dont care about age because graduating year or grade in school is all that matters to college recruiters.

Get it through your head.
All that matters to college coaches according to college coaches is performance, development, and potential.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:37     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
You are misstating the optimization problem.

An easier situation for college coaches doesn't is not the same thing as the best scenario for each individual player. It's why clubs go case by case and why ECNL dude just figured out how to get twice the college coaches looks for many Aug births.

So grade in school matters to college coaches
Per Eastside Fc, college coaches evaluate players based on their performance, development, and potential—not the exact age grouping of their club team. They don't care what age recruits are.


Yes they dont care about age because graduating year or grade in school is all that matters to college recruiters.

Get it through your head.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:36     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
You are misstating the optimization problem.

An easier situation for college coaches doesn't is not the same thing as the best scenario for each individual player. It's why clubs go case by case and why ECNL dude just figured out how to get twice the college coaches looks for many Aug births.

So grade in school matters to college coaches
Per Eastside Fc, college coaches evaluate players based on their performance, development, and potential—not the exact age grouping of their club team. They don't care what age recruits are.

Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:28     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
You are misstating the optimization problem.

An easier situation for college coaches doesn't is not the same thing as the best scenario for each individual player. It's why clubs go case by case and why ECNL dude just figured out how to get twice the college coaches looks for many Aug births.

So grade in school matters to college coaches
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:20     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
You are misstating the optimization problem.

An easier situation for college coaches doesn't is not the same thing as the best scenario for each individual player. It's why clubs go case by case and why ECNL dude just figured out how to get twice the college coaches looks for many Aug births.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 23:09     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.

How do you not understand what they mean whe. they say 2 year window.

They're just saying that iSY (2 year window) is the same as BY (1 year window) to recruiters.

If anyhting more players the same grade in SY is better for college coaches.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:58     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.


Most here haven't argued that, they've just pointed out that it's also more complicated than that. This interview gets into that nuance. You overly focus on one thing and make it wrongly perhaps the most important thing. That's why that Eastside club talks about the 2 year window.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:53     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.
He is definitely saying play on age for the regular season, no exceptions. People have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year. He is also saying that if he can get someone in front of college coaches twice instead of just once, he will go for twice. He also recognizes late developers and wants to help them have the best chance to succeed, by not forcing them up when not ready.

So grade in school matters to college coaches


And so does quality of play. If you're in the correct grade but a lower league that doesn't help them as much. It's NOT just graduation year. It's one factor He basically implies if you're in ECNL, because of the high quality, you're good to go.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:49     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Still 100% correct.

This is for next fall when SY starts.

11v11 = U18/U19 = ≤ 8/1/2007 ≈ Senior
11v11 = U17 = ≤ 8/1/2009 ≈ Senior
11v11 = U16 = ≤ 8/1/2010 ≈ Junior
11v11 = U15 = ≤ 8/1/2011 ≈ Sophmore
11v11 = U14 = ≤ 8/1/2012 ≈ Freshman
11v11 = U13 = ≤ 8/1/2013 ≈ 8th grade
9v9/11v11 = U12 = ≤ 8/1/2014 ≈ 7th grade
9v9 = U11 = ≤ 8/1/2015 ≈ 6th grade
9v9 = U10 = ≤ 8/1/2016 ≈ 5th grade
7v7 = U9 = ≤ 8/1/2017 ≈ 4rd grade
7v7 = U8 = ≤ 8/1/2018 ≈ 3nd grade
4v4 = U7 = ≤ 8/1/2019 ≈ 2nd grade
4v4 = U6 = ≤ 8/1/2019 ≈ 1st grade
4v4 = U5 = ≤ 8/1/2020 ≈ Kindergarten

Using U13 as an example what this is saying is...

1. They play 11v11
2. Players turn 13 after Aug 1
3. Players are younger than or equal to 8/1/2013
4. Players are most likely in 8th grade
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:48     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.
He is definitely saying play on age for the regular season, no exceptions. People have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year. He is also saying that if he can get someone in front of college coaches twice instead of just once, he will go for twice. He also recognizes late developers and wants to help them have the best chance to succeed, by not forcing them up when not ready.

So grade in school matters to college coaches
He is saying that if he can get someone in front of college coaches twice instead of just once, he will go for twice.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:35     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Age guy is so pathetic that hes been deduced to copying other people's work and trying to add play downs into it. Too bad hes dumb and doesnt understand math. Which makes his cut and paste job even more laughable.


I think the combined sharing of the maxtrix makes this thread even worse/less useful than ever!

If age guy wasnt posting intentionally misleading and incorrect matrix's it wouldnt be so annoying. But he has an agenda for older players to play down against younger players so what do you do?

People will quickly see that one of the matrixes doesnt make sense if they look closely at the birthdate ranges.

True but its pathetic that he's posting intentionally incorrect info. All to try and normalize playing down. This is against the rules and something only cheaters embrace.
What is against the rules and cheating? Ridiculous. And what team in the DMV let's kids choose to play up just cause? None, the answer is none. All your misdirection has been for naught.

Anybody can play based on their 8/1-7/31 DOB. Calling this cheating is a you problem, nobody else is questioning the rules like they have to be rewritten to help their kid but you. Always has been.

Look at Age guys matrices. A 2010 senior is just not possible unless the skipped 2 grades. This is the issue' hes relaying incorrect information to try and justify playing down.


So, this ECNL director from Michigan basically says they’re going to do what makes the most sense for their individual players (Case-by-case). Play them on age and showcase them on grade, if/when, that makes sense. He does say college coaches want to see all players of a class together but also notes what league, who the opponents are also vital in player evaluation. He says some of their best players they’ve had, including a YNT now a GK at Penn State, were late developers. Also, this club plays year round, so hasn't had to deal with trap players.

The age change is discussed between roughly 14-20 minutes of this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdLkj6MmgIA

Highlighting key parts:

I Hate Soccer Guy: I get DMs all the time about, well, my daughter's an August birthday, but she's graduating and whatever. And like, what are you doing? Okay, let's say a kid falls on the junior team. … Junior class team, but she's graduating this year with the seniors or whatever. … I know a lot of Flash girls are just going to stay in their grad year. What are you guys going to do?

ECNL dude: So we actually we spent a lot of time talking to a lot of the top clubs, a lot of like we talked to players, people in the federation, we talked to people in college like what would be the best thing to do because at some point as well you have to rip the band-aid off. It's like if you keep everything as is, you just push the problem down the road. So for us, every single kid is going to where their birth date aligns. Okay? And that includes like no exceptions.

So now if we find a situation now where we need to move a kid because they're just unchallenged, right? Then you can move them from there. Yeah. Right. But let's align it all. We'll rip the band-aid off. Right. And now we can truly see things. And not only that, but you look at like if I'm a if I'm a senior and I have the opportunity to play U17 again, I'm doing it a 100 out of 100 times because there's six playoff spots. There's an environment where you're competing for longer, right? right? You got the opportunity to do things and the motivation level is really high. The senior year always curtails unfortunately. Yeah. Um you know with kids. So you know for me it's a lot of people fall into that and as well you get a great benefit of if you're uncommitted you now get to get a redo on some of the exposure that you know you maybe wouldn't have before if you were on a senior team, right?

So there's there's a lot of benefits. So for us, you know, we're in a situation where everyone's going into that and then we can move things off of that if it's the right thing. Now then you also have to look at it. Okay, if a player goes into an age younger but their grade level is here, how do you help them with showcasing? So for us, we have made sure that in our kind of roster assembly, we created opportunities so that you know at ECNL showcases or Jefferson Cup or something like that, we have the ability to bring this player with us. So now they still get the best of both worlds, right? If you can develop inside this environment, we can also then showcase you with your grade level, but also if you're maybe a little bit of a late developer, like for example, your typical recruitment, your elite players are getting watched a lot, their sophomore years.

Your next tier is mainly the junior year, but let's say you make it to junior year and you've really developed, but now you're on a mainly sophomore team. You get the opportunity to now get re-seen, right, by a lot of those schools that maybe aren't watching junior classes anymore.

I Hate Soccer Guy: I've never thought of it like that.

ECNL dude: Yeah. Okay. So, there's a lot of benefits to it. That's a positive of being playing down again.

Like another positive because the younger parts of the older grade are typically going to be your late developers, right? So, it gives you the opportunity now to really help them because they, you know, whether it's physical maturation, mental, whatever it might be. It's ultimately up to the kid, but they can showcase because we've had a ton of kids that have come in, you know, and been late developers. They've been on second and third teams and they've risen and they've gone, you know, RL to ECNL to power four, right? And that's, you know, one of our one of our goalkeepers is one of my favorite stories of all time. She's a sophomore at Penn State right now. … So you know, yeah, those late developers are there. And that's the thing is you have to have ways to help them, right? And this kind of provides a natural way. If you are a younger part of your grade, you now have a second opportunity that maybe you wouldn't have got before.
Title should be ECNL Guy Fixes I Hate Soccer Guy's Mistake.

I Hate Soccer Guy, "I know a lot of Flash girls are just going to stay in their grad year. What are you guys going to do?"

ECNL Guy, "So for us, every single kid is going to where their birth date aligns. Okay? And that includes like no exceptions." Provides lengthy explanation of the benefits.

I Hate Soccer Guy, "I've never thought of it like that."



At our club (one of the large major Texas clubs) the August kids that are a grade up are just playing a year up across the board. I think that’s an easy solution.

Once rosters for 26/27 are posted with graduating year details. It will be easy to see which clubs are doing this. No matter what the communicate externally. I predict most top clubs will have Aug birthdays play with their grade. Lower level clubs will see whats happening and copy top club actions. Again, because its easier and makes all players aligned.
Nah, sorry, it just didn't go your way. ECNL guy's no exceptions logic is the rule of that won the day.

Appears to be one club in Texas that is playing Aug birthdays with their grade. (Along with all thr NJ PA and Wisconson clubs that announced on their websites)

Nah Done....
So how many clubs do think are in the US? And you found what about 4 clubs that you think are going grade instead of age? These are what are known as outliers.

Nobody is "going grade"

Clubs are choosing to roster Aug birthdays on their correct grade in school SY team. This is because it makes things easier for clubs to manage and players arent misaligned when it comes time for recruitment when they're older


Clubs are rostering players by groups that don't exist in leagues?
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 22:35     Subject: ECNL moving to school year part 2

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question. We are in Maryland and our club is doing a Sept 1- Aug 31 cut off, which actually aligns exactly with the school year cut off. So the only kids playing with a different grade will be kids who were redshirted in kindergarten, or kids who started school ahead of schedule. Why don't you guys do a cut off that actually aligns with your school calendar also?
Clubs have to choose a cutoff date. They chose 9/1 initially but switched it to 8/1. Unfortunately different school districts have different cutoff dates as well which creates the situation where some players can play down because their birthday is in Aug which is after 8/1 but before their school districts cutoff date. But this is a very small minority of players and almost all choose to play up on their correct grade in school team because playing up is allowed in the rules.
On what team in the DMV are all the kids choosing to play up? Most posts are like ECNL due, playing on age, playing up on age is very limited.

Seems you are trying to normalize grade for August to convince them to play up even when it isn't in their best interest to protect your Sept girl.

What evidence do you have to say that almost all Aug players are choosing to play soccer based on their grade? Those Facebook links you showed about 3 weeks ago said the opposite, by far most thumps up for playing on age.


And now we have a ECNL director at a high-level club explain when/why/how when these high-level kids should play on age -- all the time, except when basically showcasing on grade when/if needed.

So hes basically saying that grade in school matters to college recruiters.

Seems like people have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year.
He is definitely saying play on age for the regular season, no exceptions. People have been trying to drive that into your skull for over a year. He is also saying that if he can get someone in front of college coaches twice instead of just once, he will go for twice. He also recognizes late developers and wants to help them have the best chance to succeed, by not forcing them up when not ready.

So grade in school matters to college coaches