OT: youth soccer age grouping

[UMRU]

I'm sure there are lots of parents of youth soccer players on this board. So what do you think about the new age grouping that starts next year?

Rather than group roughly by school grade, US soccer is asking that leagues change to calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec. 31) grouping. So if your 5th grader, for example, is born before Dec. 31, he/she will have to play on a team that has many 4th graders.

The point, apparently, is to align US youth soccer with international soccer.

 

[RU at the shore]

As a coach, I absolutely hate it, because it will break our team / coaches / friends up.

 

[RUJohnny99]

Helps my son, who is born 6/24 with a 7/1 cutoff. Unfortunately he's U14 and has maybe 1 year left to enjoy not being the youngest on the team.

 

[RU1977]

As a former coach, it looks like it will breakup teams that have been playing for years together (especially in the older age groups), and will make many unhappy...... Will only be OK for teams that haven't formed yet.

 

[Masajoje]

It's a dumb move except perhaps at the elite level because those kids rarely if ever play high school soccer anyway. It's not like the middle and high schools can change their teams based on age.

 

[knightru]

I coach both my boys and I hate it. They should grandfather the existing kids in the system and just start with u8 for next year.

I thought it was not being enforced until 2017... Did something change?

 

[Beancounter88]

My daughter played for state and region ODP (Olympic development), which is driving this. It is odd that the cutoffs between club and ODP are different - being done to improve national team exposure. This will probably be the last year that many top girl players play in HS since most clubs will switch to 10-month seasons in the next year or 2. In the future, HS girls soccer will be glorified rec soccer.

 

[UMRU]

My daughter played for state and region ODP (Olympic development), which is driving this. It is odd that the cutoffs between club and ODP are different - being done to improve national team exposure. This will probably be the last year that many top girl players play in HS since most clubs will switch to 10-month seasons in the next year or 2. In the future, HS girls soccer will be glorified rec soccer.

I hope that is not the case - playing high school sports is fantastic.

 

[RUBigJ]

I hope that is not the case - playing high school sports is fantastic.

My grand daughter plays in the Morris County Youth Soccer league and they use the calender year for age grouping. She is 12 and her birthday is December 27th. So basically she is playing against girls older than her until she gets to high school. It is the same for the track programs.

 

[RU206]

I'm sure there are lots of parents of youth soccer players on this board. So what do you think about the new age grouping that starts next year?

Rather than group roughly by school grade, US soccer is asking that leagues change to calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec. 31) grouping. So if your 5th grader, for example, is born before Dec. 31, he/she will have to play on a team that has many 4th graders.

The point, apparently, is to align US youth soccer with international soccer.

This is the way softball does it. Jan 1 to Dec 31. So if a kid turns 11 on Dec 30 and her friend turns 11 in January the December birthday plays 12 u and the Jan birthday plays 10 u even though they will be 11 for the entire season.

 

[RU1977]

It will not be accepted eagerly by teams that have already formed. I agree that grandfathering should be in effect for teams that have already been playing under the old age groups. 99% of these players aren't going to be playing on ODP or national teams anyway, but will be affected by this new rule.

 

[UMRU]

I think we are seeing the money that drives college sports starting to show up in youth sports. It used to cost $50 to have your kid play rec soccer - now it is easy to spend $3-4K per kid for the more "elite" travel teams.

Killing off high school programs is a great way to expand the club team membership.

 

[Masajoje]

The soccer landscape has completely changed. Travel soccer is basically glorified rec because most kids with a shred of talent get picked off by the clubs and academies. High school soccer will become a joke although it's been slowly heading in that direction for years. It's a shame because high school sports are a huge part of the high school experience. However, my guess is that college soccer will benefit greatly because elite high school players will be training almost year round with other elite players, instead of dominating the high school game against less skilled players. There is a relatively small group of players that will actually benefit from this move.

 

[Beancounter88]

Like other sports, it's all about specialization and making kids decide to pick a sport. It's impossible for my daughter to play a 2nd varsity sport. Only reason she plays HS soccer is because, up to now, clubs are not active during HS season. That will change. Honestly, in the 3 years my daughter has played HS, the game has deteriorated badly. So physical, so dirty - by the 3rd game the team lost 5 starters to injury. Bad coaches, bad refs, bad players.

 

[BigLou]

This is the way softball does it. Jan 1 to Dec 31. So if a kid turns 11 on Dec 30 and her friend turns 11 in January the December birthday plays 12 u and the Jan birthday plays 10 u even though they will be 11 for the entire season.

Well you have the same issue no matter when the cut off date is - there will always be older kids who are nearly a year older than the younger kids.The issue the OP has is that using December 31st as a cut off will split kids in the same grade into different years.

 

[SirScarlet]

as a coach, I dont like it for the reasons stated above. i understand how this might help with the top top % of kids...but most of those will go the academy/club/etc route

then, for the vast majority of kids, they are playing with kids who are not necessarily in their grade since it's not aligned to the school cutoffs. and there is more to youth soccer than trying to align with the international approach for the sake of competitiveness.

I know that change is hard, and that I haven't had someone really explain the benefits/logic behind this...so i am trying to keep an open mind. But so far, I dont like this decision.

 

[Plum Street]

Anyone ever use the 'lady bugs' tactic and use a boy to win in girls soccer ? Like Rodney dangerfield did in the movie

 

[RU206]

Well you have the same issue no matter when the cut off date is - there will always be older kids who are nearly a year older than the younger kids.The issue the OP has is that using December 31st as a cut off will split kids in the same grade into different years.

I understand. I am just pointing out that softball(ASA rule) already does what soccer is going to do. The cut off is Jan 1 so instead of breaking it down by grade level they do it by age.

 

[PhDKnight]

My oldest is playing U5 this fall season so i am new to all this as a parent.

Why don't they leave rec soccer with the school year cut offs for kids that are just playing with friends for fun and change the cut off dates for select teams?

 

[Rutgers1976]

I guess it is the battle between being consistent throughout the soccer system up to the highest levels versus school years. Even though different school systems have their own cutoff dates, how many go by the calendar year and how many go October 1-September 30? At the rec level, I'd stick with the local school year cutoff. Travel has to be consistent with the elite level because of the use of player passes and they'll occasionally compete in tournaments with the more elite teams. There's no right answer I suppose.

 

[RUonBrain]

Absolutely hate it

They should absolutely grandfather in existing teams.
And for rec, this makes ZERO sense.
Teams that have been toghether for 7 years will now be split?
I am just a little pissed.
Okay, a lot.