candyland02 said:

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PatAg said:

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I also don't think the break is primarily due to.school, but that playing conditions in dec-feb and part of March are really poor in most of the US

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No, the break or shortened club season is only for HS aged divisions as many here have confirmed.

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pretty stupid rule, hopefully that's something that gets changed if we actually care about developing players.

Aside from wanting to develope the 1% it also forces clubs to make temporary arrangements for older 8th graders as also confirmed here.

I can speak to your questions. My son plays club ball in Cedar Park. He has a spring birthday and is in ninth grade. His club team is comprised of half ninth graders and half eighth graders.

The fall season is as usual. They'll play into November and play a tournament or two in December. The spring club season (USC) will not resume until March. The high school season begins early January and will run into March. As far as I know, all (except one) of his club friends are also playing on the school team. The one exception plays DA and is not allowed to play school ball. Some players are choosing to the play ECNL rather than DA so they can play both club and HS.

The unfortunate bunch are the eighth graders on the split team. It is my understanding that our league will continue to hold "optional" practices during this time, but I'm uncertain if that is accurate. Having said that, the eighth graders plan to play school ball during that same time, so they will still be touching the ball.

I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about the process and/or calendar.

I don't understand. My family was heavily involved in youth soccer in the DFW area in the 70's and 80's. We had a large club in Oak Cliff (North Oak Cliff) for several years. In those years, age groups in all of US Soccer youth was based on birth years.

I have not been involved in youth soccer organization since then so I was not aware that the age groups were changed from birth year to month-year.

When was the change made? Why was it changed? Year born worked great in the 70's and 80's.

My post on page one, second from last, gives a full explanation in regards birth year registration in the U.S.

carl spacklers hat said:

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From USYSA:

The change in player registration is America going back to what we did on this account in the 1960s, '70s and into the '80s. Indeed, the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program has grouped players by birth year since its inception in 1977. Many club teams will benefit from the change when they travel overseas to play, in that they will no longer have to play up in order to be in the proper age group. The same is true for foreign teams coming to play here. The objective simply is to align with international standards and the Youth National Team program.

Indeed, until 1983, all youth soccer teams in the United States were grouped by birth year. America is simply reverting to that registration process. The back story is that in the early 1980s, FIFA switched from birth year to school year. The U.S., like all members of FIFA, did the same. Within two years, FIFA changed back to birth year. But at that time, having just made a massive change, the U.S. declined to shift along with the other members of FIFA. U.S. Soccer has made the decision to once again align American soccer with the rest of the world. These decisions are made collectively with U.S. Soccer's technical staff and approved by their Board of Directors.

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Thanks. I did not see it. My question is why would FIFA switch to school year? I am sure school years vary considerably throughout the world.

Seems like it would be far more confusing than birth year. FIFA probably figured that out very quickly and reversed their decision ASAP.

You can't assign teams exactly by school year because some players will be a year ahead and some will be a year (or two) behind.

If birth years are not used, teams from some countries may have a team that has players a year or two older than teams from other countries.

I guess I'm the dumb guy. And the old guy. Youth soccer in Texas was always done by birth year. The city league had divisions based on birth years. The select teams had squad for each birth year: 75 Comets, 76 Comets, etc.

Never realized that they went away from it.

School year is easy, even little league just switched to it. It doesn't go by your grade, it goes by when you were born, and the range is done along with the school year which starts in August. So the only difference is instead of the range starting January 1, it starts in August. Just like any method, kids that are held back or skip a grade would not play with classmates, they are always outliers.

Since school year is how High School and College Soccer both work I feel we are trying to stick a square peg in a round hole by matching other countries with birth year. As shown throughout the thread it is creating conflicts that clubs have to make special arrangements for.

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It doesn't go by your grade, it goes by when you were born

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This is both hilarious and aggravating at the same time. You've just said EXACTLY what USSF has done with registration. I guess it needs to be reiterated: literally EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD that plays soccer follows the Jan. 1- Dec 31 birth year registration. Please reread the quoted information from USSF for the reasons why the U.S. finally aligned with the rest of the international soccer community. It really can't be stated any more sucinctly.

One other item that also needs to be reiterated: school soccer, be it high school or junior high, is totally irrelevant to USSF, as it should be, and has little or no bearing on the decisions being made by USSF that help align U.S. Soccer with the international soccer community. It sounds like you are projecting your experiences with football, basketball and baseball to soccer which is a mistake. Those 3 sports DO follow a pathway through our school systems. Soccer in America DOES NOT for the players who aspire to play in college and beyond. That pathway is through the club system, and the club system is beholden to USSF and the rules as established and enforced by USSF & FIFA, where applicable.

I don't know how it can be made any simpler/easier than this: What year were you born?

That's it. That's the only question that needs to be asked to determine which team a kid is going to be rostered to. You don't have to find out what grade they are in. You don't need to ask if they are old , young, or just right for their grade. You don't have to make special accommodations for August birthdays or June birthdays or any of the other confusing shiite that is introduced as soon as you start using school grade data to determine to which team a kid is to be assigned. If one cannot understand that then there is nothing else to do to educate someone on the topic.

I was correcting the previous posters misunderstanding of grade year. I'm sure I could have worded it better. And you are putting zero weight into my arguments and have completely bought into the USSF change which "might" only benefit only 1% of soccer athletes in the US while creating actual issues(proven in this thread) for others.

Trust me, it's not going to improve our national team, that's wishful thinking. Increasing quality of development and increasing participation are the only things that will help. There is no way this change we are discussing will increase participation and could very likely decrease it.

How exactly does this change help College? College goes by school year.

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How exactly does this change help College? College goes by school year.

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Men's College soccer programs have been feasting on DA players. DA players have been birth year since it started in 20078. At the DA showcases in December there are routinely 85 coaches watching my son's games the last two years.

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Trust me, it's not going to improve our national team, that's wishful thinking. Increasing quality of development and increasing participation are the only things that will help. There is no way this change we are discussing will increase participation and could very likely decrease it.

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Now that DA has expanded to U12 for most clubs, then DA appears to be rowing the boat for development purposes for the serious soccer player. Good or bad, most soccer players have hit the beam by 8th grade and are looking to spend less time playing soccer. Factors for this include other sports, girlfriends, friends, work, school and being fed up with overbearing parents.

Exceptions are those groups where soccer/futbol is part of the culture and no one needs to be concerned about a lack of participation there.

DISD has instituted a futsal program for elementary, middle and high schools during p.e. time. That is a development that can be very promising to the future popularity of soccer. Especially if this happens at many city ISD's. My understanding is that Atlanta area will do the same thing.

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