New Age Mattix updated

[Unregistered]

It does indeed change the kids he's playing with, since he plays town travel, with two age groups combined. Old matrix, he'd be U12 playing on a U11/U12 team. New matrix, he's U13 playing on a U13/U14 team, this adds another year of older kids (mostly 8th graders, he'll be a 6th grader). This along with the larger field and extra players can be tough on the youngest players, especially if they are small on top of it. As I said, club is looking like a good option, as it will put him in with mostly 7th graders in a single U13 age group, taking the 8th graders out.

I'm not from your region so this concept of "Club" vs "Town Travel" is lost on me. We simply have Travel and Rec. That is it, so forgive me for not understanding how the age groups are combined.

I could also use a little explanation on the fundamental difference between the two.

[Unregistered]

I'm not from your region so this concept of "Club" vs "Town Travel" is lost on me. We simply have Travel and Rec. That is it, so forgive me for not understanding how the age groups are combined.

I could also use a little explanation on the fundamental difference between the two.

No problem. Simple concept, many town travel and rec teams here are composed of players in two age groups, U9s together with U10s, U11s with U12s, U13s with U14s, etc. Most club teams have separate teams for each age group, U10, U11, U12 etc.

[Unregistered]

Again, the kids your son was going to play with next year hasn't changed with this latest tweak, BUT the size of the field and the number of players did fundamentally change on him.

The matrix only changed the designation that the 04's will play as. Under the previous matrix, 04's were slated to repeat at U12. 04's playing as U11 were going to be bumped up to u12. Your son would have played with roughly the same group of kids. But the 04's are now going to be designated U13 instead and with that comes big boy soccer that physically and tactically many of the U11 04's simply are not ready for next year.

This sucks for your son and thousands in his shoes.

Playing Devil's Advocate here (trust me, I'm no fan of this at all)... Aren't we looking at this from the standpoint of today... What I mean by that is that I am looking at this situation as if my kid is going into this as one player (my kid who I want the best for of course)... But in reality, he will be amongst many other players in the exact same situation (ie thousands in his shoes as you say). Shouldn't that lessen the blow? It's not as if your kid (my kid) is being "bumped up" by himself onto a team of much older kids... His "peers" will be along for the ride as well... Teams they will be playing against will be in the same situation... Also, up until a few years ago, U11 was the age they all went 11 v 11... So, you could look at it from that standpoint... Those teams all survived that change at U11... Again, just trying to look at the other side of things.

[Unregistered]

This latest "age matrix" is not the final word. There are multiple issues - here is Oct 30th release from US Club Soccer - essentially US Soccer is rethinking everything and more to come.....


UPDATE (Oct. 30, 2015): On Sept. 15, US Club Soccer communicated how our organization would be implementing the new birth year registration and small-sided game mandates from the U.S. Soccer Federation. This communication was made to help our members plan for the future with significant time to prepare. It is accurate with respect to US Club Soccer competition structures until Aug. 1, 2016.

In the past weeks, there have been some interpretative changes in how competition age groups are labeled, and potentially the effect these changes will have once birth-year registration is introduced on Aug. 1, 2016. We understand that there are significant questions being raised in many areas – from parents, coaches and clubs – about intent, implementation and intended or unintended effect of various positions and changes.

US Club Soccer is in extensive dialogue with other youth organizations and with the U.S. Soccer Federation regarding these changes. We hope to have clear and concise responses to these questions in the coming weeks. We will communicate exactly what the appropriate age group labels will be and the implementation plan to most efficiently adjust to these Federation mandates, as soon as we are able.

Thank you for your patience as we work through this issue.

[Unregistered]

Does this mean that if travel leagues adopt this requirement starting next fall, that all 2002 birthdays will lose what could be their last year of town travel basically losing their U14 year? This means that they are in eighth grade and no travel team to play for, unless their travel club has older teams, which are not many. This does not affect my kids, but I have friends who this will affect greatly. A few that do not play club Soccer, nor does the middle school have a team, so that means they are S OL next year. That sucks for them. I just think this rule is trying to serve such a small percentage of players in this country, and really messing with the rest in unfortunate ways.

[Unregistered]

Playing Devil's Advocate here (trust me, I'm no fan of this at all)... Aren't we looking at this from the standpoint of today... What I mean by that is that I am looking at this situation as if my kid is going into this as one player (my kid who I want the best for of course)... But in reality, he will be amongst many other players in the exact same situation (ie thousands in his shoes as you say). Shouldn't that lessen the blow? It's not as if your kid (my kid) is being "bumped up" by himself onto a team of much older kids... His "peers" will be along for the ride as well... Teams they will be playing against will be in the same situation... Also, up until a few years ago, U11 was the age they all went 11 v 11... So, you could look at it from that standpoint... Those teams all survived that change at U11... Again, just trying to look at the other side of things.

Nice to step back and look at it from that point of view. When I grew up playing soccer, we played 11v11 from 6years old on. As a girl on a coed 1st/2nd grade team, I probably touched the ball during game play once the entire season, and not much more the following year. I laughed when I first signed my kids up for rec soccer and found out they would be playing 4v4 with no goalie. But after their first season, it was incredibly obvious this was far better for development and much more fun for the kids, since they were all constantly involved in the game. So yes, I should be thankful my kid has had at least six years now of small sided games. His development is probably 4x better than mine was at his age. Would love for him to have that extra year of 8v8, though, but I'm sure he'll be just fine.

More concerning to me is the size difference. Because my son will probably be the youngest at tryouts, being 5 days from the cutoff, and already being a small kid, plus not having played 11v11 before, he may very well end up on one of the lower level U13/U14 town teams. This means less skilled players, which often means players are more physical to make up for their lack of skill, and that could be a big problem for him. It'll toughen him up for sure, though.

[Unregistered]

Playing Devil's Advocate here (trust me, I'm no fan of this at all)... Aren't we looking at this from the standpoint of today... What I mean by that is that I am looking at this situation as if my kid is going into this as one player (my kid who I want the best for of course)... But in reality, he will be amongst many other players in the exact same situation (ie thousands in his shoes as you say). Shouldn't that lessen the blow? It's not as if your kid (my kid) is being "bumped up" by himself onto a team of much older kids... His "peers" will be along for the ride as well... Teams they will be playing against will be in the same situation... Also, up until a few years ago, U11 was the age they all went 11 v 11... So, you could look at it from that standpoint... Those teams all survived that change at U11... Again, just trying to look at the other side of things.

Very reasonable point of view. I agree that 2-3 years from now and beyond, it's all a wash. No debate there. I'm just not sure I see the rationale for the age group component. I see the logic here akin to the rest of the world uses the metric system, so let's adapt. That's not a reason, especially if there's not detrimental impact, it's just rearranging the same furniture.

But within the next several seasons, it will be disruptive. Will any of the other initiatives have any short term negative consequences? None that I see. So the game is helped, now and later. On the age component, I don't see the inherent benefit down the road, but I do see negative consequences immediately. Kids just might not have fun, miss their friends, and they might quit. The change does nothing to bolster participation as I see it, only harm it perhaps.

It's an irritating speed bump, at best, installed while repaving the road, where none was needed at all.

[Unregistered]

Playing Devil's Advocate here (trust me, I'm no fan of this at all)... Aren't we looking at this from the standpoint of today... What I mean by that is that I am looking at this situation as if my kid is going into this as one player (my kid who I want the best for of course)... But in reality, he will be amongst many other players in the exact same situation (ie thousands in his shoes as you say). Shouldn't that lessen the blow? It's not as if your kid (my kid) is being "bumped up" by himself onto a team of much older kids... His "peers" will be along for the ride as well... Teams they will be playing against will be in the same situation... Also, up until a few years ago, U11 was the age they all went 11 v 11... So, you could look at it from that standpoint... Those teams all survived that change at U11... Again, just trying to look at the other side of things.

Well they stopped 11v11 at U11 for a reason, it was a bad idea and to young for that age. While this situation will only happen once, mandating "pushing" kids forward into a age bracket is worse for development than having those same kids simply repeat that year while adding in the "younger kids".

For rising U9's little of this matters, but for other age groups the change from the September matrix to this new Oct matrix has more negative consequence than the previous Matrix.

[Unregistered]

This latest "age matrix" is not the final word. There are multiple issues - here is Oct 30th release from US Club Soccer - essentially US Soccer is rethinking everything and more to come.....


UPDATE (Oct. 30, 2015): On Sept. 15, US Club Soccer communicated how our organization would be implementing the new birth year registration and small-sided game mandates from the U.S. Soccer Federation. This communication was made to help our members plan for the future with significant time to prepare. It is accurate with respect to US Club Soccer competition structures until Aug. 1, 2016.

In the past weeks, there have been some interpretative changes in how competition age groups are labeled, and potentially the effect these changes will have once birth-year registration is introduced on Aug. 1, 2016. We understand that there are significant questions being raised in many areas – from parents, coaches and clubs – about intent, implementation and intended or unintended effect of various positions and changes.

US Club Soccer is in extensive dialogue with other youth organizations and with the U.S. Soccer Federation regarding these changes. We hope to have clear and concise responses to these questions in the coming weeks. We will communicate exactly what the appropriate age group labels will be and the implementation plan to most efficiently adjust to these Federation mandates, as soon as we are able.

Thank you for your patience as we work through this issue.

It would seem to make sense that US Soccer needs to determine what the "Final Word" is sooner than later then and simply not swap out age matrix's just for ****s and giggles.

[Unregistered]

Well they stopped 11v11 at U11 for a reason, it was a bad idea and to young for that age. While this situation will only happen once, mandating "pushing" kids forward into a age bracket is worse for development than having those same kids simply repeat that year while adding in the "younger kids".

For rising U9's little of this matters, but for other age groups the change from the September matrix to this new Oct matrix has more negative consequence than the previous Matrix.

I look at it this way. It has little/no impact on kids ALREADY in high school and on kids who aren't keeping score and standings at their games.

For the ages in the middle, basically U11 through U14, there's no benefit in this change for the kids...and I suspect that's as best it can be framed, but it will end up being worse than that.

[Unregistered]

Very reasonable point of view. I agree that 2-3 years from now and beyond, it's all a wash. No debate there. I'm just not sure I see the rationale for the age group component. I see the logic here akin to the rest of the world uses the metric system, so let's adapt. That's not a reason, especially if there's not detrimental impact, it's just rearranging the same furniture.

But within the next several seasons, it will be disruptive. Will any of the other initiatives have any short term negative consequences? None that I see. So the game is helped, now and later. On the age component, I don't see the inherent benefit down the road, but I do see negative consequences immediately. Kids just might not have fun, miss their friends, and they might quit. The change does nothing to bolster participation as I see it, only harm it perhaps.

It's an irritating speed bump, at best, installed while repaving the road, where none was needed at all.

Additionally, let's not forget that at the very young ages, how important it is to play with your friends. With birth year registration, you will be taking a class of kids and splitting it down the middle, with friends on both sides of the birth year. Moving to birth year is likely to have a more detrimental effect on whether kids actually sign up to play soccer right from the start if they can't play with their friends. As kids get older, they are more willing to play on teams without their friends (or make new friends) because they love the game, but for the little ones, they want to be with their friends right from the start!

[Unregistered]

It does indeed change the kids he's playing with, since he plays town travel, with two age groups combined. Old matrix, he'd be U12 playing on a U11/U12 team. New matrix, he's U13 playing on a U13/U14 team, this adds another year of older kids (mostly 8th graders, he'll be a 6th grader). This along with the larger field and extra players can be tough on the youngest players, especially if they are small on top of it. As I said, club is looking like a good option, as it will put him in with mostly 7th graders in a single U13 age group, taking the 8th graders out.

I completely agree with your concern. It's a valid one. Our league also plays 2 year brackets; U12, U14 etc.

My son is a current 04 U12 6th grader. He is 5'2" and 100lbs. 8th graders can be even larger.

I definitely feel for the 04 U11s.

Perhaps talk to your town/league regarding implementation. They might not implement until 2017/2018. Or perhaps the 8th graders will get the A team spots leaving the younger/smaller kids on the B/C team.

Of course, looking into club is also an option, as you suggested.

[Unregistered]

Additionally, let's not forget that at the very young ages, how important it is to play with your friends. With birth year registration, you will be taking a class of kids and splitting it down the middle, with friends on both sides of the birth year. Moving to birth year is likely to have a more detrimental effect on whether kids actually sign up to play soccer right from the start if they can't play with their friends. As kids get older, they are more willing to play on teams without their friends (or make new friends) because they love the game, but for the little ones, they want to be with their friends right from the start!

When the original discussions regarding calendar year was first announced this was often sighted as a negative consequence. I still find this argument to be invalid. Kids adjust to this easier than people want to believe.

Bumping kids up to the full field before they are developmentally ready or bumping kids out of their final year of travel sooner than expected is truly a negative consequence.

Little kids not playing because they are not with their friend? Do they quit school to because they aren't in the same class as their friends when they move to 4th grade?

[Unregistered]

When the original discussions regarding calendar year was first announced this was often sighted as a negative consequence. I still find this argument to be invalid. Kids adjust to this easier than people want to believe.

Bumping kids up to the full field before they are developmentally ready or bumping kids out of their final year of travel sooner than expected is truly a negative consequence.

Little kids not playing because they are not with their friend? Do they quit school to because they aren't in the same class as their friends when they move to 4th grade?

BAYS already has grade level guidelines for their age groups written into their rule book.
See http://www.bays.org/node/43

Look for most other town travel leagues to grant almost automatic grade level age waivers so that teams can stay grade level based and no one has to miss a year of town travel early.

[Unregistered]

When the original discussions regarding calendar year was first announced this was often sighted as a negative consequence. I still find this argument to be invalid. Kids adjust to this easier than people want to believe.

Bumping kids up to the full field before they are developmentally ready or bumping kids out of their final year of travel sooner than expected is truly a negative consequence.

Little kids not playing because they are not with their friend? Do they quit school to because they aren't in the same class as their friends when they move to 4th grade?

School is obviously mandatory and soccer is not. There are many different extracurricular activities that children can choose to participate in other than soccer. I can tell you that my kids at age 7 would choose the activities that their friends participate in. Maybe you're the type of parent that forces your kid to play soccer because you "know what's best for him/her" at these very young ages. Many parents will not do that, and instead will gravitate towards other sports and activities where their children CAN particiate with their friends.