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    #31
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    I don’t think anyone is saying the birth year thing is causing a huge decline in number but it is a negative. It does cause kids to not play here and there. And there is really no upside. These kids play for High school and college. No reason to have those dead years for some kids.
    i don't understand how it's a dead year for high schoolers? isn't HS soccer eligibility grade based anyway? so you get to play 4 years of HS soccer regardless of how old you are when you start 9th grade. it's only the 8th grade gap for older kids that seems to be an issue.

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      #32
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Exactly. Do it graduation year based. There are only negatives any other way. Plus, doing it Grad year (vs any specific calendar dates) would unify the country regardless of school cutoff dates. Just like LaX. It’s all about playing in high school and college. No brainer.
      It’s all about the money and the participant numbers. Youth soccer participation has fallen over 15% since the change to birth year. Lacrosse went to graduation year to ease college recruitment and lacrosse is the fastest growing sport. It has zero to do with any birth month advantage and everything to do with sports being tied to college and high school. Graduation based age groups bring in the most players and thus the most money and the best chance of finding a Messi or Mia in the larger bunch.

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        #33
        In most states, (except CT) the age cut off is around Sept 1. So any child who is born Sept - Dec does not have a team to play on the fall of their 8th grade year when the remainder of their team goes plays high school soccer. For club players it is still a problem senior year because the teams are U18/19. In that senior year you are now squeezing extra players onto that roster at the end of high school. The weaker kids will get dropped down whether they are juniors or seniors.

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          #34
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          i don't understand how it's a dead year for high schoolers? isn't HS soccer eligibility grade based anyway? so you get to play 4 years of HS soccer regardless of how old you are when you start 9th grade. it's only the 8th grade gap for older kids that seems to be an issue.
          Not an issue for the HS team, but kids affected by this who play club in the spring need to find a U19 team their senior year.

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            #35
            Soccer was declining big time even before age change so go peddle you bogus conclusions somewhere else.

            Soccer decline is not due to age change; it is due to cost, video games, accessibility, etc. Age change is one of the last items needed to be addressed to change the trend.

            From 2015:

            https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-...hy-it-matters/

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              #36
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Soccer was declining big time even before age change so go peddle you bogus conclusions somewhere else.

              Soccer decline is not due to age change; it is due to cost, video games, accessibility, etc. Age change is one of the last items needed to be addressed to change the trend.

              From 2015:

              https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-...hy-it-matters/
              Just curious, did you read that article before you posted it? I think not.

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                #37
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                In most states, (except CT) the age cut off is around Sept 1. So any child who is born Sept - Dec does not have a team to play on the fall of their 8th grade year when the remainder of their team goes plays high school soccer. For club players it is still a problem senior year because the teams are U18/19. In that senior year you are now squeezing extra players onto that roster at the end of high school. The weaker kids will get dropped down whether they are juniors or seniors.
                It has been a cluster. Declining numbers. Teams messed up at both 8th & 9th grade and also 11th and 12th grade. Since the teams get messed up, it messes with ALL the kids, not just the fall born kids. This year, our ECNL team is U18 & U19 combined. The 10 fall born U19s that didn’t graduate last June, had to join with last years full u18 team (last year 10th & 11th graders, currently 11th and 12th graders). 32 is too many for one team. 10 players got bumped and the majority were from last year’s u17 team (and most were born before Sept).

                If USSF doesn’t change to grad year, I hear ECNL will to grab market share and align perfectly with college recruiting. Every grade will have a full team and the train will run smoothly right onto college campuses.

                Comment


                  #38
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  It has been a cluster. Declining numbers. Teams messed up at both 8th & 9th grade and also 11th and 12th grade. Since the teams get messed up, it messes with ALL the kids, not just the fall born kids. This year, our ECNL team is U18 & U19 combined. The 10 fall born U19s that didn’t graduate last June, had to join with last years full u18 team (last year 10th & 11th graders, currently 11th and 12th graders). 32 is too many for one team. 10 players got bumped and the majority were from last year’s u17 team (and most were born before Sept).

                  If USSF doesn’t change to grad year, I hear ECNL will to grab market share and align perfectly with college recruiting. Every grade will have a full team and the train will run smoothly right onto college campuses.
                  As it should be

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    i don't understand how it's a dead year for high schoolers? isn't HS soccer eligibility grade based anyway? so you get to play 4 years of HS soccer regardless of how old you are when you start 9th grade. it's only the 8th grade gap for older kids that seems to be an issue.
                    Club soccer you knucklehead

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Just curious, did you read that article before you posted it? I think not.
                      Not the poster- here's an article with more recent data and it mentions the calendar change. There are many reasons why soccer is down (high cost, travel, etc) but no doubt the age change has played a role as well. Soccer was down 15% in just 3 years. That's a big drop. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...s-study-finds/

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        Not the poster- here's an article with more recent data and it mentions the calendar change. There are many reasons why soccer is down (high cost, travel, etc) but no doubt the age change has played a role as well. Soccer was down 15% in just 3 years. That's a big drop. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...s-study-finds/
                        So this is based is the same Aspen study that prior poster did not bother to read to prove a point.:

                        "The top reason kids want to play sports, the report indicates, is a desire to be with friends, not winning. That may have hurt soccer participation, which dropped 9.5 percent year over year due to a U.S. Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams, according to the report. (Players are now grouped by birth year, rather than school grade.)"

                        "Baseball, basketball, football all experience participation growth in 2017. Soccer though continued a decline Aspen links back to a US Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams."

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          So this is based is the same Aspen study that prior poster did not bother to read to prove a point.:

                          "The top reason kids want to play sports, the report indicates, is a desire to be with friends, not winning. That may have hurt soccer participation, which dropped 9.5 percent year over year due to a U.S. Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams, according to the report. (Players are now grouped by birth year, rather than school grade.)"

                          "Baseball, basketball, football all experience participation growth in 2017. Soccer though continued a decline Aspen links back to a US Soccer Federation age group rule change that broke up existing teams."
                          common sense - kids will only play if it's fun, especially the rec level kids who aren't especially vested in the sport, but truthfully all kids. I saw what the age change did between my older pre-age change kid and my post-age change one. It had a dramatic impact on our town.

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            common sense - kids will only play if it's fun, especially the rec level kids who aren't especially vested in the sport, but truthfully all kids. I saw what the age change did between my older pre-age change kid and my post-age change one. It had a dramatic impact on our town.
                            Well it wasn’t common sense for USSF. Best to rip the bandaid off and fix it to either school year or grad year (hopefully with parameter to prevent abuse.)

                            Comment


                              #44
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Well it wasn’t common sense for USSF. Best to rip the bandaid off and fix it to either school year or grad year (hopefully with parameter to prevent abuse.)
                              USSF is incapable of doing the right thing. It's like expecting OW to develop players: p!ssing into the wind.

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                                common sense - kids will only play if it's fun, especially the rec level kids who aren't especially vested in the sport, but truthfully all kids. I saw what the age change did between my older pre-age change kid and my post-age change one. It had a dramatic impact on our town.
                                Lower level and younger kids for sure. I think back to when my kids first started on town Kindergarten teams - all their classmates were there. That helps when they're younger and maybe more hesitant to try something new. You can explain the age thing away to a more rational 11 year old, not so much a 6 year old

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