grade based age

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So sick of this elitist attitude - and no I don't have an impacted kid. I'm indifferent to the change but wholly believe that as many kids should be kept playing a sport they enjoy - for whatever reason - as long as they want. There's the upper level talent, then all the rest. The rest should have been left alone. Most of it is travel where kids are all from the same town, want to play some soccer together, maybe play in HS some day. Most Rec programs are run by towns so they can stay the same but bigger rec programs like AYSO are impacted by the change because they are under the umbrella.

It won't be a mass exodus but it's enough. If he clowns at national had thought about all US soccer players, not just the top 1%, this wouldn't even be a discussion.

If you took my position as elitist, it wasn't my intention. I don't agree with the age change to birth year but stand by my comments regardless. To be clear, it doesn't make sense for rec or town level to follow birth year. At the club level, it may not make sense either however at this level if you're deciding factor to play soccer depends on your classmates then you should reassess your reason for playing club.

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I just can't wrap my head around kids dropping a sport because they would be on a different team than their friends. I can't imagine saying to myself I'd rather leave soccer altogether and try another sport so I can hang out with my friends. If you love playing the sport you won't mind making new friends.

Easier for older kids to make that rationale. Less so when they're younger. I used to be the registrar for our town travel. Friend requests all the time. And as another said, a kid first thinking about doing it might not even try it.

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If you took my position as elitist, it wasn't my intention. I don't agree with the age change to birth year but stand by my comments regardless. To be clear, it doesn't make sense for rec or town level to follow birth year. At the club level, it may not make sense either however at this level if you're deciding factor to play soccer depends on your classmates then you should reassess your reason for playing club.

It isn't very common that club players have classmates on their club teams. Club players tend to come from all over. So the social impact doesn't really apply. These are also kids who are more dedicated to soccer so if they have to move a team it's not a big deal - they've already made the leap out of a town program anyway.

[Unregistered]

Chicken Little stop the sky falling talk

I didn't say mass exodus.

By the way it's an opinion ... Lifelong friends are on different premier teams now and it's not impacting them or causing them to give up soccer.

Other sports with different age cutoffs are not causing friends to ditch softball, baseball or basketball.

What's the chance that Mia and Julie after player soccer for years have the skill or more importantly desire to switch sports.

Definitely not saying it's over for youth soccer in the US but it will take a hit. You must be the same person who has his head buried in the sand and doesn't believe teh stat that many kids quit the sport by age 13 because they stopped having fun right?

Statistics prove why kids play sports and a primary reason is playing with friends. Fact. There are alternative sports with grade cutoffs. Fact. With regards to your Mia and Julie reference, they very likely became friends in school prior to even touching a soccer ball. Mia is a January 2004 kid and Julie is a December 2003 kid...Julie says, 'You wanna try lacrosse so we can still be on the same team and have some fun?'. 'Skill' has nothing to do with it.

[Unregistered]

I just can't wrap my head around kids dropping a sport because they would be on a different team than their friends. I can't imagine saying to myself I'd rather leave soccer altogether and try another sport so I can hang out with my friends. If you love playing the sport you won't mind making new friends.

Soccer's highest participation levels are at around U6. From that point on soccer loses kids every year until they age out. People leave for lots of reasons. They may not like the sport. They may not like not being good at it. They may play other sports and can't make the schedule work for both. They may have had a bad experience with a coach. Add to that dozens if not hundreds of other reasons. And one of those other reasons are the loss of the social aspect of the sport which tends to be stronger on the girls side than the boys side.

My local club has an A and a B team in my daughters age group. A few of the girls on the B team had been asked two years in a row to join the A team but they turned down the promotion both times because they prefer to play with the friends that they have made on the B team. Eventually the club said to move to the A team or be kicked from the club. One of them moved to the A team while the other two quit soccer altogether and now concentrate on volleyball where they all play together.

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If kids leave the sport because they can't play with their friends that's a good thing because they probably don't belong there anyway.

This is a little callous, but in all honesty, this is probably how US Soccer sees things. The kids who have played soccer a few years already and don't love the sport enough to keep playing without their friends are not the players the US Soccer is interested in, so they don't care if these kids quit. I think most of the clubs will be OK, since most sane parents don't move their kids to club (and pay all that money) unless the kid really shows an interest in soccer. These kids will continue playing, many don't have classmates on these regional teams anyway.

The main hit will be on the town rec and travel teams, who are full of mostly multi-sport kids who don't particularly have a love for soccer, but just love playing sports with their friends (or have a real affinity for another sport, but still keep soccer on the side). These programs might see kids dropping soccer in larger numbers, and start focusing on other sports (which they may have done anyway at some point), due to not being able to play on their travel team that has been together for 8 seasons.

US Soccer did overlook the very youngest players, however. Most soccer families, with parents who played at one time and enjoyed it, will still have their kids try it to see if it takes. It's those non-soccer families, who may only sign their kids up due to playing with a friend, who now may not even enter the system. Not sure what percentage of these kids would have stuck with it in the end, but you'd probably miss out on at least some high level players.

[Unregistered]

Soccer's highest participation levels are at around U6. From that point on soccer loses kids every year until they age out. People leave for lots of reasons. They may not like the sport. They may not like not being good at it. They may play other sports and can't make the schedule work for both. They may have had a bad experience with a coach. Add to that dozens if not hundreds of other reasons. And one of those other reasons are the loss of the social aspect of the sport which tends to be stronger on the girls side than the boys side.

My local club has an A and a B team in my daughters age group. A few of the girls on the B team had been asked two years in a row to join the A team but they turned down the promotion both times because they prefer to play with the friends that they have made on the B team. Eventually the club said to move to the A team or be kicked from the club. One of them moved to the A team while the other two quit soccer altogether and now concentrate on volleyball where they all play together.

The flip side is that these kids get to try different sports until they find the one they like. Maybe they leave a sport for the reasons above or maybe they don't try because they aren't encouraged to participate in a sport where they may not be with their classmates. My daughter played softball, soccer, dance and gymnastics up until she was around 12. Then she settled on gymnastics. Did she miss out on something because she didn't try tennis or golf or basketball? Who knows, but she found something she enjoys and will compete into her college years.

[Unregistered]

Definitely not saying it's over for youth soccer in the US but it will take a hit. You must be the same person who has his head buried in the sand and doesn't believe teh stat that many kids quit the sport by age 13 because they stopped having fun right?

Statistics prove why kids play sports and a primary reason is playing with friends. Fact. There are alternative sports with grade cutoffs. Fact. With regards to your Mia and Julie reference, they very likely became friends in school prior to even touching a soccer ball. Mia is a January 2004 kid and Julie is a December 2003 kid...Julie says, 'You wanna try lacrosse so we can still be on the same team and have some fun?'. 'Skill' has nothing to do with it.

Julie doesn't have hand eye coordination so she can't play lacrosse and Mia's mom played soccer so she has to stick with soccer. They have Algebra 1 and vans together they can see each other there

In your philosophy friends can't never be separated: classes, religion, instruments, sports, they must all play them together ... Simese friends

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Julie doesn't have hand eye coordination so she can't play lacrosse and Mia's mom played soccer so she has to stick with soccer. They have Algebra 1 and vans together they can see each other there

In your philosophy friends can't never be separated: classes, religion, instruments, sports, they must all play them together ... Simese friends

If a parent makes a kid play a certain sport even if they don't want to because that parent played that sport, that is horrible! Please tell me parents don't do that?!

[Unregistered]

Definitely not saying it's over for youth soccer in the US but it will take a hit. You must be the same person who has his head buried in the sand and doesn't believe teh stat that many kids quit the sport by age 13 because they stopped having fun right?

Statistics prove why kids play sports and a primary reason is playing with friends. Fact. There are alternative sports with grade cutoffs. Fact. With regards to your Mia and Julie reference, they very likely became friends in school prior to even touching a soccer ball. Mia is a January 2004 kid and Julie is a December 2003 kid...Julie says, 'You wanna try lacrosse so we can still be on the same team and have some fun?'. 'Skill' has nothing to do with it.

Kids quit the sport at 13 because that's when it gets serious, competition from other sports, they aren't good enough or they didn't make the A team = no fun anymore

[Unregistered]

If a parent makes a kid play a certain sport even if they don't want to because that parent played that sport, that is horrible! Please tell me parents don't do that?!

You notice the names of the players ... It's a hypothetical.

Nowhere did it say Mia didn't enjoy soccer

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Kids quit the sport at 13 because that's when it gets serious, competition from other sports, they aren't good enough or they didn't make the A team = no fun anymore

Sure but by then they've had a chance to let it play out and make the decision on their own. Younger kids are the ones more likely to quit - or not even try a sport - because of friendship issues. Kids should have opportunities to play until they decide they no longer want to, not because their team is folding or they can't find other spots, either up or down the skill ladder.

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The flip side is that these kids get to try different sports until they find the one they like. Maybe they leave a sport for the reasons above or maybe they don't try because they aren't encouraged to participate in a sport where they may not be with their classmates. My daughter played softball, soccer, dance and gymnastics up until she was around 12. Then she settled on gymnastics. Did she miss out on something because she didn't try tennis or golf or basketball? Who knows, but she found something she enjoys and will compete into her college years.

Sure, that is a bonus. My kids who quit soccer found out that liked Dek Hockey better anyhow (less distance running, shorter shifts, etc). But if we are talking about what is "best" for soccer, kicking all these kids out of the sport (figuratively) probably doesn't fall under that banner.

[Unregistered]

An exodus to other sports because of a three month age change, really?

Not going to happen

Maybe we should look at it from this perspective, does the change help to grow the sport in the US? I think they need to make carefully thought out decisions in order to grow and mitigate the risk of a decline. Even if there is little to no change in participation then it's still unnecessary risk in my opinion.

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Maybe we should look at it from this perspective, does the change help to grow the sport in the US? I think they need to make carefully thought out decisions in order to grow and mitigate the risk of a decline. Even if there is little to no change in participation then it's still unnecessary risk in my opinion.

I already heard some kids that play on the same team now saying that if they don't continue together next year, they will do spring lacrosse in HS together instead club soccer. I know these are only few but i am sure it will happen all over the country. Minimizing the social aspects, friendship, entertainment in this US soccer mandate is a shot on the foot for soccer. I just don't get the urgency of doing it across all age groups. For soccer sake, why they didn't just implement this from 12's and under or something like that and let all older teams graduate?