Birth Year Hysteria.....?

[Unregistered]

Nothing happened?

My U18 daughter ended up with no team to play on in a club that she has played for over the past 7 years.

They could have played up, but it sounds like the kids looked after their best interests. This was as I had predicted, many kids who were role players before were more likely to find a better option for themselves leaving the "stars" hung out to dry.

[Unregistered]

Talking about players being in same grade and graduating at the same time. The fall players will lose 3/4 of their teammates after their junior year. Where will the fall players go play their senior year?

It is called U19 and it has been added to solve this problem.

[Unregistered]

No, it does not lesson with age, it becomes more and more engrained. Kids willing to put in the work can climb the ladder but once kids are selected at early ages and put into the system of better coaching, better teams, leagues, tournaments, unless they fall flat on their face their position is fairly entrenched.

But by that time the RAE kids have already benefited from nearly five years of the best available training and competition that their area has to offer. That cumulative effect does not magically disappear at 13 years old and "even out".

This argument is not valid. I have heard RAE compared to getting a 4-year degree from a prestigious institution. Two kids come out of college; one from a "state" college and one from an Ivy league school. The Ivy-Leaguer has an advantage the first few years out of school when hiring managers all focus on the degree. After 5 years out of college, nobody even notices the degree or where it came from. Then there is 25 years of head-to-head competition where dozens of other factors take over. RAE works the same.

[Unregistered]

This argument is not valid. I have heard RAE compared to getting a 4-year degree from a prestigious institution. Two kids come out of college; one from a "state" college and one from an Ivy league school. The Ivy-Leaguer has an advantage the first few years out of school when hiring managers all focus on the degree. After 5 years out of college, nobody even notices the degree or where it came from. Then there is 25 years of head-to-head competition where dozens of other factors take over. RAE works the same.

You seem to overlook the importance of that first job/s out of college and the affect that can have on the course of ones career via other factors like networking and other advantages.

These things are cumulative and kids don't have 25 years of head-to-head competition in soccer to make up ground.

Now lets consider the parent who's kid, as a U18, after playing with the "same team" for seven years now, no longer has a team. Many other people have complained about long standing teams being broken up this year.

So tell me, if this team has been together for seven years, exactly when has RAE been evened out? If this is an A team then where was the influx of former B and C team kids that suddenly blossomed and where have the kids that either didn't develop go? If this was a B team, then why haven't many of them blossomed and moved up to other teams?

Essentially, if as you say, RAE evens out then teams would not be together for SEVEN years. Kids would come and go. They would move up and down.

[Unregistered]

It is called U19 and it has been added to solve this problem.

But only 1/4 of the team would be left to play u19. Who would join them to make a new team?

[Unregistered]

But only 1/4 of the team would be left to play u19. Who would join them to make a new team?

Combined U19/U18.

[Unregistered]

Gee, I don't know, before the birth year change my kid went to school with ZERO kids on the team. After birth year change my kid has FOUR classmates on the team.

Club soccer is not a school district thing so please stop with this narrative of playing with schoolmates. It isn't the case in many areas. There are no fewer than six different school districts represented on my kids team.

This impacts all levels of soccer, including travel and some rec programs where playing with friends/classmates does matter (especially when they're younger). I agree with club it's not an issue. This should have been kept at the club/premier level and left the rest alone. Travel/rec kids certainly aren't gunning to a NT spot. That's my main gripe with it.

[Unregistered]

Combined U19/U18.

Many leagues are doing a combined age group for those kids thankfully. But the other group that gets hammered are the older 8th graders who have many teammates in HS - basically they have no team when HS soccer is in season.

[Unregistered]

This impacts all levels of soccer, including travel and some rec programs where playing with friends/classmates does matter (especially when they're younger). I agree with club it's not an issue. This should have been kept at the club/premier level and left the rest alone. Travel/rec kids certainly aren't gunning to a NT spot. That's my main gripe with it.

Rec doesn't need to follow the mandates. And who are you to determine what goals any kids have?

U.S. Soccer doesn't want to pick kids from two different development age pools. They want a unified group to select from. And since they are the governing body that is the rule. Accept it.

[Unregistered]

Many leagues are doing a combined age group for those kids thankfully. But the other group that gets hammered are the older 8th graders who have many teammates in HS - basically they have no team when HS soccer is in season.

Play Futsal, train or rest. The world won't end for those few.

[Unregistered]

Rec doesn't need to follow the mandates. And who are you to determine what goals any kids have?

U.S. Soccer doesn't want to pick kids from two different development age pools. They want a unified group to select from. And since they are the governing body that is the rule. Accept it.

Newsflash the best players are still playing up. You will still have to look at birthdates of the kids playing in the game to determine the age pool.

[Unregistered]

Newsflash the best players are still playing up. You will still have to look at birthdates of the kids playing in the game to determine the age pool.

Newsflash, DA has combined age groups sooooo....

[Unregistered]

Combined U19/U18.

If the rising (98/99) team stays intact and play U19, and the 00's combine and play at U17, then the 99's from the previous year's 99/00 team don't have a place to play. There's going to be problems almost any way you look at it.

[Unregistered]

If the rising (98/99) team stays intact and play U19, and the 00's combine and play at U17, then the 99's from the previous year's 99/00 team don't have a place to play. There's going to be problems almost any way you look at it.

So we're on Birth Year. A 1999 birth year team (playing u18) will have 3/4 of its team graduate this May 2017. The other 1999s who do not graduate in May will become seniors the next year and have no teammates to play u19 unless move players up from the 2000s but then the 2000 team would be split up.

[Unregistered]

Newsflash, DA has combined age groups sooooo....

at the younger ages they are separate (u12, U13, U14) and are probably moving towards a split with the older groups shortly

talented players should play up if their skills warrant it (too often it's the parents who think their kids should play). the issue is that many clubs have kept entire teams playing up in their leagues in order to keep teams intact. if most of their competitors play age appropriate, the team(s) playing up will struggle until the later HS ages (when physical development has started to taper off).