If cutoff dates don’t matter just get rid of it all together. Got a 2012 that can play 2007? then they play 2007.. got a 2008 wanting to play 2011? then she’s playing 2011.. welcome to high school and college soccer.. let’s go…
Get ready folks
- Thread starter soccer4us
- Start date
Come on, ECNL is only changing to 9/1 SY; you will face at most 4 months extra older players. ECNL parents are just snowflakes. In MLS with biobanding, you will see players playing down with a 12 to 24-month advantage.
There is way to address the "issue".
Add a rule that players in states with districts that start 60 days from 9/1 are able to play with their grade in school.
This does the same thing at making the cutoff 7/1 but also doesn't let players "play down" a grade in school. *
* Players born 7-1 to 9-1 who were forced to "play up" in a school district that starts on 9/1 could move to a different district or state that starts on 7/1 or 8/1 and "play down".
You missed the tongue in cheek part of my post. I’m saying people are getting up in arms about 1 month. It’s all useless when these girls are in high school anyway. You’re playing with boys and girls who are 2-4 years older already. I think at some point you just say forget it and take your wins where you can for people who are team SY. The language was left open in a manner where after their first year they can modify those dates to reflect who needs to be addressed the most.
It might start 9/1 now and then maybe 2 years later it’s 8/1.
In the end just enjoy the ride and watch your kid and root for your kid. Who cares about team wins. Clubs care about team wins. Care about your own kid wins and what’s presented to them personally because in the end the team doesn’t care about your kid. Most coaches and clubs don’t care for the average kid.
If your kid is super elite, then coaches and clubs care. And if your kid is super elite they can play anywhere
Move districts or states to play with their grade? Yes that seems a rational and doable solution for sure…
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
No, it doesn't. Not sure what people aren't getting - but just read the first 60 pages of this thread again if you want to find others who also don't get it. To align soccer year with school year, the closer the effective cutoff dates are to each other, the less likely any kid is going to be born on a date that is earlier than 1 but not the other. The further apart the dates are - the more kids fall into that gap.
All of the "but for these dates they can choose to play up or down a grade historically" and every other whinging complaints by those who are either biased or just slow - has no merit, and it never has.
100%. I don’t understand why people struggle with this. If you start kindergarten early with a July or Aug birthday you have the option of playing soccer up a year with your grade. Nothing precludes this unless the club or coaches decide to not let you make the team. If you start school late you still have the option to play with your class mates. A 9/1 date traps these late school starts with Aug or July birthdays and prevents them from playing with classmates. Anecdotally, from my experience, most parents start their Aug birthdays in school late vs early. So we are back to the same problem we are trying solve.
Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on who you are) there are people that would and will exploit the birthdate loopholes.
You see it all the time in high school sports where kids are held back in 8th grade so they're bigger faster stronger when they get to high school.
Regarding BY or SY or whatever, no system is going to be everything to everyone.
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
I dunno - but it seems like you'd be a perfect candidate to explain what your misunderstanding might be. (of the fallacious belief that 8/1=good 9/1=bad or any other specific date choice)
"We have 2.6 million players and most are playing for fun" says it all.
US Youth Soccer's focus is rec players and games.
"It's becomes less about player development and more about player cannibalism. How do we steal players from this team and how do clubs steal from us."
This right here
8 years ago players were purchased away from SoCal Blues and other clubs from rich ass clubs with fields and deep pockets. They stole because they were stolen from. Legends and Beach ring a bell? This won't change until we have some basic rules and respect for the players. None of this shit helps the players, only the clubs who can brag about all their "developed" players they bought and now are going to Big U.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
The ironic part to all of this is that the kids that will actually make it to higher levels are not impacted by BY vs SY since they're going to perform regardless.
Agree. Seems people are making a huge deal about this. Did we see this same reaction 8 years ago when they went to Birth year and September/December kids now faced Jan/March kids?
My daughter is a Sophomore on her college team, but only 1 month older than 3 of the freshman on the team, and the youngest Sophomore. She played against 23 year old grad students in college at age 18. In High School she was the the second youngest on the High School team. We see 16 year old players going against 30 year old in the professional leagues.
If you support your kid and don't put bad thoughts into their head, they will adjust to any change. A great player will still be great.
I just want logic used in this process. The basis for the BY to SY was a result of the hypothesis that engagement would improve given kids want to play with their classmates and that the trap player problem is worth solving at the expense of the pain resulting from the change. I could go either way on this hypothesis.
But if we agree to the hypothesis and want to change to SY let’s fully solve the problem. I have clearly pointed how 9/1 doesn’t fully solve the problem for late kindergarten starts which is a big deal and science/data tells parents to do. I am not sure it’s difficult to understand unless there are some other motives at play.
! I don’t understand why this is controversial, difficult to understand, or why league leadership suddenly seems to be diverting to a 9/1 date and ignoring this issue.
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
No - you've pointed out how a subset of kids started school at a different time than recommended, and now want to make sure doing so is taken into special account later when there might be negative consequences for doing so (for them, and their potential teammates).
Nothing controversial about it - it's wanting special treatment, and not understanding why it's not always given.
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
Because people aren't rational. See above.
School year changed on me 3 times over 7yrs. My 08 was Oct 1. My 2nd kid 10 was Sept 1. Youngest 15 is Aug 1 school date. Top players are top players usually. Any benefit in the short-term will be closed by high school for Girls. Boys age swing maybe the largest.