Socal Soccer League total team count 2024 by age year

[sigmabody]

So the Diagonals reveal the snapshot. For example, when the girls from the 2011 year went from 9v9 to 11 v11, there were 158 teams formed. The G2012 are moving from 9v9 to 11v11 right now, 2024, and they have enough players to form 190 teams.

The diagonals allow for comparison of different age years at the same point in the overall cycle.

What the first table displays is interest/participation history for the individual years. That was what interested me more, who is getting more or less excited about playing soccer. I put in the 11 v 11, 9v9, 7v7 markers as reminders to be taken into account.

Yes, this is what I had in mind, as what was more insightful for me in this metric/comparison (and not to say the initial data wasn't valid, I was just worried that people might be misinterpreting it). And apologies if I stated my intent in an unclear way; your chart is correct for my intent (ie: you can "shift down and read across", or "read diagonal upwards", those are the same).

Take homes from the "steady age range" diagonal data:
- Participation in boys soccer is increasing across the board, and significantly (~20% YoY increases for almost all age ranges)
- Participation in girls soccer is increasing for lower ages, decreasing a bit at older ages, but more steady-state overall
- No clear correlation with any team/field size changes

In particular, it's more clear in this display (in my view, at least) that girls soccer is not "losing" teams on average, there's just less uniform increase in participation as with the boys.

 

[Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr]

I'd think the reduction around high school level is normal and expected, at least in my perception. My son is a 2011, and I've discussed this with a few other parents within the club, re whether or not the kids will continue in club when they are in high school. In my view, this is where it ceases to be worthwhile to continue to pay for club unless your kid is a top-tier player at that point, as (1) you can often get good "exposure" playing for a quality high school team anyway, and (2) at this point you can be reasonably certain that soccer for your kid will only every be recreational, and often that not sufficient justification for the high cost of club soccer.

If my son were starting high school now, it's doubtful we would continue in club soccer, and I strongly suspect that's a large driver in the reduction of teams around that age range.

Is that accurate for girls and boys? I had no idea colleges scouted high school soccer, even the Servites of the world. Unless you're using "exposure" differently than I understand it in this context.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

So the Diagonals reveal the snapshot. For example, when the girls from the 2011 year went from 9v9 to 11 v11, there were 158 teams formed. The G2012 are moving from 9v9 to 11v11 right now, 2024, and they have enough players to form 190 teams.

OK - So when G2011 was playing in 2023, there were 158 teams. When G2011 is playing in 2024 they now have 135 teams? And when they played in 2022 they had 171 teams? That's what it represents if the "G2011" horizontal label is correct. But if so, that 7v7 label at G2016, the 9v9 label at G2014, and 11v11 label at G2012, is only for 1 year, the 2024 year. Those labels, as ages, must move every year - while the birth year column, stays constant through the years.

 

[D8958]

View attachment 22029


OK - So when G2011 was playing in 2023, there were 158 teams. When G2011 is playing in 2024 they now have 135 teams? And when they played in 2022 they had 171 teams? That's what it represents if the "G2011" horizontal label is correct. But if so, that 7v7 label at G2016, the 9v9 label at G2014, and 11v11 label at G2012, is only for 1 year, the 2024 year. Those labels, as ages, must move every year - while the birth year column, stays constant through the years.

That's right, you have to incorporate it mentally, because the 11v11 markers obviously only apply to current year 2024

 

[sigmabody]

Is that accurate for girls and boys? I had no idea colleges scouted high school soccer, even the Servites of the world. Unless you're using "exposure" differently than I understand it in this context.

I do not have specifics, and I suspect it varies per school and area, but I know that in general (and as an example), there are college scouts which look at kids from the schools in my area (higher end west side Los Angeles). There are kids from the high school which receive college scholarships for sports, soccer included, boys and girls (not every sport every year or anything, but enough that there must be some exposure, probably at league competitions and such). I've also been told this by some of the people in the club orgs (ie: if your HS team is competing for a league championship, players can get scouted).

That said, I will clarify that I am speculating based on what I've been told, and I have no firsthand knowledge. As I've noted for myself, this is not a huge point of concern for me personally, since my kid is not at that level, so I have not done an extensive amount of firsthand research.

 

[Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr]

I do not have specifics, and I suspect it varies per school and area, but I know that in general (and as an example), there are college scouts which look at kids from the schools in my area (higher end west side Los Angeles). There are kids from the high school which receive college scholarships for sports, soccer included, boys and girls (not every sport every year or anything, but enough that there must be some exposure, probably at league competitions and such). I've also been told this by some of the people in the club orgs (ie: if your HS team is competing for a league championship, players can get scouted).

That said, I will clarify that I am speculating based on what I've been told, and I have no firsthand knowledge. As I've noted for myself, this is not a huge point of concern for me personally, since my kid is not at that level, so I have not done an extensive amount of firsthand research.

Thanks for your reply. The only time I've heard college coaches express a positive about high school soccer is in the context of leadership. Can a kid play with lesser talent and lead and not be critical of their teammates? I don't equate that with scouting talent per se, but more vetting a kid they're already interested in recruiting.

The play itself? It isn't that it's "bad" but you get too varied a roster of talent. Even at the top tier, open division high school programs, you get a mix of kids with different ability levels. The play slows and tends to be messy and results in a lot of hoof ball. If I'm a coach, I'm not seeing the full-range of any player's skill set in this context.

This is where the MLSNext kids have a big advantage over ECNL and the other letter leagues. They essentially get another 3 months of training and play while their peer group in other leagues go on sabbatical to play high school ball. Over the course of a few seasons, those months of training and play with better talent under the eyes of better coaches (mostly) during a critical development period accumulate.