New Calendar Year Age Divisions

So is this explanation about how the new system will work next year accurate? I have heard that our DD's will be reclassified in age divisions based on the CALENDAR year of their birth next year and not based on the old system that made July the age cutoff. For example, our DD's born in August through December of 2001 that are now 02's will be considered 01's next year?

If true, it could be a complete fruit basket turn over.

Yes, true, team will be classified based on the birth year of the oldest rostered player.

... and how are byes to be determined for next year - any insight? Specifically, if the 02 club has 3 slots currently and all those 02 teams now reclassify as 01, but the club only has one current 01 team. In such cases I can see clubs getting squeezed as there may be insufficient (or surplus) byes to fit in all the recategorized teams.

Has Lake Highlands come out with an official stance yet? The boys classic league has and they are grandfathering U13 (I think might be U12) and above so no impact. I was thinking the girls classic league would follow suit.

Assuming every team has at least one player with "older" birth year, every team will be simply reclassified a year older. For example, if we assume that every '02 team has at least one player born in '01 (which is pretty safe assumption), every '02 team will be reclassified as '01 teams and byes will be a non issue.

The only open question is what will "younger" players (e.g., 02 birth year players on now reclassified 01 teams) do? Will they "play up" with their current team or will they switch to a "younger" team to be age pure? I suspect that almost every player will choose to "play up" unless they were looking to switch teams anyway.

Transitioning from Academy to Select will be somewhat messy, however.

Is it possible that the coach will make the decision based on the dominant birth year? If the team is 20% 01's and 80% 02's, could the coach decide to keep the the team as '02 and drop the 01's?

Just trying to figure it all out without causing a stir within the team.

Thanks

You know....it will depend on where the strongest players are, how that will position the team, and there will be no consistency.....every coach will do it different. I assume January we will see it all play out - or at least start to.

Support02G wrote:Is it possible that the coach will make the decision based on the dominant birth year?  If the team is 20% 01's and 80% 02's, could the coach decide to keep the the team as '02 and drop the 01's?  

Just trying to figure it all out without causing a stir within the team.

Thanks

Everything and anything is possible. However, I think we could all safely assume that unless the team is struggling in the current division, most parents will prefer to have their DD "play up" as opposed "dropping down" to age pure division. Coaches, once again, unless the team is struggling, there is no reason to "drop" 20% of players and opt for "younger" (you could read that to mean "weaker") competition.

What a mess. If the Boys Classic League is grandfathering the U13 and up, why would LH's not follow suit?

IMO, boys classic is not very smart to grandfather.

It's stated all tournaments... state, local, national will be following calendar year age groupings. US Club stated yesterday that they will not even be approving any leagues or tournaments that do not follow the changes...

So you will have boys squads grouped a certain way here locally, but the moment they step foot outside classic league the rules are different...

How long do you think that will last for them...

Is US Soccer's move on this have something to do with Olympic development or have they always followed the calendar year?

ODP has always been calendar year.

So then why is now the time to start enforcing that on leagues, tournaments, etc. if they never have before?

How does ECNL and the Premier League handle it?

It's not about enforcing it now. US Soccer issued a mandate to all soccer entities in this country. All fall under US Soccer.

ECNL and premier league will be following the orders. They have no choice.

No, my question is why is US Soccer issuing the edict at this point if ODP has always been based on the calendar year.

Why now... no clue.

But it has zero to do with ODP.

AtThePitch wrote:IMO, boys classic is not very smart to grandfather.  

It's stated all tournaments... state, local, national will be following calendar year age groupings.  US Club stated yesterday that they will not even be approving any leagues or tournaments that do not follow the changes...

So you will have boys squads grouped a certain way here locally, but the moment they step foot outside classic league the rules are different...

How long do you think that will last for them...

It really is not that big a deal... When they "step outside" the classic league, they will simply be treated as a team in the age group of their oldest player. When calendar year based international teams enter US tournaments based on school age, they simply get grouped into the age group based on their oldest player.

By grandfathering, they are trying to minimize disruptions to teams/clubs. Per my previous post, even if they did not grandfather, clubs/teams/parents would probably have stayed with their current team structure (unless they wanted to fix something that was broken).

You are correct Jae. Anyone probably 14 and up this will impact only marginally

Honestly I'm waiting to see how the finances work now that U11 teams will no longer be playing 9v9 and should consequently carry smaller rosters... higher fees to keep the coaches 'whole'? keep teams of 16 with even less playing time? reduce coach salaries?

I know this is an old post, but I have a question so hopefully someone can enlighten me

My daughter has an 02 birthdate and is playing on a u13 team. So, next fall the team will retain a u14 bye, is this correct? So now, she will not be allowed to stay with her current team. She will have to play u15. Am I right on this?

outtacontrol wrote:I know this is an old post, but I have a question so hopefully someone can enlighten me

My daughter has an 02 birthdate and is playing on a u13 team.  So, next fall the team will retain a u14 bye, is this correct?  So now, she will not be allowed to stay with her current team.  She will have to play u15.  Am I right on this?

Your '02 birthdate DD will have to play in U15 next year.  NTSSA/LHGCL are implementing the new USSF mandated calendar year guidelines for the 2016-2017 season, and there is no debate about that.

LHGCL has not published a "final" decision on the bye situation for next year, however, the indications are that they are strongly leaning toward the scenario you describe above, meaning that byes earned in U13 play this year, will be awarded in U14 next year.  That would mandate that your late '02 DD has to find a new team.

However, LHGCL is still reportedly listening to input from club/team representatives, so right now, it's hurry up and wait for LHGCL to publish their final decision.

Thanks, bwgophers. That's what I thought :/

jae wrote:

AtThePitch wrote:IMO, boys classic is not very smart to grandfather.  

It's stated all tournaments... state, local, national will be following calendar year age groupings.  US Club stated yesterday that they will not even be approving any leagues or tournaments that do not follow the changes...

So you will have boys squads grouped a certain way here locally, but the moment they step foot outside classic league the rules are different...

How long do you think that will last for them...

It really is not that big a deal...  When they "step outside" the classic league, they will simply be treated as a team in the age group of their oldest player.  When calendar year based international teams enter US tournaments based on school age, they simply get grouped into the age group based on their oldest player.

By grandfathering, they are trying to minimize disruptions to teams/clubs.  Per my previous post, even if they did not grandfather, clubs/teams/parents would probably have stayed with their current team structure (unless they wanted to fix something that was broken).

If they are competitive in tourney play then you are absolutely wrong. Having your oldest age players with end of the year birthdates (aug-dec) and younger players with possible July of the following year is an extreme disadvantage. They could have a back end of the roster that is a year and half age difference. That is significant.

Are you skipping a year there BWgophers?
If a girl was born in Jan 02 she will be 14 all of next year.
If a girl was born in Dec 02, she will be 13 for most of next year.
So the 02's will be playing U-14 next year. No?
If LHGCL moves all byes up as they are reportedly leaning heavily towards doing, then that would allow most teams to stay together and the later 02's would not have to find a new team, rather the earlier 03's could either stay with the team and "play up" or opt to be an older kid on an 03 team, which by the same logic would be U-13's.
Am I missing something?

So next year the 02's would be in the 2016/2017 year.
Latest Year of play minus birth year: 2017 - 2002 = 15. So next year the 02's will be U15.