birth year vs school year Archives - Cal South

U.S. Soccer Federation Decision on Player Registration

rjohnson — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 00:51:20 +0000

Cal South Disclaimer:

The following is an official announcement today (Dec. 20, 2024) from the U.S. Soccer Federation. The content is solely theirs, and does not reflect Cal South’s ultimate decision in this matter, which is still forthcoming.

U.S. Soccer Federation Decision on Player Registration – December 20, 2024

Following our November communication regarding the path forward for player registration, U.S. Soccer has worked closely with our members and key ecosystem leaders to finalize details about the ultimate recommendation. Thank you to the entire landscape for your commitment to this important topic and feedback that led to the final decision.

Details of this decision are below. In speaking with our members, we feel confident that they will work together to make this a smooth process.

FINAL DECISION

• U.S. Soccer’s new policy allows member organizations to be the decision-maker on the registration choices for leagues and competitions that they sanction and/or run.
• For the Fall 2025-2026 season, there should be no change to current registration choices.
• For the Fall 2026-2027 season, member organizations will be responsible for approving the registration choice for their leagues and competitions. The primary registration choices are: (1) Birth Year – January 1-December 31, (2) Seasonal Year – August 1-July 31, or (3) Seasonal Year – September 1-August 31.

THE “WHY” BEHIND THE FINAL DECISION

As outlined in our previous statement, we recognize how important this decision is and ran a thorough process to capture feedback about the best path forward. Below outlines the key insights that emerged from our assessment of over 15,000 ecosystem stakeholder responses to support this decision.

• Localized Decision-Making | Player registration should reflect the unique characteristics of local participants (e.g., school year timing)
• Segment-Based Considerations | Acknowledgement that registration choice may need to differ across the recreation, competitive, and pre-professional segments
• Primary Registration Choices | Three registration choices emerged as the best options to cover participants across the country; more than three may become confusing, but a different option could be appropriate at the recreation level
• Scouting Clarity | Regardless of the registration choice, players will need to be scouted based on their birth year
• Member Visibility Over Leagues & Participants | Member organizations, with the visibility of their entire sanctioned league population, can ensure leagues are appropriately aligned via the annual affiliation / sanctioning process
• Alignment of Post-Season Play & Standalone Competitions | It is generally seen that for regular seasons serving as qualifiers for post-season competitions, those seasons should be on the same registration choice as the end-state competition (e.g., national championships); for standalone competitions not part of league play (e.g., showcases), member organizations will be responsible for working with the competition organizers on clearly communicating the approved registration choice

IMMEDIATE STEPS – NEXT 60 DAYS

We are working quickly with our members to develop communications and best practices that will support this decision, with the goal of centralizing resources on a U.S. Soccer webpage by our Annual General Meeting on February 27, 2025. You can expect the following resources to be available around that time:

• Parent/Guardian-, Team-, Club-Specific Communications – outline considerations for players, team formation, and club needs
• Collaboration with Leagues – best practices for how member organizations and leagues can work together on any new annual protocols related to registration choice and associated team formation needs
• Scenario-Based Resources – support member organizations, leagues, clubs, teams, and parents / guardians as they navigate unique player scenarios

Until then, please know it is a top priority for U.S. Soccer to support our members and ecosystem stakeholders through this transition, and we anticipate members will begin working with leagues and participants immediately on their path forward.

You can continue to reach out to memberprograms@ussoccer.org with questions or feedback. While change can be difficult, we deeply appreciate our ecosystem’s collective help in making this a smooth transition.

– ussoccer.com –

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The Birth Year vs School Year Debate is Our Topic on “The Bear & the Ball” Podcast

rjohnson — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 16:57:22 +0000

Earlier this week, the Cal South team invited our members to discuss U.S. Soccer’s announcement that the Birth Year vs. School Year registration debate is officially back on the table.

After we first put out a survey to the full membership to gather feedback, we then held a special online town hall meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10th to hear directly what our members had to say about this topic.

In this episode of “The Bear & the Ball,” you’ll hear the voices of the membership (along with Cal South staffers) from that very meeting, as they discuss the pros and cons of both sides of the debate, as well as their concerns and hopes for how this very important subject will potentially play out.

For more information about this topic, read our recent posts on CalSouth.com:

Birth Year vs School Year Membership Survey & Dec. 10th Online Town Hall Meeting 12/03/2024
U.S. Soccer Federation Update on Player Registration Path Forward 11/27/2024

“The Bear & the Ball” is also available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and most other major podcast platforms. You can also access our full archive of past “The Bear & the Ball” episodes here.

The post The Birth Year vs School Year Debate is Our Topic on “The Bear & the Ball” Podcast appeared first on Cal South.

U.S. Soccer Federation Update on Player Registration Path Forward

rjohnson — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 20:06:24 +0000

CAL SOUTH DISCLAIMER:

We are posting this letter from U.S. Soccer regarding their most recent response to the Birth Year vs. School Year debate to inform our membership of official announcements regarding an area of interest to all players, parents, coaches, and admins of our Affiliate Member leagues and clubs.

U.S. Soccer has gathered all of the feedback it solicited from its members a couple of weeks ago, and the letter incorporates that feedback into USSF’s findings regarding the debate. Thank you for taking part in their request. Your voices have clearly been heard on the matter.

However, the U.S. Soccer letter update does not in any way necessarily reflect the stance or position of Cal South or its board and staff members regarding this topic. Cal South as an organization has yet to make a final decision on the issue.

Look out next week for an email survey to our full membership where we hope to gather your feedback in order to make the most informed decision as to which side of the debate suits us best locally.

Please enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday weekend and look out for our survey email next week!

Official letter from U.S. Soccer on 2024-11-27:

U.S. Soccer Federation Update on Player Registration Path Forward

U.S. Soccer and our members are committed to growing participation and providing the best experiences to participants at all levels. U.S. Soccer has a number of initiatives focused on supporting the growth of soccer in America, and is constantly listening and learning on how to best support those bringing soccer to life all across the country.

We’ve gotten very clear feedback: members need the flexibility to organize their player registration calendar based on what will best support soccer in their environment and communities. U.S. Soccer members want more kids to experience the joy of soccer — and to offer the optimal opportunity for each player’s desired development.

Starting in the fall of 2026, members and leagues will have reasonable flexibility to choose the best registration option for their participants.

Assessment Insights

U.S. Soccer conducted a survey with members, leagues, and clubs, while also gathering formal feedback from the broader ecosystem. We received over 15,000 responses from members, leagues, clubs, coaches, families, and participants. A special thank you to US Club, USYS, AYSO, SAY Soccer, the State Associations, Girls Academy, MLS, USL, NWSL, and USSSA for helping us understand the context of these responses and demonstrating commitment to work together on the next steps. Key insights from the assessment are outlined below.

Ecosystem segment (recreation, competitive, pre-professional) and local considerations should drive player registration timing considerations (e.g., birth year, school year).

It’s not practical or optimal to choose one registration choice for the entire ecosystem given these considerations, particularly as we aim to expand the growth and success of the game in every community across the country.

There is recognition that there are many leagues and clubs at the recreational level who currently organize around the school year – which could mean August 1 or September 1. Organizing around school year should be a local market/member decision.

Path Forward Plan

U.S. Soccer’s Board of Directors and staff reviewed these insights and have recommended the following next steps aimed at empowering organizers of soccer and benefitting players of all levels.

Members and leagues will have reasonable flexibility to choose between birth year or school year for the 2026-2027 season. We are conducting a thorough review of considerations and best practices to equip members, leagues, and clubs with making the right registration choice for the 2026-2027 season. This includes understanding more about the implications between various school year start dates (e.g., 8/1 vs. 9/1) and how to resolve instances where teams organized with different registration calendars want to
compete.
No change for the 2025-2026 season. There should be no registration change for the 2025-2026 season. This allows organizations transitioning to school year calendars to prepare their operations and provide the best experience for all participants. The recommendation is based on overwhelming feedback from the engagement process.
U.S. Soccer will formally approve the implementation process in the coming weeks following feedback from members and stakeholders on a draft version of the plan. We anticipate these next steps will conclude by the 2025 AGM (2/27/2025-3/2/2025) and be communicated to the ecosystem immediately after.
U.S. Soccer will build resources and tools to support members.
- There will be webinars, training, and feedback forums for members and leagues to support their decision-making and participants with navigating a change.
- U.S. Soccer will maintain a website that hosts the considerations, best practices,and tracks the decisions member organizations / leagues make over time.

This assessment acknowledges the complexities of our ecosystem and demonstrates decision-making collaboration with our members, leagues, clubs, and the broader soccer community. We sincerely appreciate your commitment to shaping this path forward and feel energized about our sport’s exciting future.

For questions or feedback, please contact memberprograms@ussoccer.org. We are working quickly to get you the implementation details and support to make this a smooth process.

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