US Soccer continues to change the format of how development should go in this country. Clubs continue to adapt and manage the best way that they possibly can. There have been two major changes that have really impacted the game in a positive way. Having more small sided games (3v3,4v4,7v7,9v9) and no heading before a certain age. The age change was an unnecessary one that truly took away from the game in this country. Now it is going to change our game again.
If US Soccer wanted to get this right, they should do this age change in a way that would not destroy existing teams and clubs like last time. Where we saw a major drop in participation in this game. Ripping the band aid off isn’t the best option. We know the result of their mistake, which was just under a decade ago, and we all should have learned from it. There were some major flaws in trying to adapt to birth year compared to school year. Those lessens should be applied this time around. At the top, this will not really affect what player's experiences are in this game. The other 90% of players who have established new friendships and are on a team that has been together for several years are the ones who are going to have to make a decision. We have already lost a generation of soccer players after the last age change. Those who ended up playing a different sport because they could play with their friends. This will be similar with more players attempting to find a new home.
Here are two ways that US Soccer should adapt this new change
1) Start from the very beginning at u6/u7 with newly formed teams in the 26/27 season.
Or
2) Grandfather u14 and older teams then start u13 and younger with this age change.
These options will allow the teams that have been developing together for years to continue enjoying what they love and stay the course. For the high school players who are going into their last season for club or going through the college recruitment process, they could potentially be starting from the beginning again with having to find a new team. Players, coaches, and parents have spent a lot of time investing on this development road. The players who have put the most time in should not be required to go through this process. Once again, too much time, money, and commitment over the years that could go to waste with so many players having to look for new teams. We have always had gap year players in club, so this is nothing new.
Development takes five to six years for players to fully understand a concept. We would be back to almost square one with this age shuffle. With the rumor of teams having to have at least 75% of their roster aged appropriate, playing up would only work for certain players. Nothing official has been said about this, but if it does take shape, clubs will really have to think of how to handle this situation. The smaller clubs suffer as the big clubs take in even more players that will be lost in the system.
Hopefully this will be the last time that the age change happens, but we know that the success at the World Cup will determine what direction youth soccer will go in. There have been some changes at the top with former national team players now being involved in the game again. That type of feel is needed in making decisions for the youth game.
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