U.S Soccer New Player Development Initiatives

U.S Soccer's new Player Development Initiatives

U.S Soccer would like everyone to be informed on the new Player Development Initiatives that is taking place. Below you will find a link to helpful information and a video on the new Player Development Initiatives that are taking place.

The first is the "changes to the registration of youth soccer players nationwide will shift to calendar-year age grouping, as opposed to the current school-year age grouping. The board approved a motion for US Youth Soccer programs and competitions to introduce the change to calendar-year registration for the 2016-17 soccer year.” These changes will impact:

US Youth Soccer National Championships Series — including national, regional and state competitions
US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup — including national, regional and state competitions
US Youth Soccer National League
US Youth Soccer Regional Leagues
US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program

In turn, these changes will trickle down to Academy and Classic league play.

Player Development Initiatives

Below is an Birth Year Chart that will help in calculating age group and birth year. Year minus age group equals birth year. For the purposes of calculation, it is the second year of a split-year competitive season which determines what number should be used to calculate age group.

The second is a change to the approach for small sided games (to coincide with the age groupings change above). A movement towards more 7v7 and 9v9 formats will be introduced by 2017.

Our State Association, NC Youth Soccer Association, has yet to announce details for the transition. In the interim, your Charlotte United staff are evaluating the changes and will follow up with more information to our families in the near future.

For more details, checkout the US Youth Soccer article!