On June 10, 2025, following extensive review and discussion, US Youth Soccer, AYSO, and US Club Soccer have collectively decided to move to an age group player formation cycle that runs from August 1 to July 31, starting with the 2026-27 season/registration year. This change was made based on additional critical feedback, data, and expert input to better align players with their school-grade peers. Our associations feel that this age group player formation will be the most inclusive and help increase participation.  

As a result, Montclair United, in alignment with the vast majority of club soccer programs, is adopting this new policy because we agree with this approach. The updated age group structure is designed to better align soccer age groups with school-year cutoff dates, ensuring players are grouped more closely with their classmates and peers. While it may appear that some players are “repeating” an age group, this adjustment simply realigns the calendar to match the school year.

In many cases, the additional time in an age group can be highly beneficial, providing players with more opportunity to develop their skills, confidence, and leadership before progressing to the next level. This policy will be applied consistently, with no exceptions. See FAQs below.

Birth Year FAQ

On June 10, 2025, following extensive review and discussion, US Youth Soccer, AYSO, and US Club Soccer have collectively decided to move to an age group player formation cycle that runs from August 1 to July 31, starting with the 2026-27 season/registration year. This change was made based on additional critical feedback, data, and expert input to better align players with their school-grade peers. Our associations feel that this age group player formation will be the most inclusive and help increase participation. 

1. Why is the cutoff changing from Birth Year to Grade Level?

Below is U.S. Soccer’s explanation for the age group cut-off change:

First, the August 1 age group cut-off helps reduce the number of “trapped players” in youth soccer. Under the current structure, players born in the same year (for example, 2011) can include both 8th and 9th graders on the same team, even though some players have already moved on to high school. This can create challenges with competition and development. Trapped players are those who, because of age group cut-offs, compete in an older soccer age group than their school grade. This often leads to fewer competition opportunities and disrupted training, particularly in 8th grade when most teammates move on to high school, and again four years later when older players who are still in high school are moved into the same age group.

Second, an August 1 cut-off better aligns soccer age groups with school-year ages, allowing more players to compete alongside their school-year peers. This alignment has been shown to increase both participation and long-term retention in youth soccer.

2. What is Montclair United doing to prepare for this? 

We have already implemented Age Group training sessions throughout the Winter. We will also have the same format for the first week of Spring (3/16-3/20) where Age Group training will replace regular team training for 2 of the 3 sessions. 

Our staff has been evaluating your player starting in August and will continue to do so through the tryout date. We take the entire year of work into account when determining team placement for next year. While these sessions are important for us to get a snap shot of the age group as a whole it will not solely determine the placement of any player. 

3. How can I determine what age group my child will be playing in? 

The chart below will help guide you as to which age group to register your player in for tryouts for the 2026-2027 season.

4. What format will each Montclair United team be competing in next season? 

Please reference the chart above to determine which age group your player will be in and match it with the corresponding chart below.

 Age Group Format

5. My child played in the same Age Group format last year (or for two years). Does he/she need to play the same format again?

Yes. The updated age group structure is designed to better align soccer age groups with school-year cutoff dates, ensuring players are grouped more closely with their classmates and peers. While it may appear that some players are “repeating” an age group, this realignment simply adjusts the calendar to match the school year. In fact, the additional time in an age group can be highly beneficial — it allows players to further develop their skills, confidence, and leadership before moving to the next level. There will be no exceptions.

6. Most of my player’s teammates are moving to a different Age Group. Can my player move up, or down with them? 

Montclair United WILL NOT allow players to move up or down. All players will remain in their designated age groups and will be placed on teams accordingly. We believe that playing within the current guidelines will be most beneficial to the players in the long term. 

7. How will tryouts and team selection work in the Spring? 

Tryouts will be similar to last year in terms of how they run. The difference is that all players will try out for the 2026-2027 Age Group change. This might mean that some teammates are trying out on different days. All players are expected to attend any team training held that week. Our staff will determine whether a session needs to be combined with another group.