- Sep 15, 2007
- 12,636
- 15,834
I know it goes off topic a bit, but here in the States, we just eliminated grouping by School year and went to Birth year to align with the rest of the world supposedly. Probably the most ridiculous decision made by US Soccer in ages. If what is said here is correct, that the professional academies group by school year, then it is even more absurd for the US to do this.
When kids leave school for the last time and join the Academy,,.., guess what, its the end of the school year (July), so the Academy year starts when the professional leagues start in Europe (mid August).
Once out of the Academy (2 years) the lads join the development squad (or u21's) whose season runs from August to August.
The funny thing is that the term 'u21' is defined by his age on the 1st January in the year the season begins.......so we almost operate a hybrid system.