US Youth Soccer announced a major change to age groups for youth soccer that will become effective for the Fall 2026 season - Updated Decision on Age Group Formation - US Youth Soccer .

What is the Change?

Beginning with the Fall 2026 season the age group cutoff date will change from January 1 ("Birth Year") to August 1 ("School Year").

To illustrate the impact of this change, consider two players born in 2015 who are currently in the same U11 age group for the 2025-2026 season:

Player A (Born February 2015): Under the current birth-year rule, Player A plays at the U-11 level and plays with mostly kids from the same grade (5th). In Fall 2026, Player A will progress to U-12 with other players in its grade.
Player B (Born November 2015): Currently in U11 with Player A. Because they were born after August 1, they would be eligible to move "down" and stay in the U11 age group for the 2026-2027 season to align with other classmates in their current grade (4th).
Why was this change made?

The August 1 cutoff aligns soccer teams with most school-grade levels across the country, ensuring that players of the same age are more likely to be in the same grade at school. This shift aims to keep school classmates together and eliminate the "trapped player" issue where players in the grade below were forced to play with players in the grade above.

What is Colts Neck Soccer Club going to do?

Newly formed teams and new players joining the club (starting in Fall 2026)

The club intends to align with the new USYS Age Group Standards (August 1, 20XX - July 31, 20XX).

Existing teams with birth year formations 2015 and older

The club does not plan on making changes to current roster composition.

Existing teams with birth year formations 2016 and younger

The club will carefully consider the impact for existing teams in this group to field the strongest, most age-appropriate teams that support long-term stability.  This year, we will hold tryouts over the course of two days, to allow for players to tryout within their current age group and upcoming age-appropriate age group based on US Youth Soccer Age Change.  This multi-day tryout will allow for better analysis of projected rosters to determine the impact for existing teams heading into the Fall 2026 season.  Final roster decisions for the Fall 2026 season will be a collaborative effort between the Board, Coaches and Trainers, based on tryout evaluations, new age group alignment and team balance.

Our goal is to be as transparent as possible and we appreciate your understanding that a small club like Colts Neck must be flexible when changes such as these occur.  Our Board and Coaches will continue to do our best to put children in the best position to succeed.

As a reminder, this age group change is at the NATIONAL level, so this is not specific to New Jersey.  All clubs have very important decisions to make in the upcoming months, and even though new age groups will be implemented, each club will be approaching this change differently.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out using the below form.