The entire U.S. soccer ecosystem was unified under an August 1 to July 31 age-group registration system until 2017. In that year, U.S. Soccer mandated that all teams switch to a calendar-year system to align with the registration systems used for national teams across the world. That calendar-year system has not translated well in the United States, where registrations are more often school based, both at the grade school and college levels. It also created a large pool of “trapped” players who were unable to register in 8th and 12th grades. U.S. Soccer revised its policy this past year, and the major national associations determined that a return to the prior school-year–based system was warranted.

Not necessarily. Players are encouraged to play within their assigned age groups, but a club has the authority to decide whether to “play a player up” with an older age group. No player may play “down” with a younger age group.

No. The new system is commonly referred to as a “grade-level” system, and in most cases it will align with grade level, but a player may not play on a team that is below where their birth year would place them.

The new policy goes into effect for the 2026–27 seasonal year, which begins in August 2026.