change to age Divisions for 2026-2027
U.S. Youth Soccer, US Club Soccer, and the Association Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) collectively announced a major update to age group formation that will take effect beginning with the 2026–27 seasonal year. This change moves away from the current calendar-year (January–December) model and returns to a seasonal-year (August–July) model for age grouping. Please see the full article from US Club Soccer here.
For 2025-2026 (Spring 2026), there are no changes to the current age divisions. We will continue to follow the current birth-year model.
What's Changing and Why?
- Starting with the 2026-27 Fall season, youth soccer will move from the current calendar-year (January-December) model to a seasonal-year (August-July) model for age grouping.
- This aligns age groups with the school year, placing players with their school-grade peers.
- An August 1st age group cut-off best aligns soccer age groups with school year ages, maximizing the number of players who participate in soccer programs with their school-year friends. This alignment has a positive correlation with increased numbers of youth players entering and staying in the sport.
- There is no soccer developmental benefit to any specific age group cut-off, and no age group cut-off reduces concerns of relative age effect or changes the number of players impacted by relative age effect.
- Age group cut-offs have no correlation or relationship with level of play or level of soccer aspiration. Various soccer age group cut-offs are used across the world in youth soccer, in both amateur and professional programs.
How Will My Child Be Affected?
Players will be adjusted to age groups that are their true age. Some players will proceed on to the next age division which continues to align them with their school grade peers, whereas some players may remain in their current age division along with their school grade peers.
Your player's birth date, rather than solely year of birth, will determine their division placement moving forward. Age divisions will consist of players born August 1-July 31, rather than January 1-December 31.
I Am Not Sure What Age Division My Child Will Be In?
Within our registration form, we take the difficulty of determining out of mind. Your child will be registered into their respective age division automatically by the system.
Using the below calculator, input your child's date of birth to identify their assigned age division.
Please note: if an age division does not populate, there are no eligible programs for your player's age. For girls this includes those born in July 2011 and later; and for boys, those born July 2008 and later.
Age Division Lookup
Enter your child's birth date to find their age group for 2026-2027
At a Glance:
The below chart shows all of the age divisions as it relates to month and year of birth within our program offerings.
