Stand Alone DA for U15 Next Year

http://www.ussoccerda.com/20170110-news-us-soccer-development-academy-introduces-u15-single-age-group-for-2017-18-season


It looks like DA is adding another age group for next year. So the DA next year will be:

U12-2006's
U13-2005's
U14-2004's
U15--2003s
U16/U17--2001s and 2002's
U18/U19--2000 and 1999.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the 2002 age group. Do the ones that don't make U16/U17 DA go back to classic or will there be another option for them? Maybe the ECNL league that is coming online for the boys.

The shifting sands of soccer age groups...

The article says they are adding a U15 age group but they are not really because they are shifting all the age groups up one at the same time.

Under the current system the 2003s would have had their own age group next season at U14. So now they shift all the ages up 1 so the 2003s age group will be called U15.

Where they added an age group is at U12. Under the current system U12 next season would have been 05s but now U12s are going to be 06s.

The 2002s are going to need something. A lot of current DA 02s will not make the U16/17 DA. This has always been the case and PA has historically filled that 1 year gap.

I suspect that PA will not happen for the DA clubs and the 2002s will play in ECNL instead.

I have never understood why DA collapses down to two years at age 15. I get it at 17 but 15 is too early.