U.S. Soccer and our members are committed to growing participation and providing the best experiences to participants at all levels. U.S. Soccer has a number of initiatives focused on supporting the growth of soccer in America, and is constantly listening and learning on how to best support those bringing soccer to life all across the country.
In phase 1 of the Ecosystem Review, membership and other stakeholders highlighted several important issues that are essential to a successful and thriving soccer ecosystem. Player registration is one issue that we are reviewing collaboratively across all levels of play, specifically between birth year (January 1-December 31) and seasonal year (August 1-July 31 or September 1-August 31) registration. U.S. Soccer facilitated informal feedback to understand how registration choice fosters growing the game and developing winning teams. We determined that this is a highly complex and important issue that merited a more formal process. Registration affects every child and handling this process with care is a top priority.
As announced at the February U.S. Soccer Youth Council meeting, the National Associations – US Youth Soccer (USYS), American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), and US Club – have agreed to adopt an age group formation cycle running from August 1 to July 31, beginning with each Organization Member’s 2026-2027 season/registration year. As a reminder, there are no age formation cycle changes for the upcoming 2025-2026 season.
U.S. Soccer will continue to monitor other Organization Members’ decisions and post those decisions once confirmed. We are also continuing to work with the Youth Council to capture frequently asked questions (FAQs) received from membership, parents / guardians, clubs, and leagues and will make them available once consolidated.
This tool will help determine a player’s age group based on their date of birth. After entering the player’s birthdate, the tool will display the possible age group options for three roster formation cycles: January 1–December 31, August 1–July 31, and September 1–August 31. The results are intended as a guide; please consult your club, league, or Organization Member to confirm the most appropriate age group for the player.
U.S. Soccer conducted a survey with members, leagues, and clubs, while also gathering formal feedback from the broader ecosystem. We received over 15,000 responses from members, leagues, clubs, coaches, families, and participants.
We’ve gotten very clear feedback: members need the flexibility to organize their player registration calendar based on what will best support soccer in their environment and communities. U.S. Soccer members want more kids to experience the joy of soccer — and to offer the optimal opportunity for each player’s desired development.
Starting in the Fall of 2026, members will have reasonable flexibility to choose the best registration option for their participants. There is no registration change for the 2025-2026 season.
As outlined in our previous statement, we recognize how important this decision is and ran a thorough process to capture feedback about the best path forward. Below outlines the key insights that emerged from our assessment of over 15,000 ecosystem stakeholder responses to support this decision.
>> U.S. Soccer’s Statement on Final Player Registration Decision