The mandatory shift to the School Year calendar begins in the 2026-2027 seasonal/registration year.

The impact depends on when your child/player was born:

Players born on Jan 1 – Jul 31: the player will "move up" to the higher age group label to stay with their school-year peers.

Players born Aug 1 – Dec 31: the player will essentially stay in their current age group label, allowing their younger school classmates to "catch up" to them.

Possibly. Because the current teams are birth-year based, many rosters currently have a mix of "older" (Jan – Jul) and "younger" (Aug – Dec) players who are in different school grades.

The goal of this change is to reunite players with their school peers.

While some current club teams may split, many players will find themselves back on the same team as their best peers from school.

"Trapped players" are those separated from classmates due to the calendar-year cutoff.

Under the old birth-year system, a child born in late 2011 might be in 8th grade while their teammates (born in early 2011) have already moved on to High School soccer. This leaves the 8th grader "trapped" with no team to play on in the Spring.

The change fixes this issue: By aligning with the school year, whole teams will move into high school together, eliminating the "gap" year.

Tryouts Process. For the 2026 tryouts, coaches will be looking at graduation years and school grades more closely to ensure long-term team stability.

Team Continuity. Our Club wants to minimize disruption. If a team is highly successful, "playing up" remains an option for younger players to stay with an older group.

Social Dynamics. Expect a heavy focus on "camaraderie." We believe believes players are more likely to stay in the sport if they are playing with their social circles from school.

Technically, no player is allowed to "play down" below their chronological age group under US Youth Soccer and Lowco Rush policies/rules. However, depending on your child's birthday, it might feel like they are staying behind or moving forward.

Here is the breakdown of how the School Year (Aug 1 – July 31) shift affects your child's/player’s placement:

1) If your child/ player was born between August 1 – December 31

In the current "birth year" system, these players are the youngest in their age group. In the new "school year" system, they become the oldest in their age group.

The 'feel': It may feel like they are "staying back." While their teammates born in Jan–Jul move up to a new age group label (e.g., moving from U12 to U13), the Aug–Dec player will stay in the U12 age group label for an extra year to align with their school grade.

The 'reality': They aren't playing against younger kids than before; they are simply being grouped with the classmates they will graduate with.

2) If your child/player was born January 1 – July 31

These players are currently the oldest in their birth year.

The 'feel': They will "move up" to the next age group label to stay with their school-year peers.

The 'reality': This is considered a "natural progression" under the new system. They will play with players who are in the same grade, even if some of those players are chronologically a few months younger. 

Maybe.  If the player is an "August – December" child and his/her current team (mostly January – July players) moves up to a higher age group, he/she can usually "play up" to stay with them. A player will be allowed to play up should tHe Head Coach and Technical Director decide this is the best fit for the player.

Lowco Rush philosophy: Despite these changes, the over-riding player development philosophy and practices of Lowco Rush remains intact. Our primary consideration in player placement and team formation is  what is in the best interest of each individual player. Lowco Rush will continue to place players where we feel they will learn, grow, and develop as an individual, as an athlete and as a teammate.

The risk: If they play up to stay with older friends, they will eventually face the 'trapped player' issue.