Help me U-nderstand

[tcmahoney]

OK. I was reading something in the Seattle P-I about a U-17 team winning the Sun Bowl tournament down in Florida.

Suddenly, I realized that I didn't know exactly what U-17 meant. Are they 17 years old, or 16? How do they determine the age? Would U-17s be high school juniors, or sophomores?

I'd appreciate if someone could educate me on this. Thanks.

And sorry for the bad pun.

[nsa]

For most US youth soccer the registration age is determined as of August 1 (well, midnight July 31st to be exact). If I turn 17 on August 1 then I can play U17 for the Fall and Spring seasons. If I turned 17 on July 31st then I have to play U18 (or higher) for the Fall and Spring seasons.

Most U17s are juniors. U16 would typically be sophmores, but things can get skewed a bit because the school registration age is usually later.

When I coached ODP U14, more than 75% of the team were born in the first four months of the registration year. A couple extra months of development meant a lot at that age.