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.
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.