US Youth Soccer clarifies age group structure for 2017-2018 season
FRISCO, Texas (Via US Youth Soccer) — After adjusting the age groups for US Youth Soccer programs this past season to account for the U.S. Soccer birth-year registration mandate, US Youth Soccer would like to clarify the age groups competing in competitive programs for the upcoming 2017-18 season.
Below is an explanation of the age group adjustments for the 2017-18 seasonal year for three of the competitions.
US Youth Soccer National Championship Series
The US Youth Soccer National Championships will feature teams in the 13U through 19U age groups, with the oldest age group reverting back to a normal birth-year registration range (Jan. 1, 1999 to Dec. 31, 1999). US Youth Soccer Regional Championships and US Youth Soccer State Cups will also continue with those age groups, with potential additional age groups available in certain regions and states.
With the National League reverting back to its traditional age groups in 2017-18 (see section below), the 2018 National Championships will feature only the four Regional Champions in each of the 13U and 19U gender age groups. Meanwhile, in the 14U-18U gender age groups, the four National League qualifiers will join the four Regional Championship representatives to complete the field of eight teams.
US Youth Soccer National League
In the 2017-18 season, the National League is shifting back to its traditional 14U-18U age group range, as teams have qualified for the league based on their performance in 13U-17U age groups in 2016-17.
After expanding last season, the National League will once again feature 256 teams for the 2017-18 season. Each gender will have 16 teams in the 14U and 15U age groups, while they will have 32 teams in each of the 16U, 17U and 18U age groups.
US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup
In the 2017-18 seasonal year, the National and Regional Presidents Cup events will continue to include 13U through 17U teams, with the oldest age group (17U) reverting back to a normal birth-year registration range (Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2001).
US Youth Soccer Regional Presidents Cups and US Youth Soccer state-level Presidents Cup competitions will also continue with those age groups, with potential additional age groups available in certain regions and states.
2017-18 Seasonal Year Age Groups and Competitions
| 13U | 14U | 15U | 16U | 17U | 18U | 19U | |
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | |
| NCS | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| National League | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Presidents Cup | x | x | x | x | x |
Players for each age group must be born on or after Jan. 1 of the accompanying year shown in the above chart.
