Birth Year Mandate

Your Child's Soccer Age

Learn how to calculate your child's soccer age. 

In 2016 U.S. Soccer mandated that all player's soccer age be calculated utilizing their birth year. The mandate aligns soccer in the United States with the rest of the world in how the playing age of a player is calculated. 

Why Is Birth Year in Soccer Used?

The changes aim to support player development, more closely align with U.S. Soccer's Standards for Small Sided Games, simplifying the calculation for a player's age, and reducing the relative age effect (RAE is a selection bias towards players born earlier in the calendar year).

How the Birth Year Calculation Works

To calculate your player's soccer age, you subtract your child's birth year from the end of the seasonal year. 

For Example: 

In the 2025-2026 seasonal year, If your child is born in 2010 and the seasonal year ends in 2026, the calculation is 2026 - 2010 = 16. Your child's soccer age is U16.

 *Note: Beginning the 2026/2027 seasonal year, Cal North will be moving to a school-year age grouping method, and this chart will be updated.

Soccer Age Calculator

2025 - 2026 Season

2026 - 2027 Season

*CHANGE TO SCHOOL-YEAR AGE GROUPING