Effective January 2017, U.S. Soccer has mandated that all United States youth soccer programs will group players by calendar birth year to align with international standards and Youth National Team programs.  The current school calendar age groupings (Aug. 1 to July 31) are only used in the United States and Canada; all other FIFA members group players by calendar year. The change to calendar year age groups will reflect the calendar year, or Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. Players will have the opportunity to “play up” or play in the next older age group.

US Youth Soccer Age Matrix