Tustin AYSO Region 96 uses a birth year registration to align with AYSO National and other American youth soccer program providers' interpretation of the U.S. Soccer Player Development Initiatives.

The effective date of age determination for registration shall be the player's age as of December 31 of the current calendar year, looking ahead of the Membership Year (MY).  Example: Membership Year 2022 (MY2022) runs Aug 1, 2022 - Jul 31, 2023. The division the child will be placed in will be determined based on their age on December 31, 2022. If your player is 13 on December 31, 2022 they will be in the 14U division.

In some divisions, we combine age groups in order to create more teams and have a larger pool of play. These divisions will be named based on the even years. For example, if your player is in 11U based on the chart below, they might play on a 12U team. This means they will have teammates who are a year older and will play against other teams made up of 10 and 11 year olds in the Fall.

Participants who shall turn 4 years of age between January 1 and December 31 of the current calendar year are eligible for AYSO Playground Soccer.

To help in determining the proper age and division for players, the following chart is provided and guidelines and rules are as follows from U.S. Soccer. 

No player may play down into a younger division. Players in a situation that parents feel necessitate playing down are encouraged to consider our VIP program.

May players "play up" in an older age division?  Playing up is not encouraged and only approved in limited circumstances. Play up requests are limited to situations where the development of the player is served by playing up and there is no other available option (such as EXTRA/Fire) for the player. Play up requests will not be granted to accommodate “play with friend” or “play with coach” requests. Interested parents should first communicate with the Division Coordinator for the division their player is assigned for support in considering their request. Final approval must be made by Regional Coach Administrator (or RC/VRC). Minimum requirements:

a) Is the justification for the play up request to aid in “Player Development”.
b) Does the player “demonstrate” the ability to play effectively at the higher level without endangering him/herself or others?
c) Is a parent of the player going to be a coach/assistant coach for the team? The parent must agree to be fully certified PRIOR to start of season and attend EVERY practice, scrimmage, and game.

If the answer to all 3 of these questions is yes, than a “play up” request may be submitted for consideration and approval

Can High School Students play?  Yes, but under-14 players currently in high school must play in the 16 and under age division unless they have absolutely no intention of playing soccer in high school. Due to CIF rules, players may not play on both their high school team and an outside team at the same time. The recognized date for the start of high school soccer is the Monday following Thanksgiving. 16U's are scheduled to finish play by Thanksgiving and thereby allowing participation on the high school team in accordance with CIF rules. 14 and under teams continue into December with playoff champions continuing further, and therefore continued play on a 14U team after Thanksgiving either places their high school team in CIF violation or creates an unfair situation for the AYSO 14U team when the player quit.