Celtic Newsletter – January

Oklahoma Celtic Football Club ● Celtic Newsletter – January

Oklahoma Celtic Family,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are settling into the new year smoothly. As we kick off the spring season here at Oklahoma Celtic, you may have seen on social media that we hosted our first Staff Spring Retreat! All of our full-time staff and Directors spent 2 full days collaborating on all things Oklahoma Celtic. Big conversations. Big plans. One clear vision for the future.

At the heart of it all is:

The Development of every player on and off the field

Our staff is working hard behind the scenes, challenging each other, aligning our goals, and making intentional decisions with our player’s development at the forefront.

There was also plenty of discussion about how, alongside the club, parents and family play a vital role in the development of the player. In response to this, we want to do our best to communicate important information so that we can work together to develop our players on and off the field.

With that in mind, I wanted to share an important update that will happen at Celtic and across the youth soccer landscape in the coming months!

Ryan Trudgian

Executive Director

AGE GROUP CHANGE IN THE FALL OF 2026

Starting in the Fall of 2026, U.S. Soccer is transitioning age groups from the current calendar-year birth system (January 1 – December 31) to a school-year system (August 1 – July 31). This means that age-group placements starting in the Fall of 2026 will align with the player’s school year rather than their birth calendar year.

Please click on the article for more information on the “why” behind the changes: Click Here.

WHO DOES THE CHANGE AFFECT?

The move to a school-year system will not affect every player. The ones that it will, we will make sure they are still in the best challenging environment to grow!

Here is a simplified way of understanding it. Starting in the Fall of 2026, players will be playing with other players in their grade level instead of some in their grade and many in higher grades.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

This change will not happen until the Fall of 2026. The spring season that is about to start, or we just started, will not be affected.

WHAT IS OUR STRATEGY TO IMPLEMENT THE CHANGE IN THE FALL OF 2026?

Recreational Programs

The new school-year age group system will take effect beginning in Fall of 2026. Please note that the Spring 2026 recreational season will not be affected.

We will be sharing more detailed information and guidance with our recreational coaches and teams over the summer as we prepare for the fall season.

Academy Program

In addition to our recreational program, the new school-year age-group system will take effect for our Academy program in the fall of 2026.

Our Academy program is a crucial time for development for our young players. We also see a broader spectrum of development in these ages, and remaining in the correct environment for continued development is important.

We currently host Academy player evaluations for team placement in the Fall, and we also have additional Spring evaluations. We believe Spring evaluations will help ensure our Academy players remain in the most appropriate environment for their development on and off the field.

COMPETITIVE/PRE-ECNL/RL PROGRAMS

Following the lead of US Club Soccer, USYS, and the ECNL, we will adopt the new school-year structure across our Competitive, Pre-ECNL, and RL programs in the Fall of 2026.

While we will adopt the change across our programs, we will also allow club leadership and coaches to make case-by-case placement decisions when appropriate for the player’s development. Our ultimate goal is to create the best possible environment for every player. An environment where they can grow, be challenged, and reach their full potential.

SCHOOL YEAR AGE GROUP TRAINING SESSIONS

To help us all better prepare for the upcoming transition, Celtic will host school-year age group training sessions. The first session will be on Tuesday, January 27th. These will be internal pool training sessions for current Oklahoma Celtic players only, providing an opportunity for players to train and practice within their respective school-year age groups.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

These school-year age group training sessions are not ID Sessions or Tryouts for team placement for the upcoming Fall ‘26 season. They are simply to help our players, coaches, and families prepare for the transition.

We will host ID Sessions (dates below) so every player will have opportunities (with ID Sessions and Tryouts) to be evaluated for their respective age group for the Fall ‘26 season.

March 30
April 22
May 18
May 28

These sessions will be valuable opportunities for players to train alongside coaches and peers as we move closer to tryouts.

Competitive tryouts for U11–U18 are tentatively scheduled for June 1–5. These dates will be confirmed and communicated in February.

More detailed information regarding each of these training opportunities will be shared by your program directors as the dates approach.

What age group will your child fall under next season?

Please click the link below and look through the chart to determine which age group your player qualifies for the upcoming season under the new school-year structure.

Click Here

Communication and information are key!

Take a deep breath…trust me, we know it is a lot! That is why we have worked so hard to put together as much information as we can, as early as we can.

As I mentioned before, parents and families play a vital role in the development of our players. We understand that the changes to age groups can feel daunting for players and families. It is completely natural to have questions or concerns.

Our Competitive Directors have already started the detailed process of communicating directly with every family to ensure that every player and family receives clear, thoughtful guidance as we move closer to the Fall.

Keep in mind that we have thousands of players across our club, and we appreciate your patience as each program director works through their programs.

If you have any questions or concerns at any point, please feel free to reach out to your Program Director using the contact information below:

Recreational Director: Jessica Knehans – rec@oklahomaceltic.com

Academy Director: Michael Thomas – michaelt@oklahomaceltic.com

U11/U12 Boys: Trevor Hunt – trevorh@oklahomaceltic.com

U11/U12 Girls: James Roberson – james@oklahomaceltic.com

Boys Director: Danny Gibson – danny@oklahomaceltic.com

Technical & Girls Director: Niall Burley – niall@oklahomaceltic.com

Good luck this spring season!

#ComeOnYouBoysInGreen #COYBIG

#ComeOnYouGirlsIn Green #COYGIG