Making the move to 11v11

As the parent of an '03 I was wondering if the '02 community could share its experiences about teams moving to 11v11.

When did your dd's team move to 11v11?

Are there any '02s still playing 9v9?

What were the biggest challenges as far as game play?

Did any teams fold/merge because of a need for a larger roster?

My daughter was with a club that was playing 9v9 last fall but we just moved her over at the end of the fall season. She has adjusted well to the 11v11 game quickly. There is more space to work with as the fields are larger, even with 4 additional players on the pitch.

There are still several teams that are playing 9v9 now. But I'd say the chances of any teams still playing 9v9 at this stage and wanting to play at a high level next fall will be very slim, if at all.

The first academy my daughter was on played 9v9, then 11v11. Our problem was it was on the same size pitch and there were too many players for the size. The only adjustments I can see would really be the formation your team is using and conditioning as the field we are on now is much larger.

I'm sure there will be some teams folding and merging. There is another thread similar to that right now.

02 Saints Dad wrote:My daughter was with a club that was playing 9v9 last fall but we just moved her over at the end of the fall season. She has adjusted well to the 11v11 game quickly. There is more space to work with as the fields are larger, even with 4 additional players on the pitch.

There are still several teams that are playing 9v9 now. But I'd say the chances of any teams still playing 9v9 at this stage and wanting to play at a high level next fall will be very slim, if at all.

The first academy my daughter was on played 9v9, then 11v11. Our problem was it was on the same size pitch and there were too many players for the size. The only adjustments I can see would really be the formation your team is using and conditioning as the field we are on now is much larger.

I'm sure there will be some teams folding and merging. There is another thread similar to that right now.

That squished up playing is no fun! Happened during at least one tournament not too long ago.

To answer the question--our DD's 02 team did not play 11 v 11 last fall. It took awhile to get adjusted--although they did jump off into playing some really tough teams, so that was an added level of "fun". I used to panic that they didn't play 11 v 11 earlier like seemingly everyone else. Worked out fine. Moral for me was "quit panicking" but I have to work on that in many aspects!

I think to be ready to go if your team is going to try to qualify for LH, they should at least play 11 v 11 in the fall of U10. Before that, though, I guess it is easier to build a sufficient team size if you start playing with more earlier (if you can keep the team size without having too many subs like you would with giant roster and still playing 9 v 9). But I see some of my 04 DD's opponents with so many kids on the sideline, makes me wonder how they are all getting enough playing time to make it worth it. Flip side of that is running up into June as a U10 team if you've got a small roster and any wishy washy parents that may jump ship without warning at the last minute.

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll wind it up--if your team does not play 11 v 11 until U10, it is not the end of the world, and to me is actually beneficial to individual skills even if it takes a little bit of adjustment time for the entire team to work into the 11 v 11 arena. From what I understand my 04 DD's team will be taking the same type path, and that suits me just fine!

soccerinsane wrote:

02 Saints Dad wrote:My daughter was with a club that was playing 9v9 last fall but we just moved her over at the end of the fall season. She has adjusted well to the 11v11 game quickly. There is more space to work with as the fields are larger, even with 4 additional players on the pitch.

There are still several teams that are playing 9v9 now. But I'd say the chances of any teams still playing 9v9 at this stage and wanting to play at a high level next fall will be very slim, if at all.

The first academy my daughter was on played 9v9, then 11v11. Our problem was it was on the same size pitch and there were too many players for the size. The only adjustments I can see would really be the formation your team is using and conditioning as the field we are on now is much larger.

I'm sure there will be some teams folding and merging. There is another thread similar to that right now.

That squished up playing is no fun! Happened during at least one tournament not too long ago.

To answer the question--our DD's 02 team did not play 11 v 11 last fall. It took awhile to get adjusted--although they did jump off into playing some really tough teams, so that was an added level of "fun". I used to panic that they didn't play 11 v 11 earlier like seemingly everyone else. Worked out fine. Moral for me was "quit panicking" but I have to work on that in many aspects!

I think to be ready to go if your team is going to try to qualify for LH, they should at least play 11 v 11 in the fall of U10. Before that, though, I guess it is easier to build a sufficient team size if you start playing with more earlier (if you can keep the team size without having too many subs like you would with giant roster and still playing 9 v 9). But I see some of my 04 DD's opponents with so many kids on the sideline, makes me wonder how they are all getting enough playing time to make it worth it. Flip side of that is running up into June as a U10 team if you've got a small roster and any wishy washy parents that may jump ship without warning at the last minute.

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll wind it up--if your team does not play 11 v 11 until U10, it is not the end of the world, and to me is actually beneficial to individual skills even if it takes a little bit of adjustment time for the entire team to work into the 11 v 11 arena. From what I understand my 04 DD's team will be taking the same type path, and that suits me just fine!

Unfortunately in NTX soccer you have to play 11v11 at an early age. My dd's team played a more competitive league on Sat 9v9, then a less competitive league on Sunday 11v11 the season prior to U10. Worked well...they transitioned to the 11v11 with ease the next season.