August birthday question.....

Let's say you have a daughter with an August birthday and she is a school grade level ahead of most on her team. Is it recommended to move her up sooner or later or not at all to avoid the sticky situation of having her graduate 1 year ahead of her team? Thanks for opinions of all shapes and sizes!

Allow her to play her ability level with the understanding that she will have to play her own age group the year she qualifies for select, then she can continue to play her age group or go back to playing up after that year.

tpitty wrote:Allow her to play her ability level with the understanding that she will have to play her own age group the year she qualifies for select, then she can continue to play her age group or go back to playing up after that year.  

Agree here. DD's b-day is 8/1/96. Technically a '97, she moved up to '96s in high school to be with grade level. Before about U14, speed of play difference was more significant for her than anything else.

I too have an August dd's (8/5/01). She is technically an '02 (currently plays '02) but is a 7th grader where her team mates are all 6th graders. We plan to move her up to '01's when she enters 9th grade or U14. She has played up all her academy years until moving into select. She has even guest played with '01's now in the select age bracket.

My thought is don't stress about it if your dd is in academy. Put her on the team that she is able to contribute and get the most play time right now. As she gets older (assuming she is academy player now) and the speed of play and technically she becomes better then start the process of moving her up. I will say be upfront with her coach early into the spring when you do plan to make the jump up. Always good idea to give him/her advance warning she won't be returning so s/he can plan accordingly plus s/he might have contacts with a coach/team that she would be a good fit in the older age bracket. That will help your dd have a leg up from another player if a coach helps promote your dd.

ditto "lovesoccer".  my DD is an aug 99 and at the u14 age right now.  We made the move up entering 9th grade.  the clubs schedules work much better with the high school soccer schedules in the spring.  Fewer club games and they start closer to the end of HS soccer.  the u14 club games start back up around Feb which is right in the middle of HS soccer.  The older age starts around April.

if your DD isn't entering HS next year and is enjoying, playing and developing where she is now, leave her there.  moving her up means she will be the younger kid on the team.  she could stress out not only having to compete harder to earn playing time but she could stress not playing with any friends in club.  In HS she will be with her friends.  It's an easy pick for her if she decides to drop a team.  My best advice is to talk to her and be open and try not to go into a coma if it's not what "you would like" for her to do.

Thanks for the advice. My DD is in her first year of select, so we knew she would play '03 this year, just wasn't sure the best time to make the move to '02....if ever. Looks like it may be best to do it a little later. I like the idea of guest playing a little....thanks for the idea lovesoccer!

In high school I would play her up a year if she is pursuing college looks, if not she will be behind the curve in the time period when she needs to be looked at.