Age Pure and Small-Sided - US Soccer Official Announcement

SickofSilliness wrote:

Academy18 wrote:I wouldn't recommend any of the kids play up. The kids born Jan thru Jul will be the older kids on there team now. If your kid is on a team aND has been a younger player. Then you already know what your kid has had to compete against.if your kid is not playing as much as you think she should be then get her off that team as fast as you can. See with your eyes not your ears. Because these select coaches are in it for the money and will tell you whatever you want to hear because remember you are not paying to watch other kids play you are paying to watch your Kid play As it my be fun to play on a great team colleges don't take teams they take individuals.

Where did the original Academy18 go?

Yesterday it was "no kid should play up because they will be the oldest".  Today it's "as long as she is playing alot and having fun and her confidence is high it doesn't matter whether you play up or stay at your age level."

I was thinking the same thing.

Lol na just thought each to their own. It's an individual choice my opinion is what's best for my kid.. not my place to tell anyone what to do. I hope all the kids are having the time of there lives because it goes by fast......

Our situation is a late birthday in which we have already been playing up an age level to play with a team for years. Now we possibly will have to play up 2 age levels...assuming our club moves up to stay within these rules. The claim has always been that clubs and leagues are based on skill level as opposed to age, but that rationale is now being questioned.

This starts August of 2017??? They should leave it alone and roll it out with 07' and below

2016

Aug 2016

This has me unsure what to do with my dd come next June. She is an Aug birthday and is currently playing her proper age division (02) but she is a grade level ahead (9th grade). We had planned to move her up to the '01 age group this coming summer for her to play with her grade level. Now I am not sure what to do because if '01 teams play to their oldest player '00 and they pick up AP early '00 players we are talking about 1.5+ yrs age differences plus another grade higher.

lovesoccer wrote:This has me unsure what to do with my dd come next June. She is an Aug birthday and is currently playing her proper age division (02) but she is a grade level ahead (9th grade). We had planned to move her up to the '01 age group this coming summer for her to play with her grade level. Now I am not sure what to do because if '01 teams play to their oldest player '00 and they pick up AP early '00 players we are talking about 1.5+ yrs age differences plus another grade higher.

Is she playing HS soccer this year?  If she's playing JV or Varsity, she's already playing with girls that are at least that much older than her.

Also, I am betting that in the HS age groups (current U15 and older), you will see fewer cases of kids "staying back" to repeat a 2nd year in their age group (i.e. Jan-July '00's currently playing U16 dropping back to play U16 again next year).  Unless a club mandates that their HS aged teams do it, there's just not that much motivation for players/parents to make the switch on their own for those age groups.

The story will be different for the pre-HS select ages, and even more different for the academy ages.  The younger you go, you'll see a higher % of Jan-July kids switching to calendar year teams next year.

By the same token, the question is why do you feel the need to move her to the '01 group in the first place? If she has been playing with '02's for multiple years, and enjoys her team, then why move her? Maybe the gap seems a bit large this year because she is in HS, while most of her teammates are still in MS, but next year, the '02's will all be in HS and the 'culture gap' narrows again.

At the end of the day, do what is in her best interest as a player and for her enjoyment of the sport, your chances of it working out as a positive experience will be much higher.