My daughter was born in October. Before the birth year change, she was one of the oldest and in the top 5 of her team. She definitely stood out. Now with the birth year change, she is on a new team and being one of the youngest and smallest, she is on the bottom half of the roster. She has not been through puberty yet but some of the girls have. I have done some research on relative age effect but would like to hear some of your experiences with it. My daughter feels as though she is doomed because of her birth date and it has been proven in sports like hockey and soccer, that RAE does have an impact on placement.
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Work harder.
Stay focused on personal improvement.
Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
Tell us how she is doing in five years.
Unless she lacks the heart to tackle the challenge facing her..... -
There's always going to be RAE, it's just a matter of when the line is drawn in the sand - if it's Jan 1 or Aug 1 some kids will always get the shaft. I won't sugar coat it that it will be more of a challenge for you D until she grows more. As much as we'd like to think soccer is all about skill, the reality is size can make a difference, especially in the eyes of poorly trained coaches. The good news is puberty is the great leveler and by the time she reaches HS most have done growing and skill starts to count more. She should continue to work hard and challenge herself in until then.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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RAE is real. My daughter went through a similar situation as you but with an even worse birthday. It was a struggle as she is small but she is pushing past it. The biggest challenge is what these kids will do when their team is in 9th grade and they are in 8th grade and then again when their team has graduated and they are left looking for a team. Someone will always be the youngest and some will always be the oldest. Puberty will level things out a bit. My suggestion is for your daughter to work on her technical skills. A player with great foot skills and ball control will out play a larger player a good portion of the time. She can work on foot skills on her time. Or watch pro games. Become a student of the game and raise her soccer IQ. That's a far better use of her energy than worrying about being doomed.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Yes, statistically speaking, she's doomed. My older kid's in the same boat, late Dec. birthday and tiny. She was middle of the pack before the birth year change, and is now at the very bottom. Size isn't the only problem here, but most of the kids on her team also have an extra year of playing soccer under their belts, which makes a big difference.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Her younger sister grew up being the youngest and smallest on her team before the birth year change. This actually has been an advantage for her, because she learned early on how to use her size to her advantage and to be quick and agile. She was one of the best players on her team before the change, and is all the more stronger with the oldest kids now out of her age group. So it's not necessarily size that is the main problem, but that your kid and my older kid didn't grow up playing with the size disadvantage they are facing now, so have not yet learned how to deal with it.
So I wouldn't say she is doomed yet. Give her time to figure out how to deal with the size disadvantage, and bigger field (if she just moved from 9v9 to 11v11). If you can, maybe try to get her just a few private lessons for someone to teach her some strategies for being physical as a small player. If she works hard to get this, and puberty might even things out, as well, she may be able to climb back up the ladder. Good luck!Comment
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How old is she? This could be a blessing if she is young enough. Just the way you framed the details says a lot. She stood out before because she was one of the oldest and of decent size or better. Now she is "one of the smallest". I am sure she could compete easily on speed, size, and athleticism before but she is now average or below average in these areas now and is losing out to the kids that play a better game. It sounds like you proudly focused on the wrong strengths. She was better because she was more athletic not because of her soccer-specific skills. You need to change your focus now and this is the blessing .... she would have continued down that path through HS and the sport would have passed her by. Now she should concentrate on her technical skills and learn the game the right way. You have heard it here a million times; the speed and athleticism go away when the kids get to about U14 or U15, but the technical skills never get old. Help her out and get her to be able to play the game the right way.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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This game is not entirely about being physical; in fact, if played the right way, its far less about that. Sounds like your kids are the exact phenomenon I am talking about. The bigger one never learned the game because she didn't have to and is now penalized and the younger one had to learn the game just to keep up and now she has a tremendous advantage. If your giant, fast kid can't receive a darned ball or complete a pass they aren't very good soccer players and need to start learning the game. Its not a 1v11 game and if your kid has never had to or cant work with team mates to get out of trouble or create opportunities, then you are at the wrong club.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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When she gets to high school or even in college she will be competing with older girls. She needs to learn how to play against older and bigger kids. In the long run this will help her outOriginally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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It's true. Look at the ECNL rosters and you'll see for yourself. The younger, smaller ones aren't given a chance.Comment
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thats not fair, and not very helpfulOriginally posted by Unregistered View Post
my daughter is in the same boat but she has always played with older and bigger players it has helped her not get pushed off balls- that happens at very good levels so YES physicality is inbred in the sport
bigger faster won't adjust well to the age change neither will smaller meek players
but good players who put themselves in uncomfortable positions before the change will do fine -nothing has changed for themComment
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Ha, ha, my older kid would laugh at you for calling her a giant. If you had read the post, I said she was tiny (both girls are less than 3% in height). It's just that the older one wasn't as small comparatively, due to the Dec. birthday, which made her on the older side of the team, so she was still able to hang with the middle of the pack before the birth year change. She has great foot skills, just needs to learn to be more physical (shies away from aggressive players). She's working on it and will hopefully improve this aspect of her game the coming season. Thanks for the advice, though.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Not true. Stop by and watch. Some big strong ECNL players, some medium sized players and some smaller players. Smaller typically more technical.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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What do you mean by technical and why do you suggest being smaller leads to being more technical?Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Smaller players are generally quicker(better strength to weight ratio), more agile and balanced (lower center of gravity) and have better footwork and touch on the ball than larger players. Why does this happen more with smaller players? The smaller players often have better coordination early on and have an easier time learning foot skills, touch on the ball, etc than their taller, more gangly teammates. This is likely due to the taller players brains being out of whack with their fast growing and changing bodies. The smaller kids see less change in size, so less difference in terms of foot/eye coordination, at least until they go through their AGS. They also can't rely on their size and straight-line speed to win balls and beat opponents, so they focus on being more skilled with the ball. There is also a belief that the majority of technical skill with the ball is hard-wired early on in the developmental process of 6-12yo's, which is when the smaller player has an advantage in learning to the larger, more gangly teammate.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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To the OP, the RAE is absolutely a thing and statistically will hinder your child from potentially becoming a professional, but you already knew he/she wasn't likely to be a pro soccer player, so no worries there.
Your child will have to work extra hard to make the best teams and rely on skill with the ball and soccer IQ to impact the field as opposed to size and speed. If they love the game and have fun playing it, then this shouldn't even be a blip in their soccer career. If your child is easily discouraged or was too complacent about being physically stronger/faster than her teammates and competitors and doesn't want to put the hard work in becoming a more technically proficient, creative and smart soccer player, than he/she should probably look to find another sport, preferably one which still relies on school year as the cutoff, as then the RAE will be an advantage and not a detriment to your child.Comment
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