Age Change

[Unregistered]

More great news about the age change. No teams for the U15 teams for the spring. Way to go US Soccer. First they did not have a real team in the fall and now they have no team in the spring.

[Unregistered]

More great news about the age change. No teams for the U15 teams for the spring. Way to go US Soccer. First they did not have a real team in the fall and now they have no team in the spring.

Translation?

[Unregistered]

More great news about the age change. No teams for the U15 teams for the spring. Way to go US Soccer. First they did not have a real team in the fall and now they have no team in the spring.

The fall issue falls squarely on US Soccer. No spring team falls on your club. Unfortunately your player is also at an age when plenty of kids stop playing and and the number of teams shrinks. Your club should at least try and help players find homes since they didn't recruit well enough. Hope he/she finds something.

[Unregistered]

Clubs and districts can work around this by doing a U15 or U16 division. Unfortunately most of the people making the decisions have no clue or don't care.

[Unregistered]

Clubs and districts can work around this by doing a U15 or U16 division. Unfortunately most of the people making the decisions have no clue or don't care.

The intelligent way to handle this is a combined u14/15 division that is established by whoever runs your league.

[Unregistered]

The intelligent way to handle this is a combined u14/15 division that is established by whoever runs your league.

That would be too logical. Our district (town travel) - SCD - isn't having a U15 division. Opting for U16 division. Therefore, our club has to decide whether to have U14/u15 play up to U16...a big jump for some 7th graders to be playing with some HS sophomores...

[Unregistered]

That would be too logical. Our district (town travel) - SCD - isn't having a U15 division. Opting for U16 division. Therefore, our club has to decide whether to have U14/u15 play up to U16...a big jump for some 7th graders to be playing with some HS sophomores...

They have to do it next year in HS anyway, so what is the big deal?

[Unregistered]

They have to do it next year in HS anyway, so what is the big deal?

ah well see current 7th graders will be in 8th grade next year, not HS

[Unregistered]

The intelligent way to handle this is a combined u14/15 division that is established by whoever runs your league.

Not all bad with age change. I was discouraged during the Fall season watching my kid get physically beat down, but it may have been a positive for his development.

My kid has a July 2004 birth date and is in 7th grade. Our leagues mandate that he plays in U14, now the 8th grade division. He's average size and fast but playing against boys in some cases 20 months older than him can be difficult. He learned to cope with the physical play, giving up 6"-10" and 30-40 lbs. most of the time.

Recently he got a chance to play with a team of 6th graders, mostly boys his same age, and he was killing them. He told me that when someone attempted to tackle him or when he was making a tackle that it felt easy to win. He has become accustomed to taking a shoulder to the head and the longer reach of bigger players. When playing against kids his size, he wins every tackle. His speed which was marginalized by the older players is now more apparent than ever. One 6th grader actually criticized him for playing too aggressively?

[Unregistered]

Not all bad with age change. I was discouraged during the Fall season watching my kid get physically beat down, but it may have been a positive for his development.

My kid has a July 2004 birth date and is in 7th grade. Our leagues mandate that he plays in U14, now the 8th grade division. He's average size and fast but playing against boys in some cases 20 months older than him can be difficult. He learned to cope with the physical play, giving up 6"-10" and 30-40 lbs. most of the time.

Recently he got a chance to play with a team of 6th graders, mostly boys his same age, and he was killing them. He told me that when someone attempted to tackle him or when he was making a tackle that it felt easy to win. He has become accustomed to taking a shoulder to the head and the longer reach of bigger players. When playing against kids his size, he wins every tackle. His speed which was marginalized by the older players is now more apparent than ever. One 6th grader actually criticized him for playing too aggressively?

There you go. You are seeing the benefit. Now if he has a chance to start as a freshman or sophomore on high school varsity he will be better prepared

[Unregistered]

Not all bad with age change. I was discouraged during the Fall season watching my kid get physically beat down, but it may have been a positive for his development.

My kid has a July 2004 birth date and is in 7th grade. Our leagues mandate that he plays in U14, now the 8th grade division. He's average size and fast but playing against boys in some cases 20 months older than him can be difficult. He learned to cope with the physical play, giving up 6"-10" and 30-40 lbs. most of the time.

Recently he got a chance to play with a team of 6th graders, mostly boys his same age, and he was killing them. He told me that when someone attempted to tackle him or when he was making a tackle that it felt easy to win. He has become accustomed to taking a shoulder to the head and the longer reach of bigger players. When playing against kids his size, he wins every tackle. His speed which was marginalized by the older players is now more apparent than ever. One 6th grader actually criticized him for playing too aggressively?

2004 is u13. What league is mandating he play u14?

[Unregistered]

2004 is u13. What league is mandating he play u14?

Some leagues don't have U-13. Goes from U-12 to U-14.

[Unregistered]

Not all bad with age change. I was discouraged during the Fall season watching my kid get physically beat down, but it may have been a positive for his development.

My kid has a July 2004 birth date and is in 7th grade. Our leagues mandate that he plays in U14, now the 8th grade division. He's average size and fast but playing against boys in some cases 20 months older than him can be difficult. He learned to cope with the physical play, giving up 6"-10" and 30-40 lbs. most of the time.

Recently he got a chance to play with a team of 6th graders, mostly boys his same age, and he was killing them. He told me that when someone attempted to tackle him or when he was making a tackle that it felt easy to win. He has become accustomed to taking a shoulder to the head and the longer reach of bigger players. When playing against kids his size, he wins every tackle. His speed which was marginalized by the older players is now more apparent than ever. One 6th grader actually criticized him for playing too aggressively?

My kid played up on his club and had the same experience.

The biggest obstacle is dealing with taller players. When you get close to them, their elbows are at head height for the smaller/younger player. That and their stronger base and better leverage make for a very intimidating situation.

My son was fast as well, but he often got tripped up by the long leg reach of bigger players. On top of that, when he ran by a player, they could close in on him with longer strides.

At this stage in growth (12-15 year olds) anything greater than a years difference in age becomes extremely difficult. Twenty months is the like men playing with boys.

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know if they will allow those 8th-grade players who classify as U15 to play with U14 like they did in the Fall? Would be silly to not continue that considering no league for them.

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know if they will allow those 8th-grade players who classify as U15 to play with U14 like they did in the Fall? Would be silly to not continue that considering no league for them.

It is stupid, especially here in CT where the school year cutoff is so late and very few kids are impacted. In other states it's a good 1/3 of players so just adding them onto a younger team for a few months isn't always feasible