As I read through these threads and look at the schedule for the late summer or Labor Day Tournament that my son is playing, there seems to be a lot of teams that feel compelled to play up an age group for one reason or another. Are there compelling, specific reasons why teams are doing this seemingly more these days ? Not enough competition, overzealous programs..something else ? It seems to be more prevalent than before and wondering if folks have theories as to why this is occurring. And I am not attacking anyone who does this mind you, so please don't use this to go after a specific team or club.
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without looking at it myself...
Traditionally in this tournament and similar, that have a mix of "Classic travel" and "Premier" teams, the Premier teams will play up a year.
Does this explain some of what you see? -
thanks..that probably explains half of it for the upcoming tournaments..the other part I was referring to was discussion around some of the MAPLE teams discussing playing up. Didn't know if that was related in any way or something completely different.Comment
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At the younger age groups (u10-12), some clubs will manage to gather enough players to put 10-12 really skilled players on one top team. Often, these teams also have a few early growers who are better athletically than the vast majority of their peers. In order to keep them challenged and developing, they generally have to play up against kids that can match their athleticism and skill and force them to play faster. They need to lose a few, tie a few, win some close ones. Winning 8-0 every time out is terrible for development.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Could also be what the team uses as a cutoff birthdate vs the tournament. One of my kids plays NPL which is calendar year. We sometimes have to play up because some of the players are too old to work with what is often a school year calendarComment
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My daughters team often plays up for better competition in both league and tournament play. Like previous poster mentioned, the coach would rather tie or lose by goal or two than win by 9 or 10 goals.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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thanks to all who took the time to respond to my original postComment
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On a related note, why do many parents want their kid to play up a year(or sometimes 2)? (To be with friends? To get crushed by stronger competition?) Especially latecomers(U10/11)Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
I noticed this does not generally turn out well(unless maybe it's a whole team playing up a division like OP referenced). Player usually completely misses the fundamental stage of development and is playing catch-up for years. Coaches have to dumb down practices.. Player loses confidence and is literally a year behind tactically. Why not put him/her in an environment where they are challenged, but have opportunities to succeed? There is a league for every kid. There are exceptions of course, just an observation. Is there shame or something in playing down?Comment
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If the parent pushes for the kid to play up, that's a problem. What you want is for the coach to come to the parent and say something like, "I want to move your kid up to an older group, because he/she needs to be challenged and being physically superior to an age group like he/she is now makes it too easy to get by solely on athleticism and not develop the right skills. I don't want him/her dominating play and developing bad or lazy habits." The driver should be a coach concerned about development, not a parent looking for bragging rights.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Much of the time it is parents pushing. Some coaches give in. It can be ok at the younger ages especially for a true stud player. But at some point they need to stay with their age group. Usually around U11-U12 as some kids start to quickly change physically and a younger player can quickly fall behind.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Even though I had misgivings I had my U11 play U12 this past year - mostly because the training was very good and the next best age appropriate option wasn't nearly as good. It definitely wasn't an ego thing at all which I think drives it much of the time. She was ok in the fall but by spring they physical differences were getting to be too much. It was rough for her. Thankfully the club saw it and didn't cut her and left with her age appropriate group this season coming up.Comment
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We were briefly at a club that let players move up all the time - almost always because parents pushed for it. I think the coaches did it to keep pretty good players at the club. But eventually it catches up to them. If not handled well it can crush a kid's confidence, parents get pissed and they end up leaving anywayComment
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Crazy parents yes but it in a growing trend during the regular season.
Teams play there age in a lower bracket do good then clubs are afraid to move up in proper age group fearing a beating so they move up an age group still play in a lower grouping.
If they win they are awesome and post it on there website in they get distroid it was a developmental year, clubs will say what they have to so the money keep coming in.Comment
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Teams should not be allowed to play up..
in tournaments. I saw the top U12 get embarrassed by middle of pack U13 team last year in tourney. First thought was "we can to play this... really???" Teaching a bunch of younger kids that they aren't the best team in the world might do something for them not it's waste of time for older team and parents.
Got news for teams that think their better than they are.. You ain't ... stay in your age group! Find a better team at your own age level!Comment
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Not my kids team but her club did it. U12 girls played up to U13 age group but down a level, got there buts kicked only advantage was they were under 4 feet tall and about 65 pounds so refs would not let the other teams come close with out calling a foul. There keepers could not handle the full sized net started crying and will probably never play that position again.
It was the most pathetic thing I ever saw leagues should not allow it.Comment
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It's a very weird trend in most youth sports. There are age groups for a reason and the intent is to put your best in any proper age bracket with the intent to be the best in your age group.
To many push to move up but they eventually repeat a year of loose out on a year of eligible play.
The odd thing is that other parts of the county do the opposite, They have there kid repeats 8th grade in order for them to mature both in age and mentally and still be eligible for 4 years of high school sports. Better chance of being noticed and getting into a decent collage.Comment
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