Advice on When to Make Switch - U10

[Guest]

My U10 child plays high level EDP for our local travel program. Love the coach and the program has made many accommodations - playing up a birth year, guest play opportunities, etc. While skill is factor, the biggest difference is my child's intensity and hunger around the sport. Will play and practice every day, whereas most of the team plays other sports, or just isn't interested in playing more soccer after soccer - ha! For a lot of reasons, positives about the program listed above, logistics and fear of turning this love of soccer into something stressful, would love to delay making a switch for as long as possible. Is this realistic? If you did it, how did you manage your kid's drive for more, more, more in an environment where most are not like that...

If you did end up making the switch, tell me how you evaluated programs - the questions you asked, how many practices your child attended, etc. I want to be smarter if we go down this road.

[Guest]

Being able to play up or even practice regularly with those kids is a huge perk especially at the younger ages. A town teams Age +1 is often stronger than an academy at age team. We see kids leave our program all the time to find kids at their age take it more seriously. They find it, but the cost is there.

[Guest]

I'd reachboutbto Fausto Klinger at NJ Blaze. He is the only logical place to bring your kid. He's an amzing coach, and really understands the game. Just look at all the success of his teams and you'll understand why NJ Blaze is the top club in NJ. Kids are leaving PDA, MFS, PSA, CSA, all thlo join one of his teams.

[Guest]

To be honest, you will have a similar experience at "academies" at these younger ages (U7-U11ish). Kids try lots of different sports and activities (as they should this young, it is not wise or necessary to specialize- burnout is definitely a risk to being "all in" on one activity). Its typically not until after age 12 or 13 that you will find an entire roster full of laser-focused kids. If you love the current coach, already play in a top flight of EDP, and they have been accommodating as far as playing up, there is little benefit to making a move. Ask to attend an extra training session weekly, or if you can afford it/have the time, add a supplemental training elsewhere. Programs like the RDS clinics through Red Bulls provide weekly training, and potential to join their showcase teams in winter/summer, which can be a slow season for some town teams. Some kids who really want to play more will also join a local team that plays in a different league- if you are on an EDP team, you could look for a team in once of the local travel leagues (https://www.njyouthsoccer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=733326). Just be honest with yourself if this is actually coming from your kid, or if this has anything to do with your desires, because it can become too much too fast if it's the latter. Good luck.

[Guest]

In the fall is the kid a U9 playing U10 town soccer? They can stay a year or two more. They will NOT be playing up a year at a club. Wait until the kid is going to be U11 or U12. U11 the expand the roster more, but expect much much less playing time. The clubs carry a lot more players and at this age, they all basically play 1/2 a game (I respect) this. The better clubs might play up when they are U12 and need to expand the teams then, so if they are doing that, then that is probably a good time to go, if they are not playing up they can go at U13

[Guest]

Thanks! Def kid driven but not in the sense of, I want to be on this club, just wants to play all the time and loves the intensity of playing up. It sounds like we have a great situation and can continue to supplement if needed at least for a couple more years!

[Guest]

To be honest, you will have a similar experience at "academies" at these younger ages (U7-U11ish). Kids try lots of different sports and activities (as they should this young, it is not wise or necessary to specialize- burnout is definitely a risk to being "all in" on one activity). Its typically not until after age 12 or 13 that you will find an entire roster full of laser-focused kids. If you love the current coach, already play in a top flight of EDP, and they have been accommodating as far as playing up, there is little benefit to making a move. Ask to attend an extra training session weekly, or if you can afford it/have the time, add a supplemental training elsewhere. Programs like the RDS clinics through Red Bulls provide weekly training, and potential to join their showcase teams in winter/summer, which can be a slow season for some town teams. Some kids who really want to play more will also join a local team that plays in a different league- if you are on an EDP team, you could look for a team in once of the local travel leagues (https://www.njyouthsoccer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=733326). Just be honest with yourself if this is actually coming from your kid, or if this has anything to do with your desires, because it can become too much too fast if it's the latter. Good luck.

Agree with all of this!

[Guest]

In the fall is the kid a U9 playing U10 town soccer? They can stay a year or two more. They will NOT be playing up a year at a club. Wait until the kid is going to be U11 or U12. U11 the expand the roster more, but expect much much less playing time. The clubs carry a lot more players and at this age, they all basically play 1/2 a game (I respect) this. The better clubs might play up when they are U12 and need to expand the teams then, so if they are doing that, then that is probably a good time to go, if they are not playing up they can go at U13

They can absolutely play a year up at a club. The problem is that wayyyyy too many parents thinks their kid should be playing up and the reality is that this should be reserved for a very small percentage of children who not only completely dominate their age group based on technical skill, but also have an advanced understanding of the game.

I hear it ALL THE TIME. “Oh she plays a year up,” “oh she plays two years up.” 99 out of 100 times it’s because the team doesn’t have enough players to field a team in each age group, so they combine birth years (because, of course, all the club wants is your money). Then you see the “two-years up” player in a game and they are running around like a chicken with its head cut off, barely ever touch the ball, but the parents get to “brag.” It’s comical.

[Guest]

I was faced with this same situation, my son is currently going into his U14 year. We switched from a local club to an academy at U10. It was a combination of things that led us to that decision; however the primary discussion was how to get an honest answer from our son about the commitment. Can a 9 y/o really understand what it takes to drive 30mins to practice 4 days a week, doubtful. So we put it in terms that he could understand, "if you decide to do this, you will be missing pool parties, bday parties, other sports etc..., do you still want it?"

I have to counter the point that someone said these kids are not laser focused on soccer at this age, that is not true. At the Academy level, kids will and do play other sports. But soccer must be their primary, taking precedent over others to play at this level. There are too many kids willing to put in the time and effort to save a spot for someone that has other priorities. I would focus on quality of training, amount of play (more is better, although some people will argue to play at the highest level, at this age we are developing our kids so exposure is key, think about how good the foreign players are, its b/c they play soccer every day after school from birth).

As for playing up, its really a matter of physical maturity, there is very little value in playing against kids all year that are 30% smaller than your kid. It actually is detrimental b/c they will be getting called for fouls way too often and could develop bad habits. So if you can, play up. But don't play up at a lower level, make sure quality is not sacrificed for size.

[Guest]

I was faced with this same situation, my son is currently going into his U14 year. We switched from a local club to an academy at U10. It was a combination of things that led us to that decision; however the primary discussion was how to get an honest answer from our son about the commitment. Can a 9 y/o really understand what it takes to drive 30mins to practice 4 days a week, doubtful. So we put it in terms that he could understand, "if you decide to do this, you will be missing pool parties, bday parties, other sports etc..., do you still want it?"

I have to counter the point that someone said these kids are not laser focused on soccer at this age, that is not true. At the Academy level, kids will and do play other sports. But soccer must be their primary, taking precedent over others to play at this level. There are too many kids willing to put in the time and effort to save a spot for someone that has other priorities. I would focus on quality of training, amount of play (more is better, although some people will argue to play at the highest level, at this age we are developing our kids so exposure is key, think about how good the foreign players are, its b/c they play soccer every day after school from birth).

As for playing up, its really a matter of physical maturity, there is very little value in playing against kids all year that are 30% smaller than your kid. It actually is detrimental b/c they will be getting called for fouls way too often and could develop bad habits. So if you can, play up. But don't play up at a lower level, make sure quality is not sacrificed for size.

Great post. It's hard for many parents to comprehend that another child is different from theirs. That's why the comments about "it's early" and "they shouldn't be dedicated to one sport yet" aren't always embraced...because they couldn't possibly understand what it's like to have a driven child like that.

Also add, "playing up" isn't some magic elixir. Could help for some, but not all. Ultimately, it also doesn't mean anything in the long run since the determining facture should be physical attributes, which will eventually level out some.

[Guest]

I'd reachboutbto Fausto Klinger at NJ Blaze. He is the only logical place to bring your kid. He's an amzing coach, and really understands the game. Just look at all the success of his teams and you'll understand why NJ Blaze is the top club in NJ. Kids are leaving PDA, MFS, PSA, CSA, all thlo join one of his teams.

Stop with this already!

[Guest]

all pretty good advice. But you can't really switch for the fall (or spring) without screwing over your current team

[Guest]

OP here, my older child is not like this at all and I def would have been that judgmental parent wondering if it was parent driven but this is all my kid. We have def encouraged other sports and activities but this is all they want to do.

Summer has been awesome bc there are lots of pick up game options with players equally into it but we know it will be harder to make them happen in the fall with schedule conflicts.

[Guest]

I replied with specifics about my son's switch, I also have another child who shows zero interest in this level of commitment. It's child specific, the trick is getting a kid to answer honestly about a concept they cannot fully comprehend due to lack of life experience....

[Guest]

I replied with specifics about my son's switch, I also have another child who shows zero interest in this level of commitment. It's child specific, the trick is getting a kid to answer honestly about a concept they cannot fully comprehend due to lack of life experience....

The issue is, a conversation can go like this:

"I want to play soccer" OK, parent signs them up. Parent then asks "Do you want to play basketball?"
"No, I want to play soccer." Parent asks "How about softball?"
"No, I want to play soccer." Parent asks "How about lacrosse?"
"No, I want to play soccer."

So, kid goes all in and holds up their end of the bargain and dedicates themselves to the game. To some, that's a mistake.