Adding: More broadly, this comes back to the fundamental question of whether you see summer swim as being more (a) about winning at all costs or (b) kids competing and having fun. I think most of us in the mid- and lower divisions would say the answer is “(b).” |
That’s how it works in our team too. This year 11-12 boys is very crowded with decent swimmers and 13-14 boys is almost empty. One of the competitive but slower boys who wouldn’t have got to swim at an A meet because of the 11-12 miners this year has been regularly aged up to fill a vacant 13-14 spot and get points for the team. Helped everyone all around. |
Zooming out a bit, is it better for a fast 9-10 kid to quit the team or a slow 11-12 kid to quit the team? |
Different poster—the answer is that it’s better to just be clear with everyone what the policy is and let them decide if they like it or not. Personally, I like treating the age groups as 8U, 10u, 12u, 15u and 18u. But it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Just be consistent and open about whatever your team does if you’re a coach or rep. |
Good answer. |
Fast 9-10 kid wouldn’t quit because he’s still swimming A meets as a 9-10. And the 4th fastest 9-10 likely isn’t going to quit because he’s being seeded properly for his age (ie he’s legitimately behind the other 9-10s). |
So on our team we have a number of good 9-10s, really good. The bench is deep with them that they will seed a few up and still retain the points in the 9-10 bench.
We seed two of our 9-10s up in 13-14 on a regular basis to grab points. We have found that other teams often don't look at how we seed our swimmers and just go by the ladder. Often surprised about our young super fast swimmers. |
If you have zero available 13-14 yos with times, like literally you have gone down the entire ladder and no one that age is free, then thats fine. Otherwise, its trashy. |
Obviously the league needs to institute no slower than times for A meets. That would solve it. |
Trashy is a stretch. ![]() |
Swimming is not classified like that until you hit the 15-18 age group. |
That would. |
Why is it trashy? I don't understand. It is using your talent. |
Or swim faster? There is no "I" in team. Why do summer swimmer think that they are entitled to a spot just because. You don't see other sports boards saying silly things like that. They play up kids all the time and no one bats an eye. |
I don't think it's trashy; however, it should be frowned on. It's the golden child syndrome/playing favorite. |