With the age change in soccer what will the U9 tryouts look like?

[Anonymous]

Tryouts for soccer are almost here…what do you think tryouts will look like for the youngest age group? Will there be more kids? Will it be more or less competitive?
Trying to gauge what ds chances are as he says “soccer is life”. Other parents have told me their superstar rec kid no longer stand out in club soccer. We are in NoVa, inside the beltway. TIA.

[Anonymous]

It really depends where you kid falls within the new age range and how big/fast/athletic they are.

Particularly for boys, everything changes at puberty, so try out at a bunch of places and choose a team that is the best fit for your child. They don't need to be on a top team at U9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tryouts for soccer are almost here…what do you think tryouts will look like for the youngest age group? Will there be more kids? Will it be more or less competitive?
Trying to gauge what ds chances are as he says “soccer is life”. Other parents have told me their superstar rec kid no longer stand out in club soccer. We are in NoVa, inside the beltway. TIA.

The same, write check get on team

[Anonymous]

My son is playing U9 on a low division team. Half or more of the team is U8 playing up a year. So his team (if he sticks with it) will look very different next year considering all the kids who will presumably repeat U9. On the other hand, they’re a smaller club so maybe they will have those kids move up to U10 if their parents prefer it. I really don’t know, but I would expect to see more kids with a year of travel soccer under their belt at U9 tryouts than you usually see. Doesn’t mean they’re better than kids coming in new though. They are still all over the place at this age outside of that tier of kids who are really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tryouts for soccer are almost here…what do you think tryouts will look like for the youngest age group? Will there be more kids? Will it be more or less competitive?
Trying to gauge what ds chances are as he says “soccer is life”. Other parents have told me their superstar rec kid no longer stand out in club soccer. We are in NoVa, inside the beltway. TIA.

Yes he has a great chance. Making the travel team the 1st year is usually a non-issue (they literally take everyone). A tryout at U9 is a tryout for the family to see if they want to come to the club's practices and have the coach and deal with the other other families for 9 months next year with 2-3 practices per week and 2- tournaments and 20 or so games --all for forking over about $2,000 in fees.

Now, depending on the club size, if you are coming into the club "on-time" (-vs- coming in a year early @ U8 to play up @ U9 the 1st year) your kid might be on the lower level team. If that is the case, it might not look a heck of a lot better than Rec for the 1st few months. And still, it will be a lot more competitive than Rec soccer. Just stick with it and you will see how much better your kid will be when U10 tryouts happen the following year. The new kids, coming in from rec, will look terrible by comparison.

If you are going to a big club, like Arlington, be prepared to be placed on team #4 or #5. The kids on teams #1 and #2 started last year @ U8. So, the question changes from "what his chances are?" to "Do you want to keep grinding and playing on a mid level or lower level team?" Because he will make the squad, but you will find out there are level inside of "travel soccer."

[Anonymous]

We skipped u9 this year in favor of rec, a weekly outside class, and other sports. I knew we'd be reclassed and have another opportunity if we wanted.

On the fence about next year, we've done the circus before and started at u10 which felt plenty early. I enjoyed the h*ll out of u10-u12 too, kids had fun, travel was short, and the 2x yearly tournaments a blast.

There are kids who for sure will dominate in these ages who will drop out for loads of reasons and not be around later on. Plenty of time to play soccer at a lower level and still make a top team post u13. Playing some and getting regular touches is important, but "travel" maybe not so much.

I can still feel the FOMO pressing down on me.

[Anonymous]

At this age, a lot of kids want to (and arguably should) be playing lots of different sports, so think hard about whether you want soccer to take up most of that available time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this age, a lot of kids want to (and arguably should) be playing lots of different sports, so think hard about whether you want soccer to take up most of that available time.

Playing lots of different sports doesn't take up available time?