Development for little littles

[Anonymous]

FWIW, OP, my kid was like that and I was perfectly fine with coaches moving him to the back to give other kids a chance with the ball.

At home, we talked to him about the importance of passing and communicating with his teammates.

Actual development can come later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:she needs to pass. U4,5,6 scoring is more about the kid caring enough to try not about talent mismatches

Thanks for responding. I guess there isn’t any one correct method, but is this true? We’ve always been told that through U8 the emphasis should be on possessing the ball. Her coaches, who are excellent for rec as they all have multiple travel kids, have not mentioned passing whatsoever so I’ve kept quiet about it.

My son was like that -- and yes, while he probably has a knack for it, his skill level was certainly improved by the presence of older siblings with whom he had to try to keep up.

In our case, after a year like you're experiencing, we asked to have him play up 1 year with older kids ... I think he was still too young for travel, so we just played him up one year on the rec program (i.e., I think when he was 6 he was playing with rec players who were 7). Then by the time he was 7, we played him up a year on a travel team, where he was 7 playing with and against mostly 8 year old boys (although, there were some other 7 year old boys playing on his team as well, he wasn't the only one).

By age 8, we let him play with kids his own age, as it felt like the right amount of challenge for him (and because he's a smaller kid). He's doing well and loving it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a U6 DD who’s been consistently dominating the ball on her rec team. She’s been scoring 15-20 goals a game while not allowing the other team to score. I get that she’s only 5 and that a lot can change even in the next few years. She’s got older siblings that play travel at a high level where we have not seen this level of play this early on so wondering what we should do next fall. She’s also average to small in height for her team.

It’s great she’s touching the ball a ton but she’s clearly not being challenged. Do we try to play her up for a U8 program, possibly even a couple years up for U9? Worried that she may get discouraged if she’s not dominating but also worried she may not develop if she’s not being challenged. She has been doing little kid training at various places outside of rec practices as well.

Thank you in advance for the feedback.

1st thing, at this age there is always a kid that can score 15-20 goals a game. Half of the kids that are there are just being introduced to an activity that they have had zero exposure to before. It is inclusive of all skill levels and interests. Half the kids will stick with the sport through the next couple of years and half will find something else.

She isn't a next level talent, just a kid who has had just a head start over the other kids and at this age a little head start is enough to stand out.

That said, you'll want to find a group of kids who are at a similar experience level as her. I avoided saying "skill" for a reason. She has experience on most of the kids and many will catch up rather quickly if they stick with it.

There is nothing wrong with her dominating but it can lead to overconfidence when she runs into other kids who can match her play which will happen sooner than later.

Keep it loose and keep it fun for her, find kids of similar experience, boys, girls, older and younger and be inclusive with other kids as well.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think dozens of parents on this board have been where you're at with their little kids. I'd be surprised if the coaches aren't already asking your DC to pass when she gets the ball seeing what she is capable of now. As a coach it doesn't quite matter yet at this age if they are/aren't. Our DD was similar, and we thought when she stopped playing for a year it would change while she was a U7 but it didn't and U8 was almost the same but not quite because there were additional players on the field (5v5 instead of 3V3). But when they got to 7v7 it finally changed--the field was too big to consistently take it all the way, plus other kids caught up in their own technical and physcail abilities / coordination so it became much more difficult. And then we also moved her to travel this past Spring and she is sufficiently challenged now and not the best any longer.

I wouldn't worry about it much for the rest of this season. If your DD is a 2014 perhaps consider playing her up a year or trying to join a 2013 U9 travel team (either one so she can experience the larger field and realize the drop-off). But honestly, if she wants to be with her friends, just leave her where she is out through U8 and then join a travel team at U9. She will be sufficiently challenged whenever you make that move because the other players will consistently be better than what she has seen before plus the size of the field and number of players on the pitch make it more difficult and passing and team play will be introduced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a U6 DD who’s been consistently dominating the ball on her rec team. She’s been scoring 15-20 goals a game while not allowing the other team to score. I get that she’s only 5 and that a lot can change even in the next few years. She’s got older siblings that play travel at a high level where we have not seen this level of play this early on so wondering what we should do next fall. She’s also average to small in height for her team.

It’s great she’s touching the ball a ton but she’s clearly not being challenged. Do we try to play her up for a U8 program, possibly even a couple years up for U9? Worried that she may get discouraged if she’s not dominating but also worried she may not develop if she’s not being challenged. She has been doing little kid training at various places outside of rec practices as well.

Thank you in advance for the feedback.

1st thing, at this age there is always a kid that can score 15-20 goals a game. Half of the kids that are there are just being introduced to an activity that they have had zero exposure to before. It is inclusive of all skill levels and interests. Half the kids will stick with the sport through the next couple of years and half will find something else.

She isn't a next level talent, just a kid who has had just a head start over the other kids and at this age a little head start is enough to stand out.

That said, you'll want to find a group of kids who are at a similar experience level as her. I avoided saying "skill" for a reason. She has experience on most of the kids and many will catch up rather quickly if they stick with it.

There is nothing wrong with her dominating but it can lead to overconfidence when she runs into other kids who can match her play which will happen sooner than later.

Keep it loose and keep it fun for her, find kids of similar experience, boys, girls, older and younger and be inclusive with other kids as well.

Thanks for the response. I was not trying to imply she was a next level talent, only that she seemingly is not matched with anyone with similar experience which is doing no one any good. I do want to keep it fun and light for her so those words are received well for sure. I’d just like to see her challenged while maintaining the fun for her. I’m not even convinced it’s super fun for her yet just because she is dominating the ball so we want to make sure she is enjoying the game.

[Anonymous]

There are 6 year olds on my kid’s U8 team. They actually describe it as 2013+. They flight the players at practice and for games the younger kids do SAM U7 while the 2013s and stronger 2014s do EDP Futures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 6 year olds on my kid’s U8 team. They actually describe it as 2013+. They flight the players at practice and for games the younger kids do SAM U7 while the 2013s and stronger 2014s do EDP Futures.

+1 our club has lots of 6 year olds playing u8, especially on the boys side.

OP this wont last forever and if you dont keep her playing a year up, her teammates will definitely catch up, unless you keep her in rec. These kids are common in pretravel. Bsc has an entire juniors program of 4 and 5 year olds getting technical training with real coaches. These kids enter U8 very prepared. She can be the star of rec or a top travel depending on your goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 6 year olds on my kid’s U8 team. They actually describe it as 2013+. They flight the players at practice and for games the younger kids do SAM U7 while the 2013s and stronger 2014s do EDP Futures.

+1 our club has lots of 6 year olds playing u8, especially on the boys side.

OP this wont last forever and if you dont keep her playing a year up, her teammates will definitely catch up, unless you keep her in rec. These kids are common in pretravel. Bsc has an entire juniors program of 4 and 5 year olds getting technical training with real coaches. These kids enter U8 very prepared. She can be the star of rec or a top travel depending on your goal.

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. She's actually a 2015, still 5, so a bit more difficult to figure out being two years out of U8. I understand all of the comments regarding other kids catching up as we've seen it with her sibling's teams, so we'd like for her to continue developing while having fun.

Her siblings have also played up a year at U8 and done pre-travel programs. I'm just not sure what to do with her at her U7 age next fall. We definitely plan on Travel for her when the time comes unless she doesn't want it.

[Anonymous]

I am the poster from two above. Our team has 2015s in the U8 program. They are very talented kids but it sounds like your daughter might be good enough.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like one of my daughters--she had spent so much time around her older sibling's practices and everything that when she hit the field at U-Little she knew how to play already and looked like a wolf among sheep. The rest of her team was lucky to touch the ball at all when she was in and the other team didn't do much better.

She is playing in college now at a pretty high level so she did fall in love with it and stick with it. She did start playing up very early, and she started playing on the boys team instead of the girls team since the clubs around here divide by gender as such absurdly young ages.

While she may be too young to really be able to tell you exactly what she wants in her own words, IMO as the parent you need to try to figure out what she wants and provide that for her. Based on the experience she's having right now she would probably be open to the idea of finding a setting a little more challenging. Depending on where you are try to find a small training group of other similar players. Vince Carter with McLean is by far the best coach in this area with those younger players--maybe reach out to him--if she really loves the game she will love working with coach Vince. I think NPC futsal starts with the kids that little, maybe check into something like that for her as well.

The leagues we run for U-littles are designed for parent enjoyment, not for player development. You want to get her into the best league setting for her sure, but if she really loves soccer the league is not the most important thing to look at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like one of my daughters--she had spent so much time around her older sibling's practices and everything that when she hit the field at U-Little she knew how to play already and looked like a wolf among sheep. The rest of her team was lucky to touch the ball at all when she was in and the other team didn't do much better.

She is playing in college now at a pretty high level so she did fall in love with it and stick with it. She did start playing up very early, and she started playing on the boys team instead of the girls team since the clubs around here divide by gender as such absurdly young ages.

While she may be too young to really be able to tell you exactly what she wants in her own words, IMO as the parent you need to try to figure out what she wants and provide that for her. Based on the experience she's having right now she would probably be open to the idea of finding a setting a little more challenging. Depending on where you are try to find a small training group of other similar players. Vince Carter with McLean is by far the best coach in this area with those younger players--maybe reach out to him--if she really loves the game she will love working with coach Vince. I think NPC futsal starts with the kids that little, maybe check into something like that for her as well.

The leagues we run for U-littles are designed for parent enjoyment, not for player development. You want to get her into the best league setting for her sure, but if she really loves soccer the league is not the most important thing to look at.

OP here. Really appreciate this informative response. Hope your daughter continues well on her great journey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like one of my daughters--she had spent so much time around her older sibling's practices and everything that when she hit the field at U-Little she knew how to play already and looked like a wolf among sheep. The rest of her team was lucky to touch the ball at all when she was in and the other team didn't do much better.

She is playing in college now at a pretty high level so she did fall in love with it and stick with it. She did start playing up very early, and she started playing on the boys team instead of the girls team since the clubs around here divide by gender as such absurdly young ages.

While she may be too young to really be able to tell you exactly what she wants in her own words, IMO as the parent you need to try to figure out what she wants and provide that for her. Based on the experience she's having right now she would probably be open to the idea of finding a setting a little more challenging. Depending on where you are try to find a small training group of other similar players. Vince Carter with McLean is by far the best coach in this area with those younger players--maybe reach out to him--if she really loves the game she will love working with coach Vince. I think NPC futsal starts with the kids that little, maybe check into something like that for her as well.

The leagues we run for U-littles are designed for parent enjoyment, not for player development. You want to get her into the best league setting for her sure, but if she really loves soccer the league is not the most important thing to look at.

Not seeing his contact info at either McLean or NPC. Would you have contact info for him?