It was funny to go from 9v9 to 11v11. At 9v9 the kids that could work in space rose to the top over fast kids with heavy toches but then at 11v11 it reverted back to fast kids and kids who can kick far. A few years in on 11v11 and the spaces are getting smaller. The big and fast kids thrive getting bottled up compared to the other kids that can use both feet. |
You are offering proof that RAE exists and is pretty bad. |
ECNL Rosters are public - now a lot of admins/coaches don't actually put in the correct graduation dates, but it's easy to see see the %'s don't match up and it's not just one team. Feel free to look up every ~100+ team at U13/U14 but you'll see the pattern pretty quickly. |
The issue is you make rae sound like the ultimate excuse for everything. Its not Its something victim mentality parents key into because it makes quitting or not making the top team easier to justify/quantify. |
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Mixed bag. At the 3v3 level skill wins out over maturity almost always. at 7v7 and 9v9 the bigger kids can clog the technical kids up quite a bit. At 11 v 11, yes there is some merit, on a rudimentary team, for a super fast wing or forward to be impactful but at the higher levels more space seems to favor more technical players. |
Cheer up, I am sure your July kid will really crush it on the B team next season |
I dont have a dog in the fight. My kid is a q4 and a top player on a top team and the age change is the worst thing possible for her. She doesnt want to play "down" but she is also on the smaller size so the idea of kids another 5 months older than her is not super appealing either. I am just pointing out RAE exists. We can argue over the actual impact by age but to say it doesnt exist is not accurate And just for comparison, roster of 20 and 3 youngers. |
This is 1000% true. Living it right now. We had a group of futsal players before switching to 11v11. Then at 11v11 the club started benching the futsal players in favor of big and fast and direct. Now the defenders have gotten better and everyone has grown into the 11v11 field and the futsal players are starting again. |
It's not playing down. |
Its just annoying reading about rae 24/7 when its really not that big of an issue. Whats also annoying is reading about how switching from BY to SY will change rae in some form. It wont, rae is exactly as it was before only different players are lightly affected. |
It is playing down |
It's not. |
Another poster - you play by the same rules as everyone else and as of Fall 26 it's absolutely not playing down. Whether it benefits the PP or not, it's not playing down and so many parents are going to realize how iron clad these new cutoffs are. Only the truly top players will play "up" (same team they're currently on) at the ECNL/MLSNext/GA level just as it is now. |
You again. Why do you care so much about how others describe moving from a team that is objectively better to one that is objectively worse as "down"? Bigger battles to fight than this one. |