Can you tell me the pros and cons of playing “up”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

All other things equal, length (height and long limbs, not “size”) does matter. But, often all other things aren’t equal. Soccer, unlike b-ball and football and volleyball affords opportunities to smaller in stature athletes that have uncanny quickness, balance and coordination. Baseball and golf are other sports where one can be short and still succeed but longer limbs do provide greater leverage when hitting the ball. Hockey, size can matter, but more for defenders. Speed is key in that sport. One thing you can’t be in any team athletic sport is slow. Speed kills. Fast of foot, fast pitch, or fast hands.

Agree somewhat, with the caveat that being both short and slight can be tough, unless you have a ton of moxy. It is hard to handle shouldering if you don't have much body mass. My son is both short and slight, and is a much better futsal player (where shouldering is not allowed) than soccer player.

That's 5% of the game at best. And less than that for forwards. A tough, quick kid is going to find a way to get it done regardless of size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids club is proposing this. Kid is new to the club and we picked because of the coach which makes me lean towards no, but maybe there is some advantage I don’t know about that would at least convince me to go watch the other coach?

We are going through something similar. Our son's entire team played up a year and they are going back to their actual age group this year, but the coach wants him to stay playing up a year again. There are a lot of pros and cons. I will tell you that after an adjustment period of dealing with bigger and faster kids it has been overall really positive for him playing up. When he plays against his age group there is a noticeable difference in his play compared to before. A major con is that a lot of kids struggle (physically and psychologically) and it can hurt their confidence. I was nervous the first couple of weeks he was playing up thinking it was a bad idea.

The hard part for you is the different coach. We have 3 kids and it's amazing how much the coach really matters in the overall experience. If you came over for a coach it means you like them and that's important. Does your kid know or get along with the year up coach? What does the current coach think? I would have a conversation with both coaches and see how you feel with your kid's input being the driving factor.