Development for little littles

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

You teach her to pass to her teammates and don’t confuse “getting it” at this age with skill.

[Anonymous]

If this is true, her coach REALLY needs to do something different with her. No kid should be scoring 15-20 goals a game.

[Anonymous]

Most kids that age need to be reminded frequently which direction to kick the ball. It’s not hard for a kid who knows what she’s doing to rack up points. The coach needs to step up.

[Anonymous]

See if you can move her up a year. Going two years is tougher. Kids are way more coordinated and bigger. But my youngest has played with older kids since she was 4. She keeps up just fine. I coach, which helps, so I can play her. Recommend you coach her rec team for a few years. You can move her to a travel team if you want earlier. Or find a good pre travel program. I found the best thing for development is playing with her siblings. Oh and playing with the boys!! That is an option too. Put her on a boys team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if you can move her up a year. Going two years is tougher. Kids are way more coordinated and bigger. But my youngest has played with older kids since she was 4. She keeps up just fine. I coach, which helps, so I can play her. Recommend you coach her rec team for a few years. You can move her to a travel team if you want earlier. Or find a good pre travel program. I found the best thing for development is playing with her siblings. Oh and playing with the boys!! That is an option too. Put her on a boys team.

Thanks for the feedback. She definitely became this by playing with her siblings as I admittedly do not know much about soccer. The pre-travel programs are good but may be tough for a 6 yr old to not play in games and playing with boys is well playing with boys. She’s trained with them at various places but she definitely wants to make friends with her current teammates. She’s very aware that she may be alienating herself a bit.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

u6 rec is not the place to develop a player, it’s the place to socialize kids and let them have fun

[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.

Many super young teams have one or two kids who dominate while the other kids just stand around and watch. The coaches should be doing something about it, unless the attitude is “they’re 5- who cares?” No one improves in this environment.

[Anonymous]

Don't focus on passing. Ridiculous at this age. All foot skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't focus on passing. Ridiculous at this age. All foot skills.

Why not just take the kid into an empty field to kick the ball, then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't focus on passing. Ridiculous at this age. All foot skills.

Why not just take the kid into an empty field to kick the ball, then?

because that would be productive and make sense. Much better to use the 20 minute once a week game to demonstrate to the other parents that you are raising a little Messi

[Anonymous]

you do realize she is playing against other kids who barely have even kicked a soccer ball before, right

[Anonymous]

Some kids just have natural sports instincts and some get it earlier than others. Parents used to get annoyed at my Kindergarten player who automatically/instinctively played defense when goalies weren't allowed at their age. She watched sports, had older siblings, etc and just felt that it was her job to stop the other team from scoring. She also scored a ton of goals and was the fastest kid on the field, but we urged her to pass instead even though her teammates couldn't do much with the passes. Other kids ended up catching up with her skills by 2nd grade - early skills don't always mean forever talent. She's still very good but not the standout at age 6 lol.