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[quote=Anonymous]At u9/u10 you are not playing full field.  So "position" aspects are pretty basic.  Kids get 1v1 opportunities regardless of where they are playing.  Give and goes, etc. . . More team aspects in games will be things like covering.  Have a defender taking on a mid 1v1 -- who is rotating back to provide coverage?  That type of thing.

As they get older -- positions get sorted based on abilities and physical attributes mostly.  But -- and it is a very big But -- lots of kids can play lots of positions.  So, some things come into play with the team make up.  Got a solid player at every position (pretty rare even with very high level teams) then physical attributes will dictate positions more than anything.

My daughter played on very high level teams starting at 13.  Even on those high level teams the weaker players ended up playing up top or wing mid positions as a way to get them playing time without too much risk of giving up goals.  You might not score while they were on the field, but you could keep things in hand.  The big thing in the American system is that everyone needs to play a lot in every game really.  If you are charging parents to have their kid on the team, then you need to play them a decent amount in every game.

My daughter played 90 percent of the time as a wing defender on her club teams starting at about u14.  Yet, every college coach that looked at her said -- "forward".  In college she played anything that would get her on the field her freshman and sophomore years, and then "lucked" (good for her, bad for a teammate who got hurt) into defensive center mid which she then kept for her Junior and Senior years.  But in college the coach is not looking to play everyone.  Much more of the Euro approach.

So -- put yourself in the American youth coach's position.  They need to play everyone.  They would also like to win the game.  Winning helps promote the club and themselves.  Sit down with the roster and figure it out yourself.  You need to get all of the kids into the game for at least a 1/2 and ideally more.  Start with the weakest players.  Where and when are you going to play them for at least a half, so that you stay competitive in the game?

Mind you -- I am not saying your weakest players are terrible.  They likely are decent if it is a decent team, but it is all relative.  They are the weakest players on the team, and if the competition is well below the level of your team as a whole -- then it does not matter.  But if the competing team is equally or more skilled than your team -- then you still need to get these kids into the game for at least 1/2 the time.  Where are they going to play so as they do the most help, and create less potential harm?  Usually that is up top.  You may not score, but you won't give up goals.

But -- my kid wants to play up top.  They see weaker players playing up top.  Why does my kid not get the same chance?  Because if they put your kid up top and switched the weaker player to your kid's position what happens?  Do you give up goals?  If they answer to that question is likely,  'yes" then you have your answer.

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