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[quote=Anonymous]I keep reading comments from people talking about how players should be rotating around the field in different positions up through U-whatever. I don't think that's true for all players. These kids are not carbon copies of one another, and even as boys it's obvious that some kids excel in certain positions.

My oldest son is a natural defender. No, that's not code for "he's no good" -- he just was never very creative with the ball and did not like the "pressure" of trying to score. It's partly based on his technical ability and partly based on his personality.  But he loves being a "destructive" player and breaking up the opposing team's attack; he enjoys it. He's physically big and strong for his age, and he takes the lead in commanding the defense. He has a defensive mindset and a good eye for quickly surveying an attack and making moves to counter it. He's been pretty much exclusively playing as a defender since age 11, and he's "that kid" his team always is thankful is playing defense.

By contrast, my younger boy is a natural striker. He wants the ball. He wants to score. He's a creative player and has much better technical skills at his age than my oldest son did. He's also smaller than average, and while he is "okay" playing defense, he doesn't enjoy it. He's been the top goal scorer on his team every year since he was 5.

I'm sure that there are other player types where they are more versatile than the two examples above -- players who could be midfielders, strikers, or defenders.  Maybe most boys fall into that type.  But clearly not all of them do.

Every boys' sport has some degree of positional specialization, even for U-littles. In baseball, even at a young age there will be a subset of kids who pitch; a subset of kids who play the bases (or shortstop) well; and a subset of kids who play outfield. In football, at 10 years old you're going to have a subset of quarterbacks; a different subset of wide-receivers; a different subset of linemen. Basketball, same thing -- certain players will be your forwards/center, while other players will be your guards. A first baseman might be equally good at playing second or third, but would not make a good pitcher; an offensive tackle might also make a great linebacker but would not be a good receiver or quarterback; etc.

Why should we expect soccer to be any different?

I've actually been frustrated at the mechanical rotation of players around different positions on the field, especially during the same game, when it's clear that some of the player/position combinations are strong and some are weak. And it doesn't seem like the competition takes the same approach -- especially in tournaments. [/quote]

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