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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.[/quote]

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?[/quote]

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.[/quote]

Not exactly. There are 15 pilot U13 team in the DA across two divisions. The Atlantic Division and the Frontier. The Frontier Division had the U13 Pilot age group last year and the current roster size breakdown is the following:
18
18
15
16
15
19
16

The Atlantic roster size is the following
16 Spirit VA
16 FCV
16 Arlington
17 Cedar Stars
16 Spirit MD
17 PA Classics
17 Penn Fusion
16 SJEB

In general, comparatively the Atlantic division did not draw in as many players likely due to two reasons:
1. Two new DA's being added
2. Many people likely didn't know there even was a U13 age group to even tryout for. This affected all the DA's  in the Atlantic Division in comparison to the Frontier who had already had the age group for a year and could market for recruitment with certainty.

Also, U13 rosters are rarely maxed out. 16 is about the target size for that age group and the average roster sizes across the pilot program comes in about 16.4. The reason rosters at U13 are smaller is for the simple fact that transitioning to 11v11 requires more adjustments and that players should get the maximum playing time possible. DA allowing for re-entry at this age group is also a beneficial move made by US Soccer.

So, for kids playing up with a bench of just 5 can be viewed as a pretty good development opportunity. At the very least, a 16 player roster for a U13 team is not necessarily a sign of not attracting players when that size for that age group is actually the norm. [/quote]

Right, I meant it's a pilot for our conference.  And the U13s didn't start out with 16.  They had much less.  At one point, I know it was 13, including the 07 that doesn't typically play with them (although I think she may have played one game against Arlington, if memory serves me correctly).  They had to work to get to that number.  One girl in reality is so tall, I think she should play up because although she isn't technically the best on the team, but her size means she may be able to overrun girls.  Developmentally, usually bigger girls play up to remove that out of the equation and force the player to be technical instead of just big and physical.  But I realize they can't because of the numbers.  I don't think a single player who tried out got turned away and I know WS actively recruited younger siblings from players they already had.

The reasons include it being a new program that a lot of people didn't know about and also WS doesn't have a true feeder program like the other clubs.  That doesn't mean they won't eventually be successful, because neither does DCU, but it does mean it will take a little time to build it.  They will need to develop a strong reputation that attracts players without needing to rely on feeder clubs.

And again, it's not a criticism.  It's just reality.  It's the first year in, and they had to get to a big enough roster to field a team.  I'm sure eventually WS will start attracting more talent.  Not that the team is completely lacking, but it's patchy.  Some girls are very technical and savvy.  Some probably wouldn't have made any other DA, ECNL, or maybe even the better elite teams.  Maybe WS can coach them up and get them there over time.  [/quote]

I am assuming you are referring to WS VA and not MD? Not sure which girl you think is so tall she should play up. My guess is the average height of the FCV and Arlington teams is about 6 inches taller than the Spirit VA U13 team.

[/quote]

Yes, WS VA.  I don't normally advocate for playing up.  But she is very, very tall and big and muscular.  She could pass for a teenager.  So I say that based on her entire size, sometimes a bigger player may win balls or dominate on the field in the younger age groups without being forced to learn technical skill.  Then, when everyone else catches up, the player finds himself or herself behind because they never had to win based on technical skill before.

I'm not deeply invested or passionate about it.  It was just a passing comment about something I noticed about the make up of the team.

Normally, it is better to play in your own age group where a player can dominate and shine, rather than barely get foot to ball.  It's only helpful if a player is big for his or her age at the younger ages, until physically things start to even out.[/quote]

Makes sense.  That's what the bio-banding discussion is about:  letting smaller players play an age group down and letting bigger players play an age group up.  They are actually trialing it in some areas.[/quote]

Bio-banding is a little more complicated than that. It takes into account parents heights to predict how much growth potential player has so a player who still has a foot to grow can bio band down regardless of their current size.[/quote]

On paper that is how bio banding is supposed to work, in actuality it is nothing like that at all.  It is as simple as telling US Soccer this player is being bio banded and not much more than that.  No doctors notes, no interviewing of parents to see what their sizes are or when they matured, etc.  Any to my knowledge, and someone please feel free to correct me, they are only doing bio banding with the boys, not the girls (I know they had an event in late spring where they invited boys and girls, but I do not think this fall the girls have bio banding, boys are in their second year of it).[/quote]

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