Anonymous
06/17/2026 00:48
Subject: Playing Down
In my experience, players tend to improve fastest when they’re challenged by the speed, physicality, and decision-making of older grade-level peers. Being one of the stronger players on a younger team can feel good, but it doesn’t always accelerate development the way competing against bigger, faster, more mature players does.
I’d also consider what practices look like. I’d rather have my daughter training in a higher-paced environment with grade-level players than being one of the stars on a younger team. The competition she sees in practice often matters more than the tournament results.
Of course, team quality matters too, and there are certainly cases where a younger top team is stronger than an older second team. But all else being equal, I’d lean toward the tougher pace of play and higher ceiling that comes with staying at grade level.
I’d also consider what practices look like. I’d rather have my daughter training in a higher-paced environment with grade-level players than being one of the stars on a younger team. The competition she sees in practice often matters more than the tournament results.
Of course, team quality matters too, and there are certainly cases where a younger top team is stronger than an older second team. But all else being equal, I’d lean toward the tougher pace of play and higher ceiling that comes with staying at grade level.
Anonymous
06/16/2026 21:46
Subject: Re:Playing Down
OP here,
So far DD is playing her grade level up until 14s. It’s been fine but because she is on a twos team in her grade level, we were considering playing down on the top team in order to have better competition and for a chance to her skills to improve. I know some people recommended staying in your grade level, but if we are looking for a way for her to develop faster on a more competitive team at her age group would that be more helpful?
So far DD is playing her grade level up until 14s. It’s been fine but because she is on a twos team in her grade level, we were considering playing down on the top team in order to have better competition and for a chance to her skills to improve. I know some people recommended staying in your grade level, but if we are looking for a way for her to develop faster on a more competitive team at her age group would that be more helpful?
Anonymous
06/16/2026 15:13
Subject: Playing Down
Anonymous wrote:Both approaches (Playing Down or Playing Up) come with their own challenges.
Those who meet the challenges are likely to reap the benefits.
This.
Anonymous
06/16/2026 15:11
Subject: Re:Playing Down
Anonymous wrote:Being in 10th grade for 16s is indeed important if your DD wants to play in college
+++
Anonymous
06/16/2026 11:44
Subject: Re:Playing Down
Anonymous wrote:FPYCparent wrote:My DD's played her first year of club VB on a 15s team as a HS freshman. As a young-enough 10th grader, she earned a spot at a top CHRVA club (c'mon, there are only two options here) and was given the choice of playing 16s with a virtual guarantee of no playing time at her position or playing 15s again with playing time. She chose the latter, getting a decent amount of playing time and was a part of many winning experiences that resulted in an Open bid for USAV GJNCs. She also learned during the second 15s year that she wanted to change positions. To better facilitate the position change, she moved to another club to play 17s and 18s for her final two years.
What we missed/didn't know (at the time) as parents was how important that 16s season is for college recruiting. It is fitting that today is June 15th. Student athletes can start committing to colleges on June 15th after their sophomore year. If any player has desires to play in college, it is fairly important to play 16s as a sophomore (before 6/15) because that's where many college coaches will be focusing their attention to find potential recruits. To be fair, only the true/known top talents will announce a commitment on the 15th or shortly thereafter, but it is hard to make up an entire season of being seen by top programs once you are playing as a junior or senior. Those coaching staffs are already looking at the following year's crop of potential recruits (e.g., next year's rising juniors).
Did not playing 16s as a 10th grader impact my kid's college options? Maybe ... may be not. (She was "recruited" to play D3 VB starting this fall.) But knowing what I now know, it may have been better for her to play 16s while in 10th grade just to enhance her visibility to college programs.
So, whatever choices players and families make regarding playing up or down, I'd recommend making that choice prior to the 16s/sophomore year if there is a remote chance the kid may want to play in college (regardless of the preferred sport).
But you just said joining the 16s team meant getting no play time. How would college recruiters see her if she didn’t get any playtime?
Being in 10th grade for 16s is indeed important if your DD wants to play in college, especially D1, but there are kids who are able to make it work if playing up or down.
Your question about playing time on a top team is valid and could be a whole separate discussion, but it is absolutely possible to be recruited to play D1 as a non-starter on a top team. Metro 18 Travel teams send the overwhelming majority of their players to play at D1 colleges every year, and with 15 players on a roster in most years there are many players who are not starters being recruited.
Anonymous
06/16/2026 06:32
Subject: Playing Down
Both approaches (Playing Down or Playing Up) come with their own challenges.
Those who meet the challenges are likely to reap the benefits.
Those who meet the challenges are likely to reap the benefits.
FPYCparent
06/15/2026 19:51
Subject: Re:Playing Down
Fair question ... and we didn't know what we didn't know at the time.
We'll never really know the ideal choice in my DD's case, but a better option may have been to play 16s at different club. At the time, she did earn a 16s offer from a different club at her "now preferred" position. That other club is where she ultimately played 17s and 18s. Granted, we're talking a top 5 or so CHRVA club vs. a top 2, so it's not like she went to a club/team that went 0-48 for consecutive years.
Don't get me wrong! Making a roster at a top club can still help a player's recruitment. We already know that playing time may never be equally distributed, yet there are teams/clubs that still end up with double-digit recruits by the 18s year. Even some of that "home-grown" talent may still get picked up without extensive time on the floor during tournaments.
We'll never really know the ideal choice in my DD's case, but a better option may have been to play 16s at different club. At the time, she did earn a 16s offer from a different club at her "now preferred" position. That other club is where she ultimately played 17s and 18s. Granted, we're talking a top 5 or so CHRVA club vs. a top 2, so it's not like she went to a club/team that went 0-48 for consecutive years.
Don't get me wrong! Making a roster at a top club can still help a player's recruitment. We already know that playing time may never be equally distributed, yet there are teams/clubs that still end up with double-digit recruits by the 18s year. Even some of that "home-grown" talent may still get picked up without extensive time on the floor during tournaments.
Anonymous
06/15/2026 19:13
Subject: Re:Playing Down
FPYCparent wrote:My DD's played her first year of club VB on a 15s team as a HS freshman. As a young-enough 10th grader, she earned a spot at a top CHRVA club (c'mon, there are only two options here
What we missed/didn't know (at the time) as parents was how important that 16s season is for college recruiting. It is fitting that today is June 15th. Student athletes can start committing to colleges on June 15th after their sophomore year. If any player has desires to play in college, it is fairly important to play 16s as a sophomore (before 6/15) because that's where many college coaches will be focusing their attention to find potential recruits. To be fair, only the true/known top talents will announce a commitment on the 15th or shortly thereafter, but it is hard to make up an entire season of being seen by top programs once you are playing as a junior or senior. Those coaching staffs are already looking at the following year's crop of potential recruits (e.g., next year's rising juniors).
Did not playing 16s as a 10th grader impact my kid's college options? Maybe ... may be not. (She was "recruited" to play D3 VB starting this fall.) But knowing what I now know, it may have been better for her to play 16s while in 10th grade just to enhance her visibility to college programs.
So, whatever choices players and families make regarding playing up or down, I'd recommend making that choice prior to the 16s/sophomore year if there is a remote chance the kid may want to play in college (regardless of the preferred sport).
But you just said joining the 16s team meant getting no play time. How would college recruiters see her if she didn’t get any playtime?
FPYCparent
06/15/2026 18:59
Subject: Re:Playing Down
My DD's played her first year of club VB on a 15s team as a HS freshman. As a young-enough 10th grader, she earned a spot at a top CHRVA club (c'mon, there are only two options here ) and was given the choice of playing 16s with a virtual guarantee of no playing time at her position or playing 15s again with playing time. She chose the latter, getting a decent amount of playing time and was a part of many winning experiences that resulted in an Open bid for USAV GJNCs. She also learned during the second 15s year that she wanted to change positions. To better facilitate the position change, she moved to another club to play 17s and 18s for her final two years.
What we missed/didn't know (at the time) as parents was how important that 16s season is for college recruiting. It is fitting that today is June 15th. Student athletes can start committing to colleges on June 15th after their sophomore year. If any player has desires to play in college, it is fairly important to play 16s as a sophomore (before 6/15) because that's where many college coaches will be focusing their attention to find potential recruits. To be fair, only the true/known top talents will announce a commitment on the 15th or shortly thereafter, but it is hard to make up an entire season of being seen by top programs once you are playing as a junior or senior. Those coaching staffs are already looking at the following year's crop of potential recruits (e.g., next year's rising juniors).
Did not playing 16s as a 10th grader impact my kid's college options? Maybe ... may be not. (She was "recruited" to play D3 VB starting this fall.) But knowing what I now know, it may have been better for her to play 16s while in 10th grade just to enhance her visibility to college programs.
So, whatever choices players and families make regarding playing up or down, I'd recommend making that choice prior to the 16s/sophomore year if there is a remote chance the kid may want to play in college (regardless of the preferred sport).
) and was given the choice of playing 16s with a virtual guarantee of no playing time at her position or playing 15s again with playing time. She chose the latter, getting a decent amount of playing time and was a part of many winning experiences that resulted in an Open bid for USAV GJNCs. She also learned during the second 15s year that she wanted to change positions. To better facilitate the position change, she moved to another club to play 17s and 18s for her final two years.
What we missed/didn't know (at the time) as parents was how important that 16s season is for college recruiting. It is fitting that today is June 15th. Student athletes can start committing to colleges on June 15th after their sophomore year. If any player has desires to play in college, it is fairly important to play 16s as a sophomore (before 6/15) because that's where many college coaches will be focusing their attention to find potential recruits. To be fair, only the true/known top talents will announce a commitment on the 15th or shortly thereafter, but it is hard to make up an entire season of being seen by top programs once you are playing as a junior or senior. Those coaching staffs are already looking at the following year's crop of potential recruits (e.g., next year's rising juniors).
Did not playing 16s as a 10th grader impact my kid's college options? Maybe ... may be not. (She was "recruited" to play D3 VB starting this fall.) But knowing what I now know, it may have been better for her to play 16s while in 10th grade just to enhance her visibility to college programs.
So, whatever choices players and families make regarding playing up or down, I'd recommend making that choice prior to the 16s/sophomore year if there is a remote chance the kid may want to play in college (regardless of the preferred sport).
Anonymous
06/15/2026 16:52
Subject: Re:Playing Down
I will share an experience in the opposite direction. My DD plays age level (she is one year ahead in school). She started volleyball relatively late, so she was definitely behind those who played for years. Since she played with and against weaker players, she was able to play on a better team that wins about as much as it loses. If we tried to play grade level, she would be on a weaker team, which would lose more. Since she won't play in college, it doesn't really matter how she looks at the end of the 12 grade. Playing on a better team definitely helps with the morale.
Anonymous
06/15/2026 16:26
Subject: Playing Down
Anonymous wrote:My daughter played her age group this year but a grade down (she’s a young 7th grader). Her coach told her she should be making the jump to her grade level next year regardless of the team she plays on. Would love to hear what others think about age group vs grade level play.
As a parent who has been through this exact situation, I'd strongly lean toward grade level over age level, if it's an option.
My daughter has a July birthday, so she was eligible to play 12U when most of her friends were moving to 13U. We chose to keep her in the younger age group because she could. Looking back, we wish we had started her with her grade-level peers instead.
Every kid and family is different, of course, but for us, the benefits of grade-level play would have been social, developmental, and competitive. Socially, she would have stayed with the kids she saw every day at school. Developmentally, she would have gotten an extra year of playing with the heavier ball and would have been closer to the pace and game she'd eventually see in high school volleyball. Competitively, once she reached high school, being a grade ahead but still playing "down" with "middle school kids" in club started to feel like a much bigger gap than it did in middle school.
We eventually made the jump to grade level at 15U. It worked out fine, but the transition felt massive... and honestly, it was. Most of the challenges were social and emotional rather than volleyball-related, and I think a lot of that could have been avoided if we'd made the switch from earlier or from the start.
One other thing to consider: if she has aspirations to play in college, she'll ultimately be evaluated against and alongside her grade-level peers, not kids a grade below her.
Just one family's experience, but if we had a do-over, we'd have gone grade level from the beginning.
Anonymous
06/15/2026 16:10
Subject: Playing Down
I’ve got a daughter who has a birthday on the oldest end of the cutoff. She’s been playing in her legit age group even though she’s in the grade above most of her teammates.
She’s discussed jumping up and down age group to be with school grade peers but made decision based on which coach she preferred.
I think fit is more important than playing “up”.
She’s discussed jumping up and down age group to be with school grade peers but made decision based on which coach she preferred.
I think fit is more important than playing “up”.
Anonymous
06/15/2026 15:32
Subject: Playing Down
My daughter played her age group this year but a grade down (she’s a young 7th grader). Her coach told her she should be making the jump to her grade level next year regardless of the team she plays on. Would love to hear what others think about age group vs grade level play.
Anonymous
06/15/2026 15:26
Subject: Playing Down
Anonymous wrote:Hi, this year my daughter was playing on a 14s team. However she was thinking about possibly playing down an age group and replaying 14u on the top team instead of the twos team. What are some pros and cons of doing this and what would be the better choice the 15-2, or the 14-1.
Thank you
Is her grade level this year 8th (typical 14U) or is she in 7th grade?
Anonymous
06/15/2026 15:19
Subject: Playing Down
Hi, this year my daughter was playing on a 14s team. However she was thinking about possibly playing down an age group and replaying 14u on the top team instead of the twos team. What are some pros and cons of doing this and what would be the better choice the 15-2, or the 14-1.
Thank you
Thank you