OP around this age some boys start really having growth spurts and it is the early developers who really get noticed. You need to ask if you and your spouse had growth spurts on the early side or you were later developers.

You don’t get better by not playing in games. I would ask the coach how he is going to get playing time, in what position and if in close games that they want to win will it still be 40% or it might drop down to 10-20%.

Son was in the same position and he stayed on B team while his friend on the team moved up. The parents thought by practicing with better players he would get better but he never played over 50% of a game, and often it was around 25%. So friend went from playing 80-100% to 25%. It started killing his love for the game, his aggressiveness because he was afraid of making a mistake and getting pulled, his confidence, etc.

Spoke to his mom later and she said theye was a sense he was the B player who was pulled up not that he was a legit A team player. In hindsight she wishes he had switched clubs because the A team had played together for a couple of years and when he played obviously one of the original members say and there was a group of parents who were tight and always pulling for their kids instead of any new kid. One of the parents was team manager and it just wasn’t the best situation. All the drama wasn’t worth it and they left after a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move him up, have him play with better kids. Iron sharpens iron.

OMG get another catchphrase

How about sybau.

It depends on what you want.

If you want him to be the best possible player?

Move him up - your club may have a Pre-RL team that is close to the Premier League-NL team but other clubs, who you will actually play, have a significantly better first than second team.

If you just want minutes and let him feel successful?

Keep him there - he’s crushing it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move him up, have him play with better kids. Iron sharpens iron.

OMG get another catchphrase

Steel sharpens steel?

Anonymous wrote:Move him up, have him play with better kids. Iron sharpens iron.

OMG get another catchphrase

OP here. These are great points of view. I really appreciate it!

Don't let him get too wedded to a particular position. DS plays MLS Nsxt, and their u13 year, half the boys were moved to new positions in the fall. All coaches view players, and where they need them on the field, differently.

OP- Think about what you wrote:
The issue is that, at least initially, he would probably play 40% of the game (he currently plays 100%).

It is common for defenders especially CB to play the entire game. So right now even with 4 subs he plays the entire game. So theye is a strong probability the CB on the team he has a chance to move up to is playing 100% of the game. So logically how is your kid going to get 40% playtime at CB?

Go watch a game with potential new team. Does the CB play the whole game? Does the defensive line play the whole game?

We had to make a similar decision. Stay on lower team and keep playing entire game vs an offer of 30-40% playing time when moving up.

My son loves playing the entire game. He doesn’t see the point of playing for a team unless you are playing for 3/4 of the games. So we said to the coach when you can come back and say you are looking to move him up and he will play at least 75% of the game then we would take that offer.

It worked out because another club’s top team say him at a tournament and made that offer and my son agreed.

Move him up, have him play with better kids. Iron sharpens iron.