Lots of good things mentioned here to consider. Age does make a big difference as has been said. At older ages it also affects recruiting, coaches are looking at years based on graduation years and if your kid is playing up they could get missed by the coaches looking for her year and seen by coaches who don't have an opening her year. She can work around this is she is very proactive about inviting coaches to games, but it's one more factor to consider.

Many clubs will discourage playing up because it is done for the player's benefit not the club's benefit. Having a star player play up will generally hurt the younger team more than it helps the older team so clubs don't like that. Naysayers are going to say I am BSing so here is a link to an actual local club play up policy which states that quiet part out loud. https://www.sycva.com/page/show/477125-play-up-policy The important thing as a parent is to find the best fit for your child where they are happy and learning wherever that is.

My kid is an 05 and plays with an 02/03 futsal team and an 05 futsal team. He looks so much better when he plays with the 02/03. Infinitely so. The 02/03 play at a much, much faster pace, have higher intelligence and know where to be, when to make the runs. He scored 4 of the 7 goals this week for the 02/03 and had 2 assists.

He has played up when needed. His old club the 05s were actually better than the 04s so playing up wasn't actually beneficial.

We have another kid where the 'plays ups' really need to move back down. They started with them at 09 and now at U13, they are infinitely behind and would be better off exceling in their own age group. It frustrates the team to no end, and the player themselves are displaying a great deal of frustration on the field--tantrums, etc. because they are now ineffective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had been told that your child should not be playing up unless they are absolutely dominating their current year that it's a joke. They should unquestionably be the best player on the field, not just team, every game. You don't want your child to stagnate in that situation, but in our experience those players are very few and far between. Now, guest playing/practicing up a year is a great tool to use for development for most that are excelling, but I'm not sure about full time.

Playing up should be used more at younger ages. The talent levels are so wide there. At about u14 the gap narrows so much its easier to se who actually should be playing up or not.

Agree. Playing up makes sense in the younger ages given the differences in talent and physicality. Our son played up until U12 and then it didn't make much sense as the talent/size gap narrowed. I think playing up was a huge benefit for him though.

Anonymous wrote:Pros: your club gets your money
Cons: you get false promise it’s better for DC

That’s shitty clubs. Where my DD plays she gets play with her age group and the age group above. During league and tournament games. We do not pay an extra dime. She’s improving like crazy and we’re lucky her coach is dedicated, knowledgeable and passionate. We’re exploring options so she can play under his wing in HS too.

Pros: your club gets your money
Cons: you get false promise it’s better for DC

What is the consensus on playing up at the younger ages? I have a u8 player that is playing rec but has been participating in some u9 player training with the hopes the club can form a u9 team this spring. They didn't form one in the fall due to covid and resource issues. My DS has some decent footskils but can easily be outpaced by some faster players.

Anonymous wrote:We had been told that your child should not be playing up unless they are absolutely dominating their current year that it's a joke. They should unquestionably be the best player on the field, not just team, every game. You don't want your child to stagnate in that situation, but in our experience those players are very few and far between. Now, guest playing/practicing up a year is a great tool to use for development for most that are excelling, but I'm not sure about full time.

Playing up should be used more at younger ages. The talent levels are so wide there. At about u14 the gap narrows so much its easier to se who actually should be playing up or not.

We had been told that your child should not be playing up unless they are absolutely dominating their current year that it's a joke. They should unquestionably be the best player on the field, not just team, every game. You don't want your child to stagnate in that situation, but in our experience those players are very few and far between. Now, guest playing/practicing up a year is a great tool to use for development for most that are excelling, but I'm not sure about full time.

My child had mixed results when they played up a year for two years. The club wanted to continue challenging him so they moved him up a year, but the year can be a big difference unless your child is physically larger than peers. It was kind of like goldilocks. He was the top player by far at his age, but middle of the pack at best the year up. We agreed it would be a good challenge. However, we noticed a lack of confidence playing up and generally just getting pushed around. By the end of the first year he had come around and gotten used to the physical differences and speed, but I was worried for a little there and almost requested to have him moved back many times. After the second year we decided it was time to play back with his normal age group for many reasons. Overall I think it was a huge benefit, but there are definitely some cons you need to be careful of along the way. When he came back to playing his actual year he was more physical and faster than most of the kids. Was that simply because he played up for 2 years? I don't know, but probably.

OP: Thank you all so much for all these insights/responses. A lot of helpful considerations to think through. Much appreciated.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A player should only be playing up if they can start on the clubs next age group's A team.[/quote]

This.[/quote]

OP: Yes, this will be for the A team and in same, preferred position.

When soccer went to birth year, my some was on the younger half. he wanted to play with friends that were on the older side so he played up a year for two years and then when his team was moving to 11v11, we agreed to have him play his own age so he repeated U12 with a different team. It all worked out just fine. Keep in mind you can play up and then club pass down on occasions (tournaments, more competitive league games, etc) if the coaches go for that. I know kids that play up on B and C teams just to play with friends. I don't see anything wrong with that. What is the big deal?

If I had to do it over my DD would not play up.

I think the size/maturity issue is an important one, particularly at younger ages.

DD's former club had 3 players playing up at u12-u13. Those 3 players were constantly injured, and for the most part, I don't think it was a fluke. They just weren't physically ready, especially given that the club was already playing well above their heads (NPL).

There were also social issues (aren't there always at that age with girls). They never really felt part of the team (responsibility lies on both sides).

I totally get why players and parents want their kids to play up to get more advanced coaching, better competition (I was one of those parents), but I have seen the downsides as well.

Pros: get better faster the more you play and train with higher level players.


Cons: Parents no longer are the parents of the top Player on the team and now get the sympathy good job, he/she is working so hard. No more wow he/she is so good.