Anonymous
Post 03/13/2021 00:01     Subject: Re:When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:OP here - yes big fan of Gladwell and Outliers. Just curious if that ever has a better outcome with girls soccer. Honestly DD is 9 and we aren't thinking too far ahead. It's more a philosophical curiosity question as she's a Dec birthday playing on a red team of girls with Jan-May birthdays. She's the smallest yet tall for her age. She's less coordinated so says her coach and of course a full grade academically lower. Just curious on how that may improve or not if we did take soccer more seriously but again I'm not that mom who's earmarked her to play college. She really loves to play so I'm that mom that just wants to figure out how to support her given the age thing as this the first year I've noticed it a lot prob because she went on to a top team. She's def the weakest one on.


Christen Press was born in December.
Anonymous
Post 03/12/2021 12:14     Subject: Re:When player youngest on team
OP here - yes big fan of Gladwell and Outliers. Just curious if that ever has a better outcome with girls soccer. Honestly DD is 9 and we aren't thinking too far ahead. It's more a philosophical curiosity question as she's a Dec birthday playing on a red team of girls with Jan-May birthdays. She's the smallest yet tall for her age. She's less coordinated so says her coach and of course a full grade academically lower. Just curious on how that may improve or not if we did take soccer more seriously but again I'm not that mom who's earmarked her to play college. She really loves to play so I'm that mom that just wants to figure out how to support her given the age thing as this the first year I've noticed it a lot prob because she went on to a top team. She's def the weakest one on.
Anonymous
Post 03/12/2021 01:43     Subject: When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DD is youngest u9 at big club. She is doing well but the whole top tier are older, a grade ahead so started playing a year earlier, and seem more mature in their soccer development. Who knows how it will play out over the years. I think the gap is already getting narrower since the beginning of the fall as she has grown into playing more competitive soccer.


Yes - the gap is largest when some of the kids are nearly 1, and others are newborns. It narrows every year thereafter .


But as others have noted, while that gap shrinks with time, it is amazing to see it still have a very large impact on the rosters of top travel teams in most sports, with the vast majority of kids being born in the first 6 months of the birth year of school year.


It has an outsize effect at extremes of ability because that's the way bell curve math works. For most kids in a more normal abiltiy range the gap narrows to very little.
Anonymous
Post 03/12/2021 00:21     Subject: When player youngest on team
Excellent point. 6 months matter a ton below u 15 or 16 for girls. If your kid is playing up great. If not and she is old for the age she will be caught
Anonymous
Post 03/12/2021 00:06     Subject: When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DD is youngest u9 at big club. She is doing well but the whole top tier are older, a grade ahead so started playing a year earlier, and seem more mature in their soccer development. Who knows how it will play out over the years. I think the gap is already getting narrower since the beginning of the fall as she has grown into playing more competitive soccer.


Yes - the gap is largest when some of the kids are nearly 1, and others are newborns. It narrows every year thereafter .


But as others have noted, while that gap shrinks with time, it is amazing to see it still have a very large impact on the rosters of top travel teams in most sports, with the vast majority of kids being born in the first 6 months of the birth year of school year.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 12:41     Subject: When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:My DD is youngest u9 at big club. She is doing well but the whole top tier are older, a grade ahead so started playing a year earlier, and seem more mature in their soccer development. Who knows how it will play out over the years. I think the gap is already getting narrower since the beginning of the fall as she has grown into playing more competitive soccer.


Yes - the gap is largest when some of the kids are nearly 1, and others are newborns. It narrows every year thereafter .
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 11:23     Subject: When player youngest on team
My DD is youngest u9 at big club. She is doing well but the whole top tier are older, a grade ahead so started playing a year earlier, and seem more mature in their soccer development. Who knows how it will play out over the years. I think the gap is already getting narrower since the beginning of the fall as she has grown into playing more competitive soccer.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 11:07     Subject: Re:When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how old your kid is now, but it gets rough for boys in MS.

My oldest is one of the youngest, but was middle of the pack for size. He now is close to 6 feet at 15.5 (U16), but 10 of those inches were in the last year.

My 7th grader is middle of the pack age wise, but tiny. One of the smallest on the field. We are very late growers in our family. It is glaringly obvious at U13 how much smaller he is than almost everyone on the field. He is a very good player though. But, I know from experience the next few years until he's 15/16 are going to be very rough for him.

My kids fit in socially with older kids because they have older cousins and also have played with older kids a lot. But, the physical disadvantages are no joke in the U13-U15 years.


OP---I wanted to add this is the year (U16-2005)--though he won't turn 16 until late Fall next year was the turning point for my older son. He is dominating and being noticed this season. He was asked to play up with 03s/04s for a bunch of games. This is a kid who continually got the shaft after the birth year change way back when, when he became one of the youngest players and skipped a year of 9v9 to be put a year up. So many of those kids back then have fallen off now.

The hardest thing to do is for them to keep facing rejection after rejection--maybe having to stay on the 2nd team much longer even when technically better. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those that have grit and drive.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 11:03     Subject: Re:When player youngest on team
I am not sure how old your kid is now, but it gets rough for boys in MS.

My oldest is one of the youngest, but was middle of the pack for size. He now is close to 6 feet at 15.5 (U16), but 10 of those inches were in the last year.

My 7th grader is middle of the pack age wise, but tiny. One of the smallest on the field. We are very late growers in our family. It is glaringly obvious at U13 how much smaller he is than almost everyone on the field. He is a very good player though. But, I know from experience the next few years until he's 15/16 are going to be very rough for him.

My kids fit in socially with older kids because they have older cousins and also have played with older kids a lot. But, the physical disadvantages are no joke in the U13-U15 years.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 09:38     Subject: When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to be really good as the youngest player in age group? Physically and mentally it just seems to hard to be at the same level 11 months younger than teammates and others at same age level. Would welcome any advice and observations on how birth month might impact soccer age groups.


Well, being one of the top players on my son's team plays a year up, it is definitely possible. He's by far the youngest on our team. The kid would easily be the best player on his team if he played in his normal age group.


Not so fast my friend--while that might be true for your kid's team, do you know how many other kids are playing up there, too?

Thinking down the line, just be prepared for your kid is one of the best bubble will burst at some point. He's good relatively now, I'm sure, but there are kids playing up all over this region, not to mention nationally. If they ALL played in their normal age group.... your kid wouldn't be among the best. Still good I'm sure but not among the best for his age.


I understand that, I was just answering the question in the present tense. You can be the youngest in an age group and be "really good" as OP asked. If you are an 07 birthday and play up in 06, then you are probably the youngest in the 06 age group. I agree that playing up isn't always a good idea and I have seen kids mentally hurt when they get put back down in their own age group eventually. It does work for some though. My son was born in the first quarter of his year and I would not want him to play up for a few different reasons. Mostly because the team a year older at his club has more prima donnas that think they can win a game by themself. Because of that they are not as good of a "team" as it were.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2021 09:22     Subject: When player youngest on team
Anonymous wrote:Ever heard of someone holding their late bday kid back so they can play one extra year in high school?


Yes in basketball it happens a lot usually held back in 8th grade so when they get to 9th (freshman) they are a little more physically mature. Not common with average players usually the extremely talented just slightly undersized.