Anonymous wrote:It does sound like the kids they added to your team are a year older, but they didn't want to pass up the parents fees, so they came up with this "great idea" to play the whole team up

I bet it’s this. I know someone who brags about their kid playing up an age group or maybe even two. It’s because the team has three age groups’ worth of players because they don’t have enough to form separate teams. Not a good way to develop. Sometimes it’s really bad because the older kids are less skilled but bigger and when they get mad, they get more physical and can potentially hurt the younger players.

You’d be better off at a more stable club

It does sound like the kids they added to your team are a year older, but they didn't want to pass up the parents fees, so they came up with this "great idea" to play the whole team up

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really wish that they played 9 v 9 on proportional fields. Part of the reason clubs play "up" at 11 v 11 the spring of U12 is that the players have outgrown the 9 v 9 field (that they have played on since 7 v 7). At that point, you have goalies punting from one box to another and shots on goal from close to midfield. The 9 v 9 field is really too small at that point.

That is bad coaching as I have said for at least the 50th time on this board. The smaller space is designed for pressure in tight spaces.

Punting is a desire to get the ball out of our half in the name of not giving up a goal in the name of winning. We are fixing a problem without diagnosing the root causes which is poor coaching and a lack of understanding about development.

My kid came from a small club that is made fun of on this board. There was nothing funny about how he destroyed 1st team players that beat us in games. My son has given up alot of goals while learning on his own how to play under pressure. Until American's let go of results pre U-15, we will keep having the same BS development results. So many of the kids I see could actually be great players but they are playing on track teams instead of developing under a soccer coach.

What does that mean?

It's because they don't have enough players overall. They recruited/suckered a few new kids, but they are a year older. So rather than lose those new parental checkbooks, they've decided to cobble together a mixed-age frankenteam from your players, players a year up who haven't jumped ship, and the newbies.

They're not rewarding/recognizing your player's talent by playing them up. They're just ensuring the income stream continues by fielding a team wherever there's a hole in their club structure. Think about it -- if your player is good enough to play up, they're good enough to move up a level (or two!) in their current age bracket.

Anonymous wrote:I really wish that they played 9 v 9 on proportional fields. Part of the reason clubs play "up" at 11 v 11 the spring of U12 is that the players have outgrown the 9 v 9 field (that they have played on since 7 v 7). At that point, you have goalies punting from one box to another and shots on goal from close to midfield. The 9 v 9 field is really too small at that point.

That is bad coaching as I have said for at least the 50th time on this board. The smaller space is designed for pressure in tight spaces.

Punting is a desire to get the ball out of our half in the name of not giving up a goal in the name of winning. We are fixing a problem without diagnosing the root causes which is poor coaching and a lack of understanding about development.

My kid came from a small club that is made fun of on this board. There was nothing funny about how he destroyed 1st team players that beat us in games. My son has given up alot of goals while learning on his own how to play under pressure. Until American's let go of results pre U-15, we will keep having the same BS development results. So many of the kids I see could actually be great players but they are playing on track teams instead of developing under a soccer coach.