OP here. I haven't posted much to this thread. Please remember that I did not ask this question because I'm curious as to whether 07s can compete with 06s. What I was asking was whether or not these clubs...SYA and/or Villareal feel that playing 11v11 sooner is beneficial to the development of the kids. I was wondering if this will be more common in the future and will U12 teams start moving up to U13 leagues/tournaments/etc sooner. I'm not concerned on how these two individual teams will do in this tournament although I think they will do just fine. A strong "A" 07 team should do very well against 06 "B" or "C" teams. Thanks

I'll check out one of these games for kicks and report back. I noticed Yorktown HS is one of the locations and that's where I walk my dog. My kids are much older now, so thank you for sharing your drama. I don't miss it.

All of you have been scammed. This is a parent/coach of one of the 06 teams in the flight just trying to dig up some intel so he/she can ensure the 06 team isn't embarrassed.

Anonymous wrote:Seriously. Not sure why there is so much concern about a bunch of 11 year old boys playing a local tournament in one of the bottom brackets.

I don't think this thread is so much about being concerned, but a friendly discussion on the merits of playing up earlier.

Anonymous wrote:Seriously. Not sure why there is so much concern about a bunch of 11 year old boys playing a local tournament in one of the bottom brackets.

I think the original question was do these specific clubs feel playing up early is best for the kids or is this just specific to these teams based on the coach's discretion.

Seriously. Not sure why there is so much concern about a bunch of 11 year old boys playing a local tournament in one of the bottom brackets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

Well one of there 07 teams went 1-9 in the 7th and lowest division in NCSL in the fall

Not the same team genius.

This Villarreal 07 team finished tied for 1st in VPL: http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=67757&Gender=Boys&Age=12

The SYA 07 team is in 1st place in CCL: https://clubchampionsleague.com/standings/

In the 4th bracket a mid-level tournament, they should do just fine against 06 teams.

I assume they will add players from the 2nd teams to both of these to ensure a solid roster for the tournament. I'm intrigued to see how these little guys do, all this bantering here on the forum doesn't really amount to sh!t.....let's see what these boys can do.

It's 2 additional players on the field... My daughter's team has a roster of 14. They didn't add players when they played up. Everyone played lots of minutes, which they should be able to do anyway. And why refer to them as "little guys"? It's one age group up. They aren't playing 2004's... lol

So much overreaction for something that is incredibly common at this age group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

Well one of there 07 teams went 1-9 in the 7th and lowest division in NCSL in the fall

Not the same team genius.

This Villarreal 07 team finished tied for 1st in VPL: http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=67757&Gender=Boys&Age=12

The SYA 07 team is in 1st place in CCL: https://clubchampionsleague.com/standings/

In the 4th bracket a mid-level tournament, they should do just fine against 06 teams.

I assume they will add players from the 2nd teams to both of these to ensure a solid roster for the tournament. I'm intrigued to see how these little guys do, all this bantering here on the forum doesn't really amount to sh!t.....let's see what these boys can do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

Well one of there 07 teams went 1-9 in the 7th and lowest division in NCSL in the fall

Not the same team genius.

This Villarreal 07 team finished tied for 1st in VPL: http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=67757&Gender=Boys&Age=12

The SYA 07 team is in 1st place in CCL: https://clubchampionsleague.com/standings/

In the 4th bracket a mid-level tournament, they should do just fine against 06 teams.

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

Well one of there 07 teams went 1-9 in the 7th and lowest division in NCSL in the fall

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

And "doing well" doesn't have to mean winning the tournament. Parents are often too focused on results. My daughter's 2007 team was placed in the top division of the tournament (not by our club's choice) when they played 11 v 11 for the first time this fall. They played all 2006 NPL teams and ended with 1 tie and 2 losses (close games). In that situation, they did better than expected and "doing well" meant seeing that they could legitimately hang with those teams.

I posted the comment about doing well, you are correct that i didn't mean "win" but be competitive.

Anonymous wrote:I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

And "doing well" doesn't have to mean winning the tournament. Parents are often too focused on results. My daughter's 2007 team was placed in the top division of the tournament (not by our club's choice) when they played 11 v 11 for the first time this fall. They played all 2006 NPL teams and ended with 1 tie and 2 losses (close games). In that situation, they did better than expected and "doing well" meant seeing that they could legitimately hang with those teams.

I just looked at the brackets and they are playing 2nd/3rd tier teams from other clubs. If they are as good as the OP said they are, both 07s should do well.

There is a notion that soccer is soccer. No difference than adults that played 11v11 going to smaller fields 9v9. Fundamentally, if you break down the field into possessions, it makes zero impact to the actually player. You normally don't pass 50 yards anyways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASA schedule is out and it looks like they have these 07s facing off.

Looks like this is just a local tournament... why all the debate about a 2007 team playing up for a weekend to get some 11 v 11 experience? It's not like this is Jeff Cup or some other national tournament....

It is also as not if those same kids will not be playing 11v11 anyways in just a matter of months.

Is that a comment supporting or not supporting playing 11v11 early?

My daughter's U12 pre-ECNL team(not in the DC region) had 3 tournaments in the fall and they played 11 v 11 at one. This spring they will play in 4 tournaments... so far we know that one will be 11 v 11. I don't really see a downside (unless parents or coaches are too focused on winning a tournament). My daughter liked the opportunity to play on the bigger field and the kids all had to adjust a bit tactically, so it was something new.

Will the experience make a team 11 v 11 superstars early? No. Will it ruin them if they play against a team that is (slightly) older and potentially bigger and faster? No. As in all things related to youth soccer--it seems people are really overthinking this.

One more note--at trainings and inter-club scrimmages (small sided/9 v 9, etc.), my daughter's 2007 team regularly plays against 2006's (and sometimes 2005's) within the club... It's really not a big deal.