Do all club teams go to select soccer at U11?

My son plays up a year on a U10 Academy team that is going to U11 competitive in the fall of next year. I hear he can't play up on that team because they want the boys at the same age level at U11. Is this true? Also, they have been playing in the UAL. Where will they likely go when they hit the U11?

frequent flyer wrote:My son plays up a year on a U10 Academy team that is going to U11 competitive in the fall of next year. I hear he can't play up on that team because they want the boys at the same age level at U11. Is this true? Also, they have been playing in the UAL. Where will they likely go when they hit the U11?

I don't have direct experience with this issue so I may end up being corrected...

At u11, players can make the move to select soccer. He cannot make the move to the select level until your BB is u11. A u10 can "play up" to u11 but only in Rec. He cannot "play up" to u11 in select.

It's unfortunate that your BB is going to be stuck staying behind as his friends move onto select. When you originally started to "play up" in Rec, I hope this eventual issue was explained to your family.

The good news though, once your son hits u11 and becomes eligible to play select, he can start "playing up" on the select level and, if it's available to him, rejoin his old teammates.

In the meantime, you should consider letting your son really experiment and push himself with a new group. Let him really unleash it and find all new parts of the game to love. Let him dominate in his natural age division. Let him be a superstar that turns coachs' heads. If he's been "playing up" he's probably been working hard for a while... why not let him be the most elite player in a league in his natural age for a while. Let the compliments rain down on him to remember the love of the game. Get his confidence high before the move to select in a year.

frequent flyer wrote:My son plays up a year on a U10 Academy team that is going to U11 competitive in the fall of next year. I hear he can't play up on that team because they want the boys at the same age level at U11. Is this true? Also, they have been playing in the UAL. Where will they likely go when they hit the U11?

yes its true just find a team his own age he will be fine!

My 02 son played 01 from the get go but had to fall back to an 02 team a year and a half ago as his 01 team was off to Select.

His current coach advises he won't be able to rejoin his original team(01) till after he has completed at least one year of select then he can play back up if the situation is necessary.

txsoccerdad wrote:My 02 son played 01 from the get go but had to fall back to an 02 team a year and a half ago as his 01 team was off to Select.

His current coach advises he won't be able to rejoin his original team(01) till after he has completed at least one year of select then he can play back up if the situation is necessary.

not true he can join them right where they are unless of course he doesnt make the team? sounds like the coach just doesnt want to lose him!

omega striker wrote:
not true he can join them right where they are unless of course he doesnt make the team? sounds like the coach just doesnt want to lose him!

You gotta point,in another aspect I'd probably want to see my boy get a year of select play experience in before having the desire to move up a level.

Tex is correct. You can not play up into U11 select. You can play up as soon as you are U11. You do not have to wait a year. The reason is not to keep teams together. It is that most soccer experts feel that development should be first and foremost and competitive leagues tend to foster win now environments. Child development people will tell you that children under ten do not generally benifit from participating in competitive leagues either but academy has pretty much ignored that advice.
As you consider in the future whether or not to move back up consider this. At his own age group he will have the oppotunity to learn a skill that will be invaluable no matter what the future holds. Leadership skills. I am not talking about calling the toss because he is the leading scorer. It is the chance for you and a good coach to teach him how to lead, and organize others while earning their respect. It can also teach a player how to engage and communicate effectively with adults and people in positions of authority, coaches and game officials. He might not get the opportunity to develop these skills being the young guy on an older team.

I'd like to add that, at this age, he certainly isn't going to "suffer" playing in his own age group. regardless of how good he is, he is still in stage 2 development (acquiring and applying technical skill learned in training.)

The most important thing is that he is improving and enjoying himself. Now is not the time (despite uninformed parents) for him to be 'challenged more' by playing up.

When my son was a U10 he was allowed to play up on a u11 select team. But that was in another(smaller) state. The state association had a rule in place that a U11 team couldn't have more than 2 rostered underage players.

After the u11 year there were no restrictions.

Let him be a star. Even if he is scoring 10 goals every game. It will give him confidence.

And, frankly, that will help him become a more creative player. Something that is missing. Not just in Texas, but nationwide.

Laimport wrote:I'd like to add that, at this age, he certainly isn't going to "suffer" playing in his own age group. regardless of how good he is, he is still in stage 2 development (acquiring and applying technical skill learned in training.)

The most important thing is that he is improving and enjoying himself. Now is not the time (despite uninformed parents) for him to be 'challenged more' by playing up.

When my son was a U10 he was allowed to play up on a u11 select team. But that was in another(smaller) state. The state association had a rule in place that a U11 team couldn't have more than 2 rostered underage players.

After the u11 year there were no restrictions.

Let him be a star. Even if he is scoring 10 goals every game. It will give him confidence.

And, frankly, that will help him become a more creative player. Something that is missing. Not just in Texas, but nationwide.

playing "up" is more so for "bragging" then anything else

Bragging? really?

Dangerous assumption on your part, omega...

Laimport wrote:Bragging? really?

Dangerous assumption on your part, omega...

are you serious? and whats dangerous about youth soccer? at this age and level what exactly is the point? your way of thinking is for sure part of the problem whats the point in "playing up" exactly...challenge....... to what exactly? speed? nah....skills?nah not til' their around HS(14/15) is there really a reason to seperate them(playing up i mean) and thats just cause' at that point coaches and clubs no who is that "next level" talent! is that dangerous enough for ya? now of course this is just my opinion.

omega, you are taking my post out of context. Plain and simple. (That's what I meant by 'dangerous')

Curious, how is my 'thinking' part of the problem? (In your view?)

All I said was that playing up was not necessary at U11....in the DFW area.

Please...enlighten us...or me...at least.

Laimport wrote:omega, you are taking my post out of context. Plain and simple. (That's what I meant by 'dangerous')

Curious, how is my 'thinking' part of the problem? (In your view?)

All I said was that playing up was not necessary at U11....in the DFW area.

Please...enlighten us...or me...at least.

I probably did i agree with you though so lets leave it at that

What if you are small and want to play down?

01now wrote:What if you are small and want to play down?

This is a more common question than some of you may think. A player cannot "play down". It may seem like a dumb rule, because there are always kids that aren't as developed as others their age, but this is a quick way for a coach to learn about the disciplinary action process.

While some people would ask to play down because it's in the best interest of a child, there would be an equal number of people that would try to take advantage of the system. (Also see: Danny Almonte, Falsified birth certificates, etc.)

01now wrote:What if you are small and want to play down?

Some would say that playing down happens frequently....

just sayin'

If a kid is "small" my advice would be to be so good on the ball and tactically smart that it doesn't matter if they are small.

Learning technique is what it's all about anyway.