Looking for POV's of 06 playing up or down?

As you know the 06' age group, is kids born b/t 8/1/05 - 7/31/06.  As such, some kids are in 4th grade and some kids are in 3rd grade.  

My question is should kids in 4th grade play down with 06' or play with classmates as group 05'?

My POV is kids should play with classmates.  The ramifications of playing down can be severe.
1)  ODP - If kids play down, making ODP can be difficult b/c ODP is based on birth year.  If a child is playing down with 06, but has to tryout with kids who play 05, there might be a gap with speed of play, technical development, etc.
2) College recruiting - I know the college recruiting is far from most people's mind, but the decision to play down means that when the kid is in high school classmates will be recruited before the kid who is playing down.  There are limited # of scholarships.  I have seen this play out in ECNL.

Good discussion topic man.

I'm of the mindset to eventually play with classmates.

1. When the recruiting games begin, key part is being on a squad with the right mindset. If say 14 of 15 players are a grade below the 1, will that team begin attending needed tourneys, etc.. When that 1 player should be.

2. Same goes for ODP. Training and playing with top 06s isn't training and playing with top 05s. U16 its a wash, u8-U14/15 I think is a different story. The stud august 05 kid may not look so studly against a January 05 stud. Kids develop different physically and mentally at the younger ages. 6 months developmentally is huge early on.

Only problem is that it doesn't work at U11.  If they were born 8-1-05 or later, NTSSA rules won't allow them to play up on an '05 competitive team at U11.

They can play up U9 and earlier, and U11 and later, but at U10, current rules state they have to play U10.

Correct BW, but I'm pretty sure ol' Skeets knows that.

I know a good number of 06s that have been playing up, that as soon as they are eligible will be jumping back to the 05 teams/coaches they had been with to play select.

You guys are correct.  I think NTSSA rule is flawed.  I think rule should have an exception that allows kids to play with their classmates all the way through.  Otherwise, the rule is disadvantaging that kid who is in the same grade as the other 05s.  After U10, to avoid the ODP and the College recruiting problems of playing down, the kids have to rejoin the 05s but now they are potentially behind a year.

I am ok with the kids that are in the same grade as the 06s not being allowed to play up at U10 for a year.  My concern is for the kid is forced to not play with their classmates.

Am I missing something?

Agree.. Great topic!

The question we should ask is as well is.. What road did the current athletes take?

There are several books that my wife and I have taken the time to read and it for sure helps us on these topics. Abby W., Hope S. and Raising a Tiger are some good ones to start with.

Skeets, I lent it "Raising a Tiger" to B.F. Get it from him and take a look if you have not already. Its an easy read and I read it when my 1st child was born.

No, I think you nailed it.

I know that other states have it by the calendar year, as should NTX. Would make sense and keep classes together.

I can say Im looking forward to ODP tryouts when my big January 06 steps out there and those Aug-Dec 06s have to deal with her. LOL

SkeetsG06 wrote:

I am ok with the kids that are in the same grade as the 06s not being allowed to play up at U10 for a year.  My concern is for the kid is forced to not play with their classmates.

Am I missing something?

But why does your kid get to play up and mine can't? Because she is a few months older? Mine wants to play too. That's not fair.
That will be the next argument to NTX if the rule is changed. At least from me it will be.

Oh Swing it... Rules are rules! Haha

I agree it makes sense to play by school year, but if everyone is running off to play with the 05's...my DD is coming too!

Swingit - my point was not about dds playing up. My dd is the same birth year and, I believe month, as yours. So, they are pure 06' in the 3rd grade. IMO, there is plenty of 06 comp.

I guess I did not do a good job, but I was really trying to caution parents who dds play 06 but are in the 4th grade. My advice is to be careful with your child's development b/c they are playing down by playing with 06. For the kids in 4th grade, independent of birthdate, my advice is to play 05 to avoid mid and long term ramifications.

I am just trying to pass info that I am learning with the recruiting process with my 00 who is playing with her grade, 9th, but has a friend, who ironically has the same bday, plays 00, but is in 10th grade. Net, her friend's dad and I asked several coaches about this situation 2 years ago, but, IMO, no one to her friend the truth. Now, we've seen how it works and her friend should played with her grade.

Apologize if I am not being clear long week!

Don't mind me, just my sense of humor. Slow day at the office. I understood exactly the point you were making.
I will say though, I don't think these players HAVE to play with their classmates, especially not at this age. You typically find the same level of players, teams, and coaches from year to year. Of course there are some exceptions. I would say jr.high would be the time to consider moving up.

I am going to jump in here because I have 2 dd's that in that boat. My oldest dd ('02 soccer year but has a bday of 8/5/01). Her team mates are all 7th graders but my dd is an 8th grader.

First remember when select age comes in a few years for your dd if she is playing with the '05's she can't move into select with them at U11. She will have to find a new team for at least a year and hopes her old team (if that is where she wants to go back too) has a spot for her when she is eligible for select.

For us we have opted to keep dd in her age bracket until u14. My dd is a goal keeper and most teams at U14 start to carry 2 goal keepers. By us keeping her down in her age bracket it is giving her an add'l year as the sole keeper. We hope it will give her a leg up next year when we do plan to make the jump up.

I have spoken to many coaches and all have pretty much said the same thing it's not a determent for her to stay with her age bracket until she hits her 9th or 10th grade year. They all agreed she should move up by high school at the latest her 10th grade year.

As for ODP it won't matter at all. There are multiple younger girls '04's playing on the '03 ODP squads. This is that way in all age brackets.  If they are good they won't be passed up.

What NTX should do is follow the 9/1 (like the school calender) to make it by grade. That would leave the Aug bday's from that loop hole.

lovesoccer wrote:I am going to jump in here because I have 2 dd's that in that boat. My oldest dd ('02 soccer year but has a bday of 8/5/01). Her team mates are all 7th graders but my dd is an 8th grader.

First remember when select age comes in a few years for your dd if she is playing with the '05's she can't move into select with them at U11. She will have to find a new team for at least a year and hopes her old team (if that is where she wants to go back too) has a spot for her when she is eligible for select.

For us we have opted to keep dd in her age bracket until u14. My dd is a goal keeper and most teams at U14 start to carry 2 goal keepers. By us keeping her down in her age bracket it is giving her an add'l year as the sole keeper. We hope it will give her a leg up next year when we do plan to make the jump up.

I have spoken to many coaches and all have pretty much said the same thing it's not a determent for her to stay with her age bracket until she hits her 9th or 10th grade year. They all agreed she should move up by high school at the latest her 10th grade year.

As for ODP it won't matter at all. There are multiple younger girls '04's playing on the '03 ODP squads. This is that way in all age brackets.  If they are good they won't be passed up.

What NTX should do is follow the 9/1 (like the school calender) to make it by grade. That would leave the Aug bday's from that loop hole.

The ODP issue to me is really only much of a factor the first year of ODP for the calendar year younger 05s (soccer year 06s).

I thought when I played everyone stayed within their birth year the vast majority of the time.. or maybe that's just what I was told.

lovesoccer,

Sounds like we agree for most part...Play with your grade unless exceptional then play up, but playing down in most cases is not a good idea that is filled with risk.

I am in Bo's camp for ODP. I think it makes a big difference if you have been playing with 06 but are trying out with 05. I saw it with my 00, all though she played with her right grade, she had to try out with 99 b/c of birth year. She was blessed that it worked out great for her, but some of the 99s were playing a different game than her. Primarily speed of plan, tactical maturity, were some of the biggest difference.