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Post by Soccerhouse on Jun 2, 2014 12:05:55 GMT -5
Play ups - what is your clubs stance on it?
As long as the child can do it physically I have no problems.
But, I've seen especially at u13, clubs use playups instead of correct age kids, and they just end up running off kids for the playups.
I've seen some ridiculous stuff - u9s playing on u11 rosters for example. I know its all being driven by crazy parents, but why on earth would you want your small little u9 kid playing u11!
One of the negatives it causes, is these kids are labeled as being "better, more skilled" when in fact that typically isn't true. It also creates an unhealthy environment, where other parents with quality players wonder why their kid isn't being given/afforded the same opportunities as little ___________ (you fill in the blank).
last time I checked, soccer is a team sport, a team isn't made up of 1 player.
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Post by silverback on Jun 2, 2014 12:18:47 GMT -5
IMO, a player should only play up if they will have an impact on the higher team. In other words, the play up should be considered one of the top players on the older team and should get significant playing time. It makes no sense to play up and then sit on the bench watching.
Also, at a younger age (U10, 11, 12), it's very hard for a player to play up two levels. At the request of my former club, my son did it for Super Y, and although he had the skills to hang with the older boys at practice, the game speed and the size/speed/strength/physicality of opposing players during the games made it challenging. Fortunately, it was only Super Y ;-)
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Post by dreaddy on Jun 2, 2014 14:29:29 GMT -5
Back in the old days my club would only allow a player to play up if the coach considered that player to be in the top 11. Not sure what the policy is nowadays.
I once had a player who played 2 years up. She was only one school grade behind the others though. She had an August birthdate. On the other hand, she was our top goal scorer for 5 of the 6 seasons she played with us and started every game. She ended up on youth national teams but never made the senior USWNT.
There are exceptional players who need to be given the opportunity to play up, but they are rare.
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Post by Anonymous on Jun 2, 2014 16:26:49 GMT -5
One factor might be HS. A U14 player in 9th grade may have to make a choice between HS and club. It might make sense for them to play up to U15.
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Post by soccerdadinga on Jun 2, 2014 19:19:46 GMT -5
Such a good question. First, there's the Club's written policy. Most clubs probably have some policy that suggests that kids should play on their age level. There's a good reason for this. Play-ups will come back to their age level at some point. From what I've seen that age group is right around U13. Either that's because the play-up's skills cannot keep up with the puberty-induced growth of older kids or because it's better to be a top age group player at a "top" club than playing an age group up. Top usually means the DA and ECNL clubs, because it's hard to predict who will be RPL at U13. The new changes will make it early recruiting tool.
There's a special case of the play-up who is playing up an age group to be on grade level with her/his grade level teammates, usually an August birthday. I think that most clubs think that player should probably play up for recruiting purposes.
Then there's the kid with the August birthday who is "playing-up" with their school team but is a grade lower on club. That creates the problem of a 9th grader who has school soccer for the HS team, but a U14 Spring soccer schedule.
Then there's the informal policies around play-ups. Clubs allow them to keep their best players. It does run the risk at some point of exposing their best, but still young, players to a more physical game. The trade-off of faster speed of play, which is what most play-ups are looking for, versus a more physical game, which most are not, is a tough balance.
But here's the problem that the club faces with play-ups. At some point, and I have not seen a lot of exceptions to this, the quick physical development of the play-up is caught by the rest of their age group peers and then they must come back down to the age group. They will almost always be a great player -- after all they just played the age group. But in so doing, they can throw a wrench in the team dynamics of their new team. Goalkeepers are different.
This problem is a serious one at a small club where there is a wide variation in talent. Lots of playups suggests that the club does not have enough age-level appropriate talent to challenge the best players. After a while, many of those players will come back down to age level, at places that do offer the appropriate speed of play.
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Post by mamampira on Jun 2, 2014 20:38:21 GMT -5
Such a good question. First, there's the Club's written policy. Most clubs probably have some policy that suggests that kids should play on their age level. There's a good reason for this. Play-ups will come back to their age level at some point. From what I've seen that age group is right around U13. Either that's because the play-up's skills cannot keep up with the puberty-induced growth of older kids or because it's better to be a top age group player at a "top" club than playing an age group up. Top usually means the DA and ECNL clubs, because it's hard to predict who will be RPL at U13. The new changes will make it early recruiting tool. There's a special case of the play-up who is playing up an age group to be on grade level with her/his grade level teammates, usually an August birthday. I think that most clubs think that player should probably play up for recruiting purposes. Then there's the kid with the August birthday who is "playing-up" with their school team but is a grade lower on club. That creates the problem of a 9th grader who has school soccer for the HS team, but a U14 Spring soccer schedule. Then there's the informal policies around play-ups. Clubs allow them to keep their best players. It does run the risk at some point of exposing their best, but still young, players to a more physical game. The trade-off of faster speed of play, which is what most play-ups are looking for, versus a more physical game, which most are not, is a tough balance. But here's the problem that the club faces with play-ups. At some point, and I have not seen a lot of exceptions to this, the quick physical development of the play-up is caught by the rest of their age group peers and then they must come back down to the age group. They will almost always be a great player -- after all they just played the age group. But in so doing, they can throw a wrench in the team dynamics of their new team. Goalkeepers are different. This problem is a serious one at a small club where there is a wide variation in talent. Lots of playups suggests that the club does not have enough age-level appropriate talent to challenge the best players. After a while, many of those players will come back down to age level, at places that do offer the appropriate speed of play. At a previous club, my son played up on a U12 team when he was 11, with one other boy. Coach rostered him because of his pace and his ability to go one on one with players, and the other kid for his technical ability with the ball and his all around intelligence. A few parents of the U12 boys did not like it one bit and we were often privy to mumbled under the breath comments like "I am not paying all this money for my boy to sit on the bench." The two boys did make a positive impact on the teams games and this helped bankroll their confidence deposits...although as a mum, I felt uncomfortable with the other parents displeasure. It is a balancing act - coaches and teams wanting to win vs. providing the best scenarios for talented players to develop, contribute and help the teams win. |
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