Cal South Minimum Age for Competitive Players

The morons I was referring to is whoever decided that kids can't play competitive soccer before age 8 because it will somehow harm their development or that more kids will stick with soccer if they don't play competitively "too early".

There is this strange concept espoused on this site quoting numbers like 70% of kids stop playing by high school as if there is something wrong with that. Its natural for kids to grow up and find new interests or figure out at some point that they aren't competitive enough to continue on. Its a great sport for kids and a huge number play it at an early age so its a statistical certainty that at some point there will be a big drop off. Its not like the high school teams are having a hard time getting enough kids. If the point is that the Mens national team will somehow solve its problems by eliminating competitive soccer before age 8 and by retaining more of the 70% that decides they'd rather play some other sport or no sport at all then its flawed reasoning. It.

You do realize that club soccer U8 and below is a fairly new concept. It's a concept that makes sense for the clubs to make money. 10 years ago, you didn't have club teams for 6 and 7 year olds. Now they start them as young as 5!! In Colombia where I lived, The best kids were selected from elementary and middle school tournaments. Kids are good players because they play street soccer after school, they play before school, during school, and on the weekends. Club teams recruited only the best from the local town tournaments and inter- school tournaments. If you were a good player, just keep playing at a rec level. If you were fantastic then you were selected on a youth academy. And the academies had a longer off season than our bronze level/flight 3 level kids have in the USA. This leads them to burnout!!
 
That's still a vague reference. For all sports...starting from what age? And because of that we need to stop U8 club soccer? Sorry, those dots still not connecting for me.

Don't get me wrong...U8 is more of a transitional year and you can't take club too seriously at that age. I just don't like Cal South mandating that families can't make that decision for themselves though.
 
The 70% number includes both recreational and travel/competitive programs. The National Youth Sports Alliance, which conducted the poll did not differentiate between the two. The starting year is inconsequential, but most "organized" youth sports start at age 5 to 6. See also, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...quit-sports-by-age-13/?utm_term=.c8bb7f1c54af

@rainbow_unicorn. Cal South is simply saying that "affiliated" leagues and clubs should follow the guidance of the U.S. Soccer Federation, which has stated that competitive programs for U8's and under should be abolished because it harms U.S. Soccer's goals. You can blame Cal South (which answer to US Youth Soccer, which in turn answers to the Federation), but you would be blaming the wrong entity. This is a national initiative by the Federation. See, https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...lopment-initiatives-official-as-of-aug-1-2017

For U8 and younger, the PDIs mandate 4v4, no GK and no formal teams with an emphasis on playing time and fun:
Player Development Philosophy
•Formal games are not needed so playing with and against teammates at the end of each training session (1-2 per week) should be sufficient
•Formal rosters and teams are not needed so having a flexible and fluid approach to training and playing is recommended
-While playing, everyone should participate a minimum of 50% of the time
-With 4 players on the field, having 6 players on each “team” when the “game” is played helps maximize participation and engagement
• Results and standings should not be recorded
•Travel should be limited as much as possible
•Players should not be participating in events (tournaments, showcases, festivals, etc.)

Its not just Cal South is the whole U.S. (AYSO, Cal North, Michigan Youth Soccer, etc., etc.) ... so sayeth the U.S. Soccer Federation, which is trying to model itself similarly to Germany, Italy, etc.

Objectives
•Aligns with international standards for youth development
-This means aligning with the international standards used by the world’s leading soccer nations so that kids in the United States are developing in an environment similar to those playing in Germany, France, Spain, etc.
 
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