Move up to 9v9 early or stay in 7v7?

Socal-Soccer-Dad

Socal-Soccer-Dad

Was talking to a buddy about this. His kid's 2016 team will play up in 2015 next year (this fall) and go to 9v9 a year early.

Most parents pride in their kid or kids' team playing up. But he was hesitant about there being less touches in 9v9.

Detrimental enough to move teams to stay in 7v7 instead of playing in 9v9 or not that big a deal?

Same deal for 9v9 to 11v11?

I know many "top teams" forego that last year of 7v7 or 9v9 in order to "get ahead" and prep for 9v9 or 11v11...

Thoughts?
 
I think it depends on the size of your team. Technical skills can make up for size but only to a degree. My son’s team played up a year in 9v9 and one level down but because most players on the team were big, they finished mid table. The smaller players on the team did struggle a bit.
As for the benefit, I don’t think it prepared us any better. We were still mid table the following year when we played in our own age group.
The real benefit is the club gets to collect more money with the bigger roster.
 
The jump from 7v7 to 9v9 isn't nearly as big as 9v9 to 11v11. I think it's ok to play up but I would do it mid season. First half in 7v7 and second half in 9v9. Most leagues require the team to show it is above and beyond the competition in their current table to play up. If you do straight up go to 9v9, just make sure the kids are also playing futsal (they should be doing that anyway).
 
It's better to stay 7v7 (or 9v9) as long as you can. Parent ego wanting to play up an age group is dumb. More development, more touches when you play 7v7 (compared to 9v9) or 9v9 (compared to 11v11).

The trend for the biggest girls clubs to move their top U12 team to 11v11 a year early and beat up a bunch of flight 3 U13 teams is really dumb. Those teams will have like 100 GF and 3 GA during that fall season beating up flight 3 teams.
 
CaliR1 said:
My son U-10 is playing 9v9 this Spring...he likes it a lot because he is a MF and there is a lot less one on one play and more emphasis on passing and good team defense.
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Yeah that's great for U10 -- Once they get to U12 and they're still playing 9v9, it's hard to watch as the kids are bigger and there's just a lot less space. This is when I usually start to loath 9v9....spring of U12.
 
NorCalDad said:
Yeah that's great for U10 -- Once they get to U12 and they're still playing 9v9, it's hard to watch as the kids are bigger and there's just a lot less space. This is when I usually start to loath 9v9....spring of U12.
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Embrace the big kids on smaller fields with less space. That is great for development...learning how to work in tight spaces, using technical ability and decision making to get into space.
 
7 vs 9 doesn't seem like much, but it's a pretty significant change in the number of touches during a scrimmage. If there are 6 vs 8 field players, we're looking at 25% fewer touches on average during a scrimmage on a bigger team.
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
Embrace the big kids on smaller fields with less space. That is great for development...learning how to work in tight spaces, using technical ability and decision making to get into space.
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Normally I would agree, but I think futsal is much better for this -- especially due to the fact that it has a less of an emphasis on the physical side. A lot of 9v9 matches at U12 (spring) are pretty ugly. I also don't like it because you will see win-now coaches running 3 in the back which really isn't great for 11v11. Most clubs run 4 in the back at 11v11. I'm a big fan of the 4-3-1 in 9v9, but it's definitely harder to win games depending on your wingbacks. Win-now coaches will go with a 3-2-3....which I argue isn't great for development.
 
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