Half the game usually means end of the bench in my experience at the youngers... I'd shoot for at least 60-70% of the game and preferably 75%+.
Can't get better sitting on the bench...
What do I do with my u8 kid
- Thread starter Lou789
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Can't get better sitting on the bench...
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
And don't get caught up on how your kid is better than others cause he has been playing for 3 years. Everyone will catch up soon. Focus on development, development, development.
There are really good points in here to keep in mind. While playing time is great, playing full games, especially during tournaments isnt necessarily beneficial. A lot of those players are exhausted by the finals. Being able to watch your teammates play from the bench while the coach provides feedback is just as important to understanding and developing your childs game. On tournament weekends potentially playing 4 hours in 2 days doesnt provide any tangible benefit over playing the same number of games but only putting in 2 hours.He wants to stay on the current team so I would just let him do that at 7 years old.
However, there's gotta be u8 teams that are competitive for him.
If you're in LA, then TFA or LAFC SoCal.
If you're in OC, then Laguna United or Strikers.
If you're in SD, then SD Surf or City SC.
There are others sprinkled in there at the youngers like Legends, Rebels etc.
I think playing the whole game at 7 yo is invaluable. I think you can develop a keen game sense by being in the game through the up's and down's of a game that you can't learn by playing a few mins here and there. But I get that having fun and playing with friends is super important as well.
The best case scenario is to play every min on a top team with friends he loves.But I know they don't always overlap like that.
At 7 i would focus on providing the right coaching environment and team dynamic for your son that promotes the right qualities, discipline and most importantly joy of the game. If he stops having fun it wont matter what team he is on.
Yes if you get 50% Playtime thats ok at this age. I had kids who played 100% playtime young and injuries popped up in older ages.
I look at playtime like RB carries curb the overuse at young ages.
It depends on the club. The end of bench at our club is 10mins a half. But we also hold larger teams. If he can get additional games in his age group the play time is less of a issue.
Hard for new parents to do this because they haven't seen it yet... but you're right.
I'll be the "get off my lawn" old lady, but it's ridiculous we've gotten to the point that new parents even have to deal with this for 7 year olds. When my kid was going up the ranks it was club soccer didn't start til age 9, AYSO chase the ball for 7-8 year olds, PeeWee soccerstars for 4-6 year olds. When my older brothers kids went through the system just 15 years ago now, club didn't start until 11. When my goddaughter went through the system near the turn of the century, almost everyone still played AYSO and clubs were a local thing that usually had only 1 team per age group for the entire city/barrio (North Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Newbury Park) that didn't start up until middle school. Now there are full time goalkeepers at age 6 which is insane considering a 6 year old can't do anything with their body as a goalkeeper except pickup lose balls and block balls with their body.
7 year olds should be selfish with the ball and try to dribble other kids (which is what I see in AYSO). If joining a club at 5 means being taught to pass first and not dribble, it’s actually detrimental to the kid.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Agreed that you want kids to learn how to dribble at an early age (and kids should not be playing club until age 7). But a good club coach will teach a kid how to dribble AND pass/play with their head up. I see way too many kids (on the girls side) that develop as great cone dribblers but have no idea how to get their head up and translate that dribbling into impactful team play.
futboldad1
PREMIER
Playing time and development at this age....and fun!!
To this, I would argue you don’t need a club coach to show you. I have a sample of one so take it for what it’s worth, and in this sample, he learned to dribble by playing with friends and by having a ball at his feet all the time. Dribbling is something you just learn on your own, no coach is needed.
100% Futsal until age 13. Bring him to outdoor club tryouts at age 13, and wait for the offers. You’re welcome.
So we chose to let him stay on his current team. But the director is really advocating for him to be on u8. He said he would get a lot more play time than on u9 and get to play multiple positions on u8. And they really dojt want kids playing up.
on the u8 team he would be the best by far. Is there any development on playing with kids not nearly as good as you? He is not happy about it he says he wants to have kids better than him on the team. And on u8 there would be a huge gap beteeen him and the next kid.
I don’t know what is better. Barely playing and training with a good team. Or training and playing with kids in first year club. I feel like he would be going backwards and not learning anything new.
on the u8 team he would be the best by far. Is there any development on playing with kids not nearly as good as you? He is not happy about it he says he wants to have kids better than him on the team. And on u8 there would be a huge gap beteeen him and the next kid.
I don’t know what is better. Barely playing and training with a good team. Or training and playing with kids in first year club. I feel like he would be going backwards and not learning anything new.
All development at age 7 is individual. Frontal cortex isn’t developed enough to understand the concept of teamwork to a goal. The things he’s learning are basically how to dribble, the basics of defense and how to shoot. As others have said, if you really care about development put him in futsal. The frustrating part will just be for you as you have to watch them learn not to clump around and chase the ball again and you are going to hate it. But if your kid is really that good, they’ll put him up top, and he’ll get a lot of practice at shooting under pressure and running faster than the other kids. The opponents matter more than his teammates at this age. If the situation holds at age 9 then you can worry about it. If the team turns out to be awful that will be on your kid because at 7 it just takes one really great kid to carry the team on his back.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Yes, you don't need a club coach. But there are too many parents out there that think they know what they're doing when they don't.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Just because your kid is the best on the team (and that is subjective, other parents may feel that their kid is best) does not mean you have to look for a new team. The standard for development and improvement should be the player themself...not those immediately around the player.
A true measure of a player that should be playing up is that almost all of the parents and coaches on the older team want that player to stay up on their team.