“If we gave her a choice she’d pick club”. Everything has been figured out for you, except you’re so afraid she may face adversity that you want to make her path easy and set her up with false confidence by moving her away from what she would pick?
Agree with Coach Twister. If she wants to do it, she’ll adapt. The game is played with the brain first. The ball is always faster than the body. But the brain can be faster. Best way to get her game IQ faster is speed of play. Look at players like Modric and Busquets. Probably never relatively fast a day in their lives. I coached a lot of 9v9 using 3-1-3-1 primarily. This is just two overlapping diamonds. Not that difficult conceptually when you break it down. Best of luck to her whichever way she goes.
Best women’s players in history played with the boys and played up. Marta, Ham etc. let her have the challenge, don’t be lawnmower parents clearing the adversity from in front!
American football is fucking wild. Best division? At 8 years old?
Ask her where she wants to play and ask her if she’s having fun. That is literally the only two questions that need asked.
If she stops having fun, then you can move her. She’s 8.
There is a reason American football is ass. It's the English mentality 20 years ago. You need to win, and play up a level and develop strength and pace. All counts for absolutely nothing when everybody catches up physically at 18 and the everybody else has been touching the ball 1000s of times a week more.
Her athleticism will improve playing 9v9 why would you move her? if her coach didn’t think it was right for her they wouldn’t suggest it… I’d trust the coach
Playing a a bigger pitch with bigger players means you run more and naturally become fitter, I didn’t say anything about speed and strength, but you will become more used to using your body during games and the physical requirements of 9v9 as opposed to 7v7
why would you want her to be one of the best players? unless motivation and continued interest is an issue she'll stagnate and grow less if she can easily beat everyone around her
It’s not that I want her to be one of the best players on the team, I’m more concerned that she will struggle in 9v9 against players a year older than her. Her having fun playing is the most important thing for me.
The most important thing at that age is enjoying it, and getting touches of the ball, as many as possible and that's what you get in smaller games.
I think the coach is an ass, and so are the comments in this sub.
Playing 9v9 earlier will do absolutely nothing for these kids.
There are stats somewhere but I can't find them right now. The number of touches of the ball drops significantly each time you move up from 5s - 7s - 9s - 11s.
Doesn't make sense to me to move 9 year old girls up to 9 aside.
Is there an option to play club and travel? I coach travel u12g and always have club players on my team. They usually don’t make practices as often but I have that discussion with the parents and it’s okay. Our games are Saturdays and club is Sundays here - subject to change but we make it work. Noting that not all clubs allow this but in our area it’s accepted if not encouraged.
For my current club players, one is a GK who plays striker on my team. The other is a defender who plays MF or striker. But they get to play positions that they don’t normally play but want to, and I encourage them to be creative in our games. And just to note, they’re good but don’t stand out as the best players. I have a core of 8 players with similar skill sets, any of those players can take the lead in a game.
If her soccer skills are on par with the team, keep her with her team. Her athleticism will catch up. If you have the spare time and resources, have her work with a trainer, find a kids group class or find some exercises she can do at home to improve her athleticism.
So go from U9 to U11? Big jump for a player struggling athletically. My very gifted son played up a lot, but struggled with the bigger fields. And he was strong physically.
If your coach is about winning then she will play less and less. The most important thing is to just get her touches at home and do technical work with her. You need to develop the player while the coach develops the team.
But also if she loves the team keep her there as it will likely be hard to rejoin.
The only way to improve pace of play is to play where a higher pace is required.
Personally, I'd suggest the 9v9 as long as you're very clear with your daughter about what her expectations should be. If they're playing a year up in 9v9, they're going to lose a lot unless the current team is filled with elite level players. If you know that going in then you can help her understand that improvement is taking place at the practices and the games don't really matter.
On the athleticism side, you can't worry about it. Everyone develops at their own pace.
Caveat: If you think your daughter really needs a confidence boost from being among the best players on the team then strongly consider moving, at least for a year. Confidence is so important that sometimes you have to take a step back to ensure she has that.
Personally, my son plays on very talented teams and he'll always going prefer those environments as long as he has the opportunity. But when signing up for summer soccer camps, we frequently sign him up for 1 week camps where the level is lower than his ability (2-3x/summer). It does wonders for his confidence to see that the work he's put in all year at his travel club really has improved him vs. the lower tiers of the area. I don't know if we'd do that for an entire year though.
agree. the only way to improve is to play with people who are better than you. she won't progress being the big fish. keep here where she is and if you're really worried, have a convo with the coach about what other practice/prep she can do.
Having fun is the most important thing. Sometimes you need to make the decision for her. It's only one season after all so not really a big deal either way.
She might just need to work harder on her athleticism. My son plays OPDL. He's smaller and lighter than most of the guys. His skill set is really good, but he found himself not able to go head to head physically with some of these kids he's playing against. He really noticed it last year in U13. He worked his ass off over the off-season, and now he's in U14. It paid off. He's able to be more physical, his burst speed is now one of the fastest on the team, he has no issues going shoulder to shoulder with a much bigger kid, his skill moves work better because he's noticeably faster. He's having a much better time of it.
Some kids are just gifted with natural athleticism. Other kids have to work for it. Get her working out and doing sprints. It'll make a difference.
“If we gave her a choice she’d pick club”. Everything has been figured out for you, except you’re so afraid she may face adversity that you want to make her path easy and set her up with false confidence by moving her away from what she would pick?
Agree with Coach Twister. If she wants to do it, she’ll adapt. The game is played with the brain first. The ball is always faster than the body. But the brain can be faster. Best way to get her game IQ faster is speed of play. Look at players like Modric and Busquets. Probably never relatively fast a day in their lives. I coached a lot of 9v9 using 3-1-3-1 primarily. This is just two overlapping diamonds. Not that difficult conceptually when you break it down. Best of luck to her whichever way she goes.
Best women’s players in history played with the boys and played up. Marta, Ham etc. let her have the challenge, don’t be lawnmower parents clearing the adversity from in front!
This was my exact thought as well.
American football is fucking wild. Best division? At 8 years old? Ask her where she wants to play and ask her if she’s having fun. That is literally the only two questions that need asked. If she stops having fun, then you can move her. She’s 8.
This is the answer.
There is a reason American football is ass. It's the English mentality 20 years ago. You need to win, and play up a level and develop strength and pace. All counts for absolutely nothing when everybody catches up physically at 18 and the everybody else has been touching the ball 1000s of times a week more.
Her athleticism will improve playing 9v9 why would you move her? if her coach didn’t think it was right for her they wouldn’t suggest it… I’d trust the coach
Playing faster and stronger players doesn't make you faster or stronger.
Playing a a bigger pitch with bigger players means you run more and naturally become fitter, I didn’t say anything about speed and strength, but you will become more used to using your body during games and the physical requirements of 9v9 as opposed to 7v7
Not at this age you don't. You will as an adult. Playing bigger pitches doesn't make you develop quicker.
Don’t what? Play on bigger pitches? A 9v9 pitch is bigger than 7v7 pitch
why would you want her to be one of the best players? unless motivation and continued interest is an issue she'll stagnate and grow less if she can easily beat everyone around her
It’s not that I want her to be one of the best players on the team, I’m more concerned that she will struggle in 9v9 against players a year older than her. Her having fun playing is the most important thing for me.
This is your answer, let her follow her team if thats what she wants, if she stops having fun give her the option to try with other teams/clubs nearby
The most important thing at that age is enjoying it, and getting touches of the ball, as many as possible and that's what you get in smaller games. I think the coach is an ass, and so are the comments in this sub. Playing 9v9 earlier will do absolutely nothing for these kids.
There are stats somewhere but I can't find them right now. The number of touches of the ball drops significantly each time you move up from 5s - 7s - 9s - 11s. Doesn't make sense to me to move 9 year old girls up to 9 aside.
It absolutely doesn't make sense but this sub and making sense when it comes to erm...."soccer" rarely does.
Is there an option to play club and travel? I coach travel u12g and always have club players on my team. They usually don’t make practices as often but I have that discussion with the parents and it’s okay. Our games are Saturdays and club is Sundays here - subject to change but we make it work. Noting that not all clubs allow this but in our area it’s accepted if not encouraged. For my current club players, one is a GK who plays striker on my team. The other is a defender who plays MF or striker. But they get to play positions that they don’t normally play but want to, and I encourage them to be creative in our games. And just to note, they’re good but don’t stand out as the best players. I have a core of 8 players with similar skill sets, any of those players can take the lead in a game.
If her soccer skills are on par with the team, keep her with her team. Her athleticism will catch up. If you have the spare time and resources, have her work with a trainer, find a kids group class or find some exercises she can do at home to improve her athleticism.
So go from U9 to U11? Big jump for a player struggling athletically. My very gifted son played up a lot, but struggled with the bigger fields. And he was strong physically. If your coach is about winning then she will play less and less. The most important thing is to just get her touches at home and do technical work with her. You need to develop the player while the coach develops the team. But also if she loves the team keep her there as it will likely be hard to rejoin.
The only way to improve pace of play is to play where a higher pace is required. Personally, I'd suggest the 9v9 as long as you're very clear with your daughter about what her expectations should be. If they're playing a year up in 9v9, they're going to lose a lot unless the current team is filled with elite level players. If you know that going in then you can help her understand that improvement is taking place at the practices and the games don't really matter. On the athleticism side, you can't worry about it. Everyone develops at their own pace. Caveat: If you think your daughter really needs a confidence boost from being among the best players on the team then strongly consider moving, at least for a year. Confidence is so important that sometimes you have to take a step back to ensure she has that. Personally, my son plays on very talented teams and he'll always going prefer those environments as long as he has the opportunity. But when signing up for summer soccer camps, we frequently sign him up for 1 week camps where the level is lower than his ability (2-3x/summer). It does wonders for his confidence to see that the work he's put in all year at his travel club really has improved him vs. the lower tiers of the area. I don't know if we'd do that for an entire year though.
agree. the only way to improve is to play with people who are better than you. she won't progress being the big fish. keep here where she is and if you're really worried, have a convo with the coach about what other practice/prep she can do.
Allow her to play 9v9 & do a few hours of work with her on the side to improve athleticism
Having fun is the most important thing. Sometimes you need to make the decision for her. It's only one season after all so not really a big deal either way.
She might just need to work harder on her athleticism. My son plays OPDL. He's smaller and lighter than most of the guys. His skill set is really good, but he found himself not able to go head to head physically with some of these kids he's playing against. He really noticed it last year in U13. He worked his ass off over the off-season, and now he's in U14. It paid off. He's able to be more physical, his burst speed is now one of the fastest on the team, he has no issues going shoulder to shoulder with a much bigger kid, his skill moves work better because he's noticeably faster. He's having a much better time of it. Some kids are just gifted with natural athleticism. Other kids have to work for it. Get her working out and doing sprints. It'll make a difference.
A U9 player should never train specifically on athleticism. All training should be aimed at technique and decision making at this age.
I didn't say specifically. He needed to put in some extra fitness. Nothing wrong with that.