You're right, the birth year thing is what it is, the rest of the PDI rollout of which it was a part is where I have concerns. Sorry for the threadjack
Sure, but you're still going to be going through a progression that corresponds to a "U" designation. When your year is U9, you move to 7v7. At U11, 9v9. At U13, 11v11. So the people who maintain these regulations will still need to use those designations. If you're running a tournament and just want to say "2003, 2004, 2006, etc.," that makes sense.
Agree...but doing so would make describing which field size/rules apply to which age group kinda difficult
I agree that US Soccer simply shifted the goal posts for the age efffect. Different groups are now "young" and "old" However, odd as it may seem, combating the relative age effect was initially one of the justifications for the birth year change provided by US Soccer.
I don't think it's that difficult. If you are 5 years old (U6), you're playing 4v4. If you're 8 (U9), it's 7v7, 10 (U11), 9v9, 12 (U13) 11v11. Current year - birth year = playing age. 2017 - 2010 = 7, must be 4v4. Organizers will need to adjust at the beginning of a season, but then it stays the same for a year.
They've changed our designations to "age-U" as in 13U, 12U, 11U, etc. We have two boys who will be 13 in January and one who will just turn 12 next month. Agree on the 9v9 for 13s. Puberty starting for some and not others, field size leads to shortcuts from coaches. "Size and speed" kick in more than ever. Shots outside the box and corners that were rockets last year look like they didn't strike them cleanly now. You almost want to designate by "physical age" rather than calendar age. I guess you have to start full field some time, but it still seems a bit early. It reminds me when we went from Little League baseball to 13YO Babe Ruth on an adult diamond. Throwing out batters on infield hits was easy because they had to run an extra 30 feet, and if a batter got on base we stole second on the very next pitch because rarely could a 12-year-old catcher throw to second base with any velocity or did with a one or two hop, and it was easily beaten.
I'm assuming those boys are 2005s, right? They would all turn 13 in 2005. As far as field size, DD (2006) plays on an 05 team. Many of the girls can hit a lightning shot from 20-30 yards out (DD isn't one of them). DD also plays as a 6th grader on her middle school team. Most of the 05s are 7th graders. Middle school uses the full size field. I think if you put 05s down to 9v9 on the smaller fields, you're looking at some kids, not all, being able to put midfield shots on frame.
Yes, 2005s. True, but if a coach is supposed to be developing players and systems of play then they're not allowing them to crack one from the midfield stripe since it wouldn't scale to full field. Here are Barcelona U13s vs. Real Madrid U13s. They're playing 7v7. Real Madrid v Dubai 8v8: You're right, though...I think the switch here has more to do with middle schools playing full field and keeping club the same as that.