My son currently plays for a u10 rep team in an 8v8 league out of our home state. This fall the team will move to u11 but the league the team plays in is 11v11. I am apprehensive about keeping him on this team since most of what I hear is that 8v8 is better for development of u12 and under. Our home state has followed US Youth Soccer guidelines and switched to 8v8 for u12 teams last year. I know 11v11 will be more about tactics than skill. What is the general consensus on this issue?
I can't tell you what the general consensus is or even if there is one. I can tell you what I think. First U11 is not what I call U-littles. Second 8v8 is not what I call small-sided. For comparison the full game may be played with a side of 7 players. 11 is the maximum allowed. Third it is during training that a coach uses small-sided games as a best practice. This practice works for any age player. Even the US national adult teams spend some training time in 1v1 and small-sided games. To summarize whether the games are played with 8 or 11 a side is insignificant to player development. I would be more concerned about comparing coaches and training during practices. "I know 11v11 will be more about tactics than skill" This is incorrect. Soccer is always about both skills and tactics. Even in a 1v1 situation.
8 v 8 is played on a smaller field than 11 v 11. As such, this provides two advantages to these younger players. The first is that it gives them more touches, as will any situation where there are fewer players and less space. Second, because the amount of space is more age appropriate, it gives players more incentive to dribble and possess rather than just booting the ball up the field (which will happen anyway but hopefully a lot less). In my opinion, 8 v 8 is definitely more appropriate for U-littles (and I'd consider a pre-pubescent 10 year old to fit in that category). However I agree with ranova that this should be a minor consideration. How the coaches train the kids in practice is more important to their development that the format of one season's worth of matches. If you have good coaches who have the right philosophy and know how to work with kids at this age level, then this will outweigh the disadvantages of the game format.