DA kids play down next year?

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I don't buy into "late bloomers" statement. It's either you have it or you don't. If player stands out, he will stand out regardless of size. I've seen many, many smaller kids that are not afraid, aggressive on the ball and tackle twice-the-size without hesitation. Yes, tackling twice the size comes with mixed success, but "sportsman aggression" is something you cannot teach and is independent of "blooming". Same applies to skills, vision, quickness of thinking all of which is natured and very limitedly nurtured. Sure size helps, but it is not why smaller kids get cut - it goes either way, again, it's either you have it or you don't.

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I don't buy into "late bloomers" statement. It's either you have it or you don't. If player stands out, he will stand out regardless of size. I've seen many, many smaller kids that are not afraid, aggressive on the ball and tackle twice-the-size without hesitation. Yes, tackling twice the size comes with mixed success, but "sportsman aggression" is something you cannot teach and is independent of "blooming". Same applies to skills, vision, quickness of thinking all of which is natured and very limitedly nurtured. Sure size helps, but it is not why smaller kids get cut - it goes either way, again, it's either you have it or you don't.

yes, I agree with your overall thought process. It is more mental than anything else and it really cannot be taught. One of the best u14 prospects in the world Xavi Simons has below average size at this age.

however, it does help in situations where you are considering maintaining a late bloomer in a DA player pool or dropping to non-DA. I think this is the context of this thread. I agree in this context late or early blooming is something that should be considered. You don't want to lose a clear DA level talent from the talent pool for a year or two just because he hits puberty late.

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Late bloomers is a medical term for delayed growth. It won't help with skill.

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Late bloomers is a medical term for delayed growth. It won't help with skill.

yes, agree in many respects; but leg size (to exclusion of all else) will make a difference in whether a kid can switch the ball in the air 50-70 yards; how hard a kid can strike the ball; and distance covered per stride. also look at many DA teams and tell me if they aren't using size as a major criteria without much thought to game intelligence or technical ability. you can discuss theoretically late v. early blooming, but coaches want to win in the present and will sacrifice whomever they need to sacrifice for job security.

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yes, agree in many respects; but leg size (to exclusion of all else) will make a difference in whether a kid can switch the ball in the air 50-70 yards; how hard a kid can strike the ball; and distance covered per stride. also look at many DA teams and tell me if they aren't using size as a major criteria without much thought to game intelligence or technical ability. you can discuss theoretically late v. early blooming, but coaches want to win in the present and will sacrifice whomever they need to sacrifice for job security.

That is definitely true, even in DA. Good that they're letting a few younger kids play down when appropriate, but as a rule the biggest/fastest kids will always get more opportunities

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That is definitely true, even in DA. Good that they're letting a few younger kids play down when appropriate, but as a rule the biggest/fastest kids will always get more opportunities

this is the english approach. look for physical attributes first. look where it has gotten them.

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MAZ (putting this to identify myself if I continue participation in this dialogue):

Just like I don't buy into the "late bloomers" argument, similarly, I don't buy into the "fastest, strongest, biggest, larger etc" kids are being selected over anyone else for DA teams.

DA selection process is fairly rigorous and it takes weeks to be selected unlike a typical club team that has to make a decision after seeing kid twice for 90 minutes at a time. In a typical club environment, yes, I would agree that size combined with speed (which sometimes go hand in hand) would definitely give you a better chance; however, DA's approach is different. They evaluate kids for longer, seeing them in their natural environment - club games, club practices (through their scouting network), then they would invite you to practice with the existent DA squad at more than multiple occasions to see how your kid sacks up. And it is not the size that will matter - it is who makes the most impact.

Impact on the outcome of the team what will matter. If you're head to head with a current DA's center-D, but larger... well, congrats, we just found a new center-D. Everything else is the same, size helps, otherwise it is who DA think will have a larger impact will make the team.

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Size no matter, skills and speed does

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MAZ (putting this to identify myself if I continue participation in this dialogue):

Just like I don't buy into the "late bloomers" argument, similarly, I don't buy into the "fastest, strongest, biggest, larger etc" kids are being selected over anyone else for DA teams.

DA selection process is fairly rigorous and it takes weeks to be selected unlike a typical club team that has to make a decision after seeing kid twice for 90 minutes at a time. In a typical club environment, yes, I would agree that size combined with speed (which sometimes go hand in hand) would definitely give you a better chance; however, DA's approach is different. They evaluate kids for longer, seeing them in their natural environment - club games, club practices (through their scouting network), then they would invite you to practice with the existent DA squad at more than multiple occasions to see how your kid sacks up. And it is not the size that will matter - it is who makes the most impact.

Impact on the outcome of the team what will matter. If you're head to head with a current DA's center-D, but larger... well, congrats, we just found a new center-D. Everything else is the same, size helps, otherwise it is who DA think will have a larger impact will make the team.

I really don't disagree with what you are saying, i just think this is not happening in most DAs.. i think it is still very experimental and still developing. Not there yet. So at this point when your kid is 12 you can sign him up for a DA and if the coaching is not good, others will take these kids spots by 15 or 16 because they got better coaching elsewhere. So it really is not a sure thing but again, nothing really is. if you can send your kid to Europe i would, seems those kids are really making the national teams.

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Regardless where you send your child you must be honest with yourself. By now you are talking about a player that has been involved in competitive soccer for at least 6 years.

If he has not been in the top 2 players of the squad every single year the possibilities of gong very far are not likely. If he has been in the top 2 it is still very un likely also but at least there is a bit more hope that the right coaching/environment might help him reach a high potential.

Regardless enjoy these years as a Dad or Mom because before you know it your son will be in his twenties and none of this youth soccer will matter.

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fair enough

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I really don't disagree with what you are saying, i just think this is not happening in most DAs.. i think it is still very experimental and still developing. Not there yet. So at this point when your kid is 12 you can sign him up for a DA and if the coaching is not good, others will take these kids spots by 15 or 16 because they got better coaching elsewhere. So it really is not a sure thing but again, nothing really is. if you can send your kid to Europe i would, seems those kids are really making the national teams.

MAZ: Above in bold is so, so true! Excellent point. Not sure if Europe is it though... you could be playing in the Amazon forest, but if you're good, they will fid you. Kid needs to want it bad in order to succeed in addition to coaching.

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MAZ: Above in bold is so, so true! Excellent point. Not sure if Europe is it though... you could be playing in the Amazon forest, but if you're good, they will fid you. Kid needs to want it bad in order to succeed in addition to coaching.

You should really quote the amazing forest line. You stole this from the internet.

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this is the english approach. look for physical attributes first. look where it has gotten them.

England is #13 in the latest FIFA Rankings. Top 15 in the world is pretty good. They need to keep doing what they are doing. It seems to be working.

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First paragraph is key. It's the transition years where evaluating players gets problematic. Kids who have a sudden growth spurt can look like scrawny Bambi on ice. Late bloomers are easily passed over. These guys are coaches, not all well trained and certainly not all well versed on pediatric development. Few can discern true talent vs size and athleticism

I am just wondering who is really qualified in these DAs to classify talent and predict how a child will be in adulthood. I think this concept is flawed. Soccer is a very mental game. If the kid at a young are is smart, creative, technical, works hard, is committed and always shows improvement, and is athletic even though maybe not the most athletic in the group, why are we even concerned about who is a late bloomer or not. I don't think you can train for creativit or smarts. It's in the kid of not. That should weight way way more.