Why “Playing Up” Might Be the Worst Thing for Your Child Right Now
“Playing up” has become one of the most misunderstood decisions in the U.S. youth soccer world, where parents are scrambling to identify metrics that will validate their child’s development path.
Thony
6/5/20264 min read
Hey friends,
In the confusing world of U.S. youth soccer, more parents than ever are scrambling to identify metrics that will validate their child’s development path. As a result, too many parents end up chasing the wrong metrics, and “playing up” has become one of the most misunderstood decisions in youth soccer. Understandably, when your child gets invited to “play up” with older kids, it feels like a badge of honor, and you beam with pride. But what if playing up is actually slowing down your child’s development?
The Clarity Moment
We can define “Playing up” as moving a player to a higher age group. To be clear, this can be beneficial in very specific situations. However, there's an important concept most parents don’t know: the Relative Age Effect (RAE).
Research consistently shows that players born earlier in their birth year are more physically mature, and are therefore selected for elite programs at far higher rates — not because they're more talented, but because they're bigger and faster at that moment. These players often get labeled “gifted” prematurely.
Here are 3 situations when playing up could be beneficial:
Your child is physically and emotionally mature for their age
The challenge fills a specific developmental gap
Your child genuinely wants it (not just to please you)
Here are 3 situations when playing up could backfire:
Your child loses confidence from reduced playing time
The physical mismatch creates injury risk
It is done to chase exposure rather than development
The best development happens when a player is challenged just enough to grow, not overwhelmed into survival mode.
The Parent Action (Empowerment)
Before agreeing to any “play up” invitation, ask yourself the following 3 questions:
Is my child asking for this, or are we pushing them?
Will they get meaningful playing time to actually develop?
What specific skill or confidence will this build?
If you can’t clearly answer those three, it's okay to wait. Patience in development is often mistaken for being “behind.” It's usually the opposite.
If this information brought clarity, consider sharing it with another parent navigating similar questions.
See you next time!
AROUND THE YOUTH SOCCER WORLD
Each week, we’ll bring you youth soccer news and stories, so you don’t have to search for them.
The Relative Age Effect: How It Impacts Young Soccer Players. From an early age, we identify cut-off periods for grouping children in both sports and academics. However, a phenomenon has been recognized — those born closest to the cut-off... Read more →
Does Playing Multiple Sports Increase or Reduce ACL Injury Risk? According to Dr. William Sterett, a highly regarded orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, playing multiple sports does not automatically increase ACL injury risk. In fact,... Read more →
Early Youth Stars Rarely Become Elite Adults — What the Research Says. A landmark review published in Science, covered by the Rutgers Youth Sports Research Council, finds that early youth excellence and adult elite performance often... Read more →
COMPLETE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT ZONE
The Player Development Zone is the place where players and parents take control and ownership of the path towards becoming complete players.
Each week, resources will help you design individual development plans tailored to your specific areas of improvement.
RESOURCES FOR THIS WEEK
(1) Technical Ability
The Secret To Elite Level Dribbling | How To Dribble More Effectively
Source: 7MLC
ADDITIONAL 5-STAR RESOURCES
Ready to dive deeper with more soccer resources and training tools? Visit our ASU 5-Star Resources page to explore our full library of articles, guides, and resources.
This is your go-to hub for development support
(3) Physical Ability
15 Resistance Band Exercises For Soccer Players At Home
Source: T2T Pro Soccer Training
THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION
Measuring Progress
How do you currently judge whether your child is developing well?
Coach feedback
Game performance
My own observations
I’m not sure
We'll share the results of the poll in our next issue!
LAST WEEK'S POOL RESULTS
Has your child's club ever shared a written individual development plan (IDP) with you?
Somewhat — it's been mentioned once or twice – 40%
Not really — general feedback only – 31.4%
Yes — we get regular updates – 17.1%
No — never shared – 11.4%
Thank you for reading this week’s Advance Soccer Brief. See you next time!
— Thony and Kevin
Advance Soccer USA
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