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What is "Playing Up" an Age Group?

In some rare instances, players are not sufficiently challenged in the age group into which they naturally fall by birth date.  Parents who face this situation have the option of placing their player in the next-older age group, hence "playing up," to provide a more satisfying soccer experience.  Please note that this policy does not apply to children who were not yet three years old on the July 31 before the fall and spring season in question -  those children are ineligible to play until the following fall season.

While this practice solves the near-term problem of a not-challenging-enough age group, parents should consider that playing their child up from year-to-year may present a set of different problems, especially if the child decides to pursue competitive soccer.  In competitive soccer, playing up is not permitted except in the case of a player who is one school grade ahead of schedule as well. 

Another issue that playing up presents is the reality that children will be playing with an older group of players.  There is no way to overstate the many reasons that children are better off playing with their peers ... BSC is working to empower its coaches to address a wide variety of skill and experience levels within age groups so that parents may place their gifted players in their natural age groups without penalizing them for having more experience or natural ability than some of their counterparts.

As players mature, BSC addresses this problem directly by offering a tiered system in U9 and U10, where more advanced players may select Tier 2 (formerly known as Advanced Recreational) or Tier 3 (Academy) programs within the proper age group.  We recommend that parents carefully think through the ramifications of playing up their U8-under child before proceeding, as we are working with our coaches to improve their ability to provide an enriching soccer experience to players of differing experience and skill levels within the various age groups.  Waiting until the stratified program begins in U9 is the best bet for all but the very most advanced players in BSC.