The age of a player determines what activities are
developmentally appropriate. In general, younger players
are more able to grasp "individual skills" such as dribbling
and 1 on 1 defending while older players are able to learn
"team skills" such as passing and zonal defending.
The ISC utilizes many different resources to put together programs and
activities that are appropriate for
each stage of a player's development.
Determining your age group
Iowa soccer guidelines dictate that the youth soccer year runs
from September 1st to August 31st. The age group of a child is
determined by their age on July 31st of the preceding soccer
year. For example, a child that is 9 years old on July 31st,
2005 is in the U10 (which means "under 10") age group for the
September 1st, 2005 to August 31st, 2006 soccer year.