Key Points by Age Group

Whilst all this information is contained in various places throughout this site, we thought it would be useful to provide an "at a glance" set of key information for the various age groups.

For full information on running a team, registering players, organising pitches and training etc. see the "Running a Team - The Basics" section. For details on age group formats for U7-U18 (ball size, numbers of players, pitch size etc.) see the "Age Group Formats" page.

U5 / U6

Children train on a Saturday morning, at Langton Green Rec. from 10am. The U5 session is 75 minutes long and the U6 session is 2 hours long. There are no official matches, leagues or teams at this age. It's fun training, aimed at introducing youngsters to football and having lots of fun. At the end of the year, the children who are ready to play in their first "proper" matches will have the chance to play in the Langton Green summer fiesta as part of the U7 age group. At the end of the U6 age group, children are sorted into teams ready for the following season, with the aim over the course of the U6 year having been to identify and involve a number of parents who can step into the role of team leaders / coaches for the following season.

U7 / U8 (5 a side)

Teams play 5 a side mini soccer matches, organised by the Crowborough League, against teams from other local clubs, every 3rd week or so. Matches take the format of 2 x 10 minute halves per match. Teams tend to play 2 matches on a match day, so each team gets a total of 40 minutes of football.

Training takes place at Langton Green Rec. on the weeks where teams don't have organised matches.

Ideal squad size: 8-9 players (depending on reliability)

U9 / U10 (7 a side)

There are 2 major changes when you move to under 9:

• Matches are now 7 a side rather than 5 a side and slightly longer.
• Your players can now additionally train on Tuesday evenings at Skinners Kent Academy astroturf pitches.

Your Saturday matches also now become slightly more frequent (every other week at U10).

Ideal squad size: 10-11 players (depending on reliability)

U11 / U12 (9 a side)

At U11, the major changes are as follows:

• Matches are now 9 a side
• The offside rule is introduced
• Matches are every week
• In the Crowborough League, matches are now 1 x 60 minutes rather than 2 x 30 minutes (you are no longer paired with another team).
• At U12, the Crowborough league moves to Sundays.

U13 Upwards (11 a side)

At U13, your team moves to "proper" 11 a side football, with all the usual football rules. The only exception is that you can continue to use rolling subs as often as you want in games (rather than the "3 subs only" rule you'd get with professional football).

Ideal squad size: 15-17 players (depending on reliability)