Under age football

[GJL]

I'm just back from an under age tournament. My kids are just at the age to start getting involved so I don't know a lot about these. 2 of my kids have birthdays in September and one in August. It has struck me now that they will all loose out on a year of football in comparison to others in the same school year who have their birthday from Jan 1st onwards. Would in not make more sense for the football  year and school year to run in tandem so the kids get to play on all the same teams as their school friends?

[Zulu]

Not sure really. I think no matter what date you pick somebody will miss out so Jan 1st seems as sensible as any other date. I'm a January kid so I always got another year out if than most of the lads in my class but I didn't miss any year playing with those boys because I was January and they were August or whatever. I played two or three years with my classmates and lads in classes above us and one year playing with lads mainly a year behind me. Which was nice!

[Red eye]

1st January is the cut date for Under Age football
1st July is the cut date for different school years.
As a September birth month I always missed out on an extra year at Under Age that some of my classmates could get.
Think schools in the South may have 1st Jan as their date too? Reason for assuming that is after winning McRory cup quite a few years ago now we lost five players when going on to the Hogan Cup. Dunno if that is still the case.
From working with Under Age teams now it is easy to qualify who is eligible and who is not for say Under 14 and Under 16 teams - though some Clubs may still appear confused lol

[brokencrossbar1]

swings and roundabouts.  The disadvantage at club is an advantage at schools as they august, sept and october kids are generally stronger up to 14-15 and they benefit a lot in schools football.  It's not a major thing at the back of it all and by about 16 the kids even out a lot.

[Zulu]

What do clubs in different counties have to do to prove their players are eligible? Do clubs have to submit birth certs or is it taken on a clubs word?

[SHEEDY]

Underage tournaments in down are usually run on the school year rather than Jan 1st cut off. U6 is kids in p1 and 2, U8 is p3 and 4, U10 is p5 and 6, U12 is p7 and 1st year. Think this is so kids can play with their classmates and are therefore more likely to stay at it if their mates are going.

[Throw ball]

Underage tournaments in down are usually run on the school year rather than Jan 1st cut off. U6 is kids in p1 and 2, U8 is p3 and 4, U10 is p5 and 6, U12 is p7 and 1st year. Think this is so kids can play with their classmates and are therefore more likely to stay at it if their mates are going.

Armagh run the same way up to under 12. Think it makes sense up to that age as it keeps kids together with their friends in the 'go game' format.

[NP 76]

They are only run in Down like that this last year before that it was 1st of jan cut off. Personally I think the school year is a far better way to get lads through as they are playing with their school mates all along but when we get to u 12 it changes also thus meaning some of the weaker lads drop out because of playing with older lads who they might not know that well

[theskull1]

Surprisingly few counties who play underage in their school year up to U12. Doesn't sit well with me

Giving a weak P6 with a "bad" birthday that final year where he is one of the older lads on the p5/6 team may give him the confidence to compete rather than flounder in the U12 subs he won't develop as well. Have a year where he overlaps can only be the right thing for these type of players but all too often they can be forgotten about