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Ahhhh! I think the last two posts have just summed up the conundrum so well. There is a huge difference between some 6 and 8 year olds,  and no I don't want any kid thinking he's "too good"  for anyone else. Plus I'm conscious of the social aspect of it  aswell which is every bit as important, if not more so at this age,  then hurling skills.
Again,  it leaves me with the same issue. Trying to balance the needs of the skill-full and socially able 6.5 year old with the 8 year old who is not so able but is every bit as important to the club and who we want to see returning  every year.
Realistically, the groups would end up naturally dividing along  age lines with the odd few moving up or down according  to their ability. I suppose it's about making it ok for this to happen and for the player who needs to focus on more basic skills for longer to not feel like this is a bad thing and he is being "held back ". Will check out that document,  thanks

I've been off line for the past week! Thanks for all the replies,  all valid points and food for thought. AZoffaly,  yours sounds like the ideal scenario,  we just wouldn't have the numbers to make that set up feasible.
I think we will abolish the name U6, all kids will be hurling under 8 and within that then make 3 groups of similar ability,  but like someone else said parents could be an issue there!

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering how to other clubs group and structure their 5-8 year olds? At the moment we have two groups of approx. 20 kids each roughly divided into U6 & U8 by age. What I am beginning to realise however is this is not the best way of dividing. We have lots of 6 year olds who have the fundamental movement skills and need to move on to the next level and equally we have some 7 and even 8 year olds who have yet to master these basics and are struggling in the current U8 group. My fear is we will lose these players as they are getting frustrated however it is difficult to bring them back to the first group as they are called the U6 group. Also, we have 6 year olds getting very frustrated at not moving on skills wise.
I am beginning to think we should treat the 5-8 year olds as one group and then sub divide according to ability calling the groups a name that doesn't make anyone feel they are not "good enough". I would love to hear people's thought on this topic and how other clubs structure their academy.