Quote Originally Posted by sapdad View Post
Nothing out of the ordinary in this day and age.Whether right or wrong the best thing the kids who got cut can do is trial wherever they can and do their best.If a kid has done the right things through JDL they will always have a spot in NPL youth somewhere.It might be an ego hit to the kids and parents that their kid got cut but its jut one of lifes lessons.
Quote Originally Posted by Taffy View Post
Out of a team of 12 you might have to let got 2 or 3 who just don't make the cut. So a club that has two teams should whittle down to about 18, take off a couple that go to Jets and you have 16 maybe 15 players who should be good enough. If you have to then drop half of them and look for players elsewhere, then the club should be looking at their JDL program and getting in better TDs and coaches.

Though parents should take note of this, if a club is happy to drop most of their players because they think someone better is coming along, then 1) the club can't be that good at developing players and 2) don't expect to be at the club long because it is clear they will happily drop you.
I fully agree with both of you

What I question is the strategy of making wild cuts to a group of kids, after developing them for 4 years, and just before they get a chance of showing what they are capable of on the full field.

I think playing 9 a side on a half sized pitch, or full size 11 a side are almost 2 different games, and it's very short sighted to let players go based on their performance on the 9 a side game (especially when such players performed very well throughout the whole JDL experience). Btw, I'm not talking about my son. I was shocked to learn the names of players that didn't make the cut at our former club. Then I saw the names of some U12s "promoted" to play up in PYL this year... and it made me even happier not to be at that club anymore. They developed players well, but something else was definitely off.