One of the more common questions I receive as a tournament director regards the number of players competing at the under 12 (u12) age level. Local league play transitions from 8v8 at the u12 level to full sided (11v11) at the under 13 level. Some teams take the position that a late spring tournament is a great opportunity to prepare for the fall season. Other u12 teams prefer to stick to the familiar format and test themselves based on the game format they have been playing with in their spring league.

As a tournament director, this decision has some serious implications. Moving teams from smaller fields to larger fields affects the number and type of fields we have to put in place. Offering two formats can result in one format or the other not having enough teams to offer balanced brackets. We have traditionally not had enough teams to form balanced brackets in both formats - and if we did we would not have had enough fields. But the fact that we have not offered the full sided format probably reduces the number of teams at the age level who make their interest known.

So, I'm offering you the opportunity to influence how we do things. If you are the coach of a U12 team, please take a moment and indicate your preference in the following survey: