ABYS provides an opportunity to play soccer in a number of different contexts, depending on age and skill. All players under the age of 8, typically 2nd graders play an in-town schedule in competition with other town teams. Theoretically, we try to make all the teams even in terms of talent. However, we have no way of predicting the rapidly changing soccer talents of 5 1/2, 6 and 7 year olds! So, we tend to organize most teams on the basis of elementary school attended so that the kids can play with school friends. As a general rule of thumb, kindergartners concentrate on foot skill basics, first graders continue with basic ball skill development while slowly being introduced to 4v4. Second graders currently start playing 6v6 soccer.

In the under 9/10 age bracket, all teams play 6v6 soccer and players have the option of playing travel or town, with the caveat that the overall number of travel teams is limited in these two age groups. We believe that the in-house environment is an appropriate and fun context to all but the most skilled and motivated players in this age group. Again, the goal is to make the teams roughly equivalent so that games will be competitive and enjoy a good level of success.

In the under 11/12 age bracket, In-house teams will play 7v7 or 8v8 soccer, depending on registrations, and 11v11 travel teams. Again, the overall number of travel teams is limited in these two age groups, to teams that can be legitimately placed in Division 1 or 2 BAYS. We believe that the in-house environment is a skill-appropriate and fun context to all but the most skilled and motivated players in this age group.