AAU - Age Determining Date (ADD)
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has changed its Age Determining Date (ADD) effective January 1, 2008, to allow girls with "early" birth dates to play with girls in their same class scholastically. Under the old AAU guidelines, girls whose birth dates fell prior to January 1 were forced to play up a grade.
The Albany Capitals favor the intent of this change and will be implementing it this year by using a player's grade in school as the primary criteria in determining at what age level she will be allowed to compete. A secondary age criteria will be applied to prevent an unfair competitive situation from occurring because a player is old for her grade due to poor scholastic performance or other factors. In this case, the age criteria will be controlling.
With the exception of the ONE TIME ONLY special consideration noted below, those interested in trying out for the Capitals in 2008 should use the following criteria to guide them in determining which tryout to attend:
11U - 6th grade (born no earlier than July 1, 1995) and all
5th
graders
12U - 7th grade (born no earlier than July 1, 1994)
13U - 8th grade (born no earlier than July 1, 1993)
14U - 9th grade (born no earlier than July 1, 1992)
15U - 10th grade (born no earlier than July 1, 1991)
16U - 11th grade (born no earlier than January 1, 1990)
ONE TIME ONLY special consideration affecting ONLY those Capitals who "played up" in 2007 due to their early birth date: Anyone falling in this category will be allowed to choose whether they wish to try out on grade in 2008 or to try out with the group they played with last year. While the Capitals strongly recommend that all players in this category consider trying out on grade, the decision of the affected player and their parents will ultimately be controlling. Please note, however, that any decision made this year will determine whether the affected player will try out on grade or try out with the group one grade higher for the remainder of their career with the Capitals. As is always the case, a player must successfully compete at tryouts to earn a spot on any team, regardless of the age level chosen.