No need for a zone defense at this age. Teach the kids to move their feet and play man to man. Strictly about the wins if you are playing a zone at this age.
Introduction to zone is completely appropriate at this age. Most club and competitive travel teams are expected to play to win at this age.
That's a load of crap. Yes, clubs try to win. But most 7th grade coaches don't feel the need to play zone in order to do it as their "primary" job is to develop the players and prepare them to play for their HS teams. As a parent of a LSM, I would be quite irritated if my son was playing a lot of zone defense as opposed to developing skills to play one on one defense, learning the proper slides, etc. Much more important than a free t-shirt.
