My son is 6 years old and needed some new athletic undergarments for baseball. The size and feel of these shorts is good. They held up well in the wash. It was easy to take the cup in and out. There is no Velcro to close the cup in. There is a little fold over of material, and I found that very easy to use, and the cup stayed put just fine. My biggest complaints with these shorts are 1) On the bottom front of one of the legs, it says "Shock Doctor" in orange and gray lettering. This totally showed through my son's white baseball pants. He wore just the standard poly blend white baseball pants, nothing too thick. We didn't care that much, but an older boy might not like that. It did not show up through the gray or black pants. 2) The cup is way too big and protruding. While the actual shorts fit my son, the cup was ridiculous. It stuck out a LOT and looked really dumb. I just took the cup from his old shorts and slid it in this pocket, and that worked fine. But, if you don't already have a good cup that your son likes, this cup may be a problem. It's partly personal preference and feel and look, so your son might be okay with this cup. The tag says "Boys Small 7-8 Years, Fabric 1: 88% polyester, 12% spandex, Fabric 2: 100% polyester. My son is 48 inches and 50 lbs. and the size was just right. I washed in my machine. I was letting them air dry in the beginning, but they ended up in my dryer at one point and came out okay with maybe a little bit of shrinking.