Practicing with other clubs

[Mdmom22]

For those whose kids are in bigger clubs (e.g., those with ECNL and MLSNext programs), are your clubs open to kids coming on to practice a couple of times? Will this depend on how good the kid is? That is, if they allow it, will they just throw the kid into the lowest team practice or do they ask what level your kid is?

We are currently at a small club and the plan has always been to move to a bigger club if the kids wanted to play in MLSNext or ECNL. While we intend to try out during tryouts in spring, I would at least like the kids to be exposed to the coaching and team dynamics and have some opinion as to where the think they will thrive more. For what it's worth, at least one kid will be trying out for a few teams he is already playing against so he has had the opportunity to observe the coaching and team dynamics during games. Thanks in advance for any helpful input!

[soccer_dc]

Yes it happens all the time although it's much more common during the spring season when players are looking to move clubs. Contact the coaches/director directly. Many teams could still use an extra player or two and can't hurt to get on their radar now.

[drewster711]

Agreed with soccer_dc but with one caveat. If the player can not keep pace with the team certain coaches will remove them from the group early on in the first session. So yes there is an ability factor.

[akindc]

100% yes.
Might sound a little harsh, but open tryouts are a terrible way to go.
If you’re interested in a team/program, email them and say so, and they’ll have you at some practices to gauge your skill level. It’s win/win…they get a more accurate representation of your kid than they would get at an open tryout, and you know that your kid is really getting seen.

[DCpetunia]

One tip, and this might be obvious (it wasn’t to me). Make sure to have a frank conversation with the coach your child is practicing with prior to the actual tryout so you know where she stands. Our DC attended practices at a club for 3 months, was never told not to come back, I had email exchanges with coach to confirm it was ok to have her keep attending, etc. then tryouts, and we didn’t hear anything. Anything. I eventually emailed the club and they said “Sorry, your DD made the lowest team and the email announcing that got stuck in our outbox.”

Maybe there were signs (like they didn’t ever say “she’ll make the team, absolutely”) but I would have thought that after all the back and forth, if she didn’t have a good shot someone would have indicated that.

So, have that conversation.

[ECNLDD]

"new" to the boards, but feel like we need to get this board more active again. I understand that many do not want to out themselves and being tracked by usernames allows that to potentially occur.

to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered.

Practicing with other clubs is great in theory; just be prepared, as for the upper level players, it's a small world and don't think for a second that it will not get back to your home club, so be prepared to have that conversation; if you choose to not have it prior to practicing.

Club shopping/hopping happens all the time, but not always greener pastures. If you're not happy with DC playing time, position, club style, culture, etc then you need to do what's best for your kid.

Glad to start contributing to the boards!

[DCpetunia]

ECNLDD wrote:"new" to the boards, but feel like we need to get this board more active again. I understand that many do not want to out themselves and being tracked by usernames allows that to potentially occur.

to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered.

Practicing with other clubs is great in theory; just be prepared, as for the upper level players, it's a small world and don't think for a second that it will not get back to your home club, so be prepared to have that conversation; if you choose to not have it prior to practicing.

Club shopping/hopping happens all the time, but not always greener pastures. If you're not happy with DC playing time, position, club style, culture, etc then you need to do what's best for your kid.

Glad to start contributing to the boards!

"to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered."

PP here. How? Would the coach have said something to her/me, so that allowing her to continue to practice should not have been read as a sign that she has a shot? She was practicing wih the middle team (3 teams total in the age group). Note that another club that she had been practicing with said specifically that she would make X team at their club, which was very helpful feedback.

[ECNLDD]

DCpetunia wrote:

ECNLDD wrote:"new" to the boards, but feel like we need to get this board more active again. I understand that many do not want to out themselves and being tracked by usernames allows that to potentially occur.

to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered.

Practicing with other clubs is great in theory; just be prepared, as for the upper level players, it's a small world and don't think for a second that it will not get back to your home club, so be prepared to have that conversation; if you choose to not have it prior to practicing.

Club shopping/hopping happens all the time, but not always greener pastures. If you're not happy with DC playing time, position, club style, culture, etc then you need to do what's best for your kid.

Glad to start contributing to the boards!

"to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered."

PP here. How? Would the coach have said something to her/me, so that allowing her to continue to practice should not have been read as a sign that she has a shot? She was practicing wih the middle team (3 teams total in the age group). Note that another club that she had been practicing with said specifically that she would make X team at their club, which was very helpful feedback.

Did you watch any of the sessions? Did your DD provide you with any feedback? After 1-2 sessions coach would have good idea where to place your dd. If after a week of sessions and no feedback from coach, then you should meet with them prior to or after session and you would probably get all the info you needed.

[DCpetunia]

ECNLDD wrote:

DCpetunia wrote:

ECNLDD wrote:"new" to the boards, but feel like we need to get this board more active again. I understand that many do not want to out themselves and being tracked by usernames allows that to potentially occur.

to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered.

Practicing with other clubs is great in theory; just be prepared, as for the upper level players, it's a small world and don't think for a second that it will not get back to your home club, so be prepared to have that conversation; if you choose to not have it prior to practicing.

Club shopping/hopping happens all the time, but not always greener pastures. If you're not happy with DC playing time, position, club style, culture, etc then you need to do what's best for your kid.

Glad to start contributing to the boards!

"to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered."

PP here. How? Would the coach have said something to her/me, so that allowing her to continue to practice should not have been read as a sign that she has a shot? She was practicing wih the middle team (3 teams total in the age group). Note that another club that she had been practicing with said specifically that she would make X team at their club, which was very helpful feedback.

Did you watch any of the sessions? Did your DD provide you with any feedback? After 1-2 sessions coach would have good idea where to place your dd. If after a week of sessions and no feedback from coach, then you should meet with them prior to or after session and you would probably get all the info you needed.

Which is exactly what I told the OP - have the conversation and force them to give you an indication. This is what I did not do, assuming that no news (and inviting her back) was good news. But your post suggested that "one can just tell" which is not what you ultimately came around to.

[ECNLDD]

DCpetunia wrote:

ECNLDD wrote:

DCpetunia wrote:

ECNLDD wrote:"new" to the boards, but feel like we need to get this board more active again. I understand that many do not want to out themselves and being tracked by usernames allows that to potentially occur.

to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered.

Practicing with other clubs is great in theory; just be prepared, as for the upper level players, it's a small world and don't think for a second that it will not get back to your home club, so be prepared to have that conversation; if you choose to not have it prior to practicing.

Club shopping/hopping happens all the time, but not always greener pastures. If you're not happy with DC playing time, position, club style, culture, etc then you need to do what's best for your kid.

Glad to start contributing to the boards!

"to the pp; if your DD was trying out for months, you should know whether or not she would have a chance at making an upper tier team v. the lowest team that club had offered."

PP here. How? Would the coach have said something to her/me, so that allowing her to continue to practice should not have been read as a sign that she has a shot? She was practicing wih the middle team (3 teams total in the age group). Note that another club that she had been practicing with said specifically that she would make X team at their club, which was very helpful feedback.

Did you watch any of the sessions? Did your DD provide you with any feedback? After 1-2 sessions coach would have good idea where to place your dd. If after a week of sessions and no feedback from coach, then you should meet with them prior to or after session and you would probably get all the info you needed.

Which is exactly what I told the OP - have the conversation and force them to give you an indication. This is what I did not do, assuming that no news (and inviting her back) was good news. But your post suggested that "one can just tell" which is not what you ultimately came around to. [/qu

Honestly if you were attending sessions for a couple of months then the only question needed to be asked would be "hey coach, looking for a home for dd next season, when are you making a decision, can we expect an offer?" If you dont get the answer you want, then it's time to look at other clubs.

[Mdmom22]

OP here. Thank you everyone!

So it sounds like big clubs are responsive to an email asking to practice? We know a former coach at one of the clubs we're interested and he said he'll arrange it for us but the other ones, we have no contacts/connection. I assume they get lots of similar emails and I was wondering what information they need to see in these emails? I'm assuming where the kid currently plays at and what their soccer background is? Any thing else? Do they care what the kids' goals are, etc.? For context, I have one kid who is hoping to make it to a top team and another who is likely going to be on a B/C squad depending on how many teams the age group fields.

[Ihatedumbsoccerparents]

Mdmom22 wrote:OP here. Thank you everyone!

So it sounds like big clubs are responsive to an email asking to practice? We know a former coach at one of the clubs we're interested and he said he'll arrange it for us but the other ones, we have no contacts/connection. I assume they get lots of similar emails and I was wondering what information they need to see in these emails? I'm assuming where the kid currently plays at and what their soccer background is? Any thing else? Do they care what the kids' goals are, etc.? For context, I have one kid who is hoping to make it to a top team and another who is likely going to be on a B/C squad depending on how many teams the age group fields.

I just sent an email to the club ( 6 months ago) I was interested in letting them know I was interested in joining their ECNL team. My DD was invited to a practice and I was told to bring her to as many practices as possible before next year’s tryouts. There are politics involved in joining competitive teams, IMO my DD not only needs to win the coach over but the players as well....

It is difficult to juggle HS, club, and prospective new club.....I told my DD she has until next May to decide what team she wants to join....and if it’s with the new club she needs to understand her role....50% playing time, 80 minutes, 10 minute sub...I told her 50-60 minutes is ideal to showcase her talents...if she can’t get that on the new club...it will make sense to stay where she is at.

She is only interested in joining a different club because her club is EDP not Ecnl.

[soccermom4608]

For kids who are not likely to be playing at the ECNL or similar level (more like a division 1 NCSL team), does the recommendation still hold to reach out to other clubs directly rather than waiting for open tryouts, especially for a goalkeeper for whom open tryouts may not be as useful? If so, at what point during the year do people recommend starting to contact other clubs?

[ECNLDD]

soccermom4608 wrote:For kids who are not likely to be playing at the ECNL or similar level (more like a division 1 NCSL team), does the recommendation still hold to reach out to other clubs directly rather than waiting for open tryouts, especially for a goalkeeper for whom open tryouts may not be as useful? If so, at what point during the year do people recommend starting to contact other clubs?

Always reach out to coach directly, especially for GK; GKs are like qbs, only 1 per team that will be the starter. Most big clubs have GK trainings, so best to attend one of those weekly sessions. Top teams are always looking to upgrade; what you need to do is identify the top teams in the area, in this order, ECNL, GA, and then everyone else and see if your dc can make one of the top local teams and be their starter.

[Heloise]

ECNLDD wrote:

soccermom4608 wrote:For kids who are not likely to be playing at the ECNL or similar level (more like a division 1 NCSL team), does the recommendation still hold to reach out to other clubs directly rather than waiting for open tryouts, especially for a goalkeeper for whom open tryouts may not be as useful? If so, at what point during the year do people recommend starting to contact other clubs?

Always reach out to coach directly, especially for GK; GKs are like qbs, only 1 per team that will be the starter. Most big clubs have GK trainings, so best to attend one of those weekly sessions. Top teams are always looking to upgrade; what you need to do is identify the top teams in the area, in this order, ECNL, GA, and then everyone else and see if your dc can make one of the top local teams and be their starter.

That’s all fine and good, but it’s not responsive to pp’s question.