My child was asked to travel to play in a tournament with a lower team with his club
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Anonymous
| Thoughts? |
Anonymous
| Do they want to play? DD loves doubling up on games and getting in extra tournaments. |
Anonymous
| My thoughts are that the team is short a player and asked your kid. Since it’s a travel tournament, the team is probably clutching at straws to go. They might have been the first or the 6th choice. No way to know, so if your child wants to play, then go. If not, don’t go. |
Anonymous
| My kid has done this when the other team is short players. Has fun, has gotten closer with kids on the other team. All good. |
Anonymous
| There is no disadvantage to guest playing. For one, your child will get a lot of playing time and a chance to lead on the team for a bit or practice a different position. We always say yes when asked to guest play - up or down. |
ECNLDD
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| Fact is, a lot of times if you are asked to guest for lower team, probably means coach thinks you need the extra game play! You may be coming off the bench on your current team and not getting enough game minutes...depends on the situation....make an impact if you are guesting down! |
Anonymous
| There are many scenarios like PP says. Another common one is that a coach asks a defender to play down, which relieves pressure, can increase possession, and can release a starting defender on the lower team to get experience in midfield or as a forward. Coaches typically don’t ask the top goal scorer to play down and just run riot over less experienced players. |
Anonymous
| It sucks for the kids on the lower team. They get less playing time while guest player plays most of the game so team can win. Think if you would want a better player playing on your child’s team taking playing time from your kid. You wouldn’t be happy. |
Anonymous
Our team only brings on guests so that we have at least a full side or one sub max, and the guest doesn’t start. If you have a good coach, having a guest is an asset for your team and doesn’t take away significant playing time from the regulars. We are really grateful to our guest players because without them, we would have to forfeit or not have any subs at all. My kid played in a summer tournament and due to 2 cases of covid and a broken collarbone, they didn’t have a single sub. A kid from a lower team guest played and it saved the tournament because it was blazing hot out and it would have been brutal without a sub. They won the tournament and the team was so thankful that this kid was willing to play last minute. |
ECNLDD
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| Guest players are utilized for a multiple of reasons; some play up to see how they will perform with a better team, also known as a tryout, it may be because of numbers or because a need for a particular position, if your kid consistently is guesting up, good chance they will make upper team if they have performed well; guest players are also used to play down because the lower team needs numbers, or player needs game time minutes, or to appease parents because player isnt getting minutes on higher team, guest players are also used if parents ask regardless of how good player is; some clubs utilize guest players to help win tournaments; bottomline, if you are asked to guest you probably accept if your schedule permits, dont worry so much about the reason, your kid will get more game time experience...also coaches and club quickly figure out those players that will always guest and those that won't; if your kid is top team, no worries, if your kid is low or middle it probably matter. Longest run on sentence ever, but asking to guest is a good thing, but know how your kid fits in the above scenarios. |
Anonymous
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My kid was one of the top kids on the A team, and one year when the B team was short he guest played with them many times. It was win-win for everyone: he got to play more, the coach got a kid/family he knew would show up for the whole tournament, and then kids on the B team got a big boost from him playing, and it showed in their play.
There was no concern that he was being evaluated for the lower team, it that is your concern. |
Anonymous
| Our kid guest played for a "lower" team at a tournament within their club and got a lot of playing time, but this was a player who hardly got any playing time as a field player for the top team, so we didn't feel bad about it at all because of the lack of prior field playing time. We did also monitor the substutiions and playing time for the legacy players and everyone got a lot of playing time. Our player played stress free in that environment--knowing they were going to get a lot of playing time I think helped them settle down and know they could play through mistakes. |
Anonymous
This, my kid is the same way. Top kid on top team and he is invited to guest play all the time. On a not so good team, he is considered a ringer and gets to play any position (even goalie). On better teams, he plays his usual position (striker and mid). So long as he wants to, we let him play. I think it helps kids to continue to love to play the game. Often time, guest playing is less pressure than kid's regular season and they get to experiment and try out something new - whether it learning to play with a different set of great players or being a leader on not such a great team and developing his/her voice. I highly encourage it. |
Anonymous
+1 A lot of kids on the higher teams think they’re too good to play for the lower team. Mine wanted to play any time, anywhere, didn’t care about the level. Just be sure he’s not a jerk to the kids on the team he’s guesting for. |
Anonymous
| I find this interesting because in softball you aren't allowed to play on a lower level team unless it is an age group lower as well. They don't want "ringers" being brought in. |