Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss Part II

[Anonymous]

As long as your kid is an exclusive member of the academy special select elite club, he won't be able to play in the PPPP league and he won't be able to play college professionally in Europe with Messi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCSL will announce its tentative division structure for the Spring Season on February 25th. Check on their website then.

www.ncsl-soccer.com

Does anyone know if this is available yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCSL will announce its tentative division structure for the Spring Season on February 25th. Check on their website then.

www.ncsl-soccer.com

Does anyone know if this is available yet?

Not until Thursday I believe

[Anonymous]

How was Futsal season? How was the league? Any teams that stood out. What are you looking forward to next? Tournaments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

Which team did he end up making? Red, White, Blue, Silver?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

This happens all across the DMV. They still look for spazzes and kids dribbling it into the ground, knocking other kids over. "Activity" is confused with 'efficiency'. American coaches still don't choose 'potential'. They don't think in terms of development or actual field smarts with how a kid moves off the ball, where he plays it. I can't tell you how many perfect assists/through balls one of my kid had at one of these tryouts---and they would write down the name of the kid that merely had to tap his toe to score from the receiving pass. The kid "making it happen" does not get credit in this tryout scenario. I saw kids that never amounted to anything in the scrimmage---had some ball moves but would repeatedly dribble it into the ground (this was an older age group too) and they would continually get moved up fields. I saw goofy kids that some coach deemed as 'fast' get moved up and can't play at all. We just got a 10-page evaluation, incredibly, incredibly thorough from character to technique to field iq to movement, etc. each category many specific areas (such as dribbling with non-dominant foot, etc.)---not one mentioned physical speed. We previously had gotten a 1 page review from a big club at U9/U10 where the only categories were "physical strength, heading (wtf--u couldn't even head at that), speed, first touch". Only the last one was even relevant. This was a big CCL club. All I can say is 'get used to it' or dig hard to find a place where this isn't the focus.

It's completely r*tarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

Which team did he end up making? Red, White, Blue, Silver?

You forgot Black and Gold....

[Anonymous]

My son is currently a U11. My son is a slow runner. Usually one of the slowest on the team. He scores very few goals. His technical skills are above average (based on no scientific study. : ) ). He has played for some very good teams already. Some might even call them super duper elite, select, premier pre-La Liga teams. Those coaches valued his ability to control the ball, good passes, and make assists. He tried out for Arlington last year and again he was one of the slowest players out there; however, the coach talked to me after and praised his vision and confidence on the ball. He got an offer, but we didn't accept for logistical reasons. But there are many small kids with great footskills and technical skills on that Arlington 07 Red team. So I'm just not buying that all Arlington cares about is kids that can sprint down and tap in goals. I also know several kids on Arlington's 06 DA team and they are not those types of kids either. They are smaller and have very good technical/dribbling/passing skill. So I don't feel the same as many do about Arlington at least at these young ages. Just sharing my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

Which team did he end up making? Red, White, Blue, Silver?

He plays in the NCSL league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

AMEN

I hate it too. At last year's travel tryouts my son does what he is told, and when he moved up quite a few fields, the coach told him to play defense. He did as he was told, passed the ball up several times and played defense. But since he wasn't being a ball hog and trying to score when he had the ball, they sent him back to a lower field. He thought he was doing well, and it was painful to see his expression when he got sent back down not knowing what he did wrong. F*^% Arlington.

This happens all across the DMV. They still look for spazzes and kids dribbling it into the ground, knocking other kids over. "Activity" is confused with 'efficiency'. American coaches still don't choose 'potential'. They don't think in terms of development or actual field smarts with how a kid moves off the ball, where he plays it. I can't tell you how many perfect assists/through balls one of my kid had at one of these tryouts---and they would write down the name of the kid that merely had to tap his toe to score from the receiving pass. The kid "making it happen" does not get credit in this tryout scenario. I saw kids that never amounted to anything in the scrimmage---had some ball moves but would repeatedly dribble it into the ground (this was an older age group too) and they would continually get moved up fields. I saw goofy kids that some coach deemed as 'fast' get moved up and can't play at all. We just got a 10-page evaluation, incredibly, incredibly thorough from character to technique to field iq to movement, etc. each category many specific areas (such as dribbling with non-dominant foot, etc.)---not one mentioned physical speed. We previously had gotten a 1 page review from a big club at U9/U10 where the only categories were "physical strength, heading (wtf--u couldn't even head at that), speed, first touch". Only the last one was even relevant. This was a big CCL club. All I can say is 'get used to it' or dig hard to find a place where this isn't the focus.

It's completely r*tarded.

If I can offer an alternative perspective I have actually seen a shift in tryouts moving away from the big strong players to the more technical players regardless of size. I am sure every club is different and different coaches look for certain skills. Last year we moved clubs due to them promoting larger/faster players over more technical players and I wanted to get a second opinion. Our new club oddly enough seems to have the smallest players when we match up against other teams and we are on par or better with most of the teams. Very technical, strong passing and very little ball hogging (there is always 1 or 2) but overall a good balance. We have an awesome coach who played overseas (not sure if that makes a difference) but still focused on technical skills. I am sure it will take time for the dynamic to shift but I think it is happening. Another thought is for larger clubs when you have so many kids to choose from and you have kids with similar technical skills I wonder if bigger/faster gives those players the edge?

[Anonymous]

I think the thought process for many coaches/clubs is that "you can't teach speed, strength, and size but you can teach technical skills". I think that's why, if there is any debate, most coaches will go with the bigger, stronger, faster kid. Someone mentioned potential earlier. Well big, strong, fast kids have potential to become very technical as well. I don't know. That's why I don't coach. I just sit on the sidelines and complain. : )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the thought process for many coaches/clubs is that "you can't teach speed, strength, and size but you can teach technical skills". I think that's why, if there is any debate, most coaches will go with the bigger, stronger, faster kid. Someone mentioned potential earlier. Well big, strong, fast kids have potential to become very technical as well. I don't know. That's why I don't coach. I just sit on the sidelines and complain. : )

Yea some coaches have their priorities all mixed up. The first thing we look for are players who are naturally gifted with technical ability. We emphasize that our players are athletes and so we make sure that they're whipped into the best shape possible. You can improve the fitness of a technical player so that they perform to the best of their ability. The coaches that choose speed and size over technical ability are clueless, and they will not develop those players technically. They'll just exploit their athletic abilities, making their teams play a style that resembles glorified volleyball more than soccer, and those players will look mediocre when they reach a certain age when most players have caught up to them physically. Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the thought process for many coaches/clubs is that "you can't teach speed, strength, and size but you can teach technical skills". I think that's why, if there is any debate, most coaches will go with the bigger, stronger, faster kid. Someone mentioned potential earlier. Well big, strong, fast kids have potential to become very technical as well. I don't know. That's why I don't coach. I just sit on the sidelines and complain. : )

Yea some coaches have their priorities all mixed up. The first thing we look for are players who are naturally gifted with technical ability. We emphasize that our players are athletes and so we make sure that they're whipped into the best shape possible. You can improve the fitness of a technical player so that they perform to the best of their ability. The coaches that choose speed and size over technical ability are clueless, and they will not develop those players technically. They'll just exploit their athletic abilities, making their teams play a style that resembles glorified volleyball more than soccer, and those players will look mediocre when they reach a certain age when most players have caught up to them physically. Just my 2 cents.

Well it’s two type of skills sets for coaching -developing players vs winning the games. If you view your jobs as developing players for the long term you will select different set of players vs the coach who is selecting to win now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the thought process for many coaches/clubs is that "you can't teach speed, strength, and size but you can teach technical skills". I think that's why, if there is any debate, most coaches will go with the bigger, stronger, faster kid. Someone mentioned potential earlier. Well big, strong, fast kids have potential to become very technical as well. I don't know. That's why I don't coach. I just sit on the sidelines and complain. : )

Yea some coaches have their priorities all mixed up. The first thing we look for are players who are naturally gifted with technical ability. We emphasize that our players are athletes and so we make sure that they're whipped into the best shape possible. You can improve the fitness of a technical player so that they perform to the best of their ability. The coaches that choose speed and size over technical ability are clueless, and they will not develop those players technically. They'll just exploit their athletic abilities, making their teams play a style that resembles glorified volleyball more than soccer, and those players will look mediocre when they reach a certain age when most players have caught up to them physically. Just my 2 cents.

Well it’s two type of skills sets for coaching -developing players vs winning the games. If you view your jobs as developing players for the long term you will select different set of players vs the coach who is selecting to win now.

In my experience, the teams that try to play the best soccer tend to win more often than not. Then again, what you said is also valid and many coaches have to make do with situations in which they don't have the most talented players at their disposal. Whether that is due to the availability of players who show up for tryouts or just due to poor player selection on the coach's part, every situation is different and it is easy to talk when you're not having to do the heavy lifting.