Basic skills training for 7 yo

[Anonymous]

Short of hiring a coach, which of the following programs would offer the best fit for a U8 to hone his skills and continue having fun.

Kid says he LOVES soccer and skill-wise, it does look like he has outgrown rec soccer, but he’s U8 so we (aka the parents) are not ready yet for the uber-competitive world, but hoping to get him a solid training beyond volunteer coaches to further improve his technical skills/ability to read the game.

Choices arranged alphabetically:
1. BritAm all stars academy playing (SAM/Sam select league)
2. DC soccer select Blue, Red, White, Silver team (MDSL D2)
3. DC soccer travel Blue/Red-White/Silver team (NCSL, CPSL, MDSL D1)
4. MSI Silver or Gold
5. PPA blue/orange/yellow team (Sam Select)
6. PPA green team (Sam Select)

Any other choices (not including Bethesda because it sounds too intense and Potomac because it doesn’t look like he’s old enough)? Anywhere in NW/Moco will work for us. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Clubs don't teach skills, you learn skills on your own, with trainers, etc. Clubs teach you how to play the game.

[Anonymous]

Attend the tryouts for the above and see which is the best fit for your child. How do they feel about the coach? The other players already there? How do you feel about the coach? And of course there's always the price

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clubs don't teach skills, you learn skills on your own, with trainers, etc. Clubs teach you how to play the game.

This needs to be emphasized for all new travel parents otherwise you'll be one of the delusionals on here 4-5 years from now claiming the club doesn't develop and that the kids getting other opportunities are the result of favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clubs don't teach skills, you learn skills on your own, with trainers, etc. Clubs teach you how to play the game.

This needs to be emphasized for all new travel parents otherwise you'll be one of the delusionals on here 4-5 years from now claiming the club doesn't develop and that the kids getting other opportunities are the result of favoritism.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Short of hiring a coach, which of the following programs would offer the best fit for a U8 to hone his skills and continue having fun.

Kid says he LOVES soccer and skill-wise, it does look like he has outgrown rec soccer, but he’s U8 so we (aka the parents) are not ready yet for the uber-competitive world, but hoping to get him a solid training beyond volunteer coaches to further improve his technical skills/ability to read the game.

Choices arranged alphabetically:
1. BritAm all stars academy playing (SAM/Sam select league)
2. DC soccer select Blue, Red, White, Silver team (MDSL D2)
3. DC soccer travel Blue/Red-White/Silver team (NCSL, CPSL, MDSL D1)
4. MSI Silver or Gold
5. PPA blue/orange/yellow team (Sam Select)
6. PPA green team (Sam Select)

Any other choices (not including Bethesda because it sounds too intense and Potomac because it doesn’t look like he’s old enough)? Anywhere in NW/Moco will work for us. Thank you!

Um, you’re not ready for the uber competitive world of soccer, yet just rattled off 6,784,357 potential options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clubs don't teach skills, you learn skills on your own, with trainers, etc. Clubs teach you how to play the game.

This needs to be emphasized for all new travel parents otherwise you'll be one of the delusionals on here 4-5 years from now claiming the club doesn't develop and that the kids getting other opportunities are the result of favoritism.

I’m not even sure some teams in the area even do that.

[Anonymous]

Yep, the clubs/leagues/teams are simply a venue.

None of those 6 options will actually train your kid, even the DCSC blue team, which would be the 'highest level' on that list.

This is unbelievable to parents who are paying $3000+ per year at the younger ages of travel.

Then the expenses keep getting higher.... And even by high school, your kid needs to be doing cone work / ball work on their own, because they will get very few touches in training, even on the top teams. Yet they will be averaging 8 hours a week driving to team training and matches (and that is the average, it will be higher half the time!)

Coaches will be evaluating your kid constantly, but not actually teaching them.

Suddenly rec soccer starts to sound pretty great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Short of hiring a coach, which of the following programs would offer the best fit for a U8 to hone his skills and continue having fun.

Kid says he LOVES soccer and skill-wise, it does look like he has outgrown rec soccer, but he’s U8 so we (aka the parents) are not ready yet for the uber-competitive world, but hoping to get him a solid training beyond volunteer coaches to further improve his technical skills/ability to read the game.

Choices arranged alphabetically:
1. BritAm all stars academy playing (SAM/Sam select league)
2. DC soccer select Blue, Red, White, Silver team (MDSL D2)
3. DC soccer travel Blue/Red-White/Silver team (NCSL, CPSL, MDSL D1)
4. MSI Silver or Gold
5. PPA blue/orange/yellow team (Sam Select)
6. PPA green team (Sam Select)

Any other choices (not including Bethesda because it sounds too intense and Potomac because it doesn’t look like he’s old enough)? Anywhere in NW/Moco will work for us. Thank you!

Let your kid use you tube and find videos. They can learn a lot on you tube. Also, let them watch soccer. They will learn more by these two things than going to a club at this age.

[Anonymous]

Lots of technical ball-handling videos on YouTube

When kid can do a move quickly with both feet they got it.

[Anonymous]

Based on what you described, I would recommend DC Eleven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of technical ball-handling videos on YouTube

When kid can do a move quickly with both feet they got it.

Its the most simple and most effective