Its (not) the most wonderful time of the year

[Anonymous]

Oh try outs!! And early ID sessions and everyone talking. My daughter is currently U13. Will repeat U13 next season. Currently on the 3rd team at a large club (not DC area). A few players on her team moved up to RL. She isn't ready. I'm fine with that. She is 12 and isn't done growing! Only 4 players on current team are coming back. Some are leaving for others clubs and some are done with soccer all together. Do we stay with a coach we know, or try a new club? Kinda nervous that people are jumping ship...

[Anonymous]

It depends on your goals and your situation.

Frankly, the things your daughter needs to work on are the same regardless of the club.

So it’s the other stuff (coach quality, convenience, teammates, drama) that you have to weigh specific to your situation.

[Anonymous]

we like the coach- some other parents don't. first year with this club so i hate club hopping. the goal is to play in HS (competitive HS) and maybe D3. but we have a ways to go. we don't know the teammates since its new players

[Anonymous]

I think you have to try to tune out all the other noise and just focus on what your daughter wants and what you think will work best for your family next year. There will always be people coming and going from a club. Maybe more so this year with age group changes. Sometimes half the team will leave if it’s a bad situation. Other times most of the team stays together. It stinks when we aren’t even halfway through the spring season, and the sideline conversations are just focused on who is staying and who is leaving. The conversations can get awkward because whenever someone shares their decision, it makes others tend to re-examine their own decisions. I am learning that different kids and families have different priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you have to try to tune out all the other noise and just focus on what your daughter wants and what you think will work best for your family next year. There will always be people coming and going from a club. Maybe more so this year with age group changes. Sometimes half the team will leave if it’s a bad situation. Other times most of the team stays together. It stinks when we aren’t even halfway through the spring season, and the sideline conversations are just focused on who is staying and who is leaving. The conversations can get awkward because whenever someone shares their decision, it makes others tend to re-examine their own decisions. I am learning that different kids and families have different priorities.

All of this. Also, you can very much expect that, if your daughter sticks with the sport, she will end up being teammates again with some of the players currently leaving. Many will bounce around.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! This is helpful. Trying to tune out the noise. I know the 4 that moved up- should move up. Thats not the problem. We have been burned in the past staying with a club and we lost a lot of players and the next year the skill gap was huge. So I guess i'm just worried about that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! This is helpful. Trying to tune out the noise. I know the 4 that moved up- should move up. Thats not the problem. We have been burned in the past staying with a club and we lost a lot of players and the next year the skill gap was huge. So I guess i'm just worried about that

If it happens again, don’t beat yourself up. None of know what is going on next year and the Q4 kids will have a lot of options so there may be ambiguity in some teams until August.

With that said, we are “club hopping” to our 3rd club after one year at our 2nd club. We moved for the first time last year as I succumbed to the pressure of a big club and a 1st team offer. Wrong environment and correcting that decision this year. My kid was excited to go to the target clubs tryout from the moment he woke up and that is all that matters.