Arlington U11/U12 pre-academy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand bringing guest players to every game and playing them over kids on your own roster. And those parents whose kids are sitting out are returning next year for more of the same?

What team are the guests coming from if this is the top team in the age group?

Official roster is 11 players. For 9v9 games, would like guest players in case of injury or illness. Usually 2-3 guest players from 2015 PA2. Sometimes, couple games only had 1 guest player from PA2.

[Anonymous]

1-2 guests is plenty for those short games in small fields.

With team apps, coaches know who is attending. If your 11 players mark yes, you don't need any guests.

If you do bring guests, they are there to spell your rostered players, all of whom should be playing most of the game with an 11 girl roster playing 9v9.

But parents are saying you have some girls playing less than half the game, which is insane with an 11 girl team playing 9v9. How is that even possible unless you are bringing too many guests and for the wrong reasons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s what many thought too until offers went out and it was evident that the guests were simply brought in from 2015 age group to win. One or two trapped players who ultimately got offers were brought in a few times, but more often than not were guest players who were staying in the 2015 age group. If development is the goal, why not play rostered 2016s and allow 2016 PA2s to guest?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand bringing guest players to every game and playing them over kids on your own roster. And those parents whose kids are sitting out are returning next year for more of the same?

What team are the guests coming from if this is the top team in the age group?

I heard other parents say the top PA2/PA1 teams from 2015. Somehow they know who all the players are while I am still learning their kids names 😅

Sounds like the club brought trapped 2015 players to games to get a good look for next year. Some of the parents of those players decided to stay at 2015 for next year. This definitely is not an individual coach’s decision and it is not a normal guesting situation.

Either way, just have your daughter put in work and quit whining on here. You’re not going to complain your way to the top.

If it was about winning, wouldn’t they have brought in P1 players? They were looking to bring down players from 2015 but ultimately chose against it. They were also sending a message to the kids towards the end of the 2016 roster that there was a possibility they could get cut with the age change.

I think this is mostly parents looking for reasons to complain. Even 13 players on a 9v9 is fine.

[Anonymous]

100% all of this. Sounds like you need to find a new team.

Anonymous wrote:1-2 guests is plenty for those short games in small fields.

With team apps, coaches know who is attending. If your 11 players mark yes, you don't need any guests.

If you do bring guests, they are there to spell your rostered players, all of whom should be playing most of the game with an 11 girl roster playing 9v9.

But parents are saying you have some girls playing less than half the game, which is insane with an 11 girl team playing 9v9. How is that even possible unless you are bringing too many guests and for the wrong reasons?

[Anonymous]

Our coach has brought in allegedly lesser guest players from lower/younger teams and told the kids that their spots aren't safe.

It's been done for that purpose at times.

It should be monitored by the club but like so many things, it hasn't been. Very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why they didn't bring down PA1 players, but most of the PA2 players they brought down were not kids who were even eligible to repeat U11

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what many thought too until offers went out and it was evident that the guests were simply brought in from 2015 age group to win. One or two trapped players who ultimately got offers were brought in a few times, but more often than not were guest players who were staying in the 2015 age group. If development is the goal, why not play rostered 2016s and allow 2016 PA2s to guest?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand bringing guest players to every game and playing them over kids on your own roster. And those parents whose kids are sitting out are returning next year for more of the same?

What team are the guests coming from if this is the top team in the age group?

I heard other parents say the top PA2/PA1 teams from 2015. Somehow they know who all the players are while I am still learning their kids names 😅

Sounds like the club brought trapped 2015 players to games to get a good look for next year. Some of the parents of those players decided to stay at 2015 for next year. This definitely is not an individual coach’s decision and it is not a normal guesting situation.

Either way, just have your daughter put in work and quit whining on here. You’re not going to complain your way to the top.

If it was about winning, wouldn’t they have brought in P1 players? They were looking to bring down players from 2015 but ultimately chose against it. They were also sending a message to the kids towards the end of the 2016 roster that there was a possibility they could get cut with the age change.

I think this is mostly parents looking for reasons to complain. Even 13 players on a 9v9 is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1-2 guests is plenty for those short games in small fields.

With team apps, coaches know who is attending. If your 11 players mark yes, you don't need any guests.

If you do bring guests, they are there to spell your rostered players, all of whom should be playing most of the game with an 11 girl roster playing 9v9.

But parents are saying you have some girls playing less than half the game, which is insane with an 11 girl team playing 9v9. How is that even possible unless you are bringing too many guests and for the wrong reasons?

U11 and U12 boy teams have 15-16 players on the roster for 9v9.

[Anonymous]

How is that relevant to a coach bringing in guests when he has plenty of subs from his own team?

[Anonymous]

15 or 16 for 9v9 is a cash grab.

[Anonymous]

11 on a 9v9 roster could be tough if even one kid gets sick. Why such a low # to start with?

Our U12 team this year played 9v9 with 14 on the roster. It was great. Lots of playing time, and only needed guests for one tournament over a Spring Break wkd.

[Anonymous]

I assumed the low number on the first team would be to allow guest players from the second team some opportunities, but that would have been an approach that was good for kids development, not a coach obsessed with winning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand bringing guest players to every game and playing them over kids on your own roster. And those parents whose kids are sitting out are returning next year for more of the same?

What team are the guests coming from if this is the top team in the age group?

Exactly! This makes me question this Coach, big time, and his decision-making… Very strange…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait what?

The coach was bringing in guest kids to play "down" ALL SEASON and playing those kids over kids paying to be on that team, who were not even playing half the game? (These games are not that long!) For completely meaningless games?

And there are (alleged) "parents" on here defending that?

Wow. Wild.

Exactly, yikes. Wild West in Arlington with Coach AK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, AK is definitely pretending to be a parent! Move on already, you’ve had your 2 years with this group.

Anonymous wrote:AK is a great coach! I have to agree that he plays the stronger players longer than others but don’t disagree with him. If a player loses the ball more than half the time, it does not make sense for them to start or play longer than the stronger players. The girls who played longer are the stronger players. Guest players are used as it is a small roster for 9v9 games. This spring, the team have either won or tied games without any losses. We wished he kept our daughter on his team but understood why he did not. She has a lot to work on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also add that the coach for 2016G PA1 is stubborn. He does not know how to adjust to games when his team is losing. He will keep his favorites in despite failures, and pulls the rest of the team for one bad pass. He also routinely brings girls down from the 2015 age group to guest so that he can win rather than develop the team he is supposed to be coaching. He was previously the coach for Arlington's 2013G, and most parents on that team agree he did not prepare them adequately to play ECNL. He has some weird clout in the club though despite being overwhelmingly ineffective.

Strange how quick folks are to jump on parents for offering an opinion/ information. Isn’t that the point of this forum? Anyway…

OP, as a parent considering a U9 offer, I found this helpful. In your experience is this isolated to a single coach? Or is lack of development and favoritism a more pervasive problem across the club at the U-Little age groups?

Not strange if you understood what they are saying and who they are saying it about. All opinions are dependent on one’s perspective but it sounds like they have a child that did not play much or was not favored. They believe this is why their kid was not developed to be as strong a player as they could have been.

Take a look at the other thread regarding favoritism. Rather than owning their own development, they would rather whine and make excuses.

Not the OP, but every player at this level is pretty good, no true standouts at the U-little level. The more they play, however, the more they standout because they’re developing their game iq. I don’t have experience with AK personally, but have heard horror stories.

I have experience with AK at the younger ages. All players play at least half the game. The strongest players play most of the game. This sounds like parents of kids who weren’t deemed to be the strongest.

Didn’t his team beat an older year Arlington team this weekend? Must be doing something right.

His team also played up in the President’s Cup and will be heading to semifinals at the end of the month.

Yes impressive win over Clarke County ranked 1715 in the nation. No other coach could have done that.

How did you do at Jeff Cup this year?

Ouch. LOL.

[Anonymous]

Nothing is more obvious on here then when a coach or club admin posts on here pretending to be a parent.