Professional soccer players- do you think they stood out at a young age?

[Anonymous]

I just want to add that I think the majority of parents and kids have no idea what it really takes to make it to that level. Many parents that were not around somebody that made it to that level just really have no idea. Their kid shows a little bit of promise at kiddie soccer and he/she is the next big thing. Having seen up close what is really behind the scenes has given me the benefit of reality. I don't diminish my kids' dreams. They have to dream. But, I do remind them how much kids all over the Country, around the world are working. Nothing comes without hard work combined with genetics. The latter they have no control over.

[Anonymous]

I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

Yes! Pulisic’s parents said this about their own son and were very quiet about his potential early on, even with the recognition he started getting.

Unfortunately, everything in the DMV is based on pre-puberty. Roster changes are set prior a good deal of the time even when kids catch up and exceed talent on those teams.

We love the “next big thing”, ulittle stars in the US system. They are considered fully developed by 15-ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all know what you're trying to ask here.

Yes, and the answer is, "sorry, OP, your kid is not that good."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

This makes me smile. My dad was a coach for decades. When he came out to my firstborn's rec games, there was this kid that was the talk all over town. He was and running circles, dribbling around everyone, Hispanic. Travel coaches were treating him like he was Messi his first few years. I told my dad, you have to come watch him play. My dad came out and watched. He turned to me and said, 'those kids rarely pan out. He will also be the same height at 17'. So, years later, these kids are now 15 and my dad was right. That player is not even in the top 30 of players in the Club, just average at best. There are many more like him I've seen over the years and I always smile to myself when I see people getting so hyped up about these kids in the younger years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

Meanwhile, at places like Ajax, they are scouting kids from 5 on up: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

As other PPs have noted, virtually all current pros stood out from a young age. They are all athletically gifted, whether they look like your typical American basketball or football athletic star or not. Whether you make it depends on not just your genetics and work rate, but also your family situation, attitude, the training environment you find (or don't), and all sorts of luck. Puberty can certainly play a role (especially with respect to positions where height is favored), but less so than in many other sports.

I'd also mention that in my experience there are relatively few people who can accurately assess a kid's soccer ability at a young age (in terms of predicting which kids have the potential to be great--most halfway decent coaches or knowledgeable observers can tell you very quickly which kids will never make it due to their athletic limitations). We've run across very few in our youth soccer years. The most impressive we found was a dad on one of my kid's teams who was absolutely obsessed with the game. He was the go-to source for all the other parents (most of us new to the sport), and was happy to share what he thought the potential ceiling was for our kids, who were around 10, if they kept training hard. With only one exception, he correctly predicted which kids would drop the sport within a couple of years, which would make the HS team, and which had D3 or D1 college potential. He also IDd 2 kids on opposing teams with pro potential, and sure enough, they have both been starters on youth national teams. He was never a serious player himself, but was much better at recognizing talent and describing kids' particular gifts than any of the coaches we had at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

Meanwhile, at places like Ajax, they are scouting kids from 5 on up: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

As other PPs have noted, virtually all current pros stood out from a young age. They are all athletically gifted, whether they look like your typical American basketball or football athletic star or not. Whether you make it depends on not just your genetics and work rate, but also your family situation, attitude, the training environment you find (or don't), and all sorts of luck. Puberty can certainly play a role (especially with respect to positions where height is favored), but less so than in many other sports.

I'd also mention that in my experience there are relatively few people who can accurately assess a kid's soccer ability at a young age (in terms of predicting which kids have the potential to be great--most halfway decent coaches or knowledgeable observers can tell you very quickly which kids will never make it due to their athletic limitations). We've run across very few in our youth soccer years. The most impressive we found was a dad on one of my kid's teams who was absolutely obsessed with the game. He was the go-to source for all the other parents (most of us new to the sport), and was happy to share what he thought the potential ceiling was for our kids, who were around 10, if they kept training hard. With only one exception, he correctly predicted which kids would drop the sport within a couple of years, which would make the HS team, and which had D3 or D1 college potential. He also IDd 2 kids on opposing teams with pro potential, and sure enough, they have both been starters on youth national teams. He was never a serious player himself, but was much better at recognizing talent and describing kids' particular gifts than any of the coaches we had at the time.

That's really cool! Did he ever articulate what he was looking for?

[Anonymous]

If you've been around the boys scene in the DMV for a while you'll probably remember the name Sandor Bustamante. About 8-10 years ago he was highly touted as next big thing. He played at LMVSC under David Camara, then ended up going to Cornelia in Barcelona and was tearing it up for a while there.

Here's how much he stood out a young age:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8QKn67ZP6M

Here he is in a feature on Telemundo at U15 - back in VA training during the summer but still playing in Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jprzVpaEoic

He was also on the U15 USYNT.

By U16 he was back in VA, and played the next 3 years at DCU academy. He was still a good player but by no means one of the stars: http://dcut.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=3939340&player=265458647

Last I heard he was on trial at DCU's USL team, but I don't know if he made the roster.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but most of them faded away. Out of every 30K that stood out, few made it. Passion is more important and love than talent. What age are you talking about? 6? You are delusional. 14, you might be onto something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live overseas and we would have a number of European scouts come to the tournaments we attended. The first thing they would say was "don't even talk to me until after your kid reaches puberty." It was such a massive change that they really didn't feel there was much value watching or scouting kids until after that point.

Meanwhile, at places like Ajax, they are scouting kids from 5 on up: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

As other PPs have noted, virtually all current pros stood out from a young age. They are all athletically gifted, whether they look like your typical American basketball or football athletic star or not. Whether you make it depends on not just your genetics and work rate, but also your family situation, attitude, the training environment you find (or don't), and all sorts of luck. Puberty can certainly play a role (especially with respect to positions where height is favored), but less so than in many other sports.

I'd also mention that in my experience there are relatively few people who can accurately assess a kid's soccer ability at a young age (in terms of predicting which kids have the potential to be great--most halfway decent coaches or knowledgeable observers can tell you very quickly which kids will never make it due to their athletic limitations). We've run across very few in our youth soccer years. The most impressive we found was a dad on one of my kid's teams who was absolutely obsessed with the game. He was the go-to source for all the other parents (most of us new to the sport), and was happy to share what he thought the potential ceiling was for our kids, who were around 10, if they kept training hard. With only one exception, he correctly predicted which kids would drop the sport within a couple of years, which would make the HS team, and which had D3 or D1 college potential. He also IDd 2 kids on opposing teams with pro potential, and sure enough, they have both been starters on youth national teams. He was never a serious player himself, but was much better at recognizing talent and describing kids' particular gifts than any of the coaches we had at the time.

That's really cool! Did he ever articulate what he was looking for?

It really was cool--he was very generous with his time. He seemed to have a mental checklist of the sort I'm sure scouts use. He would talk about kids' athleticism (not as much speed or strength, but how coordinated and quick they were, their balance, side to side motion, etc.), their skills and how they struck the ball, whether they saw the field or game well enough to make decisions about passing or taking players on 1 v 1, whether they were aggressive/gritty or timid, and how much they seemed to enjoy being out there. He had suggestions for different things kids could do to improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but most of them faded away. Out of every 30K that stood out, few made it. Passion is more important and love than talent. What age are you talking about? 6? You are delusional. 14, you might be onto something.

At pro level, without talent and genetics, it doesn’t matter how much passion you have.

You need all 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just watched the Steven Gerrard documentary. Very cool to watch videos of him at young ages. Yes, he certainly stood out.

I watched it too. He was a standout from the very early years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know what you're trying to ask here.

Yes, and the answer is, "sorry, OP, your kid is not that good."

You have not seen my kid play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know what you're trying to ask here.

Yes, and the answer is, "sorry, OP, your kid is not that good."

You have not seen my kid play.

Listen, my kid has competed in three national championships in three different sports and is only 11. I am not going to specialize her in anything until she is ready for the commitment after puberty. If your kid is under 12 and shows athletism of that level, I would let him/her choose they’re own path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but most of them faded away. Out of every 30K that stood out, few made it. Passion is more important and love than talent. What age are you talking about? 6? You are delusional. 14, you might be onto something.

I coached this girl for rev that I called ‘little Marta’ . She was just very creative and quick on the ball. She’s an amazing athlete through and through. I could even put her in the goal and she was amazing there too, though she’d never really played goalie before. Most of the travel teams rejected her because she was small for her age. Dumb!! She’s still petite but she’s definitely playing D1 soccer and she’s great. And she loves soccer.

I’ve actually met Marta and - shhhh don’t tell the Americans but she is quite petite.
All Americans think is ‘bigger is better’.