Why can't clubs treat "money grab" lower teams better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been very happy with BSC B and even C teams.
When you have 6, 7, 8 teams in an age group, that's not too low.

isnt it academy, then A-B-C? so like U9 has 5 teams but the A team is 3rd of 5? or is that wrong?

Kind of. U11 and under, it's Pre-Academy 1, Pre-Academy 2, Blue, Green, etc. So the Pre-Academy 1 team is their A team, the Blue team is their C team.
At U12, it's DA, Blue, Green, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS what the hell is Achilles and PPA thinking....their lower team plays SAM Select and their higher team plays EDP. How on earth can a kid go from playing against SAM Select players to EDP? It seems too big of a leap and sets those "second string" players up for failure if they ever want to leap to the next level.

You are completely right. They like SAM because they can stick one coach at the Soccerplex all day long for many games instead of having the coach potentially have to drive from game to game. In the latter scenario, they can't cover as many games (less $). Sal could care less who the competition of the SAM teams is. He has essentially already written these kids off. He appeases kids/parents (I would imagine that it is obvious at this point), by saying that "if they really try hard and do well," they can play up for EDP games which, of course, only happens when he is in a bind. I heard that for one 06 EDP game, most of the kids were away at a tournament. So, the 06 SAM team played the EDP and got destroyed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Sam Select has changed a lot in a few years. Lots of really good teams that are certainly much better than NCSL teams. Check the tournament results. Achilles and PPA do really well against the big clubs. It's a good match up. Achilles team 1 against McLean's top 1-2 teams. Achilles 2 against McLeans 2-3 teams. I know a number of players, mostly Spanish speaking players, who are opting for Sam Select teams when they have offers from "higher" level travel teams.

Achilles is a small club. Only 2 teams in each age group. The top teams get almost all of the focus, especially by Sal. More practices, tournaments, better practice times. They play in EDP. 2nd teams play SAM, but will probably switch to EDP lower div in the fall. The competition in SAM is very good. But not for a second do I think it matters what league the lower teams play in because it seems they will always be less respected. It is far more likely for Achilles to recruit new A team players from outside the club than to promote from within. But what can you expect when the B team kids are not being developed as promised? Even the smaller clubs have money grab issues since winning is clearly tied to management’s ego and it’s far easier to focus on one or two (currently) winning teams than to think long term about developing every player to his/her potential.

This reminds me of Barca Academy. I have kids on both A and B teams and the difference in the amount of attention, quality of coaches and number of tournaments is quite pronounced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been very happy with BSC B and even C teams.
When you have 6, 7, 8 teams in an age group, that's not too low.

isnt it academy, then A-B-C? so like U9 has 5 teams but the A team is 3rd of 5? or is that wrong?

Kind of. U11 and under, it's Pre-Academy 1, Pre-Academy 2, Blue, Green, etc. So the Pre-Academy 1 team is their A team, the Blue team is their C team.
At U12, it's DA, Blue, Green, etc.

Yes but you cannot really look at boys DA as first team of any club - it is a little beyond that. It generally draws from a much wider geographic area and deeper talent pool than conventional club first teams, even at Bethesda and Arlington. So most of Arlington’s DA players did not play at Arlington and are not from arlington. Bethesda might be a little different because I suspect that a lot of their DA players are from their pre-Academy teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS what the hell is Achilles and PPA thinking....their lower team plays SAM Select and their higher team plays EDP. How on earth can a kid go from playing against SAM Select players to EDP? It seems too big of a leap and sets those "second string" players up for failure if they ever want to leap to the next level.

You are completely right. They like SAM because they can stick one coach at the Soccerplex all day long for many games instead of having the coach potentially have to drive from game to game. In the latter scenario, they can't cover as many games (less $). Sal could care less who the competition of the SAM teams is. He has essentially already written these kids off. He appeases kids/parents (I would imagine that it is obvious at this point), by saying that "if they really try hard and do well," they can play up for EDP games which, of course, only happens when he is in a bind. I heard that for one 06 EDP game, most of the kids were away at a tournament. So, the 06 SAM team played the EDP and got destroyed.

This isn't just SAM. There are travel leagues that will schedule all the away games for a club at the same time so that coaches have to do less driving.

Achilles may have its own, selfish reasons for putting some of its teams in SAM but there are legitimate advantages of SAM for the families. Since you don't have to drive very far it makes it easier to play multiple sports. The fields are great. And the competition is getting better and better. Fewer huge clubs where parents pay $3000 a year and more smaller diverse clubs.

[Anonymous]

Why bother if your kid is only on the C team? What is the point? Just do club soccer. Sheesh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I get that my child is not going onto a career at Liverpool or even D1 soccer, but I don't understand why Steve Knapman (Potomac) or the Sal Caccavale (Achilles) or the Colton brothers (Bethesda) or any of the VA clubs can't get it together to have a decent playing experience for their second and third teams. I mean, how hard is it to find a decent coach, seed the team correctly, and pretend to care about the kids that they took so much money from? My DC and I would be perfectly happy to have him play against good players, a little above his level and have teammates who are at or a little above his skill level so he can develop as a player. We accepted an offer at a big club, but I'm wondering if the way to go next year isn't to find a decent team that's not part of a huge club playing at the higher levels of NCSL and get off the big club rat race. OK, rant over.

Like most of us with a realistic view of our kids’ soccer future, you are looking for the holy grail. If you find it, please let the rest of us know.

[Anonymous]

Most parents lack a basic understanding regarding youth sports. I did as well until my oldest kid was about 13. Kids who do well in a sport do so because they work at it all the time. Actual individual improvement takes place almost entirely due to work being done on your kid's own.

If your kid wants to be one of the better players they need: (1) very good athleticism. You must be fast. You must be quick. Size is good, but not an absolute requirement. Fitness, of course, is a given. Coaching has very little impact here. You can improve speed and quickness but that will not be done at a team practice and there will be limits.

(2) very good individual ball skills. Team practice again has almost no impact on this. Not enough time. Can your kid receive and make short, mid and long passes quickly (one touch) and accurately? Can they dribble in traffic with speed? Are they good with all surfaces of their foot? Simple starting test -- can they juggle for an unlimited time or not (couple hundred touches at least)?

There really is no substitute to working on your own. Every good player (and every sport) is already doing that. The more time and effort you spend -- the better you will get. It is not too late to start. But, remember that lots of other kids are doing the same extra work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are wondering why clubs don't spend more money on money grab teams? Really?

I don't think you have a good grasp of the purpose of a money grab team. It is to . . . wait for it . . . grab money. This means, in addition to collecting as much in fees as possible, controlling expenses as much as possible.

Yeah, but you have to keep them coming back if you want to keep grabbing their money.

[Anonymous]

Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

Never thought about it that way but you may just be right. Sure explains a lot although it doesn’t explain why being a good athlete precludes any kind of emotional IQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

Never thought about it that way but you may just be right. Sure explains a lot although it doesn’t explain why being a good athlete precludes any kind of emotional IQ.

Being a top athlete seems to require an emotional detachment and outsized ego. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

Never thought about it that way but you may just be right. Sure explains a lot although it doesn’t explain why being a good athlete precludes any kind of emotional IQ.

Being a top athlete seems to require an emotional detachment and outsized ego. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.

I’d argue that it’s not a particularly good thing if you’re working with children, for so many reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

This is just speculation. Many coaches have pretty mediocre skills so I doubt that all coaches used to play on top teams. The reason the clubs don't put much effort in lower level teams is that they get paid anyway by the parents and only the top team matters for recruiting purposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most guys who coach soccer have zero empathy for someone on a B team because they've never been that guy. They are where they are today because they were always the best player in their club growing up. I bet most of them have trouble fathoming why anyone would even be on a B team.

This is just speculation. Many coaches have pretty mediocre skills so I doubt that all coaches used to play on top teams. The reason the clubs don't put much effort in lower level teams is that they get paid anyway by the parents and only the top team matters for recruiting purposes.

I was about to say something similar. If these coaches had been such great players they likely wouldn't be coaching youth soccer now.

As for the lower teams, it is really a shame. Net, net, there are always kids on the second team that are as good as or even better than some of the kids on the first team. However, with time, their skills decline as they aren't being trained as well, or they lose confidence, etc.... If a few teams combined their second and third teams, it would be a much happier and productive experience for the kids and parents. Not sure about the coaches.