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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
Truly, I don't think it really matters. I always prefer to see a coach with an A license or similar, mostly because I believe that it means he/she takes their role seriously. However, I know some coaches with A licenses that are 1. jerks and 2. not great coaches. I also know coaches with C licenses that I think are excellent. It really depends on the person. |
Anonymous
I know some Rec coaches that beat out many A-licensed coaches out there. I take those with a grain of salt. Yeah--if it's a big club there should some amongst the staff. But, I truly have run into some truly horrible coaches with 'high' licenses. |
Anonymous
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While there will always be exceptions with a few rec coaches having a good combo of good coaching and knowledge about soccer, the rule is the higher the license the more serious the person has taken their coaching jobs and usually translates to better run practices and being able to impart knowledge to their team.
That being said, I have seen the higher the license, the higher the position within a club, the more money and more administrative duties which can sap the energy from an enthusiastic coach. |
Anonymous
Same here. I think my kids have had 5 A-licensed coaches through the years, and 3 of them were by far the worst coaches they have had. Of the other two, one was great (had played on youth national teams in his native country and lived and breathed soccer) and one was so-so. All three of the poor coaches were well-intentioned, but they kind of reminded us of the "gunners" we met in law school. They seemed very focused on achieving the top level because they cared a lot about having top credentials and were focused on career advancement, but none of them had much in the way of common sense, ability to work with kids, or an instinctive understanding of how to teach soccer or change tactics based on the actual kids they had. They also tended to disrupt practices a lot to talk about the "theory" of why they wanted the kids to do something particular, which tended to make the kids crazy. We have learned through the years that you always have to do your due diligence if you care a lot about the kind of soccer training your kids are going to receive. There is no replacement for watching a coach and team in training and games (and ideally, practicing with the team) and talking to a variety of knowledgeable parents about their experience with particular coaches and clubs. It's amazing how forthcoming people are if you are seriously interested in figuring out a good fit for your child. |
Anonymous
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It's worth remembering what the licensing courses teach you and what they don't. They teach tons of soccer technique and tactics, and the good ones teach ways to run practices that flow nicely. They teach very little about building rapport with kids.
You'll certainly find a lot of "book-smart" coaches who have no idea how to communicate their ideas. That said, you do want coaches who are up to speed on what's going on in the sport. If you see coaches running heading drills for U8s, you've found coaches who aren't paying attention. |
Anonymous
You are exactly correct. I have a D license (not a big deal but). Everything is useful, but they really need to add child psychology in there. There are a lot of good books on the topics of how to build kid's confidence, improve teamwork, etc. Soccer Tough is one. I also think the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) stuff is quite good. Some of it is hokey but I strongly believe that kids need to have fun and feel confident while you are providing those technical/tactics sessions. My son is 10 and was in a camp and the instructor was doing a drill and afterward, my son said..."Dad, he could have made that so much more fun by doing [this and that], and would have got the same result from us...and all he did was yell. Some of it was encouraging but then he would just take it away with something negative." I'm glad he can recognize these things and deal with them but the point is, the best technical/tactical "A" license coach may not know how to communicate with kids. I strongly recommend that all parents go and get an "F" license if they will be around soccer for a while. It's like 6 hours on a Saturday. Many clubs provide for free (I think Vienna does) but it isn't expensive. I also recommend attending a PCA workshop (2 hours on a week day night in the fall and spring). All coaches in the NCSL must attend every year or two. The F license can help you understand how young players develop and the PCA workshop gives you idea on how you can support and encourage players. I think Burke has all rec coaches do it. It's hard to find a coach that has it all. |
Anonymous
PCA workshops are quite good. I wish more "pro" coaches would heed the lessons. The "F" license is online now. Takes about three hours, and you don't have to do it all at once. It's excellent. The "E" is so-so. If you get a good instructor, it can help. The "D" is tricky because you're supposed to get it to coach U14s, but then you need to have video of yourself already coaching U14s to complete the class. Catch-22. |
Anonymous
| With the D license, you can just work with an older team within your club. That's what I did. Just reach out to their coach and ask if you can run a session for your license. It went well. And yes, you are correct. F is online now. Sorry for the bad info. It used to be 6 hours ona Saturday. As a matter of fact, when I first started coaching, I liked the F license enough to do it twice. Learned a lot out kids. |
Anonymous
| Would it to be too late for my son to join a travel team? He has played soccer in the streets, but joined house only 3 seasons ago. Many classmates saw him play at a school game and said he should join travel, but we think it is too late. He is 14 years old turning 15 in November. |
Anonymous
No its not too late. There are many kids playing rec at that age U14 who could play on travel teams but don't for time/financial reasons. |
Anonymous
I think they mean too late to get on a team for next year...if so, go to the website of whatever club you are looking for your son to play with and find a coach to contact. Email him/her and explain your situation. Maybe you'll be invited to a session to be evaluated. |
Anonymous
There is ALWAYS room still available on rosters if your kid is really good. Even if your kid is not amazing there are many travel teams that are short on kids born in certain years due to the age group adjustments. I'm sure there are 3-4 clubs within a 15 minute drive of where you live . Just call and email the coaches and those clubs and tell them your situation. |
Anonymous
You may have to call around a little bit, but most teams leave some space by design. It is not uncommon to add players over the summer due to moves into the area, or kids are given the summer to train with the team and see if they can close the gap. Administratively, since he is not a carded travel player he could be added at any point, even mid-season. |
Anonymous
OK - so he started playing soccer late and has played house for 3 seasons, and now wants to see if he can pursue travel, although many travel teams have already finished tryouts? Below is the link for ODSL, which is a "bridging" or "crossover" league from REC to Travel. As mentioned before, look up the teams in your sons sage group and start making calls or sending emails to see if he can get invited to a practice or tryout. Many of these teams also have teams that play in NCSL, if he's really good enough at this point, he may be considered for a higher-level team. http://odsl.org/Structures/index_E.html |
Anonymous
| PAC in Falls Church still hasn't finished forming their teams for the next year - try-outs are on-going. |