DA "part time player" offer, anyone experienced this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We asked where our child would be rostered and the answer was, "both". We asked which coach would do their player evals and they said, "the DA coach".

Sounds to me as though they want to place your DD on the FT roster but haven’t seen enough yet to justify it given their current roster. I’d think given that kind of answer that if she performs over the first month and DA game opportunities she might get called up to FT.

[Anonymous]

They told us so much of it was size and mass. They said they believe in child but want to see if there is growth and maturation.

[Anonymous]

Oh one more thing, our top DA scorer BY FAR was a DP the year before. He is now phenomenal. Hat tricks left and right. That said, we don't have any other DPs on the team last year or this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overtraining - going to 1-4 practices with a DA team and then 2-3 practices with their regular team.

I think parents just don’t care about injuries, burnout etc. I have had 3 play at an elite level and no one talks about this UNLESS you have experienced a real injury. I had to work very hard to protect my kids from overuse because coaches don’t care. Your child is not their child, and your child is interchangeable with kits of others.

When people are telling you that you are clueless you really should listen to them.

That is not how it works. You train no more than 4 days a week period. The composition of who you train with is scheduled out. You could train 2 days with DA/ECNL and 2 days with your team totaling 4 or 3 days with your team and 1 day with DA/ECNL.

You play ALL the games with your non-DA/ECNL team and you may get some occasional games with the DA/ECNL if they are earned.

To last poster, that is theoretical, at least from what I've observed. Here is what we've actually experienced. DA training 2 times a week. Team training 2-3 times a week. 1-2 regular team games on the weekend, and on some weekends 1 DA game as a PT player. That is up to 5 training sessions and 3 games in a given week. This may be fine and dandy for a 16-18 yr old, but not for a 13-15 yr old, especially girls that are prone to knee injuries due to knee joint and muscle development in these early teen years. Yes, SOME weeks it is less than this, but many aren't. Anyhow - not sure which DA club your kid is with … but it appears to be a different one than the one my kid is with. Just providing facts from the what we've experienced.

Now to the other posters, my opinion is that each kid and family makes their own choices, but make sure you ask and set expectations with the DA/ECNL coaching staff and the non-DA/ECNL coaching staff and then monitor how it goes and provide immediate feedback if they start abusing the process. Remember, they work for you and you pay them, not the other way around. If your kid is good enough then if they abuse it they will either correct their behavior or you can go somewhere else.

I'm not the poster you are responding to, but what you are describing is against the rules for USSDA and could get your club in trouble. USSDA "recommends" PT players have 1-2 practices per week with each team (DA and non-DA). It requires PT players follow the USSDA play-to-rest ratio which does not allow you to play 3 games in a weekend (you cannot even play 3 games in 3 days; for example, that's why the U15B showcase in San Diego is Thursday, Friday, and Sunday because Saturday is a required day of rest).

Well, we wouldn't want the PT players to be unprepared when we play them in DA games would we? There's nothing more EMBARRASING to some coaches, is there?

So dramatic. Perhaps it is an indication you are with the wrong club with a poor group of coaches? Perhaps you should hear what others are trying to tell you and consider other options instead of playing the victim. It's tryout season, take the opportunity to leave the club you appear to disagree with and if you don't then stop complaining about the situation you have chosen for your kid. The rules exist to avoid injuries which are extremely common for players playing at a high level while their bodies are growing. My kid plays DA and has played competitive soccer for about 9 years and I can honestly say I have never cared whether or not the coach is embarrassed.

Different posters replying here. Anyhow, I am the 14:07 poster, but not the later posters. Not “playing the victim”. Just providing info. Also, we did leave that club and did cut back on the training exactly because of this practice. But we had to do this, else the coaches would have just kept on going. We can take care of our kid just fine thanks. Yes, there are stated USSF guidelines and rules, but this club did not adhere to them tightly and there is no real enforcement of these things. It is up to the parents to observe and do what’s best.