Yet look at 5’8, 145 pound Pulisic crushing it in the Bundesliga and Premiere League. He does have speed. |
| ^5’10.5-5’11” is the average height of a Fifa player so, yes Pulisic is 3 inches shorter than the average. In Germany where he played from 16-18 the average height is 6’0”- so he was 4 inches shorter |
| Whats the one factor you are leaving out ?? genetics !! both of his parents were D1 soccer athletes.. |
Oh no-totally. I played on the same college team as one of them. |
| Let's discuss maraona's height |
| Maradona |
| This thread is entitled Playing Time Expectations. So IMO, a key question might be, when do these genetics assert themselves? Should an 8 or 9 YO see significantly less time than a larger peer even if the child has a great soccer pedigree? Honestly, most coaches have NO idea which kids have soccer-playing parents. So what determines field time? First impression of talent, right? Which perpetuates itself because more field time leads to greater improvement. This is not to say that travel teams should be totally equal. But this IS to say that potential cannot be assumed at these early ages, and there should be at least a 50 percent game minimum, along with position switching, until age 12 or so. |
Yes our experience is that the reduced playing time based on size starts very young in some places with bad coaches. At U9/U10 the child might play slightly less or not start but by the time it's U11 or U12 they may sit out entire games. Again, this is with BAD coaches. We have seen clumsy big kids who can't kick a ball get put in much of the game because coaches just assume they are better. The small kid has to prove he's better. The lack of playing time builds up and can lead to discouragement. It also makes it feel like less of a team. My child is not big, not small but we don't like the coach's and club's attitude about this so we're leaving. A few teammates have already left. This is at a big club that stresses player development. What a joke. |
BRYC loses another one. |
| In same position as above and NOT BRYC. Largish well known club. |
OP says club stresses player development, it most be one of those clubs in the NPL league. |
He gets crushed in the premier league. He is just so small he gets beat up. That said he is on the wrong team, has the wrong coach and is being played in the wrong position when he gets on the field. |
What determines playing time and team. First it is aggression from that pool speed and size. Having been around this a while aggression at u9-u12 has no correlation to the players soccer IQ or skill abilities. A lot of time it masks the lack of those. These will not show till u14. |
The other thing that is BS is all the conditioning work. I guess it is easy for a coach to do but it this is middle and high school level play. A really good athlete(not a great one) who is out of shape will still beat 95% of the other kids even if the other kids are in great shape. I have seen practices where 3/4 of the time is conditioning work. |
This is a Montgomery County club right |