Top team offers are already out—how’s your team shaping up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay to play is also a problem…. From Sir Alex Ferguson in Leading:

"Almost all football players have working-class roots. Understandably, middle-class parents want to make sure their boys go to college or acquire skills which means football never gets as much attention in those households. Around the world, football attracts boys for whom further education is unlikely and who have no choice but to work very hard on acquiring and improving their football skills as the path towards a better life.

For almost all the British players who played for me, football was their ticket out of miserable circumstances.

David Beckham came from a small house in East London and his father worked as a heating engineer.

Paul Scholes grew up in a council house in Langley and Nicky Butt hailed from Gorton - both places where you won't see a Bentley parked in the drive.

Wayne Rooney comes from a hard neighbourhood in Liverpool and gave serious thought to becoming a professional boxer.

Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown both grew up in Longsight, a Manchester neighbourhood known for gang violence.

Bryan Robson's dad was a lorry driver.

Rio Ferdinand grew up in Peckham, one of the poorest areas of London.

The list is endless."

two things can be true at once. While I agree that pay to play is a problem and that adversity breeds a special kind of resiliency, there are also countless examples in sport, in particular, where privilege and parental resource investment (sometimes obsession) foster the conditions for peak performance greatness. Not perfect examples on all counts but Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Vonn, Trinity Rodman, Chloe Kim, the Williams sisters, Ichiro Suzuki, LaVar Ball. So many talented kids from harder streets never get the same leg up in life and never make it out. But yes, pay to play allows so much mediocre talent to overperform, low ceiling, high floor, but never to make a dominant USMNT.

Uh, Trin's dad had almost nothing to do with her growing up, and she and her mom and brother were borderline homeless at points. Admittedly, she probably got a genetic bonus and possibly some name recognition. Privilege and parental resource investment, not so much.

You're not wrong, but yeah name recognition is also big. Her name alone opened doors. Having famous athlete parents opens doors. We have a kid on our squad whose parent was on the USNT for a short period of time... the organization uses that for recruiting purposes. All orgs love big names and that kid plays for free and gets extra coaching. She is good though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay to play is also a problem…. From Sir Alex Ferguson in Leading:

"Almost all football players have working-class roots. Understandably, middle-class parents want to make sure their boys go to college or acquire skills which means football never gets as much attention in those households. Around the world, football attracts boys for whom further education is unlikely and who have no choice but to work very hard on acquiring and improving their football skills as the path towards a better life.

For almost all the British players who played for me, football was their ticket out of miserable circumstances.

David Beckham came from a small house in East London and his father worked as a heating engineer.

Paul Scholes grew up in a council house in Langley and Nicky Butt hailed from Gorton - both places where you won't see a Bentley parked in the drive.

Wayne Rooney comes from a hard neighbourhood in Liverpool and gave serious thought to becoming a professional boxer.

Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown both grew up in Longsight, a Manchester neighbourhood known for gang violence.

Bryan Robson's dad was a lorry driver.

Rio Ferdinand grew up in Peckham, one of the poorest areas of London.

The list is endless."

two things can be true at once. While I agree that pay to play is a problem and that adversity breeds a special kind of resiliency, there are also countless examples in sport, in particular, where privilege and parental resource investment (sometimes obsession) foster the conditions for peak performance greatness. Not perfect examples on all counts but Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Vonn, Trinity Rodman, Chloe Kim, the Williams sisters, Ichiro Suzuki, LaVar Ball. So many talented kids from harder streets never get the same leg up in life and never make it out. But yes, pay to play allows so much mediocre talent to overperform, low ceiling, high floor, but never to make a dominant USMNT.

Uh, Trin's dad had almost nothing to do with her growing up, and she and her mom and brother were borderline homeless at points. Admittedly, she probably got a genetic bonus and possibly some name recognition. Privilege and parental resource investment, not so much.

I knew one of you would clap back which is why I caveated these names aren't perfect. Hon, have you ever been to Newport Beach or seen who attends elite private school Junipero Serra High? Light years away from the mean streets of Liverpool and Manchester. Yes, Rodman had some periods of housing instability, but her family situation and neighborhood still solidly UMC by US income standards, let alone the places that Sir Alex is talking about.

Mike Tyson grew up poor. Trinity Rodman did not.

[Anonymous]

Larry Bird was dirt poor. Trinity Rodman was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rising u13 boys
2nd team

14 on current roster
Lost one to injury
Lost one to moving to the first team
12 players retained
Added 4 from outside

Some parents talking but when we accepted the offer via Playmetrics, it listed the players for the “future” team

This is also how we know how our team is shaping up.

[Anonymous]

We got an offer from the same club, but they haven't published the roster yet. We also tried out for a local club that we left 3 years ago, and they haven't made an offer yet, even though DS was a top 5 player in tryouts. I remember why we left, but uggh, I'm so sick of driving 45 minutes each way for practice on top of RTO commuting. We're going to wait out the crappy local team before we decline the much better team where we have an offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay to play is also a problem…. From Sir Alex Ferguson in Leading:

"Almost all football players have working-class roots. Understandably, middle-class parents want to make sure their boys go to college or acquire skills which means football never gets as much attention in those households. Around the world, football attracts boys for whom further education is unlikely and who have no choice but to work very hard on acquiring and improving their football skills as the path towards a better life.

For almost all the British players who played for me, football was their ticket out of miserable circumstances.

David Beckham came from a small house in East London and his father worked as a heating engineer.

Paul Scholes grew up in a council house in Langley and Nicky Butt hailed from Gorton - both places where you won't see a Bentley parked in the drive.

Wayne Rooney comes from a hard neighbourhood in Liverpool and gave serious thought to becoming a professional boxer.

Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown both grew up in Longsight, a Manchester neighbourhood known for gang violence.

Bryan Robson's dad was a lorry driver.

Rio Ferdinand grew up in Peckham, one of the poorest areas of London.

The list is endless."

two things can be true at once. While I agree that pay to play is a problem and that adversity breeds a special kind of resiliency, there are also countless examples in sport, in particular, where privilege and parental resource investment (sometimes obsession) foster the conditions for peak performance greatness. Not perfect examples on all counts but Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Vonn, Trinity Rodman, Chloe Kim, the Williams sisters, Ichiro Suzuki, LaVar Ball. So many talented kids from harder streets never get the same leg up in life and never make it out. But yes, pay to play allows so much mediocre talent to overperform, low ceiling, high floor, but never to make a dominant USMNT.

Uh, Trin's dad had almost nothing to do with her growing up, and she and her mom and brother were borderline homeless at points. Admittedly, she probably got a genetic bonus and possibly some name recognition. Privilege and parental resource investment, not so much.

I knew one of you would clap back which is why I caveated these names aren't perfect. Hon, have you ever been to Newport Beach or seen who attends elite private school Junipero Serra High? Light years away from the mean streets of Liverpool and Manchester. Yes, Rodman had some periods of housing instability, but her family situation and neighborhood still solidly UMC by US income standards, let alone the places that Sir Alex is talking about.

Mike Tyson grew up poor. Trinity Rodman did not.

Three things make you unable to be taken seriously:

"Clap back"
"Housing instability"
"Sir Alex"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rising u13 boys
2nd team

14 on current roster
Lost one to injury
Lost one to moving to the first team
12 players retained
Added 4 from outside

Some parents talking but when we accepted the offer via Playmetrics, it listed the players for the “future” team

This is also how we know how our team is shaping up.

This is interesting. I was wondering how people know. Next years team is not showing in playmetrics for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay to play is also a problem…. From Sir Alex Ferguson in Leading:

"Almost all football players have working-class roots. Understandably, middle-class parents want to make sure their boys go to college or acquire skills which means football never gets as much attention in those households. Around the world, football attracts boys for whom further education is unlikely and who have no choice but to work very hard on acquiring and improving their football skills as the path towards a better life.

For almost all the British players who played for me, football was their ticket out of miserable circumstances.

David Beckham came from a small house in East London and his father worked as a heating engineer.

Paul Scholes grew up in a council house in Langley and Nicky Butt hailed from Gorton - both places where you won't see a Bentley parked in the drive.

Wayne Rooney comes from a hard neighbourhood in Liverpool and gave serious thought to becoming a professional boxer.

Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown both grew up in Longsight, a Manchester neighbourhood known for gang violence.

Bryan Robson's dad was a lorry driver.

Rio Ferdinand grew up in Peckham, one of the poorest areas of London.

The list is endless."

two things can be true at once. While I agree that pay to play is a problem and that adversity breeds a special kind of resiliency, there are also countless examples in sport, in particular, where privilege and parental resource investment (sometimes obsession) foster the conditions for peak performance greatness. Not perfect examples on all counts but Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Vonn, Trinity Rodman, Chloe Kim, the Williams sisters, Ichiro Suzuki, LaVar Ball. So many talented kids from harder streets never get the same leg up in life and never make it out. But yes, pay to play allows so much mediocre talent to overperform, low ceiling, high floor, but never to make a dominant USMNT.

Curry brother's, Christian Pulisic, Shedeur Sanders (though the name wasn't that helpful in the draft haha), Bronny James, Arch Manning... so many more examples...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rising u13 boys
2nd team

14 on current roster
Lost one to injury
Lost one to moving to the first team
12 players retained
Added 4 from outside

Some parents talking but when we accepted the offer via Playmetrics, it listed the players for the “future” team

This is also how we know how our team is shaping up.

I can't see anything in Playmetrics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got an offer from the same club, but they haven't published the roster yet. We also tried out for a local club that we left 3 years ago, and they haven't made an offer yet, even though DS was a top 5 player in tryouts. I remember why we left, but uggh, I'm so sick of driving 45 minutes each way for practice on top of RTO commuting. We're going to wait out the crappy local team before we decline the much better team where we have an offer.

45 minutes each way is soul crushing. Hope your son gets on the local club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got an offer from the same club, but they haven't published the roster yet. We also tried out for a local club that we left 3 years ago, and they haven't made an offer yet, even though DS was a top 5 player in tryouts. I remember why we left, but uggh, I'm so sick of driving 45 minutes each way for practice on top of RTO commuting. We're going to wait out the crappy local team before we decline the much better team where we have an offer.

I can't imagine why the "crappy local team" that you left hasn't gotten back to you yet.

[Anonymous]

Did you go to all the tryouts for the "crappy" (your term) team? Did you reach out to the coach and explain why you want to return? A lot of kids go to tryouts for funsies and they probably think you aren't serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know tryout season just wrapped for most top teams. Is there a lot of movement on yours? Anyone make it who probably shouldn’t have?

Here’s how things went with my DC team:
• 2 new kids from outside the club
• 2 kids moved up from the B team
• 1 kid left for another club
• And somehow, 2 kids who clearly didn’t earn a top spot still made the cut

What’s the situation like with your team?

Is the coach suddenly flush with a new ride?

Boy post. Nearing the end of kids soccer journey and realizing (very late) how little most American coaches know about the sport even on top clubs/top teams in DMV.

If player seems not very skillful on top team coaches are likely on the take. A common option is for parents to pay for coaches’ car loans (hard for IRS to detect)

You will also see (because, again, soccer has become such a lucrative side gig for gym teachers) the selection of the 6 foot Adonis over skillful euro transplant because, hey, let’s face it, most American parents don’t understand the game.

This article details what success means for soccer and it goes against what most coaches think a good athlete is: Messi.

Memo to American soccer coaches: it’s skill - not necessarily height, speed, or thickness - that makes a country a world
Cup contender. (Prediction: look for Australia to be shock quarterfinal entrant while American coaches face the finger pointing next summer (yet again) for the failure to reach soccer heights: they’ve been recruiting children that demonstrate touch over ‘physicality’.

https://phys.org/news/2017-11-soccer-success-skill.amp

Why so much criticism about American system of soccer? Out of 211 countries in FIFA, American men are ranked 16 and women ranked 1. This is actually very good by any standard.

I think the biggest problem here is not the coaching. It’s the parents. The parents are the ones who can’t seem to understand what is needed and also drive the direction of the clubs and teams.

No it's the coaching. American style soccer is not what most of the world plays and why the men's team will never be great and why the women's now struggles. Our women's team was the only one with actual investment for decades and it showed. Now that other countries are investing in women's soccer things like what happened in the last World Cup happen to the US team. 'Athletic (big), strong, and fast ' is all America cares about. America is huge and his many internationally recognized players are there on the men's side from America? Where's our even Temu version of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, etc?

Yeah our women lost in the last World Cup. But they’ve done quite well since. They are still maintaining #1 rank. The younger women are living up to their role. They won the Olympics and won several other major tournaments. I disagree that they are struggling.

You mention those three elites. Yes Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal are traditionally better. Do you think Argentina would have won without Messi? Portugal and Brazil both lost in the quarterfinals even with Neymar and Ronaldo. Even without a Temu version of those iconic players, US still got to the round of 16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay to play is also a problem…. From Sir Alex Ferguson in Leading:

"Almost all football players have working-class roots. Understandably, middle-class parents want to make sure their boys go to college or acquire skills which means football never gets as much attention in those households. Around the world, football attracts boys for whom further education is unlikely and who have no choice but to work very hard on acquiring and improving their football skills as the path towards a better life.

For almost all the British players who played for me, football was their ticket out of miserable circumstances.

David Beckham came from a small house in East London and his father worked as a heating engineer.

Paul Scholes grew up in a council house in Langley and Nicky Butt hailed from Gorton - both places where you won't see a Bentley parked in the drive.

Wayne Rooney comes from a hard neighbourhood in Liverpool and gave serious thought to becoming a professional boxer.

Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown both grew up in Longsight, a Manchester neighbourhood known for gang violence.

Bryan Robson's dad was a lorry driver.

Rio Ferdinand grew up in Peckham, one of the poorest areas of London.

The list is endless."

two things can be true at once. While I agree that pay to play is a problem and that adversity breeds a special kind of resiliency, there are also countless examples in sport, in particular, where privilege and parental resource investment (sometimes obsession) foster the conditions for peak performance greatness. Not perfect examples on all counts but Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Vonn, Trinity Rodman, Chloe Kim, the Williams sisters, Ichiro Suzuki, LaVar Ball. So many talented kids from harder streets never get the same leg up in life and never make it out. But yes, pay to play allows so much mediocre talent to overperform, low ceiling, high floor, but never to make a dominant USMNT.

Curry brother's, Christian Pulisic, Shedeur Sanders (though the name wasn't that helpful in the draft haha), Bronny James, Arch Manning... so many more examples...

great points. Bills Nation Josh Allen, Chiefs Nation Patrick Mahomes both came from well-to-do if not wealthy backgrounds without name recognition parents (minus pedestrian MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes Sr.). Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, the list goes on and on.

Playin sports, especially in an elite training environment, is for the privileged. People in poverty, whether the inner city or Third World countries, are too busy trying to survive drugs, violence, unemployment, civil wars you name it. Yes, adversity breeds resiliency and greatness but there's a reason that rich countries that invest money in sports win Olympic medals and even large ones that don't care (India).

Super Eagles sometimes qualify for the World Cup, but have never gotten past the Group of 16 even with a 230 million population.
But Giannis Antetokounmpo and so many U.S.-born Naija are thriving in U.S. pro sports leagues, just a generation or two away from the homeland.

[Anonymous]

Our top team for 2014 and 2015 held tryouts (U12 & U11), but it was a sham. The coaches pre-picked kids to come join the team in practices ahead of tryouts. A few kids who got offers for the top team never even came to tryouts.

That was some shady back-door stuff.

I have a question for ECNL and GA @ U13. Are the ID sessions a sham too and do kids essentially get on those team ahead of time at secret practices also?