Suplemental leagues for extra playing time

[Anonymous]

My DS is a U12 travel player currently . Are there any supplemental leagues in the area I can put him in to get him extra playing time above his normal travel clubs weekend games? Outdoor, indoor, futsal any and all are appreciated. If not an actual team a drop in would work too.

[Anonymous]

I think most of the indoor places have pick up or drop in games. He may have to play with adults at times. Springfield, Annandale, Dulles, and Rockville all have multi field indoor complexes. Can anyone chime in as to the level of play at each?

[Anonymous]

If you're serious about his soccer development, you would be much better off finding some supplemental trainings on the weekends rather than looking for extra games.

[Anonymous]

OP here we are doing private skills training DS really wants to get on the field in some game situations . Honestly with so many of his friends playing video games and youtube. I am very happy he wants to get out and play soccer as much as he can. Is it un heard of to have a U12 play in a low level adult co-ed rec league as a 2nd league?

[Anonymous]

Agree on the training vs. games comment. HP Elite is good for supplemental training in a group setting. Techne is good for video “app” based self training. You can also look at individuals that provide supplemental training. These range from current college players looking to make some side dough to full time “professional” trainers that will cost you more.

For futsal, you can check out Puma Elite academy. It runs 40 sessions 1-2 times a week depending on the time of year. I am sure there are others but this is one I know of that is decent.

There is also Super Y which is a summer league with teams and practices, etc.

[Anonymous]

Once spring season is over many clubs do pick up nights. Arlington is one example and most clubs post the summer schedules for pick up. You could easily get out on the field several times a week using this method. Also Fairfax Sportsplex does an indoor summer league.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago my son who's an adult now. He was about 14 played goalie for an adult co-ed team. There is always a shortage of quality goalies in adult coed leagues. Unfortunately outfield players are universally interchangeable in adult coed leagues. There are quite a few low competitive coed leagues out there. Maybe contact the commissioner and ask to be an extra floating sub for teams that are shorthanded that week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're serious about his soccer development, you would be much better off finding some supplemental trainings on the weekends rather than looking for extra games.

This is crazy, how can people say that training alone is better than playing a game? Soccer is a game in which skills matter a lot, but understanding of the game and speed of play matter so much more. Watch any pro game any time and you'll see that the skills most players on the field use are minimal, but the decisions they make and the speed with which they make them are absolutely critical.

Soccer players hone their skills at practice, but don't know they'll work until they're in games- moreover, they have to be able to make decisions quickly and without thinking and this can only be learned in a game. If the kid's willing to apply what he knows in games, then it's great training. And while driving to travel games is a bad deal around here, a pickup game would do wonders for his confidence and skill development. There should be a multitude of adults playing pickup all over the city every weekend. You just need to find a regular game where Jr. fits in and likes the speed/skills/vibe and he'll do great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're serious about his soccer development, you would be much better off finding some supplemental trainings on the weekends rather than looking for extra games.

This is crazy, how can people say that training alone is better than playing a game? Soccer is a game in which skills matter a lot, but understanding of the game and speed of play matter so much more. Watch any pro game any time and you'll see that the skills most players on the field use are minimal, but the decisions they make and the speed with which they make them are absolutely critical.

Soccer players hone their skills at practice, but don't know they'll work until they're in games- moreover, they have to be able to make decisions quickly and without thinking and this can only be learned in a game. If the kid's willing to apply what he knows in games, then it's great training. And while driving to travel games is a bad deal around here, a pickup game would do wonders for his confidence and skill development. There should be a multitude of adults playing pickup all over the city every weekend. You just need to find a regular game where Jr. fits in and likes the speed/skills/vibe and he'll do great.

No wrong most pros do not have minimal individual skills. They are very skilled and make it look easy. They have to have the technical skill to play and allows them to quickly control the ball under pressure. Also there are many different training techniques including speed of play training.

[Anonymous]

Make sure your club allows outside play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're serious about his soccer development, you would be much better off finding some supplemental trainings on the weekends rather than looking for extra games.

This is crazy, how can people say that training alone is better than playing a game? Soccer is a game in which skills matter a lot, but understanding of the game and speed of play matter so much more. Watch any pro game any time and you'll see that the skills most players on the field use are minimal, but the decisions they make and the speed with which they make them are absolutely critical.

Soccer players hone their skills at practice, but don't know they'll work until they're in games- moreover, they have to be able to make decisions quickly and without thinking and this can only be learned in a game. If the kid's willing to apply what he knows in games, then it's great training. And while driving to travel games is a bad deal around here, a pickup game would do wonders for his confidence and skill development. There should be a multitude of adults playing pickup all over the city every weekend. You just need to find a regular game where Jr. fits in and likes the speed/skills/vibe and he'll do great.

No one is saying to not play games, just that given limited time focus on skills training may provide more benefit than extra games. Still need to play games. I actually would argue that pickup games are very valuable, possibly more valuable than a formal match in that the young player can be creative and try out “under development” offensive and defensive techniques that they’d normally not risk in a real game. Anyhow, none of this extra work is bad, it is all good ... but no one has unlimited time so figure out the right balance for your kid and go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure your club allows outside play.

At u-12?? Bro if your club doesn't allow outside play Leave ASAP!! Any club the restricts a player from wanting to get better especially at 11 years old isn't worth committing to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure your club allows outside play.

At u-12?? Bro if your club doesn't allow outside play Leave ASAP!! Any club the restricts a player from wanting to get better especially at 11 years old isn't worth committing to.

+1000

[Anonymous]

You should encourage your son to play some video games every now and then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're serious about his soccer development, you would be much better off finding some supplemental trainings on the weekends rather than looking for extra games.

This is crazy, how can people say that training alone is better than playing a game? Soccer is a game in which skills matter a lot, but understanding of the game and speed of play matter so much more. Watch any pro game any time and you'll see that the skills most players on the field use are minimal, but the decisions they make and the speed with which they make them are absolutely critical.

Soccer players hone their skills at practice, but don't know they'll work until they're in games- moreover, they have to be able to make decisions quickly and without thinking and this can only be learned in a game. If the kid's willing to apply what he knows in games, then it's great training. And while driving to travel games is a bad deal around here, a pickup game would do wonders for his confidence and skill development. There should be a multitude of adults playing pickup all over the city every weekend. You just need to find a regular game where Jr. fits in and likes the speed/skills/vibe and he'll do great.

No one is saying to not play games, just that given limited time focus on skills training may provide more benefit than extra games. Still need to play games. I actually would argue that pickup games are very valuable, possibly more valuable than a formal match in that the young player can be creative and try out “under development” offensive and defensive techniques that they’d normally not risk in a real game. Anyhow, none of this extra work is bad, it is all good ... but no one has unlimited time so figure out the right balance for your kid and go for it.

Exactly. I would never advise a kid do only training and not play games. But this is a kid who is already on a travel team playing games every weekend. His dad was asking about getting him on another team to play additional organized games on the weekend.

Additional individual or small group training, futsal, and pick-up games would be much, much better options.

Case in point:

"At the age of 10, 11 and 12 he was getting offers from all over the place to play in three or four travel teams but his close circle of father figures steered him in the right direction. Train more and play less was the simple mantra."

“The one thing I would say for sure about his dad, mom and the family, he never played for multiple soccer teams. A lot of these kids, and this is something we struggled with at our soccer club a lot of times, kids just want to play so much, so many games and guest for so many teams. They never did that.

“We never had him playing for two teams in the club. He would play for an older age group and we never put him down into a younger age group just to win a State Cup. He would get opportunities to go and play at the Dallas Cup with teams from other states but he would never do that. I would say he played a ton of soccer but all the extra was on his own in his backyard. He played a lot but he was not playing on two or three teams.”

Did that lack of playing games help Pulisic develop his sublime first touch, passing and dribbling skills?

“For sure. That’s what we try to tell people in our club. You tell them you don’t need to play for multiple teams. You can play every day but it needs to be on your own terms, at home doing stuff on your own,” Klein said. “Kids get burned out when they play on multiple teams. They don’t necessarily get burned out when they’re playing every day. If the kid is going into the backyard to do something, that’s because he wants to do it. You know he is choosing to do that. Kids aren’t always choosing when their parents are driving them to places. They are just going along for the ride.”

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/11/10/how-was-the-next-star-of-american-soccer-christian-pulisic-made/