Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss Part II

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

Yes, there are teams in NCSL and ODSL who do this already. My guess is league guidelines would require that your team finish first in the "top" division and have "nowhere else" to move up to. This is often done in tournaments too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

IF she is good enough and is just breezing past other players at her current age group, then yes she will probably be just fine in an older age group and should see drastic improvements. However, it all depends on the roster size of the older team as well as the coach's stance on rotations/playing younger players. I'd keep her away from playing with boys in an organized setting as that is just begging for injuries to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

Speak to her coach and ask if she might be able to train once a week with the older girls to start. If that goes well, you can discuss whether she can guest play in a game or two and/or if she should try out for the older girls team for next fall. My daughter played up through U13, then all the other girls shot up and suddenly as an 11 year old she was struggling to keep up physically, esp in games/competition. So now she has dropped back down to her age group but still trains with the older girls once a week which is a great balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

If your child is on the second team, I wouldn't think they are a good candidate for playing up. I wouldn't want my child playing up if they would be on a lower team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

If your child is on the second team, I wouldn't think they are a good candidate for playing up. I wouldn't want my child playing up if they would be on a lower team.

Tend to agree unless there are some extenuating circumstances. You should at least be a top player on your top team to be considered playing up. After that some clubs require that the play-up be a top 5 or so player as well on the older team to be considered.

Your club may have your kid wrong or the current A team is particularly strong. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

If your child is on the second team, I wouldn't think they are a good candidate for playing up. I wouldn't want my child playing up if they would be on a lower team.

Tend to agree unless there are some extenuating circumstances. You should at least be a top player on your top team to be considered playing up. After that some clubs require that the play-up be a top 5 or so player as well on the older team to be considered.

Your club may have your kid wrong or the current A team is particularly strong. Who knows.

My son was never on a first team U9-U12, but was never properly challenged and would completely tear up the competition. The few times they had him guest on the upper team he would do the same, but they never moved him up. Eventually, he asked us for better training and competition. He has done several training stintsin Europe.

He is a U13, but just turned 12 two months ago. The place he joined last summer told us he was well advanced beyond his years. They started playing him with the U14s and now he is getting time with the U15s. He is smaller at 12 versus 14 and 15-year olds, but he has always been “solid”, not a scrawny kid. And he will usually play the entire game.

Look at for your child’s individual development and trust your gut. I never went to coaches with complaints, but instead shopped around. You cannot change a coaches mind. It’s not worth it.My kid has grown leap years in development now that he’s with people that know soccer and value soccer IQ. They don’t place an upper limit and have told us repeatedly how impressed they are with his progress and since my child is finally getting positive feedback for the hard work and accomplishments, it makes him want to work even harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question for people with more experience in travel soccer.

My daughter is currently playing travel soccer on a good travel 2nd team, and they have not faced much competition in the past year and a half. We don't want to change leagues at this point.

Are there many kids who play up a year? I know some kids do this at u9, but do they continue to play up? DC would possibly make a lower team in an older age group, but would probably face harder competition.

We've thought about having her try out for the boys team, any thoughts?

If your child is on the second team, I wouldn't think they are a good candidate for playing up. I wouldn't want my child playing up if they would be on a lower team.

Tend to agree unless there are some extenuating circumstances. You should at least be a top player on your top team to be considered playing up. After that some clubs require that the play-up be a top 5 or so player as well on the older team to be considered.

Your club may have your kid wrong or the current A team is particularly strong. Who knows.

My son was never on a first team U9-U12, but was never properly challenged and would completely tear up the competition. The few times they had him guest on the upper team he would do the same, but they never moved him up. Eventually, he asked us for better training and competition. He has done several training stintsin Europe.

He is a U13, but just turned 12 two months ago. The place he joined last summer told us he was well advanced beyond his years. They started playing him with the U14s and now he is getting time with the U15s. He is smaller at 12 versus 14 and 15-year olds, but he has always been “solid”, not a scrawny kid. And he will usually play the entire game.

Look at for your child’s individual development and trust your gut. I never went to coaches with complaints, but instead shopped around. You cannot change a coaches mind. It’s not worth it.My kid has grown leap years in development now that he’s with people that know soccer and value soccer IQ. They don’t place an upper limit and have told us repeatedly how impressed they are with his progress and since my child is finally getting positive feedback for the hard work and accomplishments, it makes him want to work even harder.

I hear stuff like this occasionally on this post and I really don't understand it. If your kid is the best on the 2nd team at U10, and occasionally plays for the first team and is one of the best, why wouldn't he make the top team at U11 when they add a couple roster slots? The only thing that makes sense is if the kid has a bad attitude or misses a lot of practices/games. If neither is the case, then it must be something with the parent. Or maybe someone is using parent goggles to watch their child. If the kid is that good he would move up, especially at U11. Contrary to what many apparently think on this board, coaches don't have it out for your child.

[Anonymous]

^^ been in travel in this area for a very long time. It comes down to coaches a huge majority of the time. I saw something similar with my son’s best friend. Really great kid and really great family. None of us on his team, including the Coach!!!, could fathom why TDs wouldn’t move him up. But, he was better for it and doing unbelievable now—several years later. He never would have gotten where he is now and the adversity just made him even more determined. The cream can rise if you find the right environment. For many, that is not travel. Kid is still humble as hell and empathetic to teammates.

[Anonymous]

It's been my experience that a lot of the kids that are moved up are kids with parents that 'push, push' and fraternize with the coaches/tds. People will deny it, but it's a mainstay in the travel area. I know several really great players whose parents are the antithesis of this and have always said if they can't recognize it, they would never interfere. My father always told me to never go to the coach, nothing good ever comes of it. I only ever contact them if kids will miss something, or they contact me first. I have seen kids have to move around to find a special place and once they do they flourish. There are assholes who don't get it and will say they are just looking for a higher team when in fact parents/player are looking for better development. I've even seen kids take a step down for better training. They have good parents that know what it's all about. There is this false illusion that all parents have 'goggles' when it comes to their kids' abilities. That is probably true in some cases and I have definitely seen it myself.

I grew up in a family of no-shitters. My dad was the first to let us know if we weren't pulling our weight, slacking, etc.--even if coaches weren't--and he was often the coach and hardest on us. With our own kids, we always do a 'self-check'. We are probably the most critical of our kid's ability (not to them--just to each other in private). We even joked that our older kid that is really now flourishing as a U13, sucked his entire U10 year---part of that was the fit was so off and he really disliked the club/team. We are also the first (as are our kids) to recognize other talented players and don't hesitate to give them compliments and tell their parents what we think. Doing this has really helped in finding resources and comparing notes, etc. In fact, there are the same families we usually see over and over again at certain camps or training--not the well-published ones. My sibling who was a professional player is brutally honest---to a point I think it has upset my other sibling in the past. This sibling also had to take a circuitous route to get what he needed, leaving travel for a bulk of his development and has been a great resource. He also played in Europe and has taken his nephew abroad. His advice to my kids has always been: "Don't take any shit on the field and listen to your coaches. Play every day. Love the ball." He has told me he will never butt in because if my kids are going to be good 'it's up to them'.

I will say it took me awhile to realize most of what I initially thought was ill-will has sometimes been lack of knowledge of supposed 'expert/elite' coaches we have here in the States or just the sheer fact there are way TOO MANY kids at these Clubs and the ratio of trainers is off. They don't see an individual or the pathway to development. It is to 'team-oriented' and they don't invest in individual players. This has been a release and we have found some really great mentors for my children--even some they have kept in touch with long after they left a Club. There are many good people in the sport, you just have to look hard. For me, finding that special place means I can just relax and watch the fun. I trust the kid is in good hands. There will often be as many as two trainers and the TD watching the small group training every practice. It's refreshing after seeing things done so wrong in certain places.

[Anonymous]

In keeping with recent posts about how poorly the US, US Dev. academy and travel clubs are at identifying and developing players and how much politics come into play....yep! We are playing old men when we should be developing our younger players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/u-s-soccer-still-doesnt-get-051541958.html

[Anonymous]

We quit travel. We are at a place that will train my kids with older groups, and give them playing time in games with two age groups above.

Additionally, they have kids still playing 9v9 for touches at an age where US soccer has already converted to 11v11. It's all about development. It's drastically different format than US soccer and my children are thriving. After 40 years being heavily involved in the sport in this area, finally somewhere that gets it. It's not about building teams for wins as noted in the article posted in the last post, it's about developing individuals that will eventually be on teams far down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In keeping with recent posts about how poorly the US, US Dev. academy and travel clubs are at identifying and developing players and how much politics come into play....yep! We are playing old men when we should be developing our younger players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/u-s-soccer-still-doesnt-get-051541958.html

Only 2 of the players represented where even in the DA. This failure should signal the need for DA unfortunately at some point in the near future U.S. Soccer has to trust in what it has tried to build and begin handing the keys over to the next generation of players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In keeping with recent posts about how poorly the US, US Dev. academy and travel clubs are at identifying and developing players and how much politics come into play....yep! We are playing old men when we should be developing our younger players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/u-s-soccer-still-doesnt-get-051541958.html

Only 2 of the players represented where even in the DA. This failure should signal the need for DA unfortunately at some point in the near future U.S. Soccer has to trust in what it has tried to build and begin handing the keys over to the next generation of players.

DA is still on the stupid US format and it still selects players in the EXACT same manner, through butt-buddy Club coach system. It's all politics. Which tryout field a player gets put on, which kids get passed on word-to-mouth...all a complete joke. Same thing, new wrapper. They drills and training are the same. Sucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We quit travel. We are at a place that will train my kids with older groups, and give them playing time in games with two age groups above.

Additionally, they have kids still playing 9v9 for touches at an age where US soccer has already converted to 11v11. It's all about development. It's drastically different format than US soccer and my children are thriving. After 40 years being heavily involved in the sport in this area, finally somewhere that gets it. It's not about building teams for wins as noted in the article posted in the last post, it's about developing individuals that will eventually be on teams far down the road.

US Travel and DA system is crap. Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In keeping with recent posts about how poorly the US, US Dev. academy and travel clubs are at identifying and developing players and how much politics come into play....yep! We are playing old men when we should be developing our younger players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/u-s-soccer-still-doesnt-get-051541958.html

Only 2 of the players represented where even in the DA. This failure should signal the need for DA unfortunately at some point in the near future U.S. Soccer has to trust in what it has tried to build and begin handing the keys over to the next generation of players.

DA is still on the stupid US format and it still selects players in the EXACT same manner, through butt-buddy Club coach system. It's all politics. Which tryout field a player gets put on, which kids get passed on word-to-mouth...all a complete joke. Same thing, new wrapper. They drills and training are the same. Sucky.

Says parent of kid not in DA. DA isn't perfect but it certainly casts a wider net and offers far more oversight than what the current USMNT EVER had. That is a nice rant but it isn't completely true.