Anonymous wrote:I'd look at what the club advertises in terms of its travel program. If professional coaching is listed, I'd want a partial refund.

A 'D' License is generally regarded as 'professional' coaching, likely the parent-coach has one. They probably wouldn't offer a refund if the parent-coach has a D license. Also, from a management stand point, they would have to offer everyone a refund. --But that might drive the club to find a different coach at the threat of loosing so much money. That could help or force the club to act. However, its likely they already considered it each time a parent-coach has to coach. Let us know if they replace the coach, you get a refund or if things work themselves out. -Good luck!

Unfortunately, pre-season shake-ups happen. Some parents might be in support of this situation and some would not be in support of this situation. But you have to look at the long term instead of the short term. I'd say, stay with your current club and wait until the 'promised' head coach returns. If the parent coach can devote more time to practices, it might work out for the better. We have had some coaches with lots of experience try to coach 3 teams at once and it showed in practice.... i.e. they were right on time and scrimmaged the kids a lot! The drills were almost after-thoughts and poorly executed and abandoned when kids didn't get it.

But yes, at tat level, ideally you would want a non-parent head coach with a great coaching style first, then a good resume second.

If that is your only option to play, stick with it and lobby the club director. Make the most of it and wait for the situation to change.
-Good luck!
PS -We had our 'promised' coach switch out at the last minute last year, but we all got over it and moved on!

That's poor coaching at that age group. Good coaches can be firm without yelling at kids. Things will likely not improve when the season progresses next fall. You can e-mail the higher coaching staff, team manager or director. Or look for another team. U8 kids should love the playing experience.

The Team Levels and Colors are not standardized. You have to ask each club what their Color or Name means. Some clubs have names and colors of Green, Teal, Platinum, Chargers, Spirit and Thorns. It's madening.

Yes, we even had 13 kids for the fall season and we had two teams registered. It offered more development for each kid to play more games. Our fee was about $2100 for the year also.

They do a generic Academy offer. Previously, a player won't be placed on a Red Team (Higher) or White Team (Lower) until Labor Day. This gives coaches the month of August to better evaluate players during the August practices.

When your kid is not getting better at team practice, but they want to get better... then they need additional training to work on individual skills as its almost impossible to get that in team training. I can coach my kid at home on individual skills, but sometimes it's easier or more effective or more consistent to have other coaches do it. I have found coaching fees run from $40 to $80 per session. I asked around the club and some of the academy coaches coach on the side. It gives them a chance to do 1 on 1 work instead of the team coaching.

Very cool, thanks again!

A lot of clubs will still take new or developing players. LMVSC usually does. She would absolutely be placed on the lowest tier team for developing travel players. But kids improve quickly and catchup in 1 or 2 years and even surpass other kids with hard work and extra work outside of travel practice. I would seriously find a club that is closest to you in order make the commute to 3x weekly practices easy. Good luck!

Thanks for creating this, I downloaded it and will likely share it with a few parents trying to figure some of these things out as well.

Cheers!

Also, be wary of sending any little kids to outdoor summer camps with no pool breaks. Or outdoor camps after Mid July.... it is way too hot. I have seen good kids hate camp because its 95 on the turf all day. A good tip would be to also include a cooling towel in a wet bag they use to help keep them cool.

ECNLDD wrote:We are staying with our club, but just curious who is moving, why, and from where to whom? Mostly just curious about ECNL and GA. Seem like there is a lot more movement this year.

We are sticking with our local club for next year as it is very close to us to attend all the practices. But it is a medium level/ sized club with 2 teams for each age and gender. They do not play in the highest leagues or levels and do not compete in the higher tournaments or highest competitions levels. Nor do they seem to want to foster talent or growth. Also, coaching is mediocre/ stagnant. For that reason, we are thinking about moving. Our kid has been accepted into a higher competing club, but it is impractical to move for next year and then have a 30-40 minute commute to practice 3x per week. We will likely incorporate private coaching and look if it is a good fit the following year. Also, our kid enjoys the current team and doest not get 'moving to a more competitive club' for their own benefit. So, we take that as a consideration as well. Its a tough call, but its something we will consider the following year especially if our kid would really want to switch.