bumpthekoala wrote:DCU- great catch. And awfully confusing.

It’s actually much less confusing than it was even two years ago. At that time you had the DA and ECNL fighting for supremacy. You also had ODSL and CCL for other lower league options.

OP here. Thank you all for your perspectives and own personal experiences. Although it seems that there is no one size fits all solution here, it seems sticking with their team may be the way to go. Increased confidence will need to be earned. We just hope they don’t lose joy for the game in the process.

westsidesoccer wrote:

Dcum1300 wrote:We have a U10/11 DC that plays at one of the more competitive and successful clubs in the area for their age group. We were wondering what thoughts anyone had regarding staying with the current team next year and playing as a reserve with less playing time vs. playing on a top team for a smaller club and helping to lead that team with unlimited playing time. Practices and tournaments would be less competitive but gaining confidence and playing time are intriguing.

If this is a function of his size, and he is a serious player, then go to a smaller club and team with more PT so long as coaches are good and teammates are good and play the right way.

Size isn't the main factor here as they are about average on size. Our DC just isn't quite as fast or aggressive as their very high end teammates. In our opinion still a very good player in their own right with the technical ability and enough athleticism to be one of if not the best player at the smaller club. Smaller club teammates are either not as technical or not as athletic whereas their current teammates are high end at both. Would the increased playing time and role possibly grow their aggressiveness with increased confidence? I guess we are concerned that if they stay in their current role, they will always have that mental hurdle.

We have a U10/11 DC that plays at one of the more competitive and successful clubs in the area for their age group. We were wondering what thoughts anyone had regarding staying with the current team next year and playing as a reserve with less playing time vs. playing on a top team for a smaller club and helping to lead that team with unlimited playing time. Practices and tournaments would be less competitive but gaining confidence and playing time are intriguing.

soccer_dc wrote:

Dcum1300 wrote:

Manodedios wrote:It’s great that all of these mergers of clubs that are an hour away from one another are happening so that about a dozen adults can stay employed as mediocre (at-best) TDs/Directors. Meanwhile, 1000s of kids are wasting time they could be on the field in the car and we are burning enough gas to keep a small gulf nation encrusted in gold.

Spot on. Youth soccer exists to support and ensure the livelihoods of a few select club administrators that honestly aren’t very good at their jobs. Seemingly very few decisions are made for the benefit of the players and families.

Youth soccer exists in its current form because parents have created the demand for it. Clubs can only charge as much money as the demand will allow, can only have travel to far away practices and games because parents allow and want it, and can only sustain the number of teams because there are that many players and parents willing to go along. It's naive to think the current system is a result of a handful of administrators concocting a scheme to ensure their livelihoods. There are two sides to every market. Youth soccer wouldn't exist if there wasn't parents demanding it.

Those statements can both be true. Parents may have created the demand but the administrators certainly are not blameless in the decisions they make that only serve their own self-interests.

Manodedios wrote:It’s great that all of these mergers of clubs that are an hour away from one another are happening so that about a dozen adults can stay employed as mediocre (at-best) TDs/Directors. Meanwhile, 1000s of kids are wasting time they could be on the field in the car and we are burning enough gas to keep a small gulf nation encrusted in gold.

Spot on. Youth soccer exists to support and ensure the livelihoods of a few select club administrators that honestly aren’t very good at their jobs. Seemingly very few decisions are made for the benefit of the players and families.