It's tryout season! The area where we live seems to have a ton of soccer club choices near us, and I am just wondering any thoughts on good all-around training for a U9 boy. My son played up a year for a club, but since he is playing U9 proper in the fall, we thought it would be a good idea to check out other clubs as well, now that we have a better idea how this whole travel soccer thing works. We are looking for a club that doesn't pigeon hole kids into certain positions and keeps them there the whole year. My son just tuned 8 I want him to have a chance to learn other positions, but as it is now, he only has experience playing as defender and falls to that position naturally whenever playing during tryouts, or even when it's just a pick up game with friends. He hasn't had the opportunity to learn to be an attacker. He is a pretty tall kid, so coaches tend to stick him in the back for that reason (IMO).

Anyone with travel club experience in recent years for U9 please share your experience! What did you love, what did you hate? We started tryouts last week and received an offer already, but I have a few more lined up this week and next. Would be happy to hear great positive experiences from others about nearby clubs that I may have missed so we can sign up for their try out as well (or, conversely, share your terrible experiences so we know where to stay away from!!) THANK YOU!!