Travel Soccer Newbie Question
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Getoutyall
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Background:
My son was on a u9/u10 team this season for a small soccer club. I wasn't sure that they would even be able to field a u9/u10 team for this upcoming season so we had come up with another club to try out for if it looked like there would not be enough kids. They did have 9 kids come out for the u9/u10 team so i think they will have enough for a team. My issue i guess is that at some point this small club will not have a team for my child or they will try to play him up (more than one age group) because that is the only team they can put a team together. Questions: 1) If we still go to the other teams tryout to just get a feel for the team even though I'm pretty sure we'll stick with the original small club next year is this ok? I guess I'm worried if they do offer him a position this year and we decline but then try out again next year they may write him off if he had previously not accepted their offer? 2) is it easier to make a bigger clubs team when moving up an age group where the play size changes (i.e. trying out at u11 because the players go from 7 to 9) or does this not matter? 3) The small club only offers 2 tournaments a year (one spring one fall) and they try to make both local, we haven't done our spring tournament but in the fall two of the three teams we played in the tournament were from our league so didn't get exposure to different teams which was annoying to me. Most other clubs seem to do 3-4 tournaments a year? I'm thinking this doesn't really matter at such a young age but should i factor this in the decision? |
soccer_dc
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It's fine to tryout and not accept. Just be polite when you decline the offer and maintain good relations, explain that it was a hard decision but decided to stay with the current club for another year. You might even tell them your son would be available to guest play with them in tournaments if needed.
Probably but not necessarily depending on the club. There will be more spots available at u11 and again at u13 when the field and roster sizes go up. But with some big clubs, they tend to just promote players from within the club's other teams and it can be difficult to get "noticed" at a tryout, so new players may need to start at the lowest team. Of course, if your son is a standout player he will not have any problem joining at any age or level.
Team and coach fit and training development are more important at this age than the number of tournaments. There will be plenty of tournaments as he gets older. Contact some other teams about opportunities to guest play with them in tournaments. |
Size5Balls
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1) I have personally seen kids tryout and decline only to come back the next year, make it and accept. It happens, so I wouldn't worry about that. Don't forget the club isn't just about soccer, it's about money too and they want yours.
2) Yes and when they switch leagues, which happens a lot these days. 3) That is annoying, but what's worse are tournaments where you play another team from your own club. A team vs. B team. A team vs B team from year older. Anything like that just to fill brackets. Always hated that. |