Soccer Coach in Northern VA - Ask me anything
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Anonymous
| CCL is so bad at enforcing clubs to field teams that we only have 6 games this Spring. ........ Would welcome a local friendly against BRYC on any one of the empty weekends! |
Anonymous
What do you mean? Aren't there enough clubs in the league to provide competition for all? What club are you with that you're only getting 6 games? That makes me think twice as to whether or not take my child to a CCL club. Is this normal? |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
I will wager that friendlies will be scheduled before, during and after the regular "season" that a CCL or NCSL team plays. There are always gaps and free weekends in every CCL or NCSL team's schedule. And of course all teams want to schedule pre-season scrimmages. |
Anonymous
| So how does the "come to practice" try outs work in the u9-u10. How many practices would be the normal for the kid(get to know the team a little) and for the coach to make a decision? |
Anonymous
In my experience at that age it was more for a selling point to the parent to see how the club trains and to get some face time with the coach. In our club all children were made offers then divided up into team much later to see which team you would play on (A,B,C) etc. |
Anonymous
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Now that I think more about it, here's what I think happened with the age group shift -
No doubt, when U9 travel teams were formed in spring of 2015, there were players who were selected who were "playing up" a year as 2008s, playing with a mix of 07's/06's. A few may have joined in the fall, and a few more may have joined or been recruited in the spring, even if just for training with a travel team if they were very talented. Those were more likely to be players on the older end of 2008 if they could be worked in with an age group one older than them. Since the birth year change shifted everything, now those players who were playing up a year in the 2015/2016 season are the most developed in their 2008 birth year group (either with the amount of training they've had or just more physically developed), plus they are playing alongside players that are even younger who played their first competitive 7v7 games for the very first time ever this fall. So relative to the other players, the ones that were training or playing "up" a year have a huge leg up to start with in year's U9/2008 group, even more than they normally would have (there are always a few players playing up anyway). Some of those players may still be playing up (so there are 2008's playing on U10 teams now for the spring/fall leagues), and when they come back down to U9 for tournaments or scrimmages, it is painfully obvious because those players are 6 months to a year ahead of everyone else on the field in their level of development, skills, and decision-making (not necessarily their size/speed). But that's part of soccer... I'm sure there are teams out there with kids who all have birthdays within the first few months of the year (an older 2008 team), and then there are teams with kids that fall during the last few months of the year (a younger 2008 team). The development and progress of both of these teams is highly dependent on how good the quality coaching / training is with each team. By spring of U9 (after 1 season), some players progress a lot and some players only improve a small amount. The difference is most pronounced at U9 and then it reduces every year from there on out. Kids will develop at their own pace and you can't pigeonhole players into tiers when they are younger with any reliability. |
Anonymous
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At younger ages, the coach is far more important to your player's development than the club itself. Don't leave a team unless you are really dissatisfied with the coach or if the players are not developing much, if at all. It's ALL on the coach at the younger ages.
At the older ages once players have started to come into their own more, the club plays a role in getting them into higher competitive leagues, tournaments, and all of that. Most coaches that meet a minimum threshold of experience and have their licenses can step in and work with a team for a season (or a couple of seasons) but there are not that many coaches that can develop a player all the way from 4v4/5v5 U8 recreational level soccer (or "competitive rec") swarm ball (or crossover league) to playing 11v11 U13 soccer on a full sized field. |
asksoccernova
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These last 2 posts were mine - hadn't logged in 
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asksoccernova
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The players that really lose out in large clubs are the ones that just missed the cutoff in playing for the best coach.
So, if a club has A/B/C/D teams and the same coach works with A&B and the other coach with C&D, you can bet that the A&B coach is better than the C&D one. The sign that a club is well-managed is when the difference in player development ability between the the #1 and #2 age group coaches is extremely small, or both are very good coaches in their own right. Teams at U9-U10 end up merging at U13 to form a single team, so in a decent club, the A/B coach is good and the C/D coach is also pretty good, because when the roster size expands to 18 and the "A" team needs another player or two, the first source of players is the "B" team, so those players need to keep developing. You never know which one of them will end up moving up to A later on from 12-18 years old, and some will, inevitably. The problem is that good coaches who know their stuff want to coach a club's A/B teams and won't take a coaching position to work with C/D teams. Sometimes a club will just recruit another coach of an older age group within the club to coach C&D since he/she already has a primary team, its extra coaching hours, and they already have a proven reputation so parents know that their kids are being looked after and developed properly, AND that coach is happy and enthusiastic to take on the C&D team as part as their role at the club. If there is a gap between the quality of coach #1 and #2 in the age group, the best player on C will miss out on a full year of better quality coaching and development progress just by a fraction of a rating on a player evaluation. The teams should really be divided up according to where the "talent dropoff" is between groups of players, not just ranking them and dividing them into teams. There are a lot of different ways to do it, some are better than others, and every club has their own way of doing it (there's no one right way to divide players up into teams) |
Anonymous
Couldn't agree more. My kid is fortunate to have found a coach that he has been with since he was U5 (now U11) and they are on their way to playing u13 in a couple of years. 3 from U5 team are still together and 4 that joined at U7. All of the kids are strong technically and challenge each other daily. I think that playing at a smaller club allowed the players to grow and develop together as a team. I wonder if sometimes is better for young players to stay together until all growth has been maximized versus club hopping. It would be great if everyone could stay together as long as possible but I guess it's asking for too much. You know of any coaches that have been able to keep their team until high school ages at a competitive level? |
Anonymous
Boy, you sure are WRONG about A/B coach being the best---especially in Clubs with 6 teams per age group. The best coach my kids have had was my firstborn's D team coach at U9. He was a former pro-player still getting called to trials in Europe--in face that's why he eventually left. He did more for my son than any A/B. coach since. He kept in touch with us long after he left and still checks in on my son's progress and with advice/congrats, etc. He had an understanding unlike many of the A/B coaches in our club we've since had that never played more than club college in soccer or JV HS ball. Some of the best coaches my younger son has had were in his U8 academy who aren't Senior enough to gain a spot on anything above a D/F team. They are the ones that would stay after practice and teach him new skills. They aren't burned out and are really there for the love of the sport and actually like working with kids. We've had our A team yellers that aren't age-appropriate--but probably would work better with much older kids. I am a player and I don't give a shit what license--if any--a coach holds. I can tell in 1-2 training sessions games if the guy/woman is any good. There has been almost zero correlation to the team assigned and we have declined a move up before to stay with a particular Coach. |
Anonymous
| ^^licenses don't take into account personality and ability to motivate. Some people should never coach. |
Anonymous
| At most clubs, the decision on who coaches the A team is based less on how good the coach is and more on how close the coach is to the person making the assignments, i.e., the technical director or director of coaching. |
Anonymous
Yes. Also, their perceived status/name brand to draw players to the Club. There are a few 'big names' that have been at many Clubs in the area---people are glad to see them move on---and new suckers think it's wonderful they are now at their Club. My younger son is on a top team and he had a 4th team Coach fill in for the winter season who was fantastic. The kids and parents loved him. The coaches on the lower teams tend to be younger and new. It doesn't mean they aren't as good. They usually aren't jaded and still have lots of energy and passion. For little kids (U9s) especially--this is usually a great fit. In a really smart Club--they put their best Coaches in at U8 level to develop. I also know some great coaches that wanted to work with lower teams (but the Club wouldn't let them) because and I quote what one told me "those players are paying the same amount of $ and I feel I can make the most impact improving them". I was really moved by this. |