Anonymous wrote:For goalie, better to start on an average team or be backup on ECNL team?

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a U12 player that works on his own and is technically advanced than most in his age group and probably older age groups as well. He cannot seem to break into a top team due to size, speed, and aggressiveness and ends up training/playing with lesser skilled players. What would be your advice as we have repeated this cycle for 2 years now looking for other training environments so he can at least train with players that have a good first touch and do the basics well like passing/receiving and dribbling? At this point I feel he gets more from these training environments than his club team and am pretty sure he agrees.

I'd say he needs to get evaluated at multiple clubs. Try out for other competitive top teams and see where he would be at. There can only be two reasons- either he is indeed more technical and is getting overlooked or the size/speed/lack of aggression and is not as technical as maybe it seems is really the reason why he is not being selected. I would even think about finding someone qualified to take a look and watch his games and they can probably give you a better unbiased assessment.

We did what NOVA coach suggests. Our kids were at a very political club where your fate is set at U9. Then, if you try out elsewhere they look at what team you are on on the registration form and you will be assigned a sh*t field before the tryout. The field of the rejects so to speak.

We looked around and found a great Club that was very much focused on soccer iq and technical skill and tryouts were not all small-sided scrimmages ---but rondos and many other drills. They both ended up on first team and as a result the past few years they have been playing first division in a strong league and getting to go to State Cup, etc. These are opportunities that they never would have got on a 2nd or third team elsewhere. The speed of play is so much faster and I could see if you stayed on a 2nd team too long how you would fall behind. Also, many of their teammates came from first teams of some pretty good Clubs so they are practicing with much higher skilled players.

I tried to buy into the ---work your way up BS---but when your kid does everything asked and is continually beating kids on upper team and for some reason the Club never dips down into the pool---you need to move for a different opportunity.

We had many unbiased soccer ppl----brutally honest former pro Uncle, outside coach, friends, etc. watch our kids prior to make sure it wasn't us watching with blinders on. Frankly, I am one of the biggest critics of my kids' play. We are not the type that think our kids are great at everything. I can see when kids are better and in the past I could see when they weren't ready for a higher team, etc. When we had a Coach at the former Club tell us we needed to get out because they were getting screwed over---it made the decision easy.

Anonymous wrote:If my kid is on a top team at a competitive club (but not DA or ECNL level), and almost never starts - what does that indicate? He isn't taking practice seriously? Does Coach already have his preferred kids? My kid does score as much as the starters, just never starts a game. How important is it for a kid to be a starter?

Anonymous wrote:For goalie, better to start on an average team or be backup on ECNL team?

Anonymous wrote:Ummmm, all I had to read was your first post in the other thread to know not to read anything you advise. I'd also recommend that for anyone here.

Any coach who says a kids potential is fully realized before age 12 is not intelligent when it comes to sports. My goodness. This is especially true for girls who develop in a a completely different manner than boys both physically and mentally.

I did not read past the first post in the other thread. I could see that reasoning at U15 for girls and U16 for boys.

Don't you have Instagram account to attend to?

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coach,

How important is being proficient with both feet (dribbling, passing and kicking) for U12 Girls? Are most or all ECNL U12/13 girls proficient with both feet?

Extremely important. You've got to have two good feet, especially for passing. Imagine being a midfielder and only being able to use your right foot. That means you can only open your body up to the right say. So essentially, you are one-dimensional. You've got to be able to receive the ball on both feet to be able to have the option to play either side. Now you definitely don't have to have shooting prowess with both feet but you've got to be able to dribble and pass with two feet. Also, the weak foot doesn't get better over time. It has to be worked on and practiced every single day. That's why using both feet is supposed to be highly emphasize when players are really young because its much easier to get both feet improving at that age compared to as they get older.

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ummmm, all I had to read was your first post in the other thread to know not to read anything you advise. I'd also recommend that for anyone here.

Any coach who says a kids potential is fully realized before age 12 is not intelligent when it comes to sports. My goodness. This is especially true for girls who develop in a a completely different manner than boys both physically and mentally.

I did not read past the first post in the other thread. I could see that reasoning at U15 for girls and U16 for boys.

Don't you have Instagram account to attend to?

As I said in my intro if you don't care for my opinions just go somewhere else. My point in the first thread was to say that if your kid isn't technically sound by U12 it's going to be a difficult road if you as a parent have D1 aspirations for them. This isn't me pulling info out of my ass. I've worked with D1 coaches, scouted alongside them and that's just the harsh truth. Will some kids at U12 play D1 if they are technically behind? Yes there's a chance if they work their tails off every single day but for the most part if your kid at U12 isn't technically sound and shows no signs of growing athleticism, it's going to be difficult

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coach,

How important is being proficient with both feet (dribbling, passing and kicking) for U12 Girls? Are most or all ECNL U12/13 girls proficient with both feet?

Extremely important. You've got to have two good feet, especially for passing. Imagine being a midfielder and only being able to use your right foot. That means you can only open your body up to the right say. So essentially, you are one-dimensional. You've got to be able to receive the ball on both feet to be able to have the option to play either side. Now you definitely don't have to have shooting prowess with both feet but you've got to be able to dribble and pass with two feet. Also, the weak foot doesn't get better over time. It has to be worked on and practiced every single day. That's why using both feet is supposed to be highly emphasize when players are really young because its much easier to get both feet improving at that age compared to as they get older.

So are all or most ECNL girls proficient with both feet then, Coach?

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ummmm, all I had to read was your first post in the other thread to know not to read anything you advise. I'd also recommend that for anyone here.

Any coach who says a kids potential is fully realized before age 12 is not intelligent when it comes to sports. My goodness. This is especially true for girls who develop in a a completely different manner than boys both physically and mentally.

I did not read past the first post in the other thread. I could see that reasoning at U15 for girls and U16 for boys.

Don't you have Instagram account to attend to?

As I said in my intro if you don't care for my opinions just go somewhere else. My point in the first thread was to say that if your kid isn't technically sound by U12 it's going to be a difficult road if you as a parent have D1 aspirations for them. This isn't me pulling info out of my ass. I've worked with D1 coaches, scouted alongside them and that's just the harsh truth. Will some kids at U12 play D1 if they are technically behind? Yes there's a chance if they work their tails off every single day but for the most part if your kid at U12 isn't technically sound and shows no signs of growing athleticism, it's going to be difficult

different poster... That's not what you said at all:

"Here's what I have to say about all your ECNL dreams for your kid. Harsh reality is by U12 most can already make an assessment on whether your kid will be good enough for D1."

Kids can absolutely improve technically after 12 years old if they put in the work. And some players that are technically superior at U-little ages plateau and others catch up. Add in puberty (some kids will get stronger and faster, some will go the other way) and the mental side of things and you have WAY too many variables between 12 years old and 16/17 to make this determination that early.

Anonymous wrote:What’s the latest a kid can start and still be good enough to be in the middle of the pack. DS is interested, but we didn’t have the fund$ this year.

Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Ummmm, all I had to read was your first post in the other thread to know not to read anything you advise. I'd also recommend that for anyone here.

Any coach who says a kids potential is fully realized before age 12 is not intelligent when it comes to sports. My goodness. This is especially true for girls who develop in a a completely different manner than boys both physically and mentally.

I did not read past the first post in the other thread. I could see that reasoning at U15 for girls and U16 for boys.

Don't you have Instagram account to attend to?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ummmm, all I had to read was your first post in the other thread to know not to read anything you advise. I'd also recommend that for anyone here.

Any coach who says a kids potential is fully realized before age 12 is not intelligent when it comes to sports. My goodness. This is especially true for girls who develop in a a completely different manner than boys both physically and mentally.

I did not read past the first post in the other thread. I could see that reasoning at U15 for girls and U16 for boys.

Don't you have Instagram account to attend to?

Are you thinking of the same Insta account I am?