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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I keep in touch with a friend who has children at Barca.  Seems the year hasn't been going well, with floundering teams in EDP and lots of dissatisfaction amongst the parents in their age group. Also complaints about play-ups who don't actually help in the older age groups in a few cases.  Basically a lot of the complaints we've heard about with other local clubs. Thought this was relevant to post here.[/quote]

Interesting, and it is relevant.  Play ups when that player is average on the play up team never makes sense - even when it pleases the parents.  [/quote]

I thought the whole idea of a play-up was to take a kid that excels in his age group and therefore sees fewer challenges, and play him up so he plays at the level of his teammates. [/quote]

Well, if the playups aren’t actually helping, as quoted is happening, that would imply that said playups are not playing at the higher age group level.  [/quote]

I think the idea is to present the best challenge to each and every player, especially the gifted ones, even if the team does not benefit as a whole. I don't think they are as concerned about team performance as they are developing the players individually. [/quote]

Sounds to me like they are catering to a few parents' egos, based on the feedback from the member there.[/quote]

Playing up is not an exact science.  A player could be dominant in his age group, but when playing up some players struggle, while others excel against players who are older and more physically mature.   Both scenarios could be helpful for long term player development because kids need to experience both success and adversity.   It has nothing to do with parents' egos.  I know at least one parent at Barca, whose son is on a team that is 2 years older than his age group, but the parent prefers for him to play in his natural age group and not to play up.   My kid plays in his own age group, but he and some of his teammates also guest-played in a couple of games with other teams against competition that was two years older.  Never had to lobby for a play up opportunity.

[/quote]

Agree.  I know that with larger players it is sometimes done so they will not just rely on their physical size.  Moving them up with larger players forces them under pressure to think faster and to rely on skill.  It does not mean they are superior players and parents get that.  That said, there is a kid in one of my son's age group that is phenomenal and small for even his own age.  He is there because he needs to be there for appropriate challenge.  Many kids get the opportunity to move around and play up a lot.  I see my own kids develop in spurts and some season they may not play up.  It is done for 'individual development' and not 'team wins'.  It's academy, not travel so they are looking to develop the players and will choose a path that works best for that particular player, also taking into account personality and how they are motivated (some are sensitive and hard on themselves so they are motivated by 'pleasing/positive affirmation), others need toughness and work better with directness.  I found with different players in my house with very different personalities that Barca coaches do this very well.  I was amazed at how much they 'understood' my kids.  It isn't a 'one size fits all' approach.

I understand when we were brought up to 'win at any cost' (that's certainly how my youth coaches were growing up) to sit back and realize this is long-term is hard.  Just assembling kids on a team to get that youth win isn't going to be best for them as individuals.  Winning sure is a lot more fun than losing so it is a tough pill to swallow and often times tough to watch:).  The thought is as these kids move through the program and develop in stages, the winning will come later.  It will be interesting to watch the teams that came in at age 7/8/9 and see if this plays out to fruition and if everyone will stay to see it out.   For parents that have a competitive nature, it takes time to learn to sit back, have some trust and let your kid experience it while not getting involved and constantly criticizing/second-guessing coaching decisions.  Some of that does come with time, the ability to just go, relax, watch soccer and go about your day.  There is certainly too much emotion on the sidelines across youth sports in general.

Barca has a very hard job trying to get parents on board and stay the course due to the way Americans think about youth soccer in this country (self included).   The coaches are nice guys/good people and that goes along way with any program.  But, I could certainly see why there are people that don't like this approach.  That is why there is a free market and different styles of development.  What I'll never understand is why adults would criticize children, e.g., they are losers or all suck.  That says a lot about the person and how they get their validation and what might be lacking in their own lives.  There is no 'better' or 'best', it's what works for your own kid and it really is about the kid.  I'm not so sure some of the kids I see on the fields around the area are out there for themselves vs their dads.  It's very easy to make it about you and lose perspective that it's your child's journey.[/quote]

Very well said.  [/quote]

My dear zealots, you cannot stop yourselves, can you ;-)
Nice PR nonsense though, hope Barca will use it for their next flyer... [/quote]

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