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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've been following this thread with interest as DS is very good at soccer and loves to play and IIUC would be eligible to start on a travel team next fall, assuming he makes a team.

So two questions that haven't been clearly answered in this thread:

1) When you are offered a spot on a team do you know at that time whether you are getting and "A" team offer or not (or even "B") so you can decide if it is worth the hassle and expense?

2) How good are the various leagues at assessing talent, especially based on initial tryouts, when they haven't had the advantage of watching kids for a full season?  And do kids get moved on and off the "A" team if those assessments turn out to be wrong, either in or out of season?

Also curious - DS has a good friend from his school who is also very good at soccer - assuming he also tries out what is the possibility we can engineer it so they get on the same team?  We both have longer commutes and getting home 2 nights a week to get DS to a soccer practice out of the neighborhood is going to be really hard but if we could split the duties with someone it could make the difference in our ability to do this.

Thanks[/quote]

1. A/B teams are generally worth it. Unless the clubs philosophy is to train Academy style, i.e. a player pool where the A and B teams essentially train together except for game day rosters you will most likely be offered a spot for a specific team. The team name provided may not mean anything to you so ask the coach if it is the first or second team.

2. Leagues do not asses talent. This is a constant irritation to me on these threads as people simply confuse clubs, league, teams as if they are interchangeable. They are not. Teams play/train in Clubs and Clubs join Leagues. A club will have several teams in any given age group and those teams within the age group may play in different leagues.

3. I would not try and "engineer" your son and friend to be on the same team. If that is what you want then play rec or classic. That doesn't mean that both kids don't make the same travel team but frankly it is obnoxious to even ask. [/quote]

Definitely agree with #3.  Clubs have no need to accommodate those types of requests, nor should they.  If your kid and his friend try out at the same club and end up on the same team, that's a bonus for you.  [/quote]

Thanks for the responses but why in the world would clubs not try to accommodate such a request?  It helps the parents (who are paying a lot for the privilege to participate) and I'm having a hard time fathoming what the injury or burden is to the club?  Particularly since these clubs are apparently competing both for money and talent it seems odd to not stretch to help parents with logistics which might also help to ensure participation.

We are talking about elementary and middle school kids here.[/quote]

You can't fathom it because you haven't thought it through.

It's a competitive process.  There only so many spots on each team, and kids are supposed to make it (or not) based on merit.  If one kid gets a spot that was "engineered" rather than earned, it means that another kid gets cut even though he or she deserved to make it.  How fair is that?

In other words, if you try to "engineer" a kid on the team who doesn't deserve to be there based on merit, you are basically asking the club to screw over another child just to accommodate your convenience.  That's why the PP said such a request would be obnoxious.

The only way I could see a club entertaining a request to "pair" two kids is if the parents of both kids agreed that the lowest team placement would be applied to both kids.  In other words, if Johnny makes the A team and Bobby makes the B team then both kids would be placed on the B team.

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