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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time? [/quote]

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport. [/quote]

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work.  You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster.  The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice.  They are better because they work harder. [/quote]

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.[/quote]

No it does not. I do not care how hard you work you could never play in the NBA, NFL, EPL, etc. In middle school through high school(travel sports or high school teams) the difference is athleticism. A great athlete will dominate. He or she can be out of shape, do little work, have bad technical skills and still be the best player on the field.  This is because the athletic difference from the top players to middle or bottom players is huge. Even college the athletic difference is large. In the pros it’s maybe 2-4% difference from top to bottom.

When you get to a level where your athleticism is average hard work may keep you on the team. In high school I was the fast on of my team/club. In college I was average. Now the coach will alway take potential over maxed out hard work. It’s just a fact of life.
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Totally disagree. The so called “athletic” kids are usually the hardest working, most engaged kids who started playing young. Our oldest played with a kid who now plays in the MLS and an ignorant parent like the one above might say he was just a “natural athlete” but the truth is, he practiced like 5 hours a day starting at age 2. Literally. His dad was a soccer coach and all they did was play abs watch soccer all the time.[/quote]

What are you smoking? Seriously it parents like you who have no clue what you are talking about. There is a level of athleticism that is required to even be on the field. Every time you go up a level the it is a big jump. The difference between the second and first team is athleticism. The difference between travel soccer and college is college is only taking 6-8% of the travel players. You think they are picking the slow non athletic ones who work hard?

The difference between college and the professional is the pros only take 1-2% of the college player( or 0.8% from high school age players). Professional athletes are first and foremost great athletes. You can work 5 hour every day you will still be behind a great athlete who does an hour once a week. Great athlete will pickup and develop skills much fast and have a high up side…and are faster, stronger, quicker, with better field vision, etc.

In your example the player made the pros because he is a great athlete. Rudy does not make the team. [/quote]

As someone who has spent hundreds of hours in the gym with international pros and a couple NBA guys, I can tell you that there is zero point to bringing professional athletes into a discussion about normal humans.  The required genetic upside potential distance between random travel A team vs C team is a tiny compared to the difference between almost every successful D1 player and NBA draft guys.

Back in the world of normal humans, I can tell you that as a strength coach and a track coach, I could train most neurotypical unathletic 6th graders to be high school varsity standouts by sophomore or junior year —- if they were willing to do very hard workouts almost every day between 6th grade and high school (which, by the way, almost no kid is).  Hand eye coordination, strength, and speed within normal human ranges and certainly to DMV high school basketball, football or track levels (not MLB catching, NFL speed, or NBA durability)  are absolutely trainable.   
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