Reply to Just Curious... how many kids get moved down from a upper level team to a lower level team?

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Reply to "Just Curious... how many kids get moved down from a upper level team to a lower level team?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In my experience top team rosters are filled mostly with outside players. Even with better kids on lower teams. There is no pathway for upward mobility.  I agree with D1 mom above, find a team that works for your child. [/quote]

PP, this is exactly what I was referring to....outside players, b team kids are better, etc; simply not true. You probably dont want to out yourself, but im guessing your dc got passed up by an outside player and you think he/she should have been on top team. I guarantee if you asked around the parent group, they would have had a different opinion. Did your kid get passed up each year by these outside players? Did your kis guest and train with the top team regularly. Could you make an honest assessment of your kids ability?[/quote]

I’m not the PP, I’m the PP whose kid is playing college and who wrote about the toxic nature of the club system. But I’m sorry, but this flat-out does not match with my experience.

Here is what I would say: there are kids who get to and flourish in college because of the club system. These are the kids who are identified early, nourished by the system, preferred by coaches, etc. Sometimes their parents are much like the PP and believe in the club system, particularly at the ECNL and MLSNext levels. For some of the parents (not saying this is PP), their egos depend on believing club soccer is a true meritocracy where the best excel. To be fair, their kids have a very good experience with the system and trust it. They should trust it: they benefit, and when it comes to college, the club and coach advocates for them.

But there is also a sizeable group of kids who get to and flourish in college [i]despite[/i] the club system. These kids are the one who maybe have to fight for play time over the years, who are tracked into lower teams at the younger years and have to switch clubs to get up a level, who get benched, who aren’t the coach favorites, who get yelled at more, who are the target of the coach ire if they lose. Etc. These kids hustle on their own to get their college spots (because their coaches minimally help, preferring to help their favorites). They have to debate whether and/or when they share college offer information with the club because they can’t trust the club and/or coach.

The thing is, college coaches know this about club soccer. Some college coaches refuse to even talk with club coaches, because they don’t trust them. So that second group, they can and do get on to college teams. Coaches in college know how the US club system works more than anyone.

I’ve had kids in both groups. I will say this: when your kid is in the first group, you want to believe the club system is equitable. When your kid is in the second group, you know it’s not. [/quote]

Thank you PP for sharing your experience. It's very helpful.[/quote]

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