Reply to Alexandria older boys teams

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "Alexandria older boys teams"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The real question is at what age do the Alexandria players transition to full automatons. Does it take one or two years to strip them of creativity and joy for the game? I guess if you keep telling kids they are wrong if they don’t play the style we tell them, you can probably get it done in one season. If I remember my Star Trek, the borg was pretty efficient at this kind of thing.[/quote]

I get your point here.  I agree that Alexandria does seem to teach a little to much to a system - and that, as a consequence they become predictable which inhibits their results at older age groups, but that does not invalidate the fact that the kids develop good technical skills.  And I doubt that they permanently drive creativity out of the kids.[/quote]

I think the failure comes at trying to run before one can walk. I can teach a 10 year old how to go through the motions of algebra and get most of the questions correct; however, he won’t know any of the underlying concepts or be able to answer the question why. On top of that it will take a lot more effort and time just to have him look like he’s doing algebra. Now if I wait until the kid has developed in the basics of math, he’ll know both how and why he should use algebra. As an added bonus he will have spent a lot more time at the basics and will both be more proficient at those and will learn algebra more quickly. Any system that invests a lot of time early in concepts that are not age appropriate is poorly designed and likely to fail. With regard to the Alexandria approach, is this something they just made up or has some reputable third party validated the approach? Are the meh results at older ages a consequence spending too much time on non-age appropriate activities in the younger years instead of fully developing basic skills and concepts? I’ve always found the lack of understanding child development and eduction one of the more frustrating things about these ‘professional’ youth coaches. I think parents should not assume that because someone has given themselves a title that the person actually knows what they are doing. If your paying several thousand dollars a year to these clubs, ask questions and get fact driven answers.[/quote]

Is this actually a serious question?  This is generally how soccer is taught elsewhere, not just Spain, at U8 up, at least at high levels.  I guess you could call third-party validation of a sort.  Same with MLS Next adding them as one of 17 out of 175 applicants this summer (along with SYC and Achilles in this area).  On the meh results, I honestly don't know what you are talking about - their U13s are #1, their U14s are #1 (and won east regional cup two years ago), their U15s are #4 (and lost players to DC United), and their U16s won State Cup.  Is there something else you had in mind?[/quote]

Which state cup was that? Sorry, there are so many these days, I may have missed the one Alexandria U16 won.[/quote]

Please provide proof that this ‘is generally how soccer is taught elsewhere.’ I know you’re Alexandria staff and just defending your program, but providing empty statements without proof is what we have all come to expect from the club. Here are examples of facts: Alexandria has said that their approach is the right way to play soccer and is the gold standard. Alexandria has said that it may be painful early on, but players will be dominating when they get older.  Alexandria has been pushing this for at least 6 years. Alexandria has no top team at the older ages. Alexandria as a club is not dominating anything, even though this is what was sold to the parents. Alexandria has no track record of players playing beyond High School. More facts: Boys and Girls who are serious about soccer leave the club. Those kids tend to go onto to play in college. And finally, the most interesting fact. If you leave Alexandria, you have a higher probability of playing beyond HS than if you stay.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics