Reply to How good does a kid have to be to make travel

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Factors that affect the developmental environment for a player (not necessarily in order):

A. Quality of  Coach.
B.  Level of teammates.
C.  Quantity of Practice Time (#sessioins/week, #weeks/year, 60 v 90 min).  Access to lighted turf fields will have a significant effect on this.
D.  Level of competition.

B, C & D will almost always be better on a travel team than a rec or classic team, but there are situations in which the gap is not that large, and a significant difference in the quality of coach can more than make up for it.  Really good rec/classic coaches also tend to keep more of their better players, which also makes a difference.

I have seen some exceptional rec/classic coaches over the years, who were better than many travel coaches.  Usually (but not always) these are former players.  Many of them have gotten their licenses, and the main reason they aren't coaching travel is just because their own kids don't have the aptitude and/or appetite for it.  These types of coaches are the exception rather than the rule however.  So while I agree that it would be folly to blindly send your U9-U12 kid to a C/D level travel team, just for the sake of it being "travel", the reality is that if you are comparing the quality of rec/classic coaches to C/D travel coaches overall, in the majority of cases the travel coaches are indeed better.

If you are talking about making an elite level team at U13/14 or higher though, the chances of doing that from a rec background are extremely low.  [Andy Najar was not playing rec soccer.  He was playing in adult men's leagues as a 15 year old.]  I'll add another data point as a DA parent, exactly 1 player on my son's came from a B team at a big club.  All of the rest of them were A team players from U9 up.  The same is true with all of the other local DA teams in his age group, some may have a few more former B team players, but that's in part because of the difference in roster size from 7v7 to 11v11.

And no, RSD, the clubs don't keep data on that, so you can't access this information from a keyboard.  The reason we parents know it is because we've been seeing each other on the sidelines at multiple tournaments per year for the last 6 years - not to mention futsal, 3v3, clinics, etc....  It's a small world.  Some kids have moved from club to club, some have stayed at the same club, but it's been pretty much the same kids.  Any DA parent will tell you the same.  To dismiss that information as anecdotal evidence in the sense that it has no more value than someone saying "I knew a kid once .... " is a false equivalence.  [/quote]

Quality of coaching is most important in the early years.
Level of players surrounding them and playing against isn't a big deal until after U13.  Go where the coaching/development is good.  Don't be fooled by 'winning' U-littles.[/quote]

There is a reason why all of the kids came from A teams to the other pp's point.  They never dip into the player pool.  It's not necessarily superior talent as kids being passes on from year to year.  They only cut these kids down the line in the much later years.  Also, DA and such read the 'registration form' and a lot kids from smaller Clubs/lower teams to the field that nobody is watching at tryouts and ID sessions.  It's always been the case that coaches pass players on and only advocate for certain ones.  The pool is too large for them to 'waste' time.  I don't think some of these kids are necessarily the smartest players either, but definitely had an early physical advantage.[/quote]

[b]They never dip into the player pool.[/b]
If the DA is in fact in their own club then the club has already stratified the in house talent. By U13 a C/D team player is a C/D team player. There is no need to dip into the pool.

[b]DA and such read the 'registration form' and a lot kids from smaller Clubs/lower teams to the field that nobody is watching at tryouts and ID sessions.[/b]:
There is no allegiance to an outside player at an ID session based on the club they came from. If a kid can play it will show against he players that they play against. This is nothing more than conspiracy garbage. If you are good, you are good and it will show regardless of what field you are initially placed.

The disconnect is parents who do the "Classic" route, complaining about the rigors and waste of travel soccer. They are the same people who shout money grab at everything from U9 travel to ODP. And while all those things may seem unnecessary, and are over priced they tend also provide a relative assessment of where a kid truly stands in the eyes of travel soccer. And until a Classic player actually tries out for a travel team or ODP they really don't know where they truly stand in relation to other non-Classic level players. All they know is that their kid is a Star in Classic. 
And none of this discounts that talented kids do come out of a Classic like environment, but it would be a mistake to try and sell it as some kind of stepping stone to A/B team level travel soccer. If your kid is a C/D level player then it makes sense to do Classic, save some money and join a C/D level travel team later on in hopes of making a HS soccer team later on.

If you think your kid is a A/B travel team level kid then stay in Classic if you wish but you had better tryout at quality clubs or ODP to keep tabs on where your player really stands. If you get an offer then great, you have your answer. It doesn't mean you need to accept. [/quote]

While this may be true at DC United and other MLS DA, the 'Club' DAs are composed mostly of their A teams.  In fact, in the younger years the A team essentially just becomes the 'DA" team.  With the possible dropping of both U12/U13 in coming years, maybe this will be less of a problem since many kids also don't go out for DA until U14 anyways if they don't have it at their home Club.[/quote]

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