"Her cone technique needed work" What does that mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next Star is really a glorified soccer daycare. There is little instruction given. It's just a place to convene and dribble around cones and scrimmage. Our daughter routinely asked what she needs to work on, and the answer was always, "You're doing great." If you can't identify a player's weak / strong points after several sessions, you're not paying attention.

Are you saying they don’t scrimmage? My DS has attended several of the college/pro sessions and said that both the competition level and number of touches built into the sessions are great.

Please work on your reading comprehension skills.

SoccerWatcher wrote:I have seen videos posted about the Next Star trainings. Have called the number on their website as well as emailed with zero response. Took my 16 year old DD who plays for a local ECNL team to one of the trainings but seemed like the kids were mostly younger so left. Next day stopped by the Pro/College group and it looked like 20 year old male college players. I've seen HS age girls in some of the videos. Can anyone in the know comment on this program and which may be best suited for a U17 ECNL player?

I believe you have to register your kid on their website. No cost and no commitment and they email you back with a password to access their schedule and you get on their email list where they send updated schedules regularly.

So once your kid is registered, the sessions are drop in and they bill you monthly. I like to send an email to give a heads up when my kids attend but I assume they just figure out who’s there and send invoices accordingly. My kids are younger but definitely seem older kids. Might depend on when u go. More kids go on the weekends I think.

is there anything comparable to HP Elite that is closer to DC? We are also considering Nextstar but based these reviews, seems HP Elite is more of what we are looking for.

Awesome

My DC has been going on and off for a few years. Ages are hit and miss and same with DD feelings leaving depending on what ages show up. Regardless, it's touches on the ball. PG is great with the kids except when kids have to run the hill. PT does more private stuff than group for Next Star. Next Star also has convenient training times vs. others.

If you really want good group training, figure out a way to get into HP Elite in VA. It is waaaaaaaaay better than Next Star or DMV. I know of at least 3 girls who grew up with HP Elite that are now on USYNT teams.

Anonymous wrote:Next Star is really a glorified soccer daycare. There is little instruction given. It's just a place to convene and dribble around cones and scrimmage. Our daughter routinely asked what she needs to work on, and the answer was always, "You're doing great." If you can't identify a player's weak / strong points after several sessions, you're not paying attention.

Are you saying they don’t scrimmage? My DS has attended several of the college/pro sessions and said that both the competition level and number of touches built into the sessions are great.

Next Star is really a glorified soccer daycare. There is little instruction given. It's just a place to convene and dribble around cones and scrimmage. Our daughter routinely asked what she needs to work on, and the answer was always, "You're doing great." If you can't identify a player's weak / strong points after several sessions, you're not paying attention.

Anonymous wrote:Paul is never going to tell you in advance who will be there because there is no registration system. It's purely drop in.

Yes but if you've gone awhile and know the patterns (as Paul does) you will notice breaks in mcps and private school schedules and breaks ecnl/mls next schedule that there is a downtime and an uptick in players. Or an off day for a holiday like presidents day. This is when they see more kids coming and add day camps for more players that will fit her skillset.

Paul is never going to tell you in advance who will be there because there is no registration system. It's purely drop in.

My U13 has dropped by occasionally and there were always older kids (2009/2008 or older) in the mix. How many is varies and she never really get paired with the younger kids. Maybe it's just depend on who shows up.

SoccerWatcher wrote:I have seen videos posted about the Next Star trainings. Have called the number on their website as well as emailed with zero response. Took my 16 year old DD who plays for a local ECNL team to one of the trainings but seemed like the kids were mostly younger so left. Next day stopped by the Pro/College group and it looked like 20 year old male college players. I've seen HS age girls in some of the videos. Can anyone in the know comment on this program and which may be best suited for a U17 ECNL player?

Many girls are paired with younger boys for practices in general because of the skill difference. At our club we have a high level ecnl player (wont name the club) that practices with our boys team 1-2 years below. Just because the other kids look younger or smaller, you'll may find their skill level in many areas it's at or above your daughter. We recently trained in this situation and although the girl could shoot, her cone technique and touches with passing needed work. Much of nextstar is individual technique training in a group environment with like minded kids for motivation but ultimately she is only competing against herself, not the other kids that are there. (This is what I tell my son when they are much older than him).

It's random and that's the downside with most group trainings is that you never really know when there will be people that fit in with your kids skill level. Some days they have alot of high-school age and some don't. 1) you should talk to the coaches because they know days that they may have a high school group 2) she could likely jump in on the pro/ college group trainings 3) lookup jz.dmvballerz on ig. He coaches with them but also trains high-school groups. Also look up futbollab to see if their pro/college group may work for her. Once you meet a few people ask them to keep you in the loop.

I have seen videos posted about the Next Star trainings. Have called the number on their website as well as emailed with zero response. Took my 16 year old DD who plays for a local ECNL team to one of the trainings but seemed like the kids were mostly younger so left. Next day stopped by the Pro/College group and it looked like 20 year old male college players. I've seen HS age girls in some of the videos. Can anyone in the know comment on this program and which may be best suited for a U17 ECNL player?