Anonymous
01/29/2024 10:06
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
Anonymous wrote:What's wrong with ECRL vs GA? I have a DD who is not planning to play for college.
Nothing if there's no need for a platform to be seen by college coaches. RL players aren't bad by any means either, some regions are just better than others. As RL teams get into HS age around here they do attend showcases through the year, might not be any big time schools but the option will be there for RL too.
Anonymous
01/29/2024 09:51
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
What's wrong with ECRL vs GA? I have a DD who is not planning to play for college.
Anonymous
01/29/2024 09:47
Subject: Re:Advice needed for U13 player
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you daughter wants to play in college, she has to get to the highest level possible. If she doesn't care about playing in college, go where she has the most fun/enjoyment. Only she can decide that.
Corollary to that, if she doesn’t want to play in college, I personally would not spend the time/money with ECNL. It can be close to $15k with travel expenses. Even if you have disposable income, I’d spend it somewhere else.
Agreed! Unless you are going to Arlington 11s or Bethesda 11s, best two teams in each state round here, and both are deep with talent. You would be surprised with how big the gap in talent is at u13 with most other ECNL clubs. This first year of 11v11 exposes a lot of kids athletically and technically, so go shoot your shot if college soccer is your goal, those opportunities are still there at u14 in ECNL. Don't waste your time with ECRL, plya GA if ECNL doesn't work out
Anonymous
01/26/2024 19:07
Subject: Re:Advice needed for U13 player
Anonymous wrote:If you daughter wants to play in college, she has to get to the highest level possible. If she doesn't care about playing in college, go where she has the most fun/enjoyment. Only she can decide that.
Corollary to that, if she doesn’t want to play in college, I personally would not spend the time/money with ECNL. It can be close to $15k with travel expenses. Even if you have disposable income, I’d spend it somewhere else.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 16:26
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
Only your daughter can answer these questions. You can help her understand what her goals are for soccer...being a better player, having fun with her friends, playing in college. That's the hard part. Based on that the decision will be easier. If the goal is to be the best player she can be and have a chance at playing in college, then she needs to go to a team where she isn't the best player. If the goal is to continue to have fun with her friends and play soccer then stay.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 16:04
Subject: Re:Advice needed for U13 player
Anonymous wrote:If you daughter wants to play in college, she has to get to the highest level possible. If she doesn't care about playing in college, go where she has the most fun/enjoyment. Only she can decide that.
+1. What’s the endgame? That will drive your answer. There ain’t no friends when you are driving to the top of a sport (top being defined by the player). You don’t play on a lower level because you like people, you shoot for the highest level possible on the field and hang out with friends afterwards. If your in it for socializing, health and a team sport atmosphere, stay where you are and let you kid dominate.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 16:00
Subject: Re:Advice needed for U13 player
If you daughter wants to play in college, she has to get to the highest level possible. If she doesn't care about playing in college, go where she has the most fun/enjoyment. Only she can decide that.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:54
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
As a coach, I generally advise that it's not good to be the best player on the team by a decent margin, or the worse player on the team by a decent margin. Most teams struggle to have depth from top to bottom, especially smaller clubs who might only have a single team in an age group.
I'm not surprised her development has slowed, especially if the coach has had to, or decided to try to conform to having weaker players join. As a ~13 year old, she should be able to tell you how she feels about it, and you also have to consider what is going to happen to the team at NEXT tryouts, are the 2nd, 3rd etc. best players going to leave again making the gap even larger? It sucks and as a coach I've been in those situations at smaller clubs. If the coach is a good person it's also worth talking to them about it.
Having said all that, I ALWAYS tell parents to have options every tryout year. Even if they love me/the team etc. You should know what is out there. So I'm going to change your second option a little bit and say - do your research. It shouldn't be "unknown coach", especially if she's even close to ECNL quality. Even play time philosophy is something you can ask your potential new coach about. And I'll say again, talk to your daughter, see what she wants, but also provide her with options and opportunities either way and in the end... well you're the parent.
I'm not surprised her development has slowed, especially if the coach has had to, or decided to try to conform to having weaker players join. As a ~13 year old, she should be able to tell you how she feels about it, and you also have to consider what is going to happen to the team at NEXT tryouts, are the 2nd, 3rd etc. best players going to leave again making the gap even larger? It sucks and as a coach I've been in those situations at smaller clubs. If the coach is a good person it's also worth talking to them about it.
Having said all that, I ALWAYS tell parents to have options every tryout year. Even if they love me/the team etc. You should know what is out there. So I'm going to change your second option a little bit and say - do your research. It shouldn't be "unknown coach", especially if she's even close to ECNL quality. Even play time philosophy is something you can ask your potential new coach about. And I'll say again, talk to your daughter, see what she wants, but also provide her with options and opportunities either way and in the end... well you're the parent.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:52
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
We left our club in similar circumstances but a boy and I regret it now. Although he's a better player for it, the old team was fun, the parents were kind, and we had a lot of history.
In my son's case he won't be playing in college and would have been good enough to play high school regardless.
In my son's case he won't be playing in college and would have been good enough to play high school regardless.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:48
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
Anonymous wrote:My DD has been playing travel soccer for several years, and before this season, the team was steadily improving. She is with a mid-size club, so when it came time to move up to U13 and 11v11, several top players left to join bigger clubs. We were naive and didn't have her tryout before it was too late, expecting most of the players to return, etc. DD has gone from being the 5th-6th best player on the team to 1st-2nd, the quality and roster depth was not really replaced, and the overall level of the team has dropped significantly.
We love the coach, and he clearly knows how to teach (DD improved significantly in the years before this season), but is struggling with attracting players to replace those that left. In practices, DD can easily do the drills, etc that her weaker teammates are still learning or struggle with, so we feel like DD's development has slowed. DD still has close friends on the team, so we mixed feelings with what to do. If she was to start trying out this spring for the bigger clubs, she would probably make several rosters, but would be middle-lower level for those teams. Right now, she basically plays every minute and is involved in almost every sequence. A better team she could ride the bench (or with ECNL and limited subs, not play at all).
So stay with current weaker team, more playing time, great coach
or
tryout for stronger team, less play time, unknown coach?
What league is the team currently competing in?
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:39
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
Leave.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:38
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
I think this very much depends on the kid.
Some are more about teammates, or playing time. Others care about ECNL prestige even if that means riding the bench.
What does your daughter want?
Some are more about teammates, or playing time. Others care about ECNL prestige even if that means riding the bench.
What does your daughter want?
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:31
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
We were in a similar situation last year and my DC wanted to leave because they wanted to play with better players. They ended up on a bottom end ECNL team and coach thought they could make it to starter by end of season. After the preseason training and tournaments, they were already a starter and now is playing full games. It was the best decision to leave. The team is doing much better this year and its fun to be a part of a hard working group. Any new team is a risk so spend some time getting to know the new coach and players. It sounds like you will regret staying in current club/team.
Anonymous
01/26/2024 15:16
Subject: Advice needed for U13 player
My DD has been playing travel soccer for several years, and before this season, the team was steadily improving. She is with a mid-size club, so when it came time to move up to U13 and 11v11, several top players left to join bigger clubs. We were naive and didn't have her tryout before it was too late, expecting most of the players to return, etc. DD has gone from being the 5th-6th best player on the team to 1st-2nd, the quality and roster depth was not really replaced, and the overall level of the team has dropped significantly.
We love the coach, and he clearly knows how to teach (DD improved significantly in the years before this season), but is struggling with attracting players to replace those that left. In practices, DD can easily do the drills, etc that her weaker teammates are still learning or struggle with, so we feel like DD's development has slowed. DD still has close friends on the team, so we mixed feelings with what to do. If she was to start trying out this spring for the bigger clubs, she would probably make several rosters, but would be middle-lower level for those teams. Right now, she basically plays every minute and is involved in almost every sequence. A better team she could ride the bench (or with ECNL and limited subs, not play at all).
So stay with current weaker team, more playing time, great coach
or
tryout for stronger team, less play time, unknown coach?
We love the coach, and he clearly knows how to teach (DD improved significantly in the years before this season), but is struggling with attracting players to replace those that left. In practices, DD can easily do the drills, etc that her weaker teammates are still learning or struggle with, so we feel like DD's development has slowed. DD still has close friends on the team, so we mixed feelings with what to do. If she was to start trying out this spring for the bigger clubs, she would probably make several rosters, but would be middle-lower level for those teams. Right now, she basically plays every minute and is involved in almost every sequence. A better team she could ride the bench (or with ECNL and limited subs, not play at all).
So stay with current weaker team, more playing time, great coach
or
tryout for stronger team, less play time, unknown coach?