What league/division is small club a team in?
Generally I’d vote for small club as long as they have a decent coach, turf field access and a decent league to play in.

We were in a similar situation with my son. We chose to go small club A team. I figure they will get more attention and playing time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to travel soccer and need advice. Daughter has offer to play on the top team for a small club, and she has an offer to play on the D team for a big club. D team club was a cold tryout where they didn’t know her and she stuck out. I believe in looking at the A-C teams once she gets an opportunity to truly showcase herself she will be moved up. That being said which route would you go?

dont do big club. Unless shes a true standout. Your kid will get labeled as a lower team kid. (Will always get passed by with amount of kids in club and outside players) I made the same mistake and my kid was stuck on C team for 3 years. (3rd 4th 5th grades) we left after offered same team in 6th grade. And now he's in HS and on ECNL team and plays majority of time.

This right there... similar experience and observation. C and D teams usually get sub-par coaching (not always, but often) and it's much harder to move up unless your kid is the #1 player on the C or D team and are somehow noticed by A or B coaches. Most likely outcome is your kid stays on the same team from year to year even if they are good enough to get on a higher team. Also, since the A and B team kids get better coaching and your kid does not, the A and B players get better by higher margins and it's harder for your kid to compete.

Anonymous wrote:New to travel soccer and need advice. Daughter has offer to play on the top team for a small club, and she has an offer to play on the D team for a big club. D team club was a cold tryout where they didn’t know her and she stuck out. I believe in looking at the A-C teams once she gets an opportunity to truly showcase herself she will be moved up. That being said which route would you go?

dont do big club. Unless shes a true standout. Your kid will get labeled as a lower team kid. (Will always get passed by with amount of kids in club and outside players) I made the same mistake and my kid was stuck on C team for 3 years. (3rd 4th 5th grades) we left after offered same team in 6th grade. And now he's in HS and on ECNL team and plays majority of time.

Anonymous wrote:Some of the common themes I have seen on different threads is that the lowest teams don't get the same focus from the clubs as top teams. The smaller club may offer more focus on your kids development. What's more important, kids development or the name of the club?

I don't care about the name of the club. I care that my kids play good soccer that develops them without sliding backwards.i don't know which clubs to turn to.....

Anonymous wrote:

How do you determine divisions for various clubs? Is this posted somewhere?

You can find it on the ncsl website.

Some of the common themes I have seen on different threads is that the lowest teams don't get the same focus from the clubs as top teams. The smaller club may offer more focus on your kids development. What's more important, kids development or the name of the club?

Anonymous wrote:What division are each team in? How do you feel about the coaches for each team? How does your player feel about the other players on each team? If the team is in a competitive division for your player's skill and they like the coach and teammates then the rest doesn't really matter other than bragging rights. There is normally next to no upward mobility within a club once you are there as well. Your player isn't going from the bottom team to the top team next year at a big club.

How do you determine divisions for various clubs? Is this posted somewhere?

What are some of these more welcoming smaller clubs? I need to find one for my child.

By the time you get to C and D teams, it’s the left overs and that’s how you’ll be treated when it comes to coaching and field space

We moved my DS from a large club to a smaller club for u13. He has thrived as he has a better coach and is happy. Communication is less but overall we’ve been happy with it

Just moved my kid from large club D team to a slightly smaller club's B team (partially due to politics of bringing new kids into higher level teams while keeping current players in lower tear teams or even moving them down to make space)... I guess we'll see how it goes. I am definitely curious what everyone's thoughts on the matter are.

This is too age and club specific to be able to answer generally.

What division are each team in? How do you feel about the coaches for each team? How does your player feel about the other players on each team? If the team is in a competitive division for your player's skill and they like the coach and teammates then the rest doesn't really matter other than bragging rights. There is normally next to no upward mobility within a club once you are there as well. Your player isn't going from the bottom team to the top team next year at a big club.

New to travel soccer and need advice. Daughter has offer to play on the top team for a small club, and she has an offer to play on the D team for a big club. D team club was a cold tryout where they didn’t know her and she stuck out. I believe in looking at the A-C teams once she gets an opportunity to truly showcase herself she will be moved up. That being said which route would you go?