We had a great experience with our DC on a lower team travel team at U9. Most of what you're paying for at that age is coaching (which was light years better than house), competition (the lowest team was still full of house all stars), practice facilities (better than house), and tournaments. You won't get everything the top team gets, but if the alternative is house, we were very happy in our decision.

Everyone says it's a money grab, and it may be from the perspective that our DC will likely never get a college scholarship. That said, it was a great experience, and she blossomed into one of the best players on the team, moving up to the second highest team the next season.

I'm not sure "everyone" says a lower team is a money grab at U-9. Plenty of kids with a future in soccer get passed over for the top team at that age. But at U12 or U13, a motivated kid is less likely to have a positive experience on a lower team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a U14 player and when he made the move from U8 Rec to tryout for U9, they didn't even give him an offer. They basically took all their preacademy players. He ended up making the 3rd team of neighboring club. When he tried out the following year, he was asked to join the 1st team from both clubs and smiled when he turned down the club that gave him the walking papers a year prior. Given that both clubs play in the same league, he turns it on when they play and after 5 years, they are undefeated against this club. Motivation comes in many different forms.

PP, did you find your son made rapid progress in that U9 year and was ok being on a 3rd team? Mine is a good athlete, but has never really had any training and didn't do preacademy, unlike it seemed most of the other kids at the U9 tryout. We decided to tryout for travel this year because he's been frustrated with rec. We just got our placement and he's on one of the lower level teams (5th out of 6). I didn't watch the tryout, but am definitely surprised at the low placement. My husband and I also don't know whether this team is just going to be more of the same kids who don't really want to be there. Any advice? We don't want to waste money or deal with more frustration from our son.

We had a great experience with our DC on a lower team travel team at U9. Most of what you're paying for at that age is coaching (which was light years better than house), competition (the lowest team was still full of house all stars), practice facilities (better than house), and tournaments. You won't get everything the top team gets, but if the alternative is house, we were very happy in our decision.

Everyone says it's a money grab, and it may be from the perspective that our DC will likely never get a college scholarship. That said, it was a great experience, and she blossomed into one of the best players on the team, moving up to the second highest team the next season.

Anonymous wrote:I have a U14 player and when he made the move from U8 Rec to tryout for U9, they didn't even give him an offer. They basically took all their preacademy players. He ended up making the 3rd team of neighboring club. When he tried out the following year, he was asked to join the 1st team from both clubs and smiled when he turned down the club that gave him the walking papers a year prior. Given that both clubs play in the same league, he turns it on when they play and after 5 years, they are undefeated against this club. Motivation comes in many different forms.

PP, did you find your son made rapid progress in that U9 year and was ok being on a 3rd team? Mine is a good athlete, but has never really had any training and didn't do preacademy, unlike it seemed most of the other kids at the U9 tryout. We decided to tryout for travel this year because he's been frustrated with rec. We just got our placement and he's on one of the lower level teams (5th out of 6). I didn't watch the tryout, but am definitely surprised at the low placement. My husband and I also don't know whether this team is just going to be more of the same kids who don't really want to be there. Any advice? We don't want to waste money or deal with more frustration from our son.

OP, based on your story about your son, you guys may be interested in watching this Netflix movie about Antoine Griezmann: https://www.netflix.com/title/81049949

Anonymous wrote:Uh, a kid doesn’t learn juggling in a week. He has to do that, as well as practice moves, every day week in & week out.

??? Who said anyone learned to juggle in a week?

Uh, a kid doesn’t learn juggling in a week. He has to do that, as well as practice moves, every day week in & week out.

Anonymous wrote:I have a U14 player and when he made the move from U8 Rec to tryout for U9, they didn't even give him an offer. They basically took all their preacademy players. He ended up making the 3rd team of neighboring club. When he tried out the following year, he was asked to join the 1st team from both clubs and smiled when he turned down the club that gave him the walking papers a year prior. Given that both clubs play in the same league, he turns it on when they play and after 5 years, they are undefeated against this club. Motivation comes in many different forms.

CYA?

Same experience. Getting screwed over (and told he was by some coaches within the Club--one who is still a mentor 6 years later) was the best thing that happened to my son. He had such anger and motivation that it spurred him on to get better and better. That chip he carried on his shoulder is a great motivator. Now all these years later he is a top player and many of those kids from years ago have not progressed.

It's rare that you will meet a top or pro athlete that didn't face time type of adversity or setback and it is how they dealt with it that makes the difference. Some kids give up completely and others use that grit and passion to improve their game. Many of those players from long ago were eventually cut or fizzled out down the road---and when they found themselves not on a first team anymore they couldn't handle it and quit.

My son would sometimes complain about what happened early on and I always turned it into a positive for him. We laugh about it now and I say they did the best thing ever for him. We would not have sought out so many different types of training experiences and he would not have had such varied training if he had gotten everything he wanted at age 9/10/11. I also find that he is much tougher and resilient when dealing with different coaching styles now at 14. He's more likely to weather the bad ones. He also has a lot more empathy for teammates and new kids to the team then some of the prima donnas that are quick to gripe or attack their own teammates when things get tough in a game.

As a parent, I will say, it's best not to get involved with the coaching staff--at all. Motivate your kid if they are down about the result and help them find other training opportunities. Commiserating or trying to interfere with roster decisions doesn't teach your child anything. The other thing I make clear to my sons is that different coaches value different types of players and styles. I tell them often it is not personal, it's just the way a Coach sees something and they aren't being 'mean'. You have to help your kids not feel like a victim. Go to practices at other places. We have been able to tell after one practice whether a coach or Club is a good fit. Again, there aren't 'bad' places, just different places that may not be for him. It took some growing on my part as a parent to stay impartial, but I have always been honest with my kids about their ability and I am the first to point out and recognize really good players on their team and other teams.

This year my kid wanted to play center mid as he has frequently and was upset he wasn't getting the chance. I let him know that as long as another kid on the team was better in that position (and 2 of them were)--he wasn't going to get that opportunity. Now 1.5 years later he was moved out of the back and starts as attacking center mid. I told him at the time that if he was given any opportunity whether in practice or a game to play there---that he better give 120%. Don't whine. I always tell them that the amount of time they spend at a different position--even one they aren't crazy about---improves their game. We know kids that have only ever played striker since U9 and their parents will insist they only play forward, that really is a disservice to the player. Not having versatility will eventually catch up with them.

I have 2 different experiences with my kids---one always being recognized from a young age and one that has had to fight for it even though I think they have very similar ability. The former can get lazy about training since everything went his way from the beginning and he was always praised by coaches. He can stagnate in development from time to time because of it. The other one has such perseverance which I can see was born out of circumstance.

It really is true that most everyone learns more from their failures than their successes. Well done. I know we can sometimes fear the failures for our children but it is good for them. Life will have failures and they need to be prepared to manage that.

I have a U14 player and when he made the move from U8 Rec to tryout for U9, they didn't even give him an offer. They basically took all their preacademy players. He ended up making the 3rd team of neighboring club. When he tried out the following year, he was asked to join the 1st team from both clubs and smiled when he turned down the club that gave him the walking papers a year prior. Given that both clubs play in the same league, he turns it on when they play and after 5 years, they are undefeated against this club. Motivation comes in many different forms.

I hope this will be my son!

You’ve got a resilient kid-these are the ones who will be successful in life. I am hopeful this year’s tryouts will motivate DD in a similar manner!

That's great and shows a lot of character. Good for him!

getting cut or not making a team is a big motivator.

With tryouts coming up, I thought I would share my son's disappointment with last year's tryout placement. He was certain he would be moved up a team level, but when the offer came he was still placed on a lower team. Many of his teammates got placed up. He has always been a solid and committed player, but probably was mostly going through the paces.

A day after his offer, he said he wanted to look at different clubs. He tried out for 3 more local clubs (4 total with his original club). At each of the tryouts there was a raised level of intensity. After the first round of tryouts, he had identified the club he wanted to play for and put out a tremendous effort at the 2nd tryout. He got good offers from each club, but was thrilled with the offer from his first choice club and made the move.

But this is where the change just started. He had such a chip on his shoulder from not being promoted by his original club, that he really upped his game. He asked for extra training (which we arranged), he started juggling the ball in the driveway every day after school, he started working to increase his fitness on his own. At practice, he started giving more effort in drills and scrimmages. When the team ran laps, he always tried to finish first.

Being disappointed in his team placement put a chip on his shoulder, but ignited his competitive desire!