Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

As a parent of still youngish players, all of these things, and especially the bolded one.

We have a coach that loves to make snide comments about players to those other players around him. For example: Why is she too stupid to not go get the ball? If she weren't 10 lbs over weight she would have beat her defender. Too personal, too petty, not soccer related. Kids will always share what they hear. It honestly disgusts me that people tolerate this

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to put in a plug here for *efficiency.*

What I mean in general is a relatively high proportion of the overall time spent on soccer (including practice and game travel) to the time spent with a ball at your feet, with a higher premium on game time. So driving to Connecticut (4 or 5 hours each way) for 11 minutes of game time is atrociously inefficient. Driving to Connecticut for just about anything is inefficient. The longer I've been at this travel soccer thing, the more I'm convinced that it's not the actual time spent at practice and games that burns out the kids--it's 20 minutes of playing time in a "home" game taking up 4.5 hours (an hour each way to the game, hour warmup, 1.5 hr game). Burns out the parents, too.

Also, it's dumb. DCU academy has to go to NYCFC academy to find a team that can beat them? Dumb

ECNL teams have to go to the Carolinas to play games? Dumb (but not as inefficient as going to NYC and back for just one game)

Yeah, I value a club that values the time of their parents and players. Efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

As a parent of still youngish players, all of these things, and especially the bolded one.

We have a coach that loves to make snide comments about players to those other players around him. For example: Why is she too stupid to not go get the ball? If she weren't 10 lbs over weight she would have beat her defender. Too personal, too petty, not soccer related. Kids will always share what they hear. It honestly disgusts me that people tolerate this

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

As a parent of still youngish players, all of these things, and especially the bolded one.

We have a coach that loves to make snide comments about players to those other players around him. For example: Why is she too stupid to not go get the ball? If she weren't 10 lbs over weight she would have beat her defender. Too personal, too petty, not soccer related. Kids will always share what they hear. It honestly disgusts me that people tolerate this

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

As a parent of still youngish players, all of these things, and especially the bolded one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

Building on PP's post, I would say that the most important thing, and what most clubs and coaches are lacking, is communication. Communication with players and communication with parents. Establishing expectations, communicating regularly (not just in formal player evaluations) with each player on the team about where they stand, and being willing to discuss issues that may come up from time to time with parents are all important to me.

My son just left a club with good training and coaching, but the communication isn't there, nor is a sense of fairness in terms of consistent treatment.

As a parent who has watched from the sidelines for many years, I would say that the best coaches are like the best teachers. They see what each kid has to offer and try to connect with every player to help that player become the best he or she can be. When kids feel that they are important, even if they are last off the bench, it inspires them to get better.

One of my kids has a difficult personality that needs to be closely managed. That is his problem, and we try to work on it all the time. However, when club administrators and coaches do not treat players fairly and do not act with integrity, it undermines the life lessons we are trying to teach our kids. These life lessons are more important than soccer, at least for us.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I want a coach who :
- is competent in all tactical and strategic aspects of soccer and can communicate (teach) these
- is smart enough to balance player development and team competitiveness appropriate to the age group
- is excellent at interpersonal communication with kids
- is good at interpersonal communication with parents
- has excellent integrity, means what he says, says what he means
- develops and communicates criteria for roster and playing time decisions and enforces it uniformly
- is approachable, open, honest, and respectful with regard to parent communications

Anonymous wrote:With so many threads having heated opinions about their clubs, their coach, private training options (or lack thereof,) why they had such a terrible experience at xyz club, it's time to start talking about actual solutions.

This may be a dumb question, but when it really comes down to it, what matters to you?

More playing time?
Better competition?
More wins?
Nicer coaches?
More knowledgeable coaches?
Improved chance of getting recruited?
Bigger club stickers and magnets?

Discuss.

Playing time is exactly what the players want. They practice hard 4 or more times a week - they want to play
Better competition - Yes. This area is diluted with all the clubs. There is one great team per club per age group - the rest are middle of the road
More wins - no better competition
Nicer coaches - NO one is complaining about the "Niceness" of a coach. Its is the over and above abuse from untrained unqualified coaches
More Knowledgeable - more classes in soccer do not make a coach better. They need to play- been a player - see the game from the field - not a powerpoint
Recruited - Any kid in any of the area clubs can get recruited. They have to do the work - the id camps - the contact with coaches