They should, but they don't necessarily do this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Apparently the club needed to add a number of outside players from the tryouts so some kids were moved down even though they did well on the field throughout the season (DS was a regular starter with plenty of playing time and was rarely subbed out).

I am sorry that this happened, but if the reason they moved your son down was that there were better outside players at the tryouts, how could they have told him beforehand? Do you mean that they delayed telling him once notifications went out? But wouldn't they need to see if those outside players even accepted? There might have been nothing to tell him if they didn't.

NP. My kids used to play at a club where the rule was if you get a player who is roughly the same as the lower half of your top team, you bump the current player and bring on the new player. The new players didn't necessarily have to be better, but bringing them on brought more $$$$ for the club.

How? Why?

The hope was the demoted current members would stay on lower teams but new kids would only join the club if they were placed on the top team.

Yeah, it's tough. If the coach knows mid-season a player is likely going to be moved down, giving the parents a heads up to help manage expectations is the right move.

But when you get a bunch of new kids come in for tryouts, the coach doesn't even know how many and how good they are, and then they still have to wait for new kids to accept their offers before they know they are moving an existing player down.

Our club had an influx of kids trying out and accepting offers. My kid is still on the same team, but a good number of players unexpectedly cut or moved down a team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Apparently the club needed to add a number of outside players from the tryouts so some kids were moved down even though they did well on the field throughout the season (DS was a regular starter with plenty of playing time and was rarely subbed out).

I am sorry that this happened, but if the reason they moved your son down was that there were better outside players at the tryouts, how could they have told him beforehand? Do you mean that they delayed telling him once notifications went out? But wouldn't they need to see if those outside players even accepted? There might have been nothing to tell him if they didn't.

NP. My kids used to play at a club where the rule was if you get a player who is roughly the same as the lower half of your top team, you bump the current player and bring on the new player. The new players didn't necessarily have to be better, but bringing them on brought more $$$$ for the club.

How? Why?

Not if the old player leaves, and it causes bad feelings. Especially at the younger ages if you're part of the club you want to make sure these kids stay as long as possible.

One of the big clubs likes to put a lot of the new kids on one new team if they can. This is for younger ages and I think that often works out well. They bond better because they are all new and it gives the coaches more time to watch all of them. The existing players are happy because they are on a higher team than the new kids. Win win.

Anonymous wrote:

Apparently the club needed to add a number of outside players from the tryouts so some kids were moved down even though they did well on the field throughout the season (DS was a regular starter with plenty of playing time and was rarely subbed out).

I am sorry that this happened, but if the reason they moved your son down was that there were better outside players at the tryouts, how could they have told him beforehand? Do you mean that they delayed telling him once notifications went out? But wouldn't they need to see if those outside players even accepted? There might have been nothing to tell him if they didn't.

NP. My kids used to play at a club where the rule was if you get a player who is roughly the same as the lower half of your top team, you bump the current player and bring on the new player. The new players didn't necessarily have to be better, but bringing them on brought more $$$$ for the club.

My friend was told in the middle of the season that it was a possibility. I think that's helpful. Her child is young so she didn't tell her child, but it helped her with managing expectation for her child and making plans. In the end, her child did not end up getting moved down and they are still at that club a few years later.

Apparently the club needed to add a number of outside players from the tryouts so some kids were moved down even though they did well on the field throughout the season (DS was a regular starter with plenty of playing time and was rarely subbed out).

I am sorry that this happened, but if the reason they moved your son down was that there were better outside players at the tryouts, how could they have told him beforehand? Do you mean that they delayed telling him once notifications went out? But wouldn't they need to see if those outside players even accepted? There might have been nothing to tell him if they didn't.

They should have let you know way earlier on. Is the lower team a good team? Is it just about ego? I would try to argue my child into staying if you like the club, the coach and other players. If it's not a good team, I would agree with your DS.

I feel bad for your kid- how old is he? What a crappy thing to not even give the kid the chance to weigh options or look elsewhere. Says a lot about the coach or maybe the club of that is the club policy. It is the ugly side of youth sports, certainly.

No heads up for us, but we asked the coach about the reasons for the decision to move my DS to a lower level team. Apparently the club needed to add a number of outside players from the tryouts so some kids were moved down even though they did well on the field throughout the season (DS was a regular starter with plenty of playing time and was rarely subbed out). Some clubs hope that if they let the player know at the latest possible moment, the player is more likely to agree to move down to a lower team within the club, because the roster spots are getting filled by big clubs at around the same time and it is harder to secure a spot elsewhere. My DS is adamant that he wants move to a different club even though the coach hinted that he will likely have an opportunity to move back up next year. DS insists that we reject the offer and does not even want to wait for an offer from another club before we do it.

Anonymous wrote:Coach gave parents a heads up and then will tell the player. Coach frames it positively and wants the parents on board with that framing.

Correct. This is how it was handled at VYS. Best thing that could have happened to my DD. It really motivated her to improve.

Coach gave parents a heads up and then will tell the player. Coach frames it positively and wants the parents on board with that framing.

Wondering how it works generally. Maybe some clubs just do it out of the blue?