So let me ask the question a different way. Assume my kids are technically proficient and will continue to improve through supplemental training and individual practice. Who are the leading clubs for teaching team concepts, spacing and field awareness for young players in U9-12 range. I have seen almost all top teams in the area over the last 18 months but don’t want to jump to conclusions based on a specific team’s performance on the day that I saw them.

Anonymous wrote:Dilemma.

Club that is good with team play/concepts vs Club that does nothing about team play/passing/reading field but skills development. U10-U12.

And, trust me, no club in the area offers both. We've been all over the DMV.

Our U10 player has significantly dropped off in ball skill due to the type of training. The team takes up a significant amount of time so kid has had less and less time to work on these skills like he did in the past---on his own, at pick up and with trainer. The downturn has been significant. Player told he is incredibly smart at possession and very high soccer IQ, fast, etc.

I would really like to skip one of the 3 90 minute practices to spend on skills privately. Any club allow this?

Just talk to the coach about it versus asking here about a “club that allows it”. First, find the technical training you think you need and then see what the schedule would even be. Cross each bridge as you reach it.

Also, keep in mind that games that look more tactical in nature offer lots of technical benefits that you are overlooking simply because kids are not dribbling through cones.

Anonymous wrote:Dilemma.

Club that is good with team play/concepts vs Club that does nothing about team play/passing/reading field but skills development. U10-U12.

And, trust me, no club in the area offers both. We've been all over the DMV.

Our U10 player has significantly dropped off in ball skill due to the type of training. The team takes up a significant amount of time so kid has had less and less time to work on these skills like he did in the past---on his own, at pick up and with trainer. The downturn has been significant. Player told he is incredibly smart at possession and very high soccer IQ, fast, etc.

I would really like to skip one of the 3 90 minute practices to spend on skills privately. Any club allow this?

I have mentioned LMVSC before and I think the team my DS is on focuses on both the team play and individual skills development. My DS has improved his tactical understanding of the game and is being challenged by coach and teammates. We are happy with the team/club.

Dilemma.

Club that is good with team play/concepts vs Club that does nothing about team play/passing/reading field but skills development. U10-U12.

And, trust me, no club in the area offers both. We've been all over the DMV.

Our U10 player has significantly dropped off in ball skill due to the type of training. The team takes up a significant amount of time so kid has had less and less time to work on these skills like he did in the past---on his own, at pick up and with trainer. The downturn has been significant. Player told he is incredibly smart at possession and very high soccer IQ, fast, etc.

I would really like to skip one of the 3 90 minute practices to spend on skills privately. Any club allow this?

Anonymous wrote:^not at all. I am talking about younger ages. Travel starts at 7 years of age. True DA starts at 15.

I am saying you can only allow the cream to rise to the top in younger years by giving all players in th group a fair shot. Kids change in as little as two months in the younger years. All Clubs I know pick their top 8 AT 7 YEARS OLD. They are locked in for a full year and often for as long as they continue at the Club. That’s developmentally impossible for that percentage and flies in the face of player development. Kids change drastically in ability. These kids get much more resources, attention while the rest get much less attention, development time, extras. I don’t even think some coaches/club officials realize how much they deny the majority opportunity or similar resources/investment.

Read the entire John O’Sullivan article linked Above—not just the intro only by someone else. Read it in its entirety and you will understand.

agreed. This is why the academy setup is so valuable, ideally with at least two teams drawn from it, according to the talent level at the time. Note that the DA, while called an academy, isn't really an academy program at all, because they block their full time players from playing anywhere else. Even at U16, a true academy setup has advantages.

^not at all. I am talking about younger ages. Travel starts at 7 years of age. True DA starts at 15.

I am saying you can only allow the cream to rise to the top in younger years by giving all players in th group a fair shot. Kids change in as little as two months in the younger years. All Clubs I know pick their top 8 AT 7 YEARS OLD. They are locked in for a full year and often for as long as they continue at the Club. That’s developmentally impossible for that percentage and flies in the face of player development. Kids change drastically in ability. These kids get much more resources, attention while the rest get much less attention, development time, extras. I don’t even think some coaches/club officials realize how much they deny the majority opportunity or similar resources/investment.

Read the entire John O’Sullivan article linked Above—not just the intro only by someone else. Read it in its entirety and you will understand.

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Anonymous wrote:I know girls who made DA who were on the B team at our club previously. I'm not impressed with the DA rosters so far. Its just watering down the top teams in the area. Which is good for my child because now they are on the A team I guess.

Could it be that your club didn't do a good job of evaluating players and she was incorrectly placed on the B team. It's also possible that player had an excellent coach and did extra training on the side to get better. It's also possible that your club was more focused on politics and butt kissing parents than promoting someone new to the A team. Players change year to year and it does not mean that a player on a B team can't get better than a player on A. Not saying that DA rosters are great or anything but your logic that it's based on A and B is dumb. Seems like your only focus is now being able to brag about your kid being on the shinny A team. SMH.

Kids change. If you haven’t seen a kid play, but 6 months, a year ago you have no idea what they are presently like. It’s not linear.

I agree with this. I think that is a huge problem in this area. The only way you can evaluate a player is in that exact point in time. Kids change drastically over time. There is too much weight given to team assignment. It is also opinion-based.

Seeing at kid play at 10-11 and saying 'oh yea, I saw her play', but she is now 15, you have no idea what she has been doing in that in-between time. There is physical growth, mental growth, the amount of training on their own, the intensity of that training, life experience, etc.

What a crazy soccer world we have in this country when we talk about a 9-year old's speed or lack thereof as that is the course of their life. That isn't even taking into account mental quickness, speed of play with ball/acceleration, etc.

Every youngster needs a coach willing to believe in their potential. This is a key element missing in a lot of Clubs.

I find they only believe in the top 8-10 players in the critical U8-U12 development stage. The rest they could give a sh*t. I loved the John O'Sullivan "Patience' article about development linked above. It describes exactly how I feel about the way we don't develop and how the parent shit their pants over winning the Eliteeliteness cup at U9/10 and it's all over Club websites.

The kids understand this quite clearly as they are forced to endure watching the special treatment accorded to those anointed ones and their parents prancing around with puffed Peacock chests. They are segregated from the elite hence they rub off their magic.

He quotes 75% turnover rate for top teams over time. I am not as sure about that with the civil service protection/nepotism afforded these families at most Clubs.

Let's say that a DA has to select 26 kids for their two DA teams. Are you saying that they shouldn't take the "best kids" and they should randomly select because their may be a Gareth Bale in the mix? Even with Gareth Bale, they said he was the fastest kid on the team at one time and then dropped off. I understand why they kept him because the saw what he was before and took a chance that he would fight through it....but what are these clubs supposed to do now? Guess at who will be good in 5 years? You take the best at the current time. Sure, someone will get passed over and be better than someone that was selected over him, but this isn't easy in my opinion. You don't know who is going to work hard/grind month after month, year after year. You take the best of what you have now. Sure, there is an argument that these DAs currently take the most athletic over the smarter soccer players but even that's difficult to define.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know girls who made DA who were on the B team at our club previously. I'm not impressed with the DA rosters so far. Its just watering down the top teams in the area. Which is good for my child because now they are on the A team I guess.

Could it be that your club didn't do a good job of evaluating players and she was incorrectly placed on the B team. It's also possible that player had an excellent coach and did extra training on the side to get better. It's also possible that your club was more focused on politics and butt kissing parents than promoting someone new to the A team. Players change year to year and it does not mean that a player on a B team can't get better than a player on A. Not saying that DA rosters are great or anything but your logic that it's based on A and B is dumb. Seems like your only focus is now being able to brag about your kid being on the shinny A team. SMH.

Kids change. If you haven’t seen a kid play, but 6 months, a year ago you have no idea what they are presently like. It’s not linear.

I agree with this. I think that is a huge problem in this area. The only way you can evaluate a player is in that exact point in time. Kids change drastically over time. There is too much weight given to team assignment. It is also opinion-based.

Seeing at kid play at 10-11 and saying 'oh yea, I saw her play', but she is now 15, you have no idea what she has been doing in that in-between time. There is physical growth, mental growth, the amount of training on their own, the intensity of that training, life experience, etc.

What a crazy soccer world we have in this country when we talk about a 9-year old's speed or lack thereof as that is the course of their life. That isn't even taking into account mental quickness, speed of play with ball/acceleration, etc.

Every youngster needs a coach willing to believe in their potential. This is a key element missing in a lot of Clubs.

I find they only believe in the top 8-10 players in the critical U8-U12 development stage. The rest they could give a sh*t. I loved the John O'Sullivan "Patience' article about development linked above. It describes exactly how I feel about the way we don't develop and how the parent shit their pants over winning the Eliteeliteness cup at U9/10 and it's all over Club websites.

The kids understand this quite clearly as they are forced to endure watching the special treatment accorded to those anointed ones and their parents prancing around with puffed Peacock chests. They are segregated from the elite hence they rub off their magic.

He quotes 75% turnover rate for top teams over time. I am not as sure about that with the civil service protection/nepotism afforded these families at most Clubs.

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Anonymous wrote:How do Gunston and LMVSC compare? We are in the area and looking.

What age group? Boy or girl?

Boy 09

For a U9? FPYC could be a good fit.

where do they usually practice? thinking about rush hour commute?

Usually practice at Draper Park, Stafford Park, or Oak Marr Rec Center, all of which are within a 5 mile radius of Fairfax City and close to 66. The prices will be affordable and the club is connected with UK Elite at the younger levels.

Please do yourself a favor and stuck with LMVSC or Alexandria or anywhere else besides FPYC for your 2009. Please. It's not even worth investigating. Trust me!!!!!

I am not familiar with them at the younger age groups.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do Gunston and LMVSC compare? We are in the area and looking.

What age group? Boy or girl?

Boy 09

For a U9? FPYC could be a good fit.

where do they usually practice? thinking about rush hour commute?

Usually practice at Draper Park, Stafford Park, or Oak Marr Rec Center, all of which are within a 5 mile radius of Fairfax City and close to 66. The prices will be affordable and the club is connected with UK Elite at the younger levels.

Please do yourself a favor and stuck with LMVSC or Alexandria or anywhere else besides FPYC for your 2009. Please. It's not even worth investigating. Trust me!!!!!

It does take patience. People have a propensity to freak out after one bad game.

Patience. This is the full link to some of the quotes from the article above. It should be required reading for all US soccer coaches, future US soccer President, and all parents.

http://smithsoniansoccer.com/patience-is-the-most-important-attribute-in-developing-soccer-players/

^^ Gareth Bale went from being fastest on his youth team to 10th (age 9-15) as he grew and was almost dropped, except one coach at the youth academy argued for him to be given time to finish growing. By 17, back on track and first team debut.

“-Talent identification is certainly not easy. Take for example retired Manchester United great Paul Scholes, of whom his future manager Alex Ferguson said, after watching him in a youth game, “He has got no chance – he’s a midget.”

At age 16, Scholes struggled with asthma and injuries. He was technical and creative, but athletically he was behind the others. As his academy director Lev Kershaw stated:

“He was a little one. He had asthma. No strength. No power. No athleticism. No endurance. ‘You’ve got a bleeding dwarf,’ I remember somebody said to [former youth team coach] Brian Kidd. ‘You will eat your words,’ said Kidd. If Scholes had been at a lesser club, they would have got rid of him and he would probably not be in the game now. We stuck with Scholes, a wonderful technician.”

Over the next 20 years, Scholes played over 700 games, scored over 150 goals, and won over 20 league championships, cups and two UEFA Champions League titles. He became arguably the best player of his generation, earning plaudits upon his retirement from every top player in the world. All of this only happened because Manchester United’s youth setup had patience.”

We talk raw athleticism with our young players in the US which is plain stupid. Look what we produce...no patience for development.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I know girls who made DA who were on the B team at our club previously. I'm not impressed with the DA rosters so far. Its just watering down the top teams in the area. Which is good for my child because now they are on the A team I guess.

Could it be that your club didn't do a good job of evaluating players and she was incorrectly placed on the B team. It's also possible that player had an excellent coach and did extra training on the side to get better. It's also possible that your club was more focused on politics and butt kissing parents than promoting someone new to the A team. Players change year to year and it does not mean that a player on a B team can't get better than a player on A. Not saying that DA rosters are great or anything but your logic that it's based on A and B is dumb. Seems like your only focus is now being able to brag about your kid being on the shinny A team. SMH.

Kids change. If you haven’t seen a kid play, but 6 months, a year ago you have no idea what they are presently like. It’s not linear.

I agree with this. I think that is a huge problem in this area. The only way you can evaluate a player is in that exact point in time. Kids change drastically over time. There is too much weight given to team assignment. It is also opinion-based.

Seeing at kid play at 10-11 and saying 'oh yea, I saw her play', but she is now 15, you have no idea what she has been doing in that in-between time. There is physical growth, mental growth, the amount of training on their own, the intensity of that training, life experience, etc.

What a crazy soccer world we have in this country when we talk about a 9-year old's speed or lack thereof as that is the course of their life. That isn't even taking into account mental quickness, speed of play with ball/acceleration, etc.

I have seen some 'fast' U10/12 boys hit a growth spurt and get slow due to body composition, etc., just as much as I've seen a scrawny 9-year old put on muscle composition and size down the road and gain speed.

There a few true wunderkinds.

Fast runners can often be slow with the ball and slow at decision-making. Mental quickness, skill and agility buys a lot of extra time on the field.

"Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster."

“You play football with your head, and your legs are there to help you.”

The master


Players who are not typically fast runners can excel in football if they have sharp feet and quick speed of thought. It is important they be exposed to 'speed of play'. If you have a highly skilled player, technically sound on a lower team--but they only ever play and practice with lower team at slower speed---they cannot get used to the fast play. It becomes self-fulfilling. Pulisic went abroad to get that 'speed of play'. It does not exist in the MLS.

love all of this. Someone told me once about soccer:

Insight can largely compensate for a lack of speed, whereas speed can hardly compensate for a lack of insight.

I still see clubs taking kids because they can run goal post to goal post fast, even though they don't have a good understanding of the game.

True. If you can see the game at a higher level, then you can react earlier and perform in a superior fashion, even to those who might be athletically more gifted.

+1,000000000

Bible to the bolded.

We had a U9 tryout way back where the coach was doing timed sprints as a chunk of the team placement. 8 year olds mind you. Big area club.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do Gunston and LMVSC compare? We are in the area and looking.

What age group? Boy or girl?

Boy 09

For a U9? FPYC could be a good fit.

where do they usually practice? thinking about rush hour commute?

Usually practice at Draper Park, Stafford Park, or Oak Marr Rec Center, all of which are within a 5 mile radius of Fairfax City and close to 66. The prices will be affordable and the club is connected with UK Elite at the younger levels.