Anonymous wrote:Total newcomer here - what does it mean when the coach invites you to come practice with the team for a “closer look”? This happened to my son last night after his second try out. Son reports that they chose about 10 out of 50 or so kids to do this.

They weeded him out and now will compare against current team members and the other 9. They are using it to see where to place. Maybe 1-2 out of the 9 will go to the top team. Others may be slotted to lower teams.

Total newcomer here - what does it mean when the coach invites you to come practice with the team for a “closer look”? This happened to my son last night after his second try out. Son reports that they chose about 10 out of 50 or so kids to do this.

What also goes with the two posts prior is that these Clubs LABEL players early and it is near impossible to break that label (either the kids that get kept on top long, long after they are no longer performing or the kid that has progressed very quickly that is never seen as anything but a bottom team player).

Somebody used the 'to move up, you need to move out' phrase and that is so true. Particularly, at a large Club with so many teams in an age group. The kids really never get an unbiased look again.

^ oh and the kids that seem slow on transition to big field when they haven't physically/hormonally matured like other middle schoolers, some times end up the fastest kids on the field. My oldest's speed increased so much and he set a record in track in the 400m. It was the testosterone and muscle that came in late for him and once that caught up with the advanced skill it was a game changer.

Anonymous wrote:The DoC of the kids’ club said (20 years ago) to the parents - and he was correct: The best kids at 9 are not the best kids at 13. And the best kids at 13 are not the best kids at 18.

Ultimately, you, as a parent, eventually figure out:
1. Where your kid fits athletically. Speed and quickness are 90% of the gradation.
2. Individual work is the key to individual improvement. No kid is making an mlsnext team who is not spending at least 10 hours a week, on average, working on their own. That is not unique to soccer either.
3. Team participation is important for tactical knowledge and practice starting with 11v11. But, you have to be playing positions that work for you. If that means joining a different team - do it.
4. At 16-17 getting exposure is important but once you make a college/pro decision you should bail.

Finally - no one really gives a hoot that a team won anything. The clubs actually promote based on where they get kids placed, not whether they won some tournament.

I have 2 boys. One turns 18 next Fall and the other is 15. I also have 4 nephews that played competitively and are now post-college. I watched this play out with boys.

On my almost 18-year olds top team, the 3 best players were on the lowest team at a big Club U9-U12. They left and went to different clubs. I always noted that these kids were so sorely misplaced and ignored. They kept plugging away. Puberty hit early for some in this age group (those kids flew to the top in middle school) and then puberty hit late for others. Those 3 kids all now have D1 offers and 3/4s of the kids on the top team at U9 dropped the sport as they kept moving down the ranks.

My 18 year old always was very, very good technically but he had a very late growth spurt (think 5'3" at U15 and 6'1" at U17). It was a real disadvantage in terms of team placement, but a GREAT advantage in terms of development as a player. He had to think faster, be quicker on the ball, learn to shield and develop greater skill. A lot of the big guys were used to boot the ball and chase down 50-50 balls and by U16 they were still marketable to high school teams, but now college coaches or MLSNext, etc were giving them a look--all noting they didn't have the first touch or field vision/movement.

Soccer is a weird sport in the US. A lot of kids with great potential leave the sport in droves because of the inexperience of coaches to identify players to develop and the use of big guns to win at younger ages.

Yes--there are a few superstars that were always superstars right from the start all the way to 18 and beyond, but that is much more rare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoC of the kids’ club said (20 years ago) to the parents - and he was correct: The best kids at 9 are not the best kids at 13. And the best kids at 13 are not the best kids at 18.

Ultimately, you, as a parent, eventually figure out:
1. Where your kid fits athletically. Speed and quickness are 90% of the gradation.
2. Individual work is the key to individual improvement. No kid is making an mlsnext team who is not spending at least 10 hours a week, on average, working on their own. That is not unique to soccer either.
3. Team participation is important for tactical knowledge and practice starting with 11v11. But, you have to be playing positions that work for you. If that means joining a different team - do it.
4. At 16-17 getting exposure is important but once you make a college/pro decision you should bail.

Finally - no one really gives a hoot that a team won anything. The clubs actually promote based on where they get kids placed, not whether they won some tournament.

This needs to be put into context a little more. The "not the best" kids that end up the best are usually not the worst kids at age 9 or 13. They just aren't the best. They are generally above average and a combination of hard work, good coaching/training environment and puberty bump them up to the next level. Parents hear things like this and think that absolutely anyone can become great. It's just not reality.

You see this in swimming all the time. The kids swimming slower than B times don't usually become the AAAA swimmers. But the ones going A times can end up with AAA or AAAA times later. Natural talent and athletic ability matters. It just does.

So much of swimming is about size. If you have a back stroker who never really grows, even with perfect technique they will fade vs. their competition over time. Meanwhile, a kid who isn't the fastest and ends up tall with broad shoulders and who likes working out can improve pretty quickly

Anonymous wrote:The DoC of the kids’ club said (20 years ago) to the parents - and he was correct: The best kids at 9 are not the best kids at 13. And the best kids at 13 are not the best kids at 18.

Ultimately, you, as a parent, eventually figure out:
1. Where your kid fits athletically. Speed and quickness are 90% of the gradation.
2. Individual work is the key to individual improvement. No kid is making an mlsnext team who is not spending at least 10 hours a week, on average, working on their own. That is not unique to soccer either.
3. Team participation is important for tactical knowledge and practice starting with 11v11. But, you have to be playing positions that work for you. If that means joining a different team - do it.
4. At 16-17 getting exposure is important but once you make a college/pro decision you should bail.

Finally - no one really gives a hoot that a team won anything. The clubs actually promote based on where they get kids placed, not whether they won some tournament.

This needs to be put into context a little more. The "not the best" kids that end up the best are usually not the worst kids at age 9 or 13. They just aren't the best. They are generally above average and a combination of hard work, good coaching/training environment and puberty bump them up to the next level. Parents hear things like this and think that absolutely anyone can become great. It's just not reality.

You see this in swimming all the time. The kids swimming slower than B times don't usually become the AAAA swimmers. But the ones going A times can end up with AAA or AAAA times later. Natural talent and athletic ability matters. It just does.

Anonymous wrote:The DoC of the kids’ club said (20 years ago) to the parents - and he was correct: The best kids at 9 are not the best kids at 13. And the best kids at 13 are not the best kids at 18.

Ultimately, you, as a parent, eventually figure out:
1. Where your kid fits athletically. Speed and quickness are 90% of the gradation.
2. Individual work is the key to individual improvement. No kid is making an mlsnext team who is not spending at least 10 hours a week, on average, working on their own. That is not unique to soccer either.
3. Team participation is important for tactical knowledge and practice starting with 11v11. But, you have to be playing positions that work for you. If that means joining a different team - do it.
4. At 16-17 getting exposure is important but once you make a college/pro decision you should bail.

Finally - no one really gives a hoot that a team won anything. The clubs actually promote based on where they get kids placed, not whether they won some tournament.

The thing is, even if those kids aren't the best at 13, they are given the benefit of the doubt especially if the club is trying to fill out as many teams as possible because demoted kids who leave are no longer paying customers. You also have the issue of pigeon holing- a kid on the 4th team may get quicker and bigger, but it's hard to change how the club views them especially if they play with and train with the 4th team. Generally, the easiest way to move up is to move out

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two players on our rec team last year tryout without practicing and make the top team out of three teams.

.

What age are they?

They were 2010s.

The DoC of the kids’ club said (20 years ago) to the parents - and he was correct: The best kids at 9 are not the best kids at 13. And the best kids at 13 are not the best kids at 18.

Ultimately, you, as a parent, eventually figure out:
1. Where your kid fits athletically. Speed and quickness are 90% of the gradation.
2. Individual work is the key to individual improvement. No kid is making an mlsnext team who is not spending at least 10 hours a week, on average, working on their own. That is not unique to soccer either.
3. Team participation is important for tactical knowledge and practice starting with 11v11. But, you have to be playing positions that work for you. If that means joining a different team - do it.
4. At 16-17 getting exposure is important but once you make a college/pro decision you should bail.

Finally - no one really gives a hoot that a team won anything. The clubs actually promote based on where they get kids placed, not whether they won some tournament.

Anonymous wrote:We had two players on our rec team last year tryout without practicing and make the top team out of three teams.

This scenario should not be confused with a situation where a kid from a third or fourth team can work their way up to the top. The latter is just not as likely.

Some kids coming from rec are very athletic and talented, and could have played on a top team from an early age had they tried out for travel. Kids who get placed on a third/fourth/fifth team are usually less athletic, less talented and have a ceiling on their potential. Coaches can tell the difference between someone with raw talent who needs some polishing vs someone who lacks athleticism or aggressiveness.

I have seen too many parents get their hopes up about being moved up and then get mad when it doesn’t happen. They pour all these resources into their kids only to get passed over for a more athletic kid from rec.

Anonymous wrote:We had two players on our rec team last year tryout without practicing and make the top team out of three teams.

.

What age are they?

Anonymous wrote:We had two players on our rec team last year tryout without practicing and make the top team out of three teams.

That’s great to hear!

^^Boys

We had two players on our rec team last year tryout without practicing and make the top team out of three teams.