SocAnon wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

Your reasoning and analysis is off somewhat.
Several of the small clubs in the DMV have exceptional coaches who rather have developmental impact in quality versus quantity.

The bigger clubs are selecting their top team, top two teams, from a much bigger pool of players. Then have 3 or 4 weak teams in said age group.
Give almost any U10, U11 or U12 coach 13 early bloomers for 7v7 and 9v9 and they're going to 'win' games. Doesn't mean the coaching is good.

People spend so much time and effort focused on the aesthetics of name-brand clubs and leagues early on, they always miss the fact that youth soccer is about individual development.
Your kid being on a big name fancy club may float parents ego, but no scout or coach of a true high level team cares.

MLS Next teams in the DMV are filled with kids developed at 'small clubs', then the big clubs reap the benefits.
So saying small clubs are glorified Rec makes you look like a fool.

I like the thoughts on this, can you name 1 or 2 small clubs that seems to produce quality talent. Again, from a Club perspective, not just the 1 off coach who would excel at any club.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

It's not uncommon to see some really dominant teams at small clubs, especially at the young ages. What usually happens though is at U13 all the really talented players leave those teams and join ECNL/MLS Next teams so they can eventually get recruited for college. I think it's pretty obvious that at least 75% of success in youth soccer is natural talent and/or early physical development, not coaching or club resources. My kids have played against top teams and played against a clubs 4th team at a big club and the difference in level is massive, despite both teams having paid coaches and following the same development approach that the club is emphasizing. If the the way the club operates mattered that much all of the teams would perform at a decent level, but that's far from the case.

That statement about Natural Talent and Physical Development being the key over Coaching is Utter Madness and you will not find a top academy or youth club anywhere in the world that would agree with such a statement.
It's All about Coaching, Environment, Discipline and Consistency in quality training.
How does Natural Talent and Physicality give you top level Technical Skills, Soccer IQ and Decision Making skills?

Those with natural talent will learn these things faster and reach a higher ceiling provided they have adequate exposure to training and competitive matches. Quality coaching and training are the finer details that separate really good players from great players. The results speak for themselves in that the depth of talent at each big club in each age group is pretty weak because player recruitment matters more than coaching.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

It's not uncommon to see some really dominant teams at small clubs, especially at the young ages. What usually happens though is at U13 all the really talented players leave those teams and join ECNL/MLS Next teams so they can eventually get recruited for college. I think it's pretty obvious that at least 75% of success in youth soccer is natural talent and/or early physical development, not coaching or club resources. My kids have played against top teams and played against a clubs 4th team at a big club and the difference in level is massive, despite both teams having paid coaches and following the same development approach that the club is emphasizing. If the the way the club operates mattered that much all of the teams would perform at a decent level, but that's far from the case.

That statement about Natural Talent and Physical Development being the key over Coaching is Utter Madness and you will not find a top academy or youth club anywhere in the world that would agree with such a statement.
It's All about Coaching, Environment, Discipline and Consistency in quality training.
How does Natural Talent and Physicality give you top level Technical Skills, Soccer IQ and Decision Making skills?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

It's not uncommon to see some really dominant teams at small clubs, especially at the young ages. What usually happens though is at U13 all the really talented players leave those teams and join ECNL/MLS Next teams so they can eventually get recruited for college. I think it's pretty obvious that at least 75% of success in youth soccer is natural talent and/or early physical development, not coaching or club resources. My kids have played against top teams and played against a clubs 4th team at a big club and the difference in level is massive, despite both teams having paid coaches and following the same development approach that the club is emphasizing. If the the way the club operates mattered that much all of the teams would perform at a decent level, but that's far from the case.

SocAnon wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

Your reasoning and analysis is off somewhat.
Several of the small clubs in the DMV have exceptional coaches who rather have developmental impact in quality versus quantity.

The bigger clubs are selecting their top team, top two teams, from a much bigger pool of players. Then have 3 or 4 weak teams in said age group.
Give almost any U10, U11 or U12 coach 13 early bloomers for 7v7 and 9v9 and they're going to 'win' games. Doesn't mean the coaching is good.

People spend so much time and effort focused on the aesthetics of name-brand clubs and leagues early on, they always miss the fact that youth soccer is about individual development.
Your kid being on a big name fancy club may float parents ego, but no scout or coach of a true high level team cares.

MLS Next teams in the DMV are filled with kids developed at 'small clubs', then the big clubs reap the benefits.
So saying small clubs are glorified Rec makes you look like a fool.

I like the thoughts on this, can you name 1 or 2 small clubs that seems to produce quality talent. Again, from a Club perspective, not just the 1 off coach who would excel at any club.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

Your reasoning and analysis is off somewhat.
Several of the small clubs in the DMV have exceptional coaches who rather have developmental impact in quality versus quantity.

The bigger clubs are selecting their top team, top two teams, from a much bigger pool of players. Then have 3 or 4 weak teams in said age group.
Give almost any U10, U11 or U12 coach 13 early bloomers for 7v7 and 9v9 and they're going to 'win' games. Doesn't mean the coaching is good.

People spend so much time and effort focused on the aesthetics of name-brand clubs and leagues early on, they always miss the fact that youth soccer is about individual development.
Your kid being on a big name fancy club may float parents ego, but no scout or coach of a true high level team cares.

MLS Next teams in the DMV are filled with kids developed at 'small clubs', then the big clubs reap the benefits.
So saying small clubs are glorified Rec makes you look like a fool.

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Is travel soccer the same as club soccer? Excuse my ignorance!

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Is travel soccer the same as club soccer? Excuse my ignorance!

Anonymous wrote:Travel parent here. Your son has to really want to do it. It will be a family activity and you will have to manage your schedule around games. Please only sign up if you can make all the practices, games and tournaments. You are looking at a minimum of three team practices a week and a game or two over the weekend. If your son plays goalie there is an additional practice for his position. I don’t want to scare you. My son loves it. We were very up front with him and said that it’s your only after school activity and that he will miss friends birthdays (not all of them but the ones that conflict with games)

The lower teams at the big clubs are basically expensive rec teams. They take everyone who tries out, and just make more teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.