Anonymous
Post 06/24/2026 11:49     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:Yall do know that a lot of good young players actually like being competitive and are ok with losing, right? And their parents are, gasp, ok with it too as a natural part of development along with all of the other things?



But then what would they have to post on the team insta/13yo's player insta??? They'll never get into Duke
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2026 09:58     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:I really don't see how 2 or 3 weak players on a team of 18 ruin practice. That's ridiculous.


At younger ages the teams are 14 max (some as little as 10 or 11)... both my kids' teams have been 13 or less. So, during practice when one or two are missing and 3 aren't very good, you get about 1/3 of the team that can't make a proper pass or follow directions. This screws up the practice dynamic. Yes, the coach can mitigate this, but then you get partial segregation and its noticeable by both kids and parents.
Anonymous
Post 06/19/2026 11:25     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Sounds like those coaches have poor practice management.
Anonymous
Post 06/19/2026 10:42     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
It almost never happens mid season. The only one I can think of is a kid moving from HG to AD because they wanted to play HS soccer.

I have seen kids move up, or get guest play and practice time to prep for a move for next season.

I've also seen newer coaches have practices substantially degraded by 2-3 kids who can't behave. One of my kids teams shared a field and I'd see them goofing off and think how glad I was to avoid that.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2026 16:32     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid plays at a big club in MD that has several teams per age group. I noticed that it is extremely rare for mid season demotions to take place. I do see mid season promotions (usually when kids drop out or out injured). I also see demotions when offers are sent out at the end of the season, but never mid season.
It also seems to me that even if a player underperforms, it will not be sent down. The only way for something like that is if a parents asks the club to sent him down due to lack of minutes.
Are there clubs in the area that regularly send players down when they are underperforming or not getting minutes with their current team?


I don’t know how common it is, but a few years ago my kid got moved up midseason from second to top team and another couple of kids got moved down. This was u little age.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2026 10:03     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:I really don't see how 2 or 3 weak players on a team of 18 ruin practice. That's ridiculous.


Agree.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2026 09:42     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
I really don't see how 2 or 3 weak players on a team of 18 ruin practice. That's ridiculous.
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2026 22:50     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:Yall do know that a lot of good young players actually like being competitive and are ok with losing, right? And their parents are, gasp, ok with it too as a natural part of development along with all of the other things?



🎯
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2026 22:27     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Yall do know that a lot of good young players actually like being competitive and are ok with losing, right? And their parents are, gasp, ok with it too as a natural part of development along with all of the other things?

Anonymous
Post 06/17/2026 18:23     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Clearly PP is conflating winning with developing, which makes no sense at u11 and below. There are many things a coach can do that increase the odds of winning but don’t affect or even hurt development.

E.g. kickball/long ball; punting instead of building out the back through inconsistent learning players; making someone play full time goalie; training set plays for corners and throw ins; keeping players in set positions; etc.
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2026 17:19     Subject: Do mid season demotions ever happen?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are you just replying to yourself over and over? If the kids are this far behind their teammates, a coach can't fix that overnight. Now, why were they even selected in the first place if the coach had a role, I'd complain but most of the time those "2-3 kids" were given favors and it screws over the rest of the kids.


How does 2 or 3 bad performing kids affect the other kids?


Is this a real question? Take the best player between here and Richmond, put them up top and see what happens when those 2-3 kids can’t complete a pass but have to play, and as is usually the case get outsized playing time. It’s not rocket science.

I recall a game just like this where hands down the best player Id seen at that age group in NoVa (it was around 10-11) was pretty much useless in a 8-0 game against my kid despite being far and away the best player on the field.


Are we really talking about 10-11 year olds and being “the best” player on the team 😂

Hands down the best I’ve seen in that age group 😂