Anonymous wrote:Follow the money. In the US, the soccer money is at the youth levels. So clubs gin up more and more eliteness so that parents pay more and more dollars. And the federation isn’t strong enough or willing enough to rein it all in by building and managing a real and useful youth talent development framework. The DA was their attempt, and I don’t see anything replacing that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

If you've ever had a kid in CCL, a 2 hour drive is not uncommon. The OP didn't mention a 4 hour drive each way, just 4 hours of driving which is ridiculous. He's absolutely right and it is maddening.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

The PP is correct that it is difficult to find non-travel teams with non-parent coaches. It is also difficult to find a level of non-travel team that is appropriate for a player who takes the game seriously, but doesn't want to do travel. What you wind up with is kids running all over the place with no skills and no concept of tactics.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Where? Where are the options for kids who want to play at a level beyond just running around having fun that don't involve travel? The only one I can think of was SAC Select in the younger age groups. Are there others?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

If you've ever had a kid in CCL, a 2 hour drive is not uncommon. The OP didn't mention a 4 hour drive each way, just 4 hours of driving which is ridiculous. He's absolutely right and it is maddening.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

The PP is correct that it is difficult to find non-travel teams with non-parent coaches. It is also difficult to find a level of non-travel team that is appropriate for a player who takes the game seriously, but doesn't want to do travel. What you wind up with is kids running all over the place with no skills and no concept of tactics.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Where? Where are the options for kids who want to play at a level beyond just running around having fun that don't involve travel? The only one I can think of was SAC Select in the younger age groups. Are there others?

are there enough kids who want something beyond rec, but not games? My kids got into travel because they are competitive, they like practice, but if you told them all practice and no games they would quit

Who said no games? There would be games against local teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

If you've ever had a kid in CCL, a 2 hour drive is not uncommon. The OP didn't mention a 4 hour drive each way, just 4 hours of driving which is ridiculous. He's absolutely right and it is maddening.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

The PP is correct that it is difficult to find non-travel teams with non-parent coaches. It is also difficult to find a level of non-travel team that is appropriate for a player who takes the game seriously, but doesn't want to do travel. What you wind up with is kids running all over the place with no skills and no concept of tactics.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Where? Where are the options for kids who want to play at a level beyond just running around having fun that don't involve travel? The only one I can think of was SAC Select in the younger age groups. Are there others?

are there enough kids who want something beyond rec, but not games? My kids got into travel because they are competitive, they like practice, but if you told them all practice and no games they would quit

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

If you've ever had a kid in CCL, a 2 hour drive is not uncommon. The OP didn't mention a 4 hour drive each way, just 4 hours of driving which is ridiculous. He's absolutely right and it is maddening.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

The PP is correct that it is difficult to find non-travel teams with non-parent coaches. It is also difficult to find a level of non-travel team that is appropriate for a player who takes the game seriously, but doesn't want to do travel. What you wind up with is kids running all over the place with no skills and no concept of tactics.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Where? Where are the options for kids who want to play at a level beyond just running around having fun that don't involve travel? The only one I can think of was SAC Select in the younger age groups. Are there others?

Anonymous wrote:
I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

That's odd. As far as I am aware there are no 9 and 10 year old teams who have a 4 hour drive for even a single league game per year. A handful have one or two three hour drives a year, with most games much more local.

Why not have them out in local park playing - surely switching those 5 hours with just an hour of playing time for a couple of hours coaching and a couple of hours of scrimmages/pick-up games would do far more for their development (not to mention a more fun childhood)?

Well the vast majority of their playing is done locally so you should be happy.

This strict focus on playing age-groups together is also weird to me - I learnt the most soccer from trying to keep up with the older kids from the neighborhood.

As many kids do here. It's only the organized club practices and games which are strict about age groups - just as they are in Europe. If your kid has not found a group of friends to play pickup with then maybe you could help him do that? This is not uncommon - especially in areas with hispanic populations. Many fields around me have groups of kids and/or adults on them when they are not otherwise in use.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Easy to fix - why don't you volunteer to coach? I imagine you would be welcome.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

There are lots of options.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally?

Why not have them out in local park playing - surely switching those 5 hours with just an hour of playing time for a couple of hours coaching and a couple of hours of scrimmages/pick-up games would do far more for their development (not to mention a more fun childhood)?

This strict focus on playing age-groups together is also weird to me - I learnt the most soccer from trying to keep up with the older kids from the neighborhood.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Europe and find the youth travel soccer business here completely alien. Why have 9 and 10 year olds sit in a car for 4 hours on a weekend to go beat some poor team 7-0 just to preserve, for proud parents, the conceit that they can’t get a competitive game locally? Why not have them out in local park playing - surely switching those 5 hours with just an hour of playing time for a couple of hours coaching and a couple of hours of scrimmages/pick-up games would do far more for their development (not to mention a more fun childhood)? This strict focus on playing age-groups together is also weird to me - I learnt the most soccer from trying to keep up with the older kids from the neighborhood.

The non-travel teams apparently often have crap/parent coaches though.

Is there a third option? High quality regular (2-3x/wk) coaching with games against the best of neighborhood/city teams and maybe travel to a tournament once a season?

Bethesda has options for something like this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of options to have the experience you want, OP. Our kid plays for a lower level travel team, and wants to stay there rather than than move up because it’s an NCSL team, which means all of his games are within an hour’s drive. He has fun, likes his teammates, and doesn’t feel compelled to advance in rankings because it’s not like there’s a realistic chance he’s going to play professional soccer someday. If he can play in college for a D3 team he’d be happy, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of life.

Lol. I’m guessing you’ve never had an away game on Kent island or in West Virginia

Yes, that would be the point of my post. We’ve chosen to stay at a level that doesn’t require that nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of options to have the experience you want, OP. Our kid plays for a lower level travel team, and wants to stay there rather than than move up because it’s an NCSL team, which means all of his games are within an hour’s drive. He has fun, likes his teammates, and doesn’t feel compelled to advance in rankings because it’s not like there’s a realistic chance he’s going to play professional soccer someday. If he can play in college for a D3 team he’d be happy, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of life.

Lol. I’m guessing you’ve never had an away game on Kent island or in West Virginia

Anonymous wrote:You have to distinguish girls from boys.

GIRLS: US system is still dominant youth system. Many compete with dreams of someday playing college soccer. A few make USWNT and or play in NWSL or now Europe.

BOYS: MLS does not rival European clubs in any way. In Europe best players are recruited to play free for pro academies. As long as MLS doesn't have same fan base as European soccer will be difficult to copy European success in men's/boy's soccer.