Anonymous wrote:Quick note: get permission from the high school coach to guest play during the official high school season. Many states do not allow same sport club/school play. You do not want to be the guy who illegally plays in some club tournament and costs the high school team to forfeit games as a result. Just make sure the rules allow it. It would make for a very very difficult school year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had guest players for some tournaments when we lacked a spot and, surprise surprise, they were from a better team in the club.

In one case they got us a tournament win we wouldn't have otherwise and in other were mostly a neutral replacement for the normal starter.

As a parent, the tournament win didn't feel like "ours" and the neutral swap kept a bench player from getting to start. But, to be fair, these players were available because their team didn't participate in these particular tournaments whereas the kids from the lower team were, so there wasn't an opportunity to bring a kid up. In addition the coach coached both teams and had the relationship to bring the players down.

OP here,

I wonder whether there is some way to tell
Which kind of situation we are walking into.

As parent of a guest player it's not your job to worry about why the team needs guest players. Many teams use guest players just because they have players unavailable for that match. Some use them to try to get a look at players they would like to move up. There are some clubs who commonly bring players from higher tier teams down to lower tier teams just to earn ranking points. But your job as a parent is to worry about what your player wants to get out of guesting not what the coach/team wants out of it. Are they just going to play because their team is idle that weekend? Is it a higher level team and they want to see if they can fit in with them and get seen and evaluated by the coach in a real game setting? Or is it a lower level team and they're just going to show off or on some kind of hero savior mission?

That said, it should be pretty easy to spot a lower level team trying to bring in a ringer.

guest playing can be a great way for players to build relationships outside the current team, things change over time and the perfect team this year may not seem so great next year so opening doors through guest playing can just be the smart thing to do

I guess I was feeling like, if kids resent guest players in certain circumstances, which is what I'm hearing here, that maybe my kid doesn't want to be resented.

My kid wants to play more, and to play with friends. We also want to get a sense of what travel is like, to decide whether he wants to try out for next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had guest players for some tournaments when we lacked a spot and, surprise surprise, they were from a better team in the club.

In one case they got us a tournament win we wouldn't have otherwise and in other were mostly a neutral replacement for the normal starter.

As a parent, the tournament win didn't feel like "ours" and the neutral swap kept a bench player from getting to start. But, to be fair, these players were available because their team didn't participate in these particular tournaments whereas the kids from the lower team were, so there wasn't an opportunity to bring a kid up. In addition the coach coached both teams and had the relationship to bring the players down.

OP here,

I wonder whether there is some way to tell
Which kind of situation we are walking into.

As parent of a guest player it's not your job to worry about why the team needs guest players. Many teams use guest players just because they have players unavailable for that match. Some use them to try to get a look at players they would like to move up. There are some clubs who commonly bring players from higher tier teams down to lower tier teams just to earn ranking points. But your job as a parent is to worry about what your player wants to get out of guesting not what the coach/team wants out of it. Are they just going to play because their team is idle that weekend? Is it a higher level team and they want to see if they can fit in with them and get seen and evaluated by the coach in a real game setting? Or is it a lower level team and they're just going to show off or on some kind of hero savior mission?

That said, it should be pretty easy to spot a lower level team trying to bring in a ringer.

guest playing can be a great way for players to build relationships outside the current team, things change over time and the perfect team this year may not seem so great next year so opening doors through guest playing can just be the smart thing to do

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had guest players for some tournaments when we lacked a spot and, surprise surprise, they were from a better team in the club.

In one case they got us a tournament win we wouldn't have otherwise and in other were mostly a neutral replacement for the normal starter.

As a parent, the tournament win didn't feel like "ours" and the neutral swap kept a bench player from getting to start. But, to be fair, these players were available because their team didn't participate in these particular tournaments whereas the kids from the lower team were, so there wasn't an opportunity to bring a kid up. In addition the coach coached both teams and had the relationship to bring the players down.

OP here,

I wonder whether there is some way to tell
Which kind of situation we are walking into.

Anonymous wrote:We had guest players for some tournaments when we lacked a spot and, surprise surprise, they were from a better team in the club.

In one case they got us a tournament win we wouldn't have otherwise and in other were mostly a neutral replacement for the normal starter.

As a parent, the tournament win didn't feel like "ours" and the neutral swap kept a bench player from getting to start. But, to be fair, these players were available because their team didn't participate in these particular tournaments whereas the kids from the lower team were, so there wasn't an opportunity to bring a kid up. In addition the coach coached both teams and had the relationship to bring the players down.

Anonymous wrote:Guest players are very common. Some kids are rostered for other teams and fill in elsewhere. My kid has guest played for a team he left (on good terms) in tournaments on weekends when he did not have a game with his current team.

My kid is not playing Club this Fall for the first time due to high school soccer schedule (4 nights per week) and many AP classes. He is guest playing in some tournaments for his former team this Fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like he’s a bench warmer

Anonymous wrote:My kid is playing on an MSI classic team. He was recruited by a few travel teams but we turned them down. It has been suggested that he might “get a card” and guest at a few local travel tournaments. How would that work?

Not sure if the kid is a bench warmer or not, but one thing is for sure is that you’re a complete loser!

Wow, what earned this comment?

OP here,

I am hoping the comment was directed at the person who made the comment about my kid being a bench warmer.

Yes. It was directed at the jerk that called your DC a bench warmer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like he’s a bench warmer

Anonymous wrote:My kid is playing on an MSI classic team. He was recruited by a few travel teams but we turned them down. It has been suggested that he might “get a card” and guest at a few local travel tournaments. How would that work?

Not sure if the kid is a bench warmer or not, but one thing is for sure is that you’re a complete loser!