Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Right -- when I'm paying $3,000 to face elite competition, I think it's reasonable to expect people to show up. For a $120 rec league, expectations are different.

We tried out and declined to join. Admittedly I we didn't know what it really was and after they discussed the training focus with less emphasis on games my kids checked out. Also, the kids in that program for the most part was a part of the Evergreen club which wasn't competitive to begin with. It's going to be hard to use Barcalona's name her in the states where the culture isn't training for soccer, it's playing games.

The training is excellent and they move kids around to find the right skill set and fit for them. Very few of the Evergreen kids are actually involved and kids come from all over the area. You were a bit short sighted in your analysis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Right -- when I'm paying $3,000 to face elite competition, I think it's reasonable to expect people to show up. For a $120 rec league, expectations are different.

We tried out and declined to join. Admittedly I we didn't know what it really was and after they discussed the training focus with less emphasis on games my kids checked out. Also, the kids in that program for the most part was a part of the Evergreen club which wasn't competitive to begin with. It's going to be hard to use Barcelona's(sic) name her in the states where the culture isn't training for soccer, it's playing games.

The training is excellent and they move kids around to find the right skill set and fit for them. Very few of the Evergreen kids are actually involved and kids come from all over the area. You were a bit short sighted in your analysis.

Did you sign up? If so, do share. Us that went to tryouts, didn't like the fit and didn't sign up only have those few hours of perspective. The pp misspelled Barcelona, so woucl use some more information. Make us less ignorant... Also, I know there was scrimmages, but no games, so in what environment are the kids being moved around?

Anonymous wrote:I hate it when I hear parents screaming "Shoot! Shoot! Take a shot!" Nails on chalkboard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Right -- when I'm paying $3,000 to face elite competition, I think it's reasonable to expect people to show up. For a $120 rec league, expectations are different.

We tried out and declined to join. Admittedly I we didn't know what it really was and after they discussed the training focus with less emphasis on games my kids checked out. Also, the kids in that program for the most part was a part of the Evergreen club which wasn't competitive to begin with. It's going to be hard to use Barcelona's(sic) name her in the states where the culture isn't training for soccer, it's playing games.

The training is excellent and they move kids around to find the right skill set and fit for them. Very few of the Evergreen kids are actually involved and kids come from all over the area. You were a bit short sighted in your analysis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Right -- when I'm paying $3,000 to face elite competition, I think it's reasonable to expect people to show up. For a $120 rec league, expectations are different.

We tried out and declined to join. Admittedly I we didn't know what it really was and after they discussed the training focus with less emphasis on games my kids checked out. Also, the kids in that program for the most part was a part of the Evergreen club which wasn't competitive to begin with. It's going to be hard to use Barcalona's name her in the states where the culture isn't training for soccer, it's playing games.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Right -- when I'm paying $3,000 to face elite competition, I think it's reasonable to expect people to show up. For a $120 rec league, expectations are different.

Anonymous wrote:

I find for the younger ages it is best to put the player with the best ball control in a defense slot. They will keep your team from being scored on easy goals and should provide for more scoring as they will be in positions to pass or shoot and can trek back since the field is small.

Isnt this a double edged sword? That child always ends up playing D, no one else learns to play defense and that child doesnt learn how to transition for the 5 minutes of offense they play and the team gets scored on quickly and that kid is moved back to defense to prevent a loss. No way that this is good for individual development with the exception of the child who never plays defense because the best ball control hooks them up and scores against "goalies". yay team!

I find for the younger ages it is best to put the player with the best ball control in a defense slot. They will keep your team from being scored on easy goals and should provide for more scoring as they will be in positions to pass or shoot and can trek back since the field is small.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can vouch that it is hard to go from travel to rec. We did both last year, and after the structure of the travel program and the dedication of the players, rec can be frustrating. It's fun, but the girls goof around a lot at practice (if they show up) and are less likely to show up for games, so you end up very short-handed some weekends and praying one more girl will show up so you don't have to forfeit the game. It's one thing for this to happen in kindergarten, but by 3rd grade when everyone's been playing for 4 years, you kind of figure maybe they could buckle down a bit for 2 hours a week.

We do love our rec team, though.

It depends. *Generally*, the rec experience nose-dives at U9 (or whatever age your local club/league starts travel) but then perks back up by U12. The players who are just being pushed out there by their parents are gone, and players who played travel but chose different priorities are back in rec.

I'm coaching several former travel players this year at U14. They were initially shocked that so many players in the league were so good. Took an adjustment period.

But you can also get a group of kids that goofs off. Again, that's a little less of an issue as you get older -- kids mature (somewhat), and the kids who have no interest in soccer are long gone.

Forfeits and short-handed play, though, are a legitimate problem. A lot of these players are playing rec soccer because it's NOT their first priority. (I've seen a few counterexamples in which coaches somehow convince kids and their parents that this is the most important thing in the world.) They'll miss time for basketball, lacrosse, plays, music performances, etc.

And a lot of rec-league organizers make it worse. The Vienna approach under the longtime VP of House was to have small rosters because he viewed it as a mortal sin to have players on the bench. The result is that you're often one Scout trip away from asking out-of-shape players to get through all 70 minutes of a full-field game.

Rec leagues need more flexible rosters. Maybe ask on the registration form how much of a commitment each player is likely to make and bear that in mind when making the roster. If you put 20 people on a roster, you can probably deal with that one game in which all 20 show up, and you'll be grateful for all the times you have 6-7 players out but can still field a team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Funny you say that, at a Barca tryout(FCBEscola) they said all players could do what they like, including coding, camps, other sports, and if they miss practice it wouldn't matter since the team wasn't going to force anyone to practice and the player wouldn't lose a slot on the team. I was thinking, but didn't want to say it, why would anyone sign up for that, pay $3k for fees and $300 for uniform and then have the player's team not even show up at times because they were doing something more important. Not sure if the rep was trying to cater to every need, heard some things about the area(Loudoun), or really is just offering private training with Barcelona branding to go with it.

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Anonymous wrote:Travel-to-rec parent here - we are hoping to roster slightly higher in the spring season, to combat the "too many kids doing other things" problem. The league recommends 11 for the 7x7 format, and we've only had a couple games where we had more than 2 subs. Last week we had to start the game with 6-on-6 because we didn't have enough girls for 7x7, but luckily the other team was shorthanded too. We like to sub our goalie out at about the quarter mark, but that's hard to coordinate when you have no subs waiting on the sidelines in a pinnie and gloves.

Also, good point that it might be the age of the girls. They're 8, so they are SILLY. When they are focused, they are actually awesome to watch. But you have to wade through a lot of silly to get there.

We're good about equal playing time, though. The only time we really take into account ability level is when we're assigning positions. If we have someone in goal who is weak on goal (like many are when they first play it), we put our best defenders on D to help out. If we are playing a really good opponent, we are probably keeping our best striker in a forward position and not putting her in goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can vouch that it is hard to go from travel to rec. We did both last year, and after the structure of the travel program and the dedication of the players, rec can be frustrating. It's fun, but the girls goof around a lot at practice (if they show up) and are less likely to show up for games, so you end up very short-handed some weekends and praying one more girl will show up so you don't have to forfeit the game. It's one thing for this to happen in kindergarten, but by 3rd grade when everyone's been playing for 4 years, you kind of figure maybe they could buckle down a bit for 2 hours a week.

We do love our rec team, though.

It depends. *Generally*, the rec experience nose-dives at U9 (or whatever age your local club/league starts travel) but then perks back up by U12. The players who are just being pushed out there by their parents are gone, and players who played travel but chose different priorities are back in rec.

I'm coaching several former travel players this year at U14. They were initially shocked that so many players in the league were so good. Took an adjustment period.

But you can also get a group of kids that goofs off. Again, that's a little less of an issue as you get older -- kids mature (somewhat), and the kids who have no interest in soccer are long gone.

Forfeits and short-handed play, though, are a legitimate problem. A lot of these players are playing rec soccer because it's NOT their first priority. (I've seen a few counterexamples in which coaches somehow convince kids and their parents that this is the most important thing in the world.) They'll miss time for basketball, lacrosse, plays, music performances, etc.

And a lot of rec-league organizers make it worse. The Vienna approach under the longtime VP of House was to have small rosters because he viewed it as a mortal sin to have players on the bench. The result is that you're often one Scout trip away from asking out-of-shape players to get through all 70 minutes of a full-field game.

Rec leagues need more flexible rosters. Maybe ask on the registration form how much of a commitment each player is likely to make and bear that in mind when making the roster. If you put 20 people on a roster, you can probably deal with that one game in which all 20 show up, and you'll be grateful for all the times you have 6-7 players out but can still field a team.