Anonymous wrote:^agree. All the A team players from my son’s U9 year quit the sport when they got demoted a few years later.

Anonymous wrote:

I have seen a couple kids all the way through youth soccer. One an elite player, one a B team player. The movement between A and B is virtually non-existent. Most of the movement is among the players of within those teams - who on the A roster is seeing the most time. Almost all of the kids on the A teams have the talent to be there - just depends upon how committed they are. Truly uncommitted kids do drop out, and yes the early bloomers get a brief period to shine while they have 6 inches and 30 lbs on their teammates, but mostly the kids who are the very best athletes at 13 will still be in that group at 18. It is much more likely they will leave for another team, drop out of the sport, or be injured versus replaced by a new B team player that has blossomed.

Not saying it is, but is another possible explanation that the B team players who were overlooked left for other clubs where they might have become A team players? Just curious.

I have seen a couple kids all the way through youth soccer. One an elite player, one a B team player. The movement between A and B is virtually non-existent. Most of the movement is among the players of within those teams - who on the A roster is seeing the most time. Almost all of the kids on the A teams have the talent to be there - just depends upon how committed they are. Truly uncommitted kids do drop out, and yes the early bloomers get a brief period to shine while they have 6 inches and 30 lbs on their teammates, but mostly the kids who are the very best athletes at 13 will still be in that group at 18. It is much more likely they will leave for another team, drop out of the sport, or be injured versus replaced by a new B team player that has blossomed.

Anonymous wrote:

This is exactly why YOU need to talk with coaches yourself. How else are you going to learn what matters soccer wise, what matters to the coach soccer wise, what the coach sees in your player what the coach looks for in other players and the coaches development philosophy as it applies to the team and your player if you don't try and have that conversation? Asking questions is not in and of itself adversarial and there is no reason to view a coach in an adversarial way. It sounds like you have been frustrated and changed clubs a couple of times and based on the quoted statement above you might be overreacting to things that you might not have a full understanding or proper perspective of developmental stages and timelines for players.

Believe me, we aren't overreacting and we aren't club hoppers. We have multiple kids and look for the best situation for each, which is why we have experience with different clubs. In this situation, our coach is hard to pin down to talk to, but when we talk to him, he is great. We have had two extended conversations and none have been adversarial What he tells us is that our kid has talent, he loves him and wants him on the team, because he believes he could be a great player when the grows. Right now, playing against top level teams, he's a contributor, but not a starter, and that is mainly due to his size. Previously, at a different club, when he was demoted to a lower level team, we were also told it was mainly due to his size. And he hated that lower team, because the kids knew nothing about soccer and in fact, was at risk of being injured playing with much larger kids who could barely control their bodies. We made him do that for a year and it was not fun. He almost quit. The only thing that kept him going was the supplemental training and playing that he did.

The issue I am raising, not necessarily specific to my child, but relevant to him, is that it is extra hard to find a place to play at a decent level and where soccer is fun when you are a late birthday or small or a late boomer. Look at these other responses and you can see that my family is not alone. Sitting on the bench is not easy for kids who want to be out there and when their effort or personal development is not reflected in more playing time, kids disengage. You yourself seem to equate status and talent with playing time. Kids do that too. Even if my kid is mentally tough, he sees his playing time as a reflection of his abilities and from that, he concludes he is not that good, which makes him less interested in soccer. He feels the same thing about new kids being added to the team when there is already a large roster. His confidence falters, he plays worse, and now he wants to quit.

You seem to have all the answers, and obviously think I'm a bad parent and my kid ) is a marginal player. Fine. But it is always worth considering whether there is a better way to do things that could benefit more kids and keep them playing sports longer, which is how this conversation started.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are adding making this way more complicated than it needs to be and bubble players just don't happen in a vacuum.

1. If your playing time went from 60% to 30% you might be a bubble player.
2. If your player is suddenly seeing reduced playing time and playing in vastly different positions, you might be a bubble player.
3. If a new kid comes in and starts in your kids main position, you might be a bubble player.
4. If your kid is asked to "guest" in a couple of games on the lower team, you might be a bubble player.

Fine. Who cares? I guess if your kid is a bubble player they deserve no feedback, coaching or encouragement? You you think that it is totally acceptable to cut fully participating youth players mid season because they must know they are bubble players? It is right to significantly reduce or eliminate the playing time of a fully contributing, committed player because new kids are added to the team (and there is no lower team)?

Basically, you seem to be saying that unless your child starts and plays an entire match, they are clearly bubble players, they obviously suck, they must know they suck, and if they had better parents, they would take them elsewhere. OK. You prove my point, which is that it must be all about winning now. I think that kids can learn from being bench players. I'm not shopping from club to club because my child isn't a starter.

You do realize that in your C team statements you proved my point, right? Today's little tiny non-starter may be tomorrow's star. Today's man child striker could be tomorrow's bench player. Both need to work, independent of their size, on their other abilities. But the not quite there kid is less likely to get better (or stick with it) if she's always an afterthought and never gets to play.

Anonymous wrote:If I could Hoback in time and not do soccer. Yes. Not do it at all.

This is exactly why YOU need to talk with coaches yourself. How else are you going to learn what matters soccer wise, what matters to the coach soccer wise, what the coach sees in your player what the coach looks for in other players and the coaches development philosophy as it applies to the team and your player if you don't try and have that conversation? Asking questions is not in and of itself adversarial and there is no reason to view a coach in an adversarial way. It sounds like you have been frustrated and changed clubs a couple of times and based on the quoted statement above you might be overreacting to things that you might not have a full understanding or proper perspective of developmental stages and timelines for players.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?

Things will change a lot in the next few years. If he’s happy I don’t even understand why you are posting, humble brags aside.

If he’s not doing a lot of work in his own in coming years, he may not stay on the A team and if that hurts his ego then he might lose the love. It’s often harder for kids that have everything go their way early in their sports career to handle failure down the road.

Thanks for your advice. What would you recommend he does on his own time? Running? Clinics?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?

Things will change a lot in the next few years. If he’s happy I don’t even understand why you are posting, humble brags aside.

If he’s not doing a lot of work in his own in coming years, he may not stay on the A team and if that hurts his ego then he might lose the love. It’s often harder for kids that have everything go their way early in their sports career to handle failure down the road.

Anonymous wrote:Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?

Anonymous wrote:Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?

Anonymous wrote:Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?