Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone else noticed this year at tryouts, a lot of girls showing up, receiving offers, and then declining and deciding not to play travel?

How would anyone notice that? It would presume knowledge of all the players and where or where not they end up. Lots of kids go to a variety of tryouts, could decline an offer and nobody would no why.

I presume this has some poorly thought out anti-travel soccer narrative behind it that you believe some anecdotal "evidence" supports.

I presume it's someone simply asking if others have similar observations.

So if you know people who are involved at higher levels with these clubs, this type of info is discussed a lot. They track everything.

The poster signaled out this year as some kind of litmus test. The problem is for many people, "this year" is very a different year for people. For some people it is the first year of travel at U9 for others it is their 5th or last year of travel soccer.

But, it is well documented that at U13 and older nearly 50% of kids stop playing soccer. The reasons for this are many, kids try other things they like better, they are no longer having fun, simple time constraints make the commitment level unsustainable and more.

If you are seeing a dramatic rise in players leaving the sport it is likely kids age between 12-14.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone else noticed this year at tryouts, a lot of girls showing up, receiving offers, and then declining and deciding not to play travel?

How would anyone notice that? It would presume knowledge of all the players and where or where not they end up. Lots of kids go to a variety of tryouts, could decline an offer and nobody would no why.

I presume this has some poorly thought out anti-travel soccer narrative behind it that you believe some anecdotal "evidence" supports.

I presume it's someone simply asking if others have similar observations.

So if you know people who are involved at higher levels with these clubs, this type of info is discussed a lot. They track everything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone else noticed this year at tryouts, a lot of girls showing up, receiving offers, and then declining and deciding not to play travel?

How would anyone notice that? It would presume knowledge of all the players and where or where not they end up. Lots of kids go to a variety of tryouts, could decline an offer and nobody would no why.

I presume this has some poorly thought out anti-travel soccer narrative behind it that you believe some anecdotal "evidence" supports.

I presume it's someone simply asking if others have similar observations.

I think there were a few factors that made it more difficult for clubs to fill out teams at some age groups. The things I observed at U11/U12 age groups were:

#1 - Roster sizes generally were raised by 1 for the new 9v9 format. Add one player required for every U11/U12 travel team in the area and that is a decent number of new players required.
#2 - New U12 Development Academy pulled out around a 100 players in northern Virginia. I am not aware of any corresponding number of teams being folded. So that is another big chunk of players required to fill out the lower teams.
#3 - Kids/families start leaving travel soccer at U11/U12. After a few years they decide in favor of other sports/activities or just decide it's not worth it. But clubs seem to still try to keep the same number of teams so again that is a chunk of players that have to come from somewhere.

My guess is there are still a bunch of clubs out there short some players at U11/U12.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone else noticed this year at tryouts, a lot of girls showing up, receiving offers, and then declining and deciding not to play travel?

How would anyone notice that? It would presume knowledge of all the players and where or where not they end up. Lots of kids go to a variety of tryouts, could decline an offer and nobody would no why.

I presume this has some poorly thought out anti-travel soccer narrative behind it that you believe some anecdotal "evidence" supports.

Has anyone else noticed this year at tryouts, a lot of girls showing up, receiving offers, and then declining and deciding not to play travel?

1. What year?
2. How do you know they went to 70-80 on the list?

Seems stoddert girls had a lot of turn downs. Something like 80-90 girls came out. To fill three teams(12-14 per team x 3 about 36-42 offers) they went into the 70-80 to fill the teams. How often does that happen? Is that normal?

Anonymous wrote:8 and 9 year olds need to be joysticked. Some only need it to be done a few times and they get the concept, most much more than that. Especially those off the ball.

Yes--there are some kids that are dense and have zero natural instinct and they are painful to watch.

Some have incredibly high soccer IQ and natural instinct and it is bloody painful to see somebody tell them the wrong things to do mid-play or not let them work it out/think for themselves. Players often will do something much better than what the coach would have instructed.

Lay off it at the games. If you want to do something, point out things to kids on the bench--but don't bug the kids on the field. Tell them the tips when they get off the pitch.

8 and 9 year olds need to be joysticked. Some only need it to be done a few times and they get the concept, most much more than that. Especially those off the ball.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found a club like this anywhere in this area:

At the PA Classics, Christian was told to "go out there and express yourself." It meant he could take players on one-on-one or one-on-two again and again, and no one would yell at him to pass. Klein and the other PA Classics coaches allow their youngest kids to play all over the field, letting them find their best position intuitively. "You watch our games, and no one is constantly yelling instructions, no one is joysticking kids around the field or the other behavior you see from some coaches," Klein says.

Our kids' club is constantly directing, yelling to pass and where to pass.

This does not exist anywhere that I know of. I like how some coaches try to cover up joysticking by phrasing their instructions as questions....Like "Johnny, Can we cross it?!!!!?" Jimmy, Can you play back? Ricky, Can you switch it? Fricking constantly. Gave me a headache!

Anonymous wrote:This conversation reminds me so much of the bodybuilders that argued over how many days were in a week. All-time classic.

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107926751

This is hysterical. It made me laugh out loud several times. My kids had to come and see what was so funny!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shine all year long and last 20 minutes of tryouts is what is the determining factor.

Have fun with your losers next year. I watched them all season they couldn't complete a pass and the Striker never scored a single.goal. How can you have a striker that has never scored even when perfect assist after assist after through ball is put on his foot. Bye-buh.

I think we were on your team last year

What age?

I've seen it all. Kids that were never on upper fields or being considered for movement somehow materializing on the rosters in the 11th hour when the Club politicians fail to listen to the coaching staff. Oh well--their teams can continue to suck and keep getting knocked farther and farther down.

Your kid will be better off away from a place like that.

Classic Travel soccer move. The 11th hour politics play.

This I'll never understand. We've been to two places now where they completely ignore the coaching staff. They instead go by someone who has never watched the kids play--or only for 10 minutes over the course of the year.

I have a hard time seeing how any team coached/managed that way is successful on the field. Maybe if your view of success if winning the trophy in the 3rd bracket, but truly competitive teams do not work that way.

You have a point. They aren't very successful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shine all year long and last 20 minutes of tryouts is what is the determining factor.

Have fun with your losers next year. I watched them all season they couldn't complete a pass and the Striker never scored a single.goal. How can you have a striker that has never scored even when perfect assist after assist after through ball is put on his foot. Bye-buh.

I think we were on your team last year

What age?

I've seen it all. Kids that were never on upper fields or being considered for movement somehow materializing on the rosters in the 11th hour when the Club politicians fail to listen to the coaching staff. Oh well--their teams can continue to suck and keep getting knocked farther and farther down.

Your kid will be better off away from a place like that.

Classic Travel soccer move. The 11th hour politics play.

This I'll never understand. We've been to two places now where they completely ignore the coaching staff. They instead go by someone who has never watched the kids play--or only for 10 minutes over the course of the year.

I have a hard time seeing how any team coached/managed that way is successful on the field. Maybe if your view of success if winning the trophy in the 3rd bracket, but truly competitive teams do not work that way.

Here's my 2 cents on the joy-stocking issue--leave the player on the ball alone. He/she has to make a bunch of decisions and then execute in a very short period of time. That said, it's frustrating for everyone watching the same player attempt to dribble through the entire defense and fail at it over and over again. The players not on the ball are a different story. After all, most players will spend 99% of a game without the ball at their feet. Off the ball movement is the key to team play and a coach, particularly a younger ages, may need to talk to the player to get them thinking about where they need to be moving to receive a pass, open up space for a teammate, or cover if the ball is lost.