Your quoting skills still need work. But keep trying and you will learn with experimenting. When you quote a portion of a post make sure you have quote tags on both sides of the text. Kids show different signs of physical fatigue. I do not know your kid personally. You know him best. In general, if he looks tired and sleepy, if he is switching off, has harder time paying attention/staying focused, then those are signs of physical fatigue. Also, his coach (or coaches) will notice something different and will (or he/they should) alert you. Have you seen your kid tired? If yes, what were the signs?
I don't care how "unusual" this 6 year old is. We talking about signs of burn-out/over-training/fatigue in a SIX YEAR OLD. That's so sad.
Worry about overtraining and burnout if he's doing this 5-6-7 days a week for months on end and years on end. I'd let him play.
It's sad because I do not remember ever being tired as a 6-year old. According to my parents, I was playing all day long and that is exactly what I remember - playing outside with my friends all day long without any "babysitting" or any form of adult supervision and coaching.
This is so typical of a coach-centric world. I believe, in this environment of "pay-to-play", coaches are selling a service to customers (i.e. kids/parents). This is not an European professional club which would not charge anything for training. As long parents pay for the coaches stipends, parents are free to shop around and look for a best fit.
Signs of overtraining: 1) irregular sleep patterns, not enjoying a full night's sleep. 2) elevated heart rate -which does take some work as a parent to track a child's heart rate 3) vulnerability to illness. If your kid is getting sick all the time after Grade 1, you might want to re-think his activity level, and pay attention to his diet and hydration. To address the heart of the matter: The FC which my son and daughter play for has various levels: the top level of U-10 is Premier (Two teams) then Select (Three) then rec levels. At the Premier level, in futsal tournaments and outdoors, the coach does a fantastic job of playing everyone as much as he can, but near the end of the game he will attempt to give the team the best chance at winning. If little Johnny wants to play equal minutes, have him play on the Select team and work himself up to a Premier team and earn his spot. What a concept. If I hear one more self righteous coach insult my intelligence about "developing players" versus winning, I will vomit. The collective coaching establishment has seized on this concept as a cop out. Of course you don't sacrifice a young player's development by playing "kick and run" soccer. Can we stop beating this notion into the ground? What I see is the overall incompetence of youth coaches, and moreover the inability of youth coaches to judge talent. I don't give a rat's tail what level license you have as a coach, it is more than clear as a licensed coach and a soccer parent of two fairly competent athletes that the youth soccer world is run by self righteous wannabes who parrot the latest coaching fad and who couldn't coach themselves out of a paper bag. That being said, I have moved my son twice to make sure he has a coach who is competent and in it for the right reasons. Now he is in a fantastic situation, playing U-10 at the highest level in the state. He is having fun, and his coach does not need the income to make a living. My son is also getting thousands of touches on the ball each month. Don't be afraid to move your child if you have done everything possible to help him succeed (i.e. show up to practice on time, have him pay attention and give his best.) As a general rule there are a lot more bad youth coaches than good ones, and sometime you have to move to get it right. This is regrettable, but it is reality.
"That is the point. That is why you should not charge a player to play. The club should have enough donors so the club does not have to charge the player anything or very little. In an established club and that was the only clubs I coached except my own. We don't charge player to play. The parents don't feel their own the club because of that. But what we do tell the parent is we actually care about the player and about the players game." Should have read all the posts on this thread 0506
Great post, when I do look for a new club what should I look for if im looking to devolope my child instead of winning? People can sell it pretty good and at the end its nothing what they said. Or should I look into going to a lower level like a B team? Thanks.
If your son can make an A team try out for an A team. If he can't make an A team try out for a b team.
#1 can happen due to many other reasons. So can #3. It doesn't mean that there is overtraining occurring. Look for a club with coaches who show passion about transferring that passion to their players and teach technical skills, smart decision-making and motivate the players to put on a good effort no matter if winning or losing. Before you look for such club, try to envision what such coaches look like. Take interest and inform yourself about what coaches do, good and bad, what motivates them to work with kids. Bad coaches can generally mislead parents who haven't informed themselves enough and going into youth soccer a bit naive. Sadly, sometimes you learn with experience.
YONKO: #1 Marker of Overtraining is interrupted sleep patterns. #2 is Elevated heart rate. Do your research. Also, you are mistaken of you think a 6 year old practicing 4 times a week in a structured setting is appropriate. This is way too much for even an extraordinary 6 year old. 2 practices and street soccer on a weekend is more than enough. Stop the insanity.
You check your research, interrupted sleep patterns can occur due to other reasons as well. It is not a sure sign of overtraining. And elevated heart rate can be caused by other reasons, such as natural heart deficiencies. Drinking too much sodas can cause both as well. Bottom line: many other things can cause interrupted sleep patterns and elevated heart rate. Note: I'm not saying that overtraining doesn't cause these symptoms..... Of course in addition, overtraining can happen not just due to soccer. It can be also caused by overcommitment to multiple of sports at the same time.
That's not very helpful advice, IMHO. What's "good enough" for one 'A' team might not be "good enough" for another. Some clubs are stronger than others overall, and different coaches have different ideas of what sort of player they want--at one club, the emphasis might be on athleticism, size, and speed; at another, they may be more interested in technical ability or maybe intangibles like "coachability" or the committment of the parents. Ideally, a kid tries out for a club, and then the coaching staff decides which squad to put the kid on.
Wow. I'm glad to hear this come from a parents mouth. It has become the catch phrase of the coaching community in the last 5 years. I honestly have not seen as much focus on player development than is claimed on the websites and brochures. I won't say you're completely off base with your self-righteous parrot comment, but you are painting with a pretty broad brush. That being said, I have moved my son twice to make sure he has a coach who is competent and in it for the right reasons. Now he is in a fantastic situation, playing U-10 at the highest level in the state. He is having fun, and his coach does not need the income to make a living. My son is also getting thousands of touches on the ball each month.
One of the reasons why I said that is it is true as a general rule. First if you play in your leagues best division. You are playing against your leagues best players that's important for your speed of play. It will get better faster because you have to keep up with them. Most of the coaches in A are more experienced then the ones in B division. Yes not all coaches in A are good coaches. That is why you have to watch them train, and ask questions of the parents and see if he loves the game. After do you think he would do it for free if he wasn't getting paid? Does he care about the players he is coaching. Watch a couple training sessions and you will know the answer to that question. On another note if you want to advance in the game. You would want to play in the leagues best division. I was one of the select team coachs in our league. There is a tryout to make that team. I looked only at the players who played in our A division. Our other select coaches did the same. So if you want to be on the select team you had to be on an A team to have that chance.
I'm a little confused--are you talking about league divisions, or club squads? I know of situations where the "A" team of one club plays in the same division as the "B" team of another club, for example.
I'm a little confused why 4 times a week in a structured setting would be bad for him, when he spends every free moment playing soccer as it is. I asked the question because I wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing in terms of the practices causing overtraining problems. But, I haven't seen or read anything to make me think I am. Yes, if I were making him do this, that would be nuts. But, literally, every free moment he is playing soccer. Often, what he is doing is more strenous than much of the things he does at practice in terms of physical exertion. I also find it odd that on many threads I have read ove and over again that one of the reasons the US can not compete on a global level is because we do not play enough soccer. There is no street soccer, 2 times a week is not enough, etc. If this is true, then how can practicing 4 times a week also be a horrible thing? Again, I have seen the practices, and no, he isn't exhausted, physically or mentally after them. He could practice for twice as long. Like many active 6 yr olds he is a bucket of endless energy. And he's smart, and perfectly capable of handling it mentally. If we lived in most other parts of the world he would be able to play street ball for hours a night. Is it really possible that scrimmaging for hours would be less strenous than a 90 minute practice? I doubt it. And if he were doing that, nobody would think it was crazy. Again, I asked the question in case someone had a real reason(other than the opinion that a 6 yr old couldnt possibly practce 4 times a week) that it could harm him physically. And if someone does, I am all ears, because the last thing I want to do is let him do something that is bad for him. But in a country where the average kid is overweight, I don't think exercising for 90 minutes 4-5 times a week is a bad thing.
I've been wrestling with similar issues with my U12 son who plays with the "B" team of a very popular club in my area. I'm at the point where I'm wondering if the money is really worth it. His coach has been alluding that he doesn't have it in him YET (key word is "YET"). My question was well, if he doesn't have it "yet" when will he become good enough? He says "perhaps in his teen years". I'm starting to wonder whether he's just stringing me along. Did some googling to see whether there are kids out there at U11, U12 who have "it" and didn't find much. Here are the few that I found: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHqgmU2eCi4"]BK U12 soccer highlights - heel shot goal - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zw6XFUYEGU"]The Next Rooney - Amazing Youth Soccer Player - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj11BDB4VBo"]Galen - Sampling of Soccer Highlights at Age 10 and a few at Age 11 - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dehU4xMiqc"]Samuel Elwood (12yrs) The little things... - YouTube[/ame] Not many out there- at least not on video anyway. I don't think my son has even close to the talent some of these boys have. Is there any chance of him getting there? Well, I'm doubtful as he has many interests although soccer is is favorite sport after b'ball. But I'm torn whether to switch clubs, get him private lessons, etc etc. It's so darn expensive though (aargh)
I watched your sons video that the one titled heel shot goal right? He obviously loves the game, and your very supportive parents at those games. He is lucky to have you guys not everybody has or had parents like you trust me I know. Incidently I hate highlight videos like this. But I did like the drum music. Is it Japanese they have drum music like this?I would rather you show 1 or 2 videos of his best over all games. I woud learn more about him and his game watching that then seeing a high light video. What league division in his age group is he playing in his league now? I know you say he is on his clubs B team. Let's say his league has 4 divisions of play in his league. ist division is the best, 2nd best division, 3rd best division and the 4th best division.Which division does his team play in? Frankly the coaching on his team from the parts I saw doesn't look that good. Tell me about the coach was he a player now or before he became a coach. Do you know what level he played at. Do you know what coaching license he holds? How good your son can become depends on his motivation to become the best he can be. But he will also need good coaching and not just for a season. He would need good coaching over 3 or 4 seasons before he starts to look like a real player. Can I stick my nose in your business? How much did you pay for this season? On trainers you don't want a trainer just working with him alone on his game. It can be expensive and it is boring for the player just working with one person. Better if you decide to use a trainer for your son to be working with a group of other players like 3 to 6 total and the trainer. He can work on more things and it is more fun for him and it should be a lot cheaper for you. I was a trainer for Brooklyn Colleges D1 team years ago while I was still a player. Try to get a trainer who is a current player and plays at a very good level. I would play with Brooklyn College players when we broke the team up to play after regular practice. I played on whatever team had the ball at the time.My speed of play was much faster then theirs. I would help them while we were playing. It made a pretty big difference in their speed of play.
Sorry, none of the videos are of my son . I just googled and found them so that I can compare them to my son to evaluate where he is talent-wise. Sorry for the confusion.
We pay roughly $1100K per season. It will go up next year to $1700. yah, not cheap! He is in the 2nd division out of 3 divisions total.
Wow I dont pay that much but still understand where you come from, is it the money? or is the coaches being honest? Im wrestling with the same thing.
It's both- but I'm not sure if his coach is being honest or not. Maybe he truly believes my son will make his top team in his teen years but I know that right now, his talent level is no where close to the top players on the "A" team or the videos of players I found on the web. So is it realistic that he will be a top player in his teen years if he's just an average player now at U12? I wish I had a video of his playing to show you but unfortunatly I don't.
Guess you didn't find this video: http://blog.3four3.com/2012/03/23/a-phenomenal-soccer-education-in-12-minutes-video/ From a coach's perspective, there's only so much I can teach a young player. The more skills a young player comes to me with, the further I can get him. But it really must come from the player. A U6-U10 player comes to me "raw" and I can show them the basics or refine what they have. But they need to train outside of practice. I can help them fall in love with the game, challenge them to go outside their comfort zone but the 180 minutes I have with them for training is not enough. I'm not saying your kid isn't practicing on his own—but the coach is rarely the whole answer. I've said the same thing about my own players to parents about a year ago. And with that specific player in mind, our (me and my DOC) thoughts became reality. She's now a pretty good player, comfortable on the ball, reads the play well, effective field player AND goalkeeper. Waiting for players to "get it" is a lot of what we do. A good coach, particularly at the younger ages, focuses on making each player an individually capable soccer player but it is not possible to hand hold them through the process. If you feel like you're not getting your money's worth, then you're probably right. Soccer training, in any country, isn't cheap but it isn't something that can't be done on the cheap or free.