An appropriately sized roster. We have 2 appropriately sized rosters (an A and a B team) for our age group. Players have either been moved down to the B team or cut from the club to accommodate these players.
No offence, but that’s matter of opinion….there are people who think 14-15 is appropriate for HS aged 11v11….for me (and vmmv), anything under 20 is under rostered, and just causes more problems than it supposedly solves…most of these situations are driven by the club, better to have 2 under-rostered teams, then one appropriately rostered team… I understand why they do this and it is quite common (dealing with that shit myself with my son’s current situation), and like I say, just trying to understand if just a player issue or if the club bears some responsibility…lots of kids miss for other sports, injuries and other life commitments, those situations needs to be built into any roster, imho…
No offence taken at all. I'm looking for feedback and opinions. It's 11v11. Roster sizes for both teams are 16. Our club typically does not roster 11v11 teams higher than that. My main point is to see if this is the way it's done at other clubs. But I ask, why put someone on an A team who is not committed to going to practices and misses a lot of games and tournaments? Why move a player down to the B team or cut players from the club for someone not committed? I know life happens. Injuries and other things can't be planned. But playing another sport, while knowing you're going to be significantly missing a lot, can. It's something that affects the team as a whole with those players who don't regularly attend practice. How can you practice strategy with players who are not there on a regular basis? I do think on the club's part, the players who do this are very good players, definitely top of the roster. Players in the middle of the roster or at the lower end probably wouldn't be able to get away with it. That's on the club. Also, how can you appropriately place a team in a division? If all are players are there, we win and do well. If some players are missing, we rely on guest players and lose. Sometimes badly. I know the club wants to roster the best players they can, but if some of the players that they roster can't be there on a regular basis, miss most of the practices and about half the games, I guess I just don't see the point. Regardless, my player would not be affected in that they would not be moved down or cut from the club, but it's still frustrating because I think the team as a whole would be better off having committed players who didn't miss so much. When you put a player on a team you don't know if they will miss a significant portion of the year due to injury or whatever, but when you put a player on the team who habitually has missed soccer for their other sport, you do. IMO, that's on the club. Maybe this is something that's done everywhere? I'm just trying to find out.
Just a parent, so take with big gain of salt, but what you describing/dealing with is likely very common… Yes, clubs will bend over backwards for certain players, especially those who are seen as very good…. Curious what age group you are talking….I think/I’ve seen this be a bigger problem during the middle school years…not uncommon to have super athletic kids that can excel (rather easily in a big fish/small pond situation) in all kinds of sports, soccer, football, baseball, track, etc…yet, by HS, decisions and real commitments have to start being made…hard to keep up that pace and really be good at everything…but during that time every/most coach/club/team will bend over backwards with the hope they ultimately choose their sport…. I am always warily of suggesting a parent move to another club/team based on such posts…the grass is not always greener, options might be limited, and not really sure how your kids feels about situation (is he happy/unhappy?)…but it certainly doesn’t hurt to look around and see what other options are available…
Sad news for the Chicago soccer community. Mrs. Richardson was always so sweet and welcoming at Soccer City and the NISL meetings. http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180530/matriarch-of-local-soccer-industry-dies-at-74
So what now between the DA and ECNL? FCU has tons of players but apparently they can't keep enough of them for DA once high school kicks in. Eclipse will have two teams per age - one which is full on dedicated to year round and the other will bend around the high school season (nice way to accomodate players IMO). With exception of u18/19 Sockers were pretty bad - losing out to both Eclipse and FCU badly. So what does this mean? Will Sockers and FCU target top players at Eclipse during season play - I suppose they can now that Eclipse are no longer in DA. But Eclipse can certainly do the same. It will likely come down to what coaches are in place and other resources are there to support the program. Right now I cannot see any parent buying into the "If you're daughter wants a path to the National Team..." bullshit. parents are looking to have college paid for - ECNL wins that on stats alone. What do the GDA teams do now in the area to recruit players - what's the sell? Can MRL or NPL benefit from the "turf war?"
No, MRL lost Jags to DA, and possibly another OH team. MRL and NPL are slowly dying. Not sure there is a real difference between DA and ECNL now in Midwest - both divisions have solid/great teams and dogs. DA is still better nationwide - even after the defections. I think ECNL is better for recruiting because of its flexibility (substitutions, camps, etc.). But, as a parent of a player, you have to ask yourself is there a recruiting stigma of being on the second Eclipse ECNL team vs. FCU or Sockers (top DA team).
A couple interesting developments in Downers Grove. John Hannan has been coaching a group playing under both the DG Roadrunners and Raiders flags. Also Roadrunners have expanded to Romeoville and have absorbed some good Daredevils teams.
MRL just got weaker...no OH, IN, KY teams. This means Cup/CDA, Indy Fire, FC Pride, etc. are no longer in the conference. Michigan got weaker with Jags going DA and Hawks having twice the players in the ECNL now. The Midwest division will be dominated by Illinois and Missouri teams, meaning it's basically meaningless for Illinois teams...can get better games in Chicagoland than Omaha....
I like John a lot! And I have noticed Raiders success in State Cup with many teams this year. How much influence does JH have with that success? What do you think makes this "interesting?" Last time Raiders had success they were absorbed into... crap was it Fire Jrs?
Not so sure because I think there are two clubs that are on a holding pattern with MRL. One also played NPL (which as another poster mentioned is just the old AB and B teams of the past. NPL Nationals are coming up. They changed the formula so that if you won your division, you make Nationals... Illinois division was a total joke - those teams were half the talent of the teams that participated in Regionals at Libertyville last year. Yet another way of grabbing teams/clubs and money with no real increase in play/talent.
I agree, MRL hurting. But to be fair, OH, IN, KY and MN teams have fall HS soccer, so from U14 ? onward, they play MRL spring (separated from IL, MO, and MI teams). However, with CUP, FC Pride, etc putting their top team in DA or ECNL, the spring MRL league is very weak.
What makes it interesting to me is that a very successful club in raiders has the support of one of the best coaches around. I watched a very talented raiders team meltdown at nationals last year. I don’t see that happening with someone like Hannans experience. I think he is the head coach of the u18 team.
Yeah that's what I figured. JH has not really been out there - coming from Crossfire to run smaller clubs - maybe it fits his life moreso then being committed to one of the big three. I'd like to know what's behind that - he's as good as coach as any of the well-know coaches at Fire/Eclipse/Sockers IMO.
I believe OH, IN, and KY splitting out does not impact high school age. They have opposite high school from Illinois and Michigan so did not play Ill and Mi high school age teams. This does impact younger than high school age. Hawks already only had 3rd and 4th teams in MRL: 1st and 2nd in DA and ECNL. Jags removing the first teams from MRL which is definitely an impact. (EDIT - Sorry replicating what OrangeCard stated above) Anybody have any idea on how many teams will be in the "new" National League Midwest Division. I remember somebody else mentioning they thought only the P1 and P2 teams would be part of this so all of the red, green, black, etc. will be gone. Is this going to happen? If that happens there are a lot of Illinois teams that will no longer be in MRL (new name National League Midwest Division)
He was instrumental in the early Chicago Magic success with Matko. John actually used to be my coach lol. Went to XF briefly and came back. Made Roadrunners into what they are today. Not sure he wants to work at a bigger club and have other people tell him what to do, which to be fair, if I were him I wouldn't either. Sadly last I saw him coach or his teams play, it looks the same as his teams did back in the late 90s: 4-4-2, block of 8/counterattack, live and die on dead balls. To each their own, I guess...
I don't think he'd fit in at Sockers. I tend to agree that he wants to do his own thing - not happenening st Fire or with Bato or FCU.
I think he has been there done that back in the old days when Sockers and Magic would merge at u15 and up.
I guess their 2006 girls team who is out in Colorado this weekend is moving over to Eclipse for the 2018/2019 season. Speaking of which the MN Eclipse team is having a rough go at it while the Sockers 06 players are looking like a rec team against that competition - losing their first match 0-9! Not sure if the Fire Jrs are in a lower flight but they are at the top of their heap last I checked.
Out striping fields yesterday in preperation of summer camps when I got into a conversation with two u10 boys who were on one of my fields shooting with their parents. They were both at SBW for 2+ years but have now since left because all trainings are at the facility you speak of. There are 3 other players I know of - u13 boys that are doing the same for the same reason. That's a horrible drive! Rt14 is slammed all day long - it's literally faster to go from Cary to Soccer City then it is to get to TheMac because of the congestion. Not jamming the club - but who the hell originally thought that location would be good? It's practically Woodstock.