When you say to "real coaches" are you referring strictly to paid, professional coaches or are you including parent volunteers who put in the time to learn more and make themselves better coaches?
Did you see how many players and teams they have? They need continuity and that starts with what and how you are coaching and making sure that the message and application is the same across the board. Weekly discussions with all coaches to ensure that these volunteers have what they need - including access to training. I'd say they need to do this sooner then later. Not saying that they need to go out and get B licenses or anything but ensuring a F and E with the ability to move towards a D would be good.
Well both but which ever one is more applicable in this case. If they are all volunteer I would say F and E Licenses - which most leagues require anyways. But if there are funds in the kitty a part time DOC would be beneficial - one that has "their" vision which may be more hometown then DA.
It’s a REC league…. Better Licensed youth coaching creates better adult players to feed our pro and national teams…that’s US Soccer’s agenda…. I understand and even agree with that agenda to some degree, but the problem is it effectively creates an unfunded mandate for a whole lot of clubs/programs around the country… For a lot of clubs/leagues, their primary agenda is just to create/maintain a stable and affordable environment for anyone and everyone who wants to play soccer to have an opportunity to do so…and to that end, volunteer parent coaches are likely to always play a part, whether they are licensed or not… Continuity of coaching, experienced coaches, licensing and hiring paid staff, even part-time, are probably a little farther down the priority list…and givin their very likely limited resources, unlikely to move up anytime soon… And seriously, what’s a F or E license really worth? Which is probably the best you’d hope for at a rec level… Not saying these clubs/leagues shouldn’t encourage better coaching and provide resources and help where the can, but in reality, it’s probably not going to be much more than a pre-season information package of suggested drills, links and recommended resources… I agree we need better coaching at the youth level…but I am not sure Licensed youth soccer coaching, outside of bigtime money clubs, is ever going to really take hold in this country…nor do I think its ultimately necessary… From the looks of it, this league has been around at least 10 years, so maybe, just maybe, they are providing what their community wants and doing it quite well…1700+ kids playing soccer sounds great to me; yet all you see is a problem in need of fixing?
It's not. You can't play down in IWSL or YSSL, but you can in NISL (and any other US Club league I believe). That nonsense about development is just that - nonsense. There are certain clubs where, if the first game between two "B" teams is close or the other team loses, you can expect to play a completely different team the next time they meet. Player Movement Within Their Own Club Players with a US Club pass are allowed to play on any age-appropriate team within their own Club, or may be assigned to any team that is no more than two years older than the registered player unless otherwise allowed/directed by the League, up to available roster size per age. For Clubs that have multiple teams within specific age groups, a player may move freely among those multiple teams. HOWEVER – moving players down within their own age group to win games is not the intent of this rule. The player’s development should always be at the forefront of any player movement within a Club.
Yeah, seen that even in tournaments, usually with the host club… Play (and beat) a team in group play and happen to play same team again in playoffs the next day, and all of sudden, they got 3 or 4 new (and very good) players…I am sure they were all away at Church Camp together the day before….
Yeah I guess I am not following then because I am thinking we are talking about both rec and select. My comments are geared towards select exclusively.
Thanks! I may not have represented our league well. If it wasn't for this league and specifically her first coach, I don't know if soccer would be part of our world after the micro level. Our older two weren't interested and she wasn't even signed up until we heard they needed another player. My only issue is the communication especially with coaches for the same grade/age. The select team is part of the same league and is maybe a year old. They didn't do a good job promoting it or maybe some rec coaches were worried about losing their best players. At any rate, we are very happy with it so far (nice to have new teammates and potential new friends, though we will play against a few in the rec league).
And here I thought you asked for and got clarification it was [primarily] a rec church league we were talking about….my guess, even this select program (meaning no disrespect) is a long way from what we think of as club soccer (which ain’t all rainbows and unicorns)… Once again, I got no problem with the idea of improving youth coaching at all levels…I guess I take/took issue with you pointing out issues/problems that might not even be issues or concerns in this specific case…not every program/league/club needs or wants to be run under the strict guidelines and best practices of US Soccer…not everyone wants to pay the money that usually takes to happen/get… No reason to get anyone worked up over something they’re not overly concerned about or have much control over anyway….OP stated he was aware of other “club” options in the area; just not interested in them right now… But fair enough, yes, the select program should have higher standards...if you are paying more; you should expect more...without more details, hard to say what OP should expect....
The OP mentioned 3 times on page one that a daughter plays on a select team which is associated with the rec organization. That is what is confusing.
Within the same league are three select teams (U12 girls and boys and U13 girls), and a host of rec teams representing the various Catholic schools around the area. Someone within the league wanted to make a more affordable select/competitive team option, figured there was talent in the league, and this may be it second year of having a select team. I could have poorly worded or defined "secondary." In the past it has only been within the rec league and usually a player from the same age/grade level. That was related to the examples I shared initially. This season is a little different, because she is now on a select them, but I think my initial question was more general to my rec experiences.
Chiming in Late on this topic.. I'll use the term "Guest" players for extra players who are not normally on the team but play games with a different team. Monaghusker - It seems to me your situation Guest players are a valid use, which to me is to fill up teams and make sure you have enough players as it is a small league with maybe too few players overall so some players need to guest on other teams. This is common , however as many comments state, what is unfortunately more common is clubs using guest players to win games/tournaments by adding additional (higher level) players for games with the sole purpose of winning. I see your case more as the "need bodies to fill a team" vs. the second "add ringers" to win.
Chiming in Late on this topic.. I'll use the term "Guest" players for extra players who are not normally on the team but play games with a different team. Monaghusker - It seems to me your situation Guest players are a valid use, which to me is to fill up teams and make sure you have enough players as it is a small league with maybe too few players overall so some players need to guest on other teams. This is common , however as many comments state, what is unfortunately more common is clubs using guest players to win games/tournaments by adding additional (higher level) players for games with the sole purpose of winning. I see your case more as the "need bodies to fill a team" vs. the second "add ringers" to win.
I would agree. I think my issue both where we benefitted and where we didn't was that the guest players often got the forward positions or started or had more playing time. Had they rotated more freely so everyone got to play multiple positions, it would have been preferable.
My personal fave is when you're looking on the field and see four different variations of the jersey plus one kid just wearing a Real Madrid jersey he pulled out of his closet because it was the right color.
Put yourself in the position of the guest player though. Are you going to agree to go to a tournament (incurring hotel and meal costs) to sit on the bench? I'm simply saying it's a tough position for the coach to be in.
In my examples, one daughter was the guest and we benefitted from a lot of playing time for her. In another, a younger daughter, was the one not playing much. These were rec league examples where playing time is fairly equal.