My son refused to sign up with his old team. He now has no club team and therefore is able to set up his own program joining select teams for winter and tournament play. The money saved ($4,000 for team he hated, $8,000 for academy team he should have worked harder to join, but my wallet is relieved) will be spent on activities he can take or leave at will. He is very happy about the situation so far, but I'm wondering if I should push him to join a new team before November when the HS club teams start practicing and going to tournaments. Part of me applauds him for taking a stand - who in their right mind would stay in a negative situation? The stupid part is that there was some college exposure, but mostly D2 and D3, and there was soccer from November through July. The smart part is he can get D1 college exposure at camps and combines, and by guesting, and we can set our own vacation schedule by him guesting or not. The smartest part is that his academics were suffering due to the team agita, and his stress level should decrease a lot. To clarify the problems that he left because of, the training was poor and not improving, there were several new teammates who were guaranteed playing time and had a great negative effect on the team (swearing, yelling at teammates on the field), the cost increased including a 40% markup on required new uniforms, and the coach had no problem playing injured players. Any thoughts as to whether to push for a new club team, or wait and see how it works out? He is perfectly content now with plans for a winter futsal select team, a training program meant to supplement club teams, and going to SAQ and strength training. I just don't want the adults to let him down if he really needs to be on a club team for college recruiting purposes.
Every player is different, but if he wants to play college ball, not having a regular team with the appropriate coaching support and exposure makes it an uphill battle.
Not sure what the answer is, but based on this your son certainly did the right thing leaving that team/coach. What a disgrace.
If he wants to play DI he will be competing against DAP players who are training 4 times a week, 10 months a year, playing futsal, doing strength and conditioning training, etc. It will be hard to maintain his sharpness and compete with the DAP players with a piecemeal program.
Agree 100%. He is ramping up to 6 days per week of training; SAQ and captains practices for now, HS pickup and HS soccer in September and October, select futsal and SAQ in the winter. That's not counting combines, camps, and trials. His only issue in competing with DAP players (he had about 10 sessions with a U15/U16 DAP team) is that he is not that tall or heavy. The trick is to make sure he is practicing or playing at least three times per week, and working on SAQ as well as strength training otherwise. He knows that he needs a lot of discipline to make it work. The monkey wrench in his plans is that he will need a card to guest in tournaments. He didn't make the DAP team (the really expensive one I mentioned), and the club team he left was targeting very low level colleges. He knows he might not play in college if things don't work out, but he doesn't want to go to a D3 school just to play soccer, because that's what his old team was targeting. He would sooner go to a D1 school with great academics and the potential to walk-on, if it comes to that. It's sad, but just like Lou Gehrig's big break, injuries are expected in competitive youth soccer, and my son will likely be a replacement for someone injured. I guess I'm just looking for opinions like bigredfutbol's, that even if my son doesn't end up signed for a D1 school, he will be a lot better off anyway to get out of such a negative situation.
he will need to be carded to a team in order to guest. do you know a coach that does not have a full roster that would be willing to card him?
Coaches have passes. Referees have cards. But the player pass thing is an issue. At least in my neck of the woods, to play in USYS-sanctioned tournaments you only need USYS registration--that can even be for an affiliated rec team. I've had rec players guest for competitive teams; we just went to the club (who has both rec and competitive arms) and asked them to make up a pass for them. Would that work? I guess it depends on the tournaments, but just signing up for a rec team might be enough.
well thanks for the correction benji but around here REC players ONLY play REC within their town associations. they do not play in tournaments. they are not carded (the term used in my part of the country) to any team. your version of REC is not used in other parts of the country. once they get carded here, they are called "passes".
Yup, I know it's set up differently everywhere, but I thought I would at least float the idea. Our rec players also do not have passes for their teams, BUT are still USYS-registered so are eligible to have a pass made for them so they could play with a competitive team. As always, YMMV.
Any way to harness that tremendous drive and intelligence to score an Academic scholarship? Being eligible for funding from high honors makes a coaches budget go so much further, and one would think an attractive marketing prospect? ( This is a sales and marketing exercise ...right? ) Also the better schools need a higher GPA Working intimately with a mentor he can't respect.....hmmmmm? Definitely took some cahjones. You must be proud of him manning up. Perhaps pair of Sperry's as a reward for good grades this year!
Update: son is trying out for a one-year older team, and just played against college and older players in a scrimmage with great success. He's very happy so far and hopes to get an offer. Team cost is around $500 for a full year, but it's not clear if tournaments will be extra.
This is getting ridiculous. He's looking at another team which is also U18B, and they are $750 per year plus tournaments. $3,000 per year plus tournaments is looking more and more like abuse. The $750 per year team plays in the top non-academy league in our area, against competition from seven states. If the coach for the old team had a C or higher license, and had years of experience, I could get it, but it was his first club team last year.
Now the coach of the team he is training with says that they'll be adding 19s and 20s, and playing U20 in Super Y and another league. He is really looking forward to playing up with people who actually love soccer.
My son was on a club team for years, always wanted to learn more. One year coach says "You guys know it all so we will just scrimmage for practice" coach started playing my son less in favor of his favorites. Son did not get picked up next year, and that was the best thing in the world. He tries out and makes another team and has the time of his life. While playing high school ball, his coach had Zero soccer knowledge and zero voice on the field. My son decided to transfer school and actually play and be coached. Senior year son did not even play soccer, focused on Academics, admitted to UC system, does not play, but all those years molded him into the man he has become.