My son is pursuing a pro career (hopefully to be followed by a career as a trainer and maybe also doing some youth coaching) over in Europe. He knew he wasn't good/athletic enough to make it in MLS, and he had no interest in playing in USL. So he's giving it his best shot in the lower divisions overseas--and I'll tell you, it is a GRIND. Should probably add--my son has dual citizenship in an EU country, otherwise he likely wouldn't have even made it as far as he has (as limited as that is) over there. While Euro clubs would certainly welcome the ability to scoop up our best youth players, I wouldn't say they're starved for talent from the USA. They don't really NEED us--but if we were to get better at producing potential future pros, that would likely change.
I wish him the best of luck. Out of curiosity, did he skip college or is this post college? We had gotten some (what I consider) interesting emails when DS was looking for a college for him to study/play in England (I'm guessing it was a blind email, not anything special for him). I don't think he really even considered it because of the GF situation.
Now do Germany.... Somewhat - but the club is investing in a kid with 2 intentions - that kid will make them money by being sold to another pro team, or that kid will make them money by being good enough for their senior team and help them win/promote. Or you pay your annual social club fee, and as part of that your kid gets to partake in whatever sporting programs the club offers - soccer, handball, basketball, etc. Though if you do produce a stud, you still can get paid when a pro club comes calling. I was shocked the other day to see someone post a clip on twitter of the NCAA mens soccer final from the 80s. I thought college soccer didn't exist until we had the ECNL/USSDA/ECNL-RL/USYSE64/MLSNEXT/GAL...(you get my point. kids made it to college soccer teams long before the ridiculous travel industry existed. End it tomorrow, kids would still make it to college soccer, to ride the bench while washouts from foreign pro academies come to get a degee )
I've actually been watching a lot of videos lately on Germany. They do a lot of rebuilding/rethinking to their youth development system after they have a weak showing in international events. They have invested heavily into development in recent years. It does not seem to be pay to play, from what I saw. And I've talked to many european dads who now live here and they say the local clubs that you speak of have very reasonable fees, not like the clubs here. Or the kids just play more pickup/unstructured games at youth ages.
He'd originally quit college his Jr. year to give it a try--he was in Europe signed for a (small) club and getting playing time, things were going reasonably well--then COVID cut that short. He came home, finished his Bachelor's mostly online, and then spent much of 2021 playing adult amateur and some of the so-called Hispanic leagues while working as a trainer. Had a couple of tryouts in Central America that went OK but didn't lead to a contract. At the end of the year, he decided the clock was ticking and since nothing was happening in the Western Hemisphere, he'd give it one more shot back in Europe. Bought a ticket and got himself on a lower division team in Eastern Europe where things didn't work out this past Spring, and is now with a different club back in the (very modest) league he was playing in back in the Spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit. He's only 24, has his degree in pocket, and is looking to get his training certificate in Europe so he can stay after his playing "career" is over. I don't know how much longer he's going to stick with it, given that his ceiling is probably pretty low, and COVID took his early 20s away from him, which was probably his last chance to make up for lost time as far as tactical knowledge and whatnot (he doesn't have much good to say about the coaching he received in the States). But he's single, childless, debt-free, and at the moment he's managing to eke out a bare living as a player (and doing some youth coaching on the side) and if nothing else he'll have some great stories to tell his grandkids. And I strongly suspect he'll be a very good trainer/coach for young players in part thanks to his experiences as a marginal player. He was doing well at that here in Virginia before he decided to focus on his playing career again, so he seems to have a knack for it. PS I have heard of those 'play soccer and go to college programs' in England. FWIW, I know at least the Crystal Palace one is legit, although I've no idea how viable a pathway to a pro career it really is.
I completely understand this sentiment and have heard it from others. I've probably said similar words myself. But, what does it acutally mean? How would it work? Would a parent want to pay for a club that focuses on training? Would a kid want to "play" for a club that focuses on training? And most importantly, what are they developing for? Like Sam, I'm the parent of an 04 who is now playing D3 (starting as a freshman on a 14-2 team, thanks for letting me get the parent brag out of the way ). My kid was always a top player on his club teams but I was always thankful for the kids on the other side of the bench because they made it possible to actually have a team. I assume those kids were playing because they enjoyed the game and wanted to be with their teammates but the majority simply did not have the ability to develop beyond club play. I'd argue that high school athletics has always been the pinaccle of what most kids are "developing" for because the vast majority do not play behind high school. Soccer is strange because high school play (at least around here in MN) is weaker than club play but club players can be top players for their high school even if they aren't top players on their club team.
The thing I frequently see is the only team where results matter are the 1st/senior team (bergkamp, etc...) Big disconnect here, how many clubs only hae a youth team, or at best maybe a dads team in an old mans league. With no 1st team for the club "members" (more likely customers) to focus on, their kid's team becomes their 1st team. I kinda like the idea of the USL Academ league where it lets them enter a team u15-19, iirc. In essence a 1st team for the rest of the acaemy to work towards, in theory. Ideally though, US Club would have embraced the "Club" part of their name and really pushed that what differentiated them from USYS was that they also would sanction adult teams. IF they had setup u6-Senior 1st teams I imagine the landscape would look different. Given who they put in charge Im not surprised how things turned out, just saying that there was/is some potential there...
Good points—and I agree with the implication that learning how to win is an important skill all it’s own—but I’m not arguing against club teams playing on competitive games, I’m arguing that at younger ages coaches all too often recruit the kids who can help them win the u-12 state cup at the expense of long term development. I’d rather see clubs and coaches stick with kids at least into middle school to see how well they can coach and develop those players. At older ages, and for school teams, the situation is different. Also—congratulations to your son! Don’t worry about the parental bragging, I just realized I did four full paragraphs of the same in response to a simple question.
May I ask- do you know what he thinks are the main differences between the coaching in the States vs in Europe? Really a bummer to hear about his timing with regard to covid.
Haven't really had a chance to talk with him at length about that. Keep in mind, he was never an elite player; played for a variety of average suburban VA clubs, never on a great team, no academies, middling HS team, and only two years of Junior College. I'm not sure he could articulate it, but I'd like to get his thoughts on this when he's not 'in the thick of it' so to speak. It is but he's pretty much at peace with all of it.
Just to add my two cents... I agree with the sentiment that a problem is that there just isn't much pick-up soccer in the US. For whatever reason, and I can't fathom it, there is little culture of it here. At recess in Spain the most common game is futsal. Here it's almost never soccer. Trying to get a pick-up game for kids going here in Chicago has been essentially impossible for me, and even the men's pick-up games have mostly disappeared (it comes and goes in cycles). I'm too broken down to play in the 20 yo pick-ups though. But the other day my son and three friends did start playing a pick-up game and, from what I hear it was what we all dream of. There were only about 4 of them, but they started challenging each other to do stuff and one -up each other. THAT is organic, creative skill development that no formal coaching can buy.
Just a thought... how about no score/standings kept until 11v11 (so U13?). No end of season tournaments, all "in season" tournaments conducted as a showcase (so no championship games). Brag away. Mine is also starting as a freshman (because of an injury to a senior, but I'll take it). They haven't been as successful, 5-5-3 with 4 games left (transitioning to DIII technically), but he's made some good plays (and some poor ones). It's the same around here (club is better than HS). But I think that's the case in most non-revenue sports (baseball, softball, volleyball).
So I don't meant to hijack an existing thread but I'm a new user so I can't create a new thread until I've made a few posts. I was wondering if anyone knows the rules for EDP and guest playing.? We are currently at a club that plays in EDP. We are practicing with other clubs in anticipation of moving for the 2023-2024 season, all of which play in EDP. My kid has been invited to guest play with a club he's practiced with. From my understanding, if both clubs are in EDP, he cannot guest play for another club for EDP league play. That is, even if he is playing up currently, he cannot guest play for another club even if it is to play on age? Also, I'm assuming the above restriction only applies to league play? That is, my child can guest play with other clubs at tournaments and non-EDP events? Our current club is very small and we did not sign any contract so only EDP rules would apply to our situation. We don't plan to leave our club until the 23-24 season unless of course they make it difficult for us since they know we are planning to move on. Thank you!
I think this is the rule book for EDP: https://www.edpsoccer.com/_files/ugd/a96952_9ce9e8aab1e74281a207880776093622.pdf See if that has the answer for you. I didn't have time to study it.
I had time to look at the EDP rules and it appears your son can play with a different club, but NOT if it's an EDP league game... So he could probably guest play for a different EDP club at a tournament (subject to those rules), just not in the EDP league. At least that's the way I read it.
Thank you! I just looked at it too and I agree with your interpretation. I was googling for the EDP rules and regs but I wasn't sure if I was getting the current one so thank you for this! It was not a document that I pulled up in my search.
Another way to think about it is the coach asking your son to guest play in theory should know the rules. If he's wrong, HIS team will suffer (with forfeits). But, I am the type who would want to do the research myself also.
Hahaha, true. He did know his stuff, that is, the guest play invite was for a non-EDP league event. But yes, I just wanted to double check as well also in case our club gave us a hard time about giving his card,
Son's senior year gets extended at least one more game. They won their second round game (they're a #16 seed and they beat the #12 seed). Final score, 3-0. It was 0-0 at the half, but then my son hit the opening kickoff of the 2nd half directly over the goalie's head and into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-0 6 seconds into the second half. A PK came about 4 minutes later and they cruised from there. They get the #5 seed tomorrow night, a team they lost to 0-1 a few weeks ago, a game where a header from their team was caught by the keeper while he was falling into the goal, but no goal was called. In other words, even though we're a big underdog, seeding-wise, it's a game they know they can win. If they do happen to win, their season likely comes to a conclusion this weekend, as next on the bracket would be the #1 team in the state in their division.
Heck of a way to win -- well done! Good luck to him Tuesday night. My son's senior season is on the line Tuesday, too, after they won the regional title Saturday. I don't put a ton of stock in the rankings, but they're No. 3 in the state in their class and they'll be playing No. 2. Keep it going, boys!
Thanks, but we wait a day. They're playing on grass and its wall-to-wall rain today in our part of the world.
The season has come to an end. They ended up losing 1-2. They held them 0-0 for the first half, then gave up a goal about 5 minutes into the second half. They managed to fight back and get an equalizer with 20 minutes left in the game, but unfortunately gave up the game winner with less than 10 minutes left. My son, naturally, ends up going out in a blaze of glory (of sorts ) with two yellow cards in the last 3 minutes of the game. The first for a hard tackle and the second with less than a minute left when he jumped in after his freshman teammate got his head cut open over his eye by an elbow from the opponent who threw himself backwards on him. A stalling play where our player was trying to take the ball off of the other player who was shielding it and once he felt contact, the kid acted like our player was pulling him backwards and went to ground, elbowing him in the face in the process. When my son confronted the other kid, he got in my son's face, who didn't take lightly to it and shoved him away. My son knew it was going to be a second yellow, but didn't care at the time, knowing it would be his last minute on the field. Now he's saying he may want to play one final season of club this winter / spring. His best friend on the team (and fellow captain) may have talked him into playing with his team for the season, which also happens to be coached by their HS assistant coach, so I think he'll make the team.