Most of our time (2 girls who are now 25 and 19) was spent at Sockers and you would never get away yelling on and coaching your player like that dad was doing. Personally - I find it very annoying.
Seems like he is doing one of my pet peeves. That is when parents straddle the halfway line and end up mixing in with both sets of parents.
I have a U12 daughter currently playing at a local club and she has played up for a few years. We would like to evaluate GA/ECNL for her and are doing some exploring/research before tryouts next year. Any advice on which direction to take? Mostly considering Inter, Eclipse and Galaxy at this point - open to other clubs as well and flexible to travel. In addition, my daughter plays striker/wing. I've heard it can be difficult to stand out as many of these clubs have depth in these positions in their current rosters. Any insight into how difficult it can be for a new player to come into this level at this point? We know she is at the same level as many of these girls through outside training and ODP, but want to make sure she gets the right exposure
Those are the usual suspects, plus FCU and Rockford. They all have pros and cons, so I’d just shop around and see what feels right. if your child is good enough she will get PT, but changing teams you’ll certainly have to deal with the politics of what are likely relatively formed “core” players who have been there a while. Use the winter to check them all out. Waiting to official tryouts is a poor choice.
Sockers isn’t like that as much now. My U13 has played them a few times over the years, and while the Sockers parents are in no way the worst we’ve seen, they for sure yell and sometimes coach from the sidelines. There’s a dad whose daughter plays in the GA/GA-A program who is one of the loudest parents I’ve ever been around, and he always sits right on the center line. He’s always brought up in the parent chat when we have Sockers on the schedule. Maybe the parents get quieter as the kids get older.
At U12, the player is at a good time to switch clubs. I agree with other posts that attending practices ahead of tryouts or via ID sessions is a good first step. Many of these clubs have fairly limited spots, especially on good teams, so seeing how your player may stack up is a good idea. Personally, I would caution against reading too much into ODP. You’ll find players every year who do great at ODP but don’t make their desired badge club. Lots of attacking players get converted to other positions. If you’re talking a top club, typically by high school their top attacking players pretty much have the size , speed and technical abilities required. Also athletic ability will matter, many clubs will try to figure out ways to keep minutes slanted towards their better athletes. Also, I’d suggest watching a game or two, especially if the club posts their games on Veo Live. You’ll see a lot more in terms of how the team plays, substitutes players, and even coaching style.
Wouldn’t let me edit my post but I wanted to add that this is a great year to switch teams, as there is going to be a lot of transition with the switch back to school year from birth year, so I suspect at most clubs you’ll probably have 4-5 kids per year changing age groups and this will also shake up the status quo - positions/ play time/ cliques etc.
What is everyone seeing/hearing regarding the kids with August-December birthdays who are in the top 1/4 of their teams? Are clubs making those kids stay behind? Stay with their team? Or it is depending on the person?
I have kids in 2 different clubs. So far, both clubs have said they are not taking a blanket approach and will be looking at each kid on a case-by-case basis One child on the team is currently playing in his grade but is an August birthday. He is in the bottom 1/4 of the team and the dad says he wants him to play down even though it is a grade younger. I'm sure there will be a lot of parent involvement in this too. Should be interesting!
Kids have always been able to tryout for older age groups. If they are good enough to play up then the club will take them over kids that are in the right age group. Otherwise they are doing a disservice to all involved.
I tend to agree with this more than disagree, but I also think it's not that black and white. To create the objectively strongest performing top team(s), I think that it is the general rule. But there are more things that clubs are trying to balance than only creating the strongest top team, from financial objectives to team culture to history to logistics to many other reasons that can push them to assign kids to various teams. A club can take a stance to try and put all kids in their proper age group unless there is a huge, specific issue for that player - or a club can take a stance that each player (and family) can individually decide what they feel is best for their own development. Both viewpoints have merit, with pros and cons to each.
With how many clubs there are these days parents have more say than they have ever had before. You dont like what the club wants to do with Susie or Timmy you go 5min down the road to a new club. I feel sorry for the coaches that have to navigate the switch. Going to be very difficult.
I wonder if it would not be better for development for this child to be on same grade B team vs A team with all other kids being younger grade. That seems like a social challenge. And will have recruiting implications if the child is inclined towards playing in college. Hopefully parent is thinking through all unintended consequences.
My kid is in that category. Birthday in that range, but one of the strongest players on the team. She's one of the few who are asked to play guest play up a year. The club has indicated that they'll true everyone up with the age ranges since they now have to consider who's coming up and down and give guest play opportunities. I think that's the politically correct position. I understand it from the club's perspective but my thought is that stepping back a year might slow my kid's development. My thought was to see how it goes after the spring season. If my kid continues to be strong, maybe try out for the current team for next year and see what the club does. I think it would make some sense to play with the current team until the older kids go to high school.
Shouldn’t they though as a paying customer? If a player has been with their team for the last few years, and all of a sudden a club wants to keep that kid down to make the next year stronger (but not the player) for club optics, don’t you think that kid should leave?
I’m still not convinced these clubs will force good players down into an age group or on a team that would hinder their development, especially at the high school ages. Because cash is king and they won’t want good players to walk. However if you're currently a parent of a 7th grader and they are playing with 8th graders, your team will transition to the high school schedule next year. This could limit opportunities in the spring at ECNL clubs, especially if most of your teammates move on to play high school in the spring. You might end up having to train with a younger team or a cup team if they continue. That’s a tough choice, especially if the younger team isn’t as strong or the spring program from the club is weak.
I think there's likely too many factors to say what will happen other than it being on a case by case basis which is the standard response I expect. Strength of the older team vs. the younger one, positional need, carpooling impacts, etc.
I think you will find the vast majority of clubs will want to go to the new dates, as it will eliminate the trapped player issue with 8th graders and freshman. That being said, I'm sure for high level players they will roster them down and play them at both ages.
Something has gone haywire with the rankings app. If you look at the main 2012 page, it shows FC United Eclipse Inter Raptors Libertyville Galaxy Rush Central Illinois But if you click into any of those teams neither the team rating nor the points reflect that order: FC United Eclipse Inter Rush Galaxy Raptors (I dont see #7) Elmhurst City
Maybe I just looked in a ten-minute window while it was updating. The main page now seems to reflect the detail pages.
The rankings were all messed up yesterday morning, but went back to normal by day end. At first I was very confused and a bit worried that something changed with the algorithm, but figured it was just a temporary glitch because the rankings were over the top wrong.
Do clubs still have Cup teams? I thought almost all kids played high school these days but maybe I am mistaken. There will be far fewer trapped 8th graders at U15 now to help fill out the rosters I would guess.
The name they are congratulating seems like a joke but obviously it is not. Welcome to 2025 alphabet soup soccer.