Sadly, you're way ahead of most of the parents involved with youth soccer in the US. Good luck at u15.
Thanks for your advice and thanks to sam_gordon and others who responded as well. I'll check back in if or when something changes.
From my observation it seems to be a couple things: * first off, coaches bring their own subjective view of players. Not all coaches agree on who should play on the A or B team. Ultimately a coach has to make a call and he might get it wrong. * the other thing I've noticed is that sometimes kids will come to a club as a group. So maybe 4 kids are all friends, and their parents are all friends, and they join the club with the agreement that they will all play together on the same team even thought they might not all truly deserve to play on the team from a talent perspective.
In the case of your second example, they should all play on the team the lowest talented kid plays on. Of course, thats up to the club, just giving my opinion.
I have never seen a kid get developed by a club coach. They develope by playing a lot of soccer. They always have a ball on their feet and are always kicking and dribbling in the house. Parents who complain about coaches not developing their kids have a misguided expectation. If you want to be good at soccer, play on 3 teams and play 6 days a week.
Surely the drills at the club have some benefit. In my view, to develop, a kid needs: guided training, competitive games (these you get at a club), unstructured play (pickup), and training on their own. These on top of being a good athlete in general.
That's the dilemma of coaching in the US. Elsewhere, kids watch soccer. Their families watch soccer. Kids play soccer in their free time. When they want to join a club, they have decent individual skills due to that, coach can work with them on playing in groups. Here, parents are paying the coaches to teach soccer, starting with the basics. It's hard for a coach to say "what you should really do is watch non US soccer with them, here are some things you can point out as it comes up in the game; let them pound the ball against a wall or fence as much as possible; let them go play with friends somewhere, and if you have a few minuts, play with them in the back yard sometimes" How can you charge hundreds of dollars for that? My opinion is that 80% of the difference between Elite clubs and regular clubs is just that since the parents are forking out $$$, they are motivated to have their kids attend 3 practices a week, plus "optional" skills sessions, plus "optional" indoor/futsal in the winter, compared to maybe 2 practices a week and no extra work. It's not the magic in the coaching, it's the extra repetitions.
Well... Coaches develop a player from a mental perspective - that is where they can have the greatest impact. For example a good coach will disect the process of a basic shot into (1) Awareness of the field (2) Decision making and (3) Execution. Most players will not figure that out and thusly will not be able to develop physicaly on the field. So I disagree - coaches hold the key to developing the minds of players. Competitive play and beneficial opportunities build upon that.
I agree. I view club soccer like I view elementary school. The better the club/school, the more resources they can bring to bear. As such there are fewer gaps the parent needs to fill on their own to help the child reach their full potential. Doesn't eliminate parental responsibility, just reduces it.