Small Club Questions

El Clasico said:
Interesting response to the advice offered by U older parents. I think this speaks volumes' about the state of youth soccer in the US and our troubles competing on the global stage today and going forward. What you and others may not realize is that the U older parents are not only giving their advice, they are sharing in their experience and wisdom. I don't think that there are many on this board and the other boards that would argue that the kids that started out on the A teams (obviously with exceptions) finish on the B teams. Since they have seen and lived through it, they realize that all those little girls on the 09 blues team you speak so highly of will not likely be on their top team 6 or 7 years from now. Since you seem very dismissive of the advice offered by the U older parents, do a different kind of "research". Look up the Blues 02 super team roster, and post on this board, which club every one of those girls played THEIR U9 season on. CDA Slammers Cerritos has winning teams every year at the U little ages going all the way back to their infinity days. Where are those girls now? What happened to those teams? Why can't their older teams compete in Flight 1? Wait, why don't they have any older teams?

No need to respond with an angry reply talking about the exceptions, just take the information for what it is....informative.

Maybe one day in the future when you have a bit more experience and a U little parent asks you for some advice or guidance, you will get lucky and they will be a bit more respectful of you and the help you are providing.

Somehow, I doubt it though. Not a personal dig, just the state of youth soccer.
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The guy is tracking u8 wins and losses, so obviously it means something to him.

One thing I need to mention is that the daughters of a lot of the parents that were way too into it at u8-9 are either no longer playing or close to done. Parents need to step back and really just make it about fun and let their kid decide how seriously they want to take it. If you make it too serious then they feed off it at a young age and it is no longer fun.

And yes, you are right. The "a" teams at the big clubs look completely different than they did at u8-10. A top player at u8 does not mean they will continue to be a top player at u11 or u15. That's rarely the case from what I have seen. That's why you get them a good coach on a team with some cool girls and watch them develop and love the game and hopefully improve every year. It's better to peak at u17 than u9!
 
The best u9 and u10 club a team has 3 of the same players (and that's age group change included).
3/12.
The next huge drop off will be with the 05 when they make the choice to join the DA four week train or not
 
Striker17 said:
The best u9 and u10 club a team has 3 of the same players (and that's age group change included).
3/12.
The next huge drop off will be with the 05 when they make the choice to join the DA four week train or not
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Don't forget girls who decide they prefer softball, dance, sitting around on their phone all day, etc. It seems like if your kid even makes it to u15, you should consider yourself lucky.
 
I hope in 8 years that I'm not posting broad generalizations in the U9 forum about how those parents are crazy and that they don't know anything.
 
Really appreciate the advice.

One thing southern California has shown me already with soccer is saturation. Soo many choices and so many claims with little substance.

Appreciate everyone's views, especially those with experience.

Personally I'm shocked on some of the bigger clubs we have visited charging close to $3k for youth training 2x a week. Must not be an issue to some when 20 plus are training for an A team / B Team.

I'm leaning towards a smaller club because honestly that's what my daughter liked the best. The training facility wasn't the best but the club seemed more intimate being smaller.

Our 1B choice (larger) club seems to have some internal issues that have made local headlines. Obviously not effecting the age group we would be playing at but has made me think twice regardless of the clubs history.

This has been great discussion. Thank you to everyone who's contributed.
 
Chalklines said:
Really appreciate the advice.

One thing southern California has shown me already with soccer is saturation. Soo many choices and so many claims with little substance.

Appreciate everyone's views, especially those with experience.

Personally I'm shocked on some of the bigger clubs we have visited charging close to $3k for youth training 2x a week. Must not be an issue to some when 20 plus are training for an A team / B Team.

I'm leaning towards a smaller club because honestly that's what my daughter liked the best. The training facility wasn't the best but the club seemed more intimate being smaller.

Our 1B choice (larger) club seems to have some internal issues that have made local headlines. Obviously not effecting the age group we would be playing at but has made me think twice regardless of the clubs history.

This has been great discussion. Thank you to everyone who's contributed.
Click to expand...

I think their are valid avenues. I feel finding a local trainer is always good. Search social media- if you like a certain player DM the parents etc. just throwing ideas out.
In my daughters year there was an "It player" I reached out to their parents and found a wealth of info.
 
Chalklines said:
Really appreciate the advice.

One thing southern California has shown me already with soccer is saturation. Soo many choices and so many claims with little substance.

Appreciate everyone's views, especially those with experience.

Personally I'm shocked on some of the bigger clubs we have visited charging close to $3k for youth training 2x a week. Must not be an issue to some when 20 plus are training for an A team / B Team.

I'm leaning towards a smaller club because honestly that's what my daughter liked the best. The training facility wasn't the best but the club seemed more intimate being smaller.

Our 1B choice (larger) club seems to have some internal issues that have made local headlines. Obviously not effecting the age group we would be playing at but has made me think twice regardless of the clubs history.

This has been great discussion. Thank you to everyone who's contributed.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the smaller club is the way to go. Good luck to your girl! Hope you have a lot of years of awesome soccer memories ahead of you!
 
Development/technique is my #1 focus not a W/L record but the environment needs to be some what challenging.

I dont plan on riding my daughters ass in U9 soccer and if she peaks in ULittle (what you guys call it here) and we have a ton of fun fond memories I really dont care. The odds that she will even like soccer or sports in general at 16 years old is stacked highly against her anyways with all the distractions the kids have at their finger tips these days.

If shes not happy with the situation ive some how failed to listen to her needs as a kid. This is why I asked the questions because it seems so many of you screwed up along the way.

It's better my family makes decisions that dont lead to dead ends or burn out.
 
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