Tryout madness, ID camps, free training...

jpeter

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Seems like the majority of posts this time of year are either about Tryouts, some ID camps, "free" training sessions or some other marketing gimmicks to get people "hooked" in as soon as possible...

The younger age groups have been bombarded with advertising...looking for a few impact players, come be part of the newest or best club with "open" or "free" training or tryouts, we're looking for dedicated players to develop there skills, looking for a good team, reasonable fees, great development come on out....all skill levels are welcome, etc

So tryouts are moved up eailer every year to keep up with "Joneses" but what are they really about? Same with the ID camps which many charging fees.

Seriously how or why would a player want to tryout outside their local area? What would you look for before even going to a "tryout" ?

Does the league they play in matter? Level, Past results, or coaching level or experience make more of a difference or is it the "planned" tournments the team will be applying for? How about those that preach "development" but not mentioned much of anything else?

What about team Dynamics, other team parents, club admin folks is any of that given consideration?

Seems like most of advertising just doesn't give a clue about the teams or camps, just come out and trust us? So would you want to see some more info before running around town for these "adventures"?
 
Seems like the majority of posts this time of year are either about Tryouts, some ID camps, "free" training sessions or some other marketing gimmicks to get people "hooked" in as soon as possible...

The younger age groups have been bombarded with advertising...looking for a few impact players, come be part of the newest or best club with "open" or "free" training or tryouts, we're looking for dedicated players to develop there skills, looking for a good team, reasonable fees, great development come on out....all skill levels are welcome, etc

So tryouts are moved up eailer every year to keep up with "Joneses" but what are they really about? Same with the ID camps which many charging fees.

Seriously how or why would a player want to tryout outside their local area? What would you look for before even going to a "tryout" ?

Does the league they play in matter? Level, Past results, or coaching level or experience make more of a difference or is it the "planned" tournments the team will be applying for? How about those that preach "development" but not mentioned much of anything else?

What about team Dynamics, other team parents, club admin folks is any of that given consideration?

Seems like most of advertising just doesn't give a clue about the teams or camps, just come out and trust us? So would you want to see some more info before running around town for these "adventures"?

clubs looking for more parents with Michael Scott type personalities.
 
Here's a new one for the "Soccer Parents are Crazy" file.
I guess some offer letters went out earlier today. And parents texted their kid during school hours to let them know. Now all of the kids at the school are freaking out wondering if they got an offer letter or not yet.
That couldn't wait until they got home from school?
I feel bad for teachers having to deal with stuff like this while they are trying to teach math.
 
Here's a new one for the "Soccer Parents are Crazy" file.
I guess some offer letters went out earlier today. And parents texted their kid during school hours to let them know. Now all of the kids at the school are freaking out wondering if they got an offer letter or not yet.
That couldn't wait until they got home from school?
I feel bad for teachers having to deal with stuff like this while they are trying to teach math.
Kids Yelling:I GOT IT! golden ticket.jpg
 
ok, I am new to this sport, so can someone explain to me what offers they are getting? An offer to be on a team for 2019-2020? An offer to play on a team through the next round of tryouts, which I think is in June? I have been seeing all of the invitations on the boards too, and I am so confused! I thought contracts went through February/March.
 
Here's a new one for the "Soccer Parents are Crazy" file.
I guess some offer letters went out earlier today. And parents texted their kid during school hours to let them know. Now all of the kids at the school are freaking out wondering if they got an offer letter or not yet.
That couldn't wait until they got home from school?
I feel bad for teachers having to deal with stuff like this while they are trying to teach math.

Ah the ole' congratulations... your player has been offered a spot even if they didn't or had'nt tried out...please confirm within 3 days and send your first payment to....

No joke when my son was younger not kidding we would get these offers and wonder how these people got our contact info? Even the club we where with, different coaches would contact us even though he didn't know them or attend any tryouts.
 
Aren't you happy you have this endless options for your kids? You can try out right now for the team, make it, sign up, but still finish the season with your current team?
 
Aren't you happy you have this endless options for your kids? You can try out right now for the team, make it, sign up, but still finish the season with your current team?

Options are good, however this model can/does cause team Dynamic problems due to the timing.

When you pre determine which players or not will make a certain future team things can get touchy. For players wanting to stay together the pre noticed players might be happy but the ones on the bubble or those trying to concentrate on the present not so much. Just as the teams are benefiting from the experience of playing together in the summer or fall it's time to change & mix things up so players come & go and the team is now different. Is this progress of a step back?

The way that ECNL (month of May ) or DA ( need release first from existing team and only at certain times) handles tryouts would be better IMO than the Cal South cluster bomb way that many clubs prescribed to. Some of the league's have even tried to counter act this with additional hoops to jump through since they prefer to have the season go through St/NT cups not just the end of fall league.
 
Not sure if it's Cal-South, the various leagues, US Soccer or up to the clubs --- but this tryout madness needs to be reigned in. And since nobody seems to think that the state cup schedule has any chance of being changed (because if you wrapped it up before Christmas, you wouldn't have to mess with tryouts much. Just have them in January/February). This message pertains to those age groups that are not yet in high school. (Would be 2005 this year - u14)

  • Offers are made to existing players that the club wants to come back right after the season ends. If a player is not wanted back, the club should tell them at this point. It should not be a surprise if a kid is not a fit for the club.
  • A player has 3 choices "Yes", "Maybe", "No"
    • Yes = You are locked in and your spot is reserved.
    • No = You will remain on the team through State Cup.
    • Maybe = You will be exploring options. The club will be looking at options to fill your spot.
      • If the club has a player that is interested in an open roster spot, they will give "Right of first refusal" to a "maybe" player.
      • The "maybe" player has 24 hours to give a "Yes".
      • The player may remain in the "maybe" pool until March 1st (for u14 and younger).
      • By March 1oth, all teams of 11v11 must have at least 11 players on their roster. If not, that team will not be allowed to register in the league of their choice. (Exceptions can be made if another team in the same age group has at least 15 players on the roster).
      • Any player dropped from a club during this window will be given a complete refund. (Or maybe don't even ask players to pay a penny until March 10th)
  • Clubs will have until March 30th to pick up any players that were left without a team because their club could not get at least 11 players.
 
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Not sure if it's Cal-South, the various leagues, US Soccer or up to the clubs --- but this tryout madness needs to be reigned in. And since nobody seems to think that the state cup schedule has any chance of being changed (because if you wrapped it up before Christmas, you wouldn't have to mess with trouts much. Just have them in January/February). This message pertains to those age groups that are not yet in high school. (Would be 2005 this year - u14)

  • Offers are made to existing players that the club wants to come back right after the season ends. If a player is not wanted back, the club should tell them at this point. It should not be a surprise if a kid is not a fit for the club.
  • A player has 3 choices "Yes", "Maybe", "No"
    • Yes = You are locked in and your spot is reserved.
    • No = You will remain on the team through State Cup.
    • Maybe = You will be exploring options. The club will be looking at options to fill your spot.
      • If the club has a player that is interested in an open roster spot, they will give "Right of first refusal" to a "maybe" player.
      • The "maybe" player has 24 hours to give a "Yes".
      • The player may remain in the "maybe" pool until March 1st (for u14 and younger).
      • By March 1oth, all teams of 11v11 must have at least 11 players on their roster. If not, that team will not be allowed to register in the league of their choice. (Exceptions can be made if another team in the same age group has at least 15 players on the roster).
      • Any player dropped from a club during this window will be given a complete refund. (Or maybe don't even ask players to pay a penny until March 10th)
  • Clubs will have until March 30th to pick up any players that were left without a team because their club could not get at least 11 players.

Probably almost impossible to reign in at this point. Nobody wants this circus but many people will say, "we need options if things aren't working out, we don't want to be stuck somewhere." Many of the suggestions you make are things we already implement so we're on the same page.

I personally believe (and this is how we run our club) that once a kid starts the season with you (because you've clearly deemed them 'good enough' at that point, unless you're just taking their $'s of course), they should see out the season unless there is a major issue with the coach or team. So players essentially stay with their team until the end of State Cup. IMO, if you run a solid club and remain open and honest with both players and parents, the whole tryout circus and BS won't really affect you (because you won't have huge bunches of players either leaving or trying out).

If there are situations where players are really struggling, it just takes a frank but sympathetic conversation with player/parent to give them a heads up (I had two such conversations this week for example); look, it's not working out on this team and you need more playing time. Nobody will take your spot, you're not getting kicked off the team but it's highly unlikely you will be offered a spot next season (explanation why) and so my suggestion would be to keep your options open and look at some other teams in the meantime. You are with us until the end of State Cup, unless you decide otherwise. You will still get playing time; you won't be confined to the bench. We will do everything we can to ensure you keep improving in the meantime and will help with the transition to another team if you want us to assist you. That's not a made-for-publication bunch of wording btw; that's pretty much exactly what was said.

I find it very hard to accept the fact that so many people involved in youth soccer cannot just find the morals and integrity to do what is best for the kids we serve. Money of course influences and changes the approach of many but surely there are enough 'good' people out there involved in the youth game to essentially push the bandits and muppets slowly out of the picture? A utopian hope perhaps...
 
Here's a new one for the "Soccer Parents are Crazy" file.
I guess some offer letters went out earlier today. And parents texted their kid during school hours to let them know. Now all of the kids at the school are freaking out wondering if they got an offer letter or not yet.
That couldn't wait until they got home from school?
I feel bad for teachers having to deal with stuff like this while they are trying to teach math.
Which club?
 
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