Tryouts.
But it is impossible to get invited to tryouts. My son is a 2004. How do I get him invited to LA Galaxy Academy and LA Futsal Club Academy tryouts. I thought you had to be invited and I thought going forward they are not doing tryouts. Just inviting select players to train with the team as a tryout.
younothat
PREMIER
Galaxy had a signup tryout earlier this year, they limited numbers but some flight 2 players at least received invites to the first tryout.
http://www.lagalaxy.com/academy/tryouts
LAFC was by invite only, scouts or connections.
http://lafc.academy/#coach
If you're at a club that has DA or a relationship/affiliation try to work trough your coach, doc, etc and see if they would recommend your players.
If not once coaches are assigned have your players not you contact or talk to the coach directly about what the tryout or training process are for that player.
Wez
DA
While I mostly agree with this, my kid didn't get a look until I took him to an academy tryout. That led to an invite to a scrimmage where he proved himself. Without some extra effort, you're kid could languish in flt 2 for a very long time...
younothat
PREMIER
Lower level players do make the jump, I've seen some each year that do. Normally a growth, skills spurt or something along those lines.
Many kids never get noticed, invites, or even know about DA. Recruiting happens but the majority of that is existing higher level players switching teams.
Open tryouts are not used by many club for DA, the competition can be fierce intrasquad when you have 120 kids in an age group already going for 16 spots.
If you're at a club that has DA or a relationship/affiliation try to work trough your coach, doc, etc and see if they would recommend your players.
If not once coaches are assigned have your player, not you contact or talk to the coach directly about what the tryout or training process are for that player.
Many kids never get noticed, invites, or even know about DA. Recruiting happens but the majority of that is existing higher level players switching teams.
Open tryouts are not used by many club for DA, the competition can be fierce intrasquad when you have 120 kids in an age group already going for 16 spots.
If you're at a club that has DA or a relationship/affiliation try to work trough your coach, doc, etc and see if they would recommend your players.
If not once coaches are assigned have your player, not you contact or talk to the coach directly about what the tryout or training process are for that player.
Juggling
BRONZE
For a goalie, is it better for them to be on an academy or very good top tier team, or to play on a not so great team? If the teams have great coaching, would the keeper develop more with the lower team, where he'd get lots of action and need to really help organize the defense? Or is it better to play with a team that has a great defense and the keeper sees little action- but the quality of shots is high and speed of play faster? U13-14 level.
Great question Id also like to know the answer to. Keepers get much more experience on clubs with poor defenses. But they get no exposure because, well, they are on a team with poor defense that doesnt win as much as a top level team that only gives up 5 shots on goal a game.
Myleftfoot
SILVER ELITE
I agree with you on this, it depends on what the head coaches are looking for, they might be looking at size only or they might be looking at skills, reactions or they are very strong on having a full keeper ( skills, foot skills, voice of command) my choice would be a full keeper. But ive notice that some head coaches are only looking for size.
Myleftfoot
SILVER ELITE
If your son is playing for GSA or Galaxy won't have lot's of action this or next season, but it would really be better for his in the future, GSA and Galaxy are always competing for championships.
Juggling
BRONZE
I asked this question of my son's outside keeper coach, and he is of the opinion that really good keepers will get noticed even if they are not on top level teams. He agreed that this wouldn't be so true for field players. Maybe it depends a bit on how well networked the keeper coach and regular coach are? I would think though that there must be an age where it is imperative for the keepers to be on a top team, no..?
The players that get noticed are the ones who score lots of goals, even if they can't play a lick of defense. The defenders that get noticed are the big-fast-strong athletes, even if they can't play lick of offense.
Wez
DA
In general yes, but good coaches recognize work ethic from players in every position.
U
uburoi
Guest
This reminds me of when I was watching the American Music Awards. I heard from my kids while watching that Drake was on one of those kids shows, so his exposure to the scene and his current popularity is not as much of a surprise. Meaning, he didn't emerge out of nowhere. There is a similarity to academy. A player can come out of nowhere, maybe AYSO or flight 3, but it may be more difficult. The game is happening faster. Decisions have to be made at a much more rapid pace. It's harder for a player coming from a slower paced game to play at that pace, as was said in an earlier post, the intensity may not be baked into the player at a young age and so there is more to get used to, especially in a tryout, which can be stressful for the kids if academy is their dream (or their parents dream). It took my son a year, and he was kind of an outlier on the team - same or maybe more speed and similar skills, but not confident, not bold, not fearless, basically the smallest. He'd rather not step initially and chase the ball later. He won't last with that mentality, but I think the coaches understand that everyone has to develop. My son played flight 1 right away, then dropped to a lower flight, then made an academy club and is angling to play academy next year if he can make it. This is all before age 10, so yeah he was young, but he was always the one with skill and a soft touch, maybe too soft, but we'll see, but not the biggest, not a goal scorer, none of those things you think of when you think of academy.
Think of job you go to every day. Not everyone is a superstar. There are many role players, but role players who are looking for an opportunity to step up, but companies need role players, that is the bulk of the workforce really. Most of the academy team shouldn't be role players, they should be more than that if they're going to be really good like some teams are, but you need players who show up, who understand the game, who will chase the ball under all circumstances, as much as you need the superstars who don't always come to training or who are too young to pass when they should but too good to be left on the bench for too long.
Think of job you go to every day. Not everyone is a superstar. There are many role players, but role players who are looking for an opportunity to step up, but companies need role players, that is the bulk of the workforce really. Most of the academy team shouldn't be role players, they should be more than that if they're going to be really good like some teams are, but you need players who show up, who understand the game, who will chase the ball under all circumstances, as much as you need the superstars who don't always come to training or who are too young to pass when they should but too good to be left on the bench for too long.
indyconnection
BRONZE
Why not get the kid into the flight 1 team first, and see if he can contribute? What makes DA so important to YOU, or is it important to your son? Who says that LAGA or LAFCA is the better option for his development? Ever seen a training session, or a game? Find a good coach that understands how to develop young talent, and stick with him (or her). I'm not saying DA isn't the best, I'm just saying it isn't the best for every kid kicking a ball around.
GKDad65
SILVER ELITE
Mystery Train
GOLD
Well I can give you my daughter's experience that her biggest years of improvements in goal came playing on teams that were "lesser" ranked or lower tier for exactly the reasons you mentioned. The first year she was bumped up to the top team, she actually had one of her worst years of development because she would only see a couple of shots a game and the coach did not play the ball out of the back (many of the top winning A teams play kickball because they have the best athletes anyway). There just wasn't much for her to do, and when the shots finally came her way, she was far less confident and definitely not in rhythm. My theory is that around 16 it might become more important to be a keeper on a great team, but while the kid is still developing physically, being a great keeper on a decent team is a pretty good deal and will also help build confidence because the team will really appreciate him. Side note: it is ok to have your keeper play on a team that has a weak defense, but we found it was awful to play on a team that couldn't score. It's more ideal for keeper development to play with a team that can make up for any mistakes he makes by scoring once in a while. If the team can't score, every goal he lets in will feel like death. Just my .02.