2023-24 Season

[Socal-Soccer-Dad]

Let your field coach teach large field tactics and plays but don't forget to keep training for the small sided game.

Quite presumptive you are thinking my kid's coach has "tactics and plays"

 

[way up]

I've been on all sides of this over the years with multiple kids, from playing up & down in both age and experience. IMO, pulling a better kid down to the lower team such that their presence will materially affect the game outcome, is crappy behavior by the coach. It's not up to their parents to educate the kids/parents on the lower team opponents about how to "better conceptualize" what it means to perform better. It's presumptuous and selfish. However, playing a kid both down on a lower team and also remain on an upper team so they can work on various skills, confidence, whatever, can be incredibly helpful - and is a very good development benefit for any kid that at that moment is on that bubble, and fits reasonably well on both teams.

New rules in Norcal this season, allowing only 3 kids on the match card to come down from an upper team, and only 2 kids on the match card to come up from a lower team. It was getting pretty wild at times last season with it being pretty obvious coaches were playing way more than that from the top team, also on their 2nd (and even 3rd) teams. This should make it somewhat more challenging to stack the lower teams with ringers.

Lots of times it's a kid that is just missing something to be on the ECNL for whatever reason that is placed in RL or another letter team. They need to be more physical or learn to switch speeds and gain more composure, whatever. Sometimes they will even move the kid to an older RL Team if they have the physicality and just need to work on things too. There are so many options, but game time experience builds natural game instincts , so it's ver beneficial to play up as a team and then play down and/or sometimes even. Depending on position, your kid can build better position specific game time skills with the options.

Imagine if they converted more tennis courts to public small game fields. 3 on 3 or more pick up games at every local park where kids can just go play for fun and get creative then go play with their teams and training. It doesn't have to be futsal either. It could be with a deflated normal ball or whatever, but smaller fields easier to find enough players for regular pick up games.

 

[Carlsbad7]

I've been on all sides of this over the years with multiple kids, from playing up & down in both age and experience. IMO, pulling a better kid down to the lower team such that their presence will materially affect the game outcome, is crappy behavior by the coach. It's not up to their parents to educate the kids/parents on the lower team opponents about how to "better conceptualize" what it means to perform better. It's presumptuous and selfish. However, playing a kid both down on a lower team and also remain on an upper team so they can work on various skills, confidence, whatever, can be incredibly helpful - and is a very good development benefit for any kid that at that moment is on that bubble, and fits reasonably well on both teams.

New rules in Norcal this season, allowing only 3 kids on the match card to come down from an upper team, and only 2 kids on the match card to come up from a lower team. It was getting pretty wild at times last season with it being pretty obvious coaches were playing way more than that from the top team, also on their 2nd (and even 3rd) teams. This should make it somewhat more challenging to stack the lower teams with ringers.

Bringing in "ringers" or "guest players" is going to happen no matter what if you're looking to play at the highest levels.

Might as well embrace it and learn how to deal with it. Creating rulebook changes to make it happen less often only delays the inevitable.

The top clubs have ringers from around the US trying out throughout the season. College is a collection is ringers. USWNT is a collection of super ringers.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

Bringing in "ringers" or "guest players" is going to happen no matter what if you're looking to play at the highest levels.

Might as well embrace it and learn how to deal with it. Creating rulebook changes to make it happen less often only delays the inevitable.

The top clubs have ringers from around the US trying out throughout the season. College is a collection is ringers. USWNT is a collection of super ringers.

What's good for the top 1% of teams across youth soccer may not be good for the remaining 99%. It very well might be - but it's certainly possible that there are differences at play. If one population of teams has the main goal of identifying and growing the truly rare talent, and another population of teams has the main goal of promoting fair play for the masses - it's pretty clear there are likely going to be different priorities. Allowing for cheating if not the letter of the rules, but certainly the spirit of them, in playing down exceptional players to win games against lesser teams, is crappy behavior. It's not something to just "get used to", it's something that coaches should be ashamed of.