Hired Gun
SILVER ELITE
I think this arrangement was more geared for U littles...
Bailing out before season ends....
- Thread starter labanLB
- Start date
Chalklines
GOLD
I wish travel ball and club sports still actually meant something so we wouldn't need to have these stupid discussions.
Its a vicious circle going on. The problem is clubs are diluted with kids who shouldn't even be considered especially at the younger ages, Too many A,B,C,D & so on teams at every level.
If it wasn't so easy to join a team, movement would slow and amazingly more teams would be "the right fit" for the player.
Its a vicious circle going on. The problem is clubs are diluted with kids who shouldn't even be considered especially at the younger ages, Too many A,B,C,D & so on teams at every level.
If it wasn't so easy to join a team, movement would slow and amazingly more teams would be "the right fit" for the player.
smellycleats
SILVER ELITE
I disagree with you. Kids can change and develop drastically over their ulittle years. Sometimes kids are small but fast, some are athletic but have low soccer IQ, or have a great attitude, hustle, and want to learn or visa versa....Hard to tell what kind of player they will develop into at a young age. If a kid has a few areas of strength and wants to compete why not play for coach who is paid to be there and with a team of other competitive players? As other experienced parents on this forum have told us, sometimes ulittle players start out on second teams and end up with college scholarships and sometimes superstars quit at age 13. Who are you to say who belongs there and who doesn’t?
I disagree. Where are kids who "should not even be considered" play? My kid started on a B team. I had already signed her up for AYSO the season she was recruited so she played both. By the end of AYSO season you could see AYSO was no longer a teaching ground for her. B and C teams serve a purpose and not all kids stay at that level. My kid was playing on a top team most of her club years but growth and fundamentals were definitely what helped her and that came from her early year club years and not necessarily from A teams.
The more the merrier the way I see it.
Clubs couldn’t handle it either! Try-outs are a Huge drain on resources, so by default it would push back tryouts.
Which would be a good thing.
Chalklines
GOLD
Before the days of over saturated club sports and entitled parents kids had to earn roster spots and trophies.
Now, both are handed out a dime a dozen and the same arguments always "who are you to say little Jimmy's not good enough to play and take home a trophy". That exact stereotype soccer mom attitude is killing youth sports across the board.
Clubs have caved and have now opened up multiple teams at every level to take your money. Why? Because it's all become a bussiness and Jimmy's parents moneys green just like everyone else's.
Times have changed for youth sports. I get it. Doesn't mean I like it.
The b, c & d teams have killed rec leagues because parents are willing to shell out top dollar for AYSO coaching at club level for ulittles.
Its truly a shame 5 - 10 year olds need to make a full year's commitment just to play competitive soccer.
smellycleats
SILVER ELITE
We can agree to disagree on some issues. I’m with you on your last point though. Ridiculous that young children should specialize in one sport or one activity for that matter, at such a young age.
and I resent the soccer mom reference. Just because I’m a mom and my kids play soccer does NOT mean that I’m for the over wussification of our little suburban kids and the existence of ninth place trophies.
I don’t get the idea that more kids playing is somehow not a good thing. More kids playing a sport and, learning teamwork, getting exercise and bonding with their friends is a win to me.
When someone says this junk I think of the same person complaining about how times have changed at the country club; damn club is letting in minorities, women, Jews. What is the world coming to? Get over yourself.
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Part of the problem with AYSO is that it's been a victim of it's own success and it's own philosophy of balanced teams and everybody plays. In order to create balanced teams, you aren't allowed to pick your coach. But because AYSO relies on volunteers, you get a lot of parents that haven't played soccer trying to coach (one even wrote an article confessing he didn't know what he was doing). The problem is worse in soccer than in other rec sports because not everyone grew up playing soccer. Theoretically, with time that means as time goes by there will be less of a need for c, d, e teams, but the problem there is that parents are now stretched for time more than they were before and AYSO has an enormous problem trying to get parents who do know how to play to volunteer. Finally, there is the problem of equal playing time which means if you are trying to develop a player he or she will play an equivalent amount with another player who can't even get their foot on the ball...a problem which often leads to the "get it to Sally" school of AYSO coaching and can be frustrating for Sally since she's only learning to running and shoot and not learning to move around the ball.
I'd be more sympathetic to AYSO's predicament but they've also made the problem worse by creating the United & Extras competitive programs. And while these programs answer the question about what to do about parents who don't know how to coach, or players who can't play, it has further cannibalized the basic program by removing the best coaches and players. We can have our soccer competitive, developmental, or open to everyone/cheap....pick 2.
AYSO's philosophies of "balanced teams" and "everybody plays" is a problem? Seriously? It's rec ball for shit's sake. It's supposed to be fun.
Unbalanced teams lead to lop-sided ass-whoopings. What the good in that? Getting your ass handed to you 12-0 isn't fun.
Better players should play more than "kids who can't even get their foot on the ball" who should either be benched or not be allowed to play at all for fear of getting in the way of Sally's development? That's what you're suggesting, right? If so, you as Sally's mom need to rethink where you have her playing. You have zero clue.
AYSO is purely recreational. Always has been. It's about having fun and developing as a person, not as a player. It's about getting kids moving, teamwork, competition, and playing to the best of their ability. Anyone expecting any real player development needs a reality check. There are places for kids that really want to improve to train and play, but AYSO isn't it.
You don't say anything I disagree with, and I think AYSO serves an enormously great function. But it's one of the reasons we have c, d and e teams that Chalklines complains about. Some people are looking for more, for a variety of reasons, which is why there generally is an explosion in club enrollment around age ten and a decline in AYSO enrollment. You can have your soccer competitive, developmental or open to everyone/cheap. Pick 2.
smellycleats
SILVER ELITE
And by the way if there were no B, C, and D teams you would be paying significantly more for your A team player. More kids playing means people actually give a damn about soccer. More viewership, more interest, more college scholarships ...it would be like 30 years ago when no one really gave a damn about soccer in the US. It was a Third World sport. Without those kids “who don’t deserve to be there”, surf cup, national cup, DA games, would be like a bear fartin in the woods. No one would hear it and no one would care.