CSL Strong???
- Thread starter dreamz
- Start date
The origin of SCDSL is literally a handful of mega-clubs deciding they wanted more control. For a number of years their minimum team requirements made the league unavailable to "privateer" clubs. Let's not pretend the entire league isn't built around letting the mega-clubs sell, sell, sell.
Grace-there are definitely elite goalkeepers. Ask flight 1 goalkeeper parents at u9/u10
Yeah, and if you ask every parent of a kid playing at U9/U10, I'd venture at least 50% of them call themselves ready for elite.
There is no such thing as an elite goalkeeper at U9/U10. There shouldn't even be a permanent goalkeeper on the team at U9/U10. The United soccer coach guidance and most other goalkeeper coach guidance out there says no FT keepers until U12, and at U9/U10 GK safety and basic skills should be the emphasis for all aspiring GKs.
And then ask them again at U14 and again at U19... Like as not, the list of elite goalkeepers' parents won't be the same.Grace-there are definitely elite goalkeepers. Ask flight 1 goalkeeper parents at u9/u10
United Soccer Coaches guidance is good for the average coach and/or player. They ignore really elite players.
I spent a lot of time during the pandemic watching some u10 u11 and u12 games from the European academies. Saw maybe 5 gkers total that could really be called elite gkers at that age (and this is the highest academy teams like barsca, juventus, Paris, real, Liverpool). The rest I’ve seen are the equivalent to what you’d see on any silver us team. Even saw the barsca u11 gk have a short gk intercepted in the first 5 minutes of a semi final and the ball winds up in goal. Even if the gk has the elite skills and a natural instinct there’s still so much to learn for them and apart from United the best gk coaches out there are emphasizes catching, foot skills, safety for diving, stance and basic positioning. And you want your player rotating into the field to learn foot skills and field tactics that will serve them later as gkers or if they give it up (or aren’t talk enough) so they can play the field as a backup option
there are no elite gkers at u9 and u10. Even at the European academies at that level you can count the exceptional gkers on one hand. Ive seen some naturals out there on that age but even they need to be molded and essentially know nothing at that age. It takes about 2-3 years of really good training to even get the basics and there’s always something new (eg master the low dive?....well now here’s a ball with a bounce. got that?...well now here’s the extension dive. Got that?....well now here’s that with a bounce)
Eagle33
PREMIER
There are elite gks at U9 and U10. You just don't see them because they are scoring goals playing on the field.
So there aren't any? Not even the ones you found? Do you special definitions for "none" and "elite"?
When I first read Grace's denial of the obvious, I remembered the best goalkeeper we ever had on any of my son's teams. The first time I saw him he was playing up a year for an Escondido team against my older son's U9 team. We thought he was great in goal, but his weight slowed him down so he could be beaten by quick crossing passes. Two years later he joined the younger son's U10 team. He had gotten quicker and his weight had shifted to height. Not only did he have the size and fearlessness of an elite goalkeeper, he had become quicker over short distances. His footwork with the ball was as good as our midfielders, so he could dribble the ball upfield when the opportunity allowed, AND he had a booming long kick (punt or goal kick) that was accurate enough to allow our ballhog forward to average 3 goals per game. He ended up second on the team in assists for the next few years.
That team eventually fell apart when many of the best players decided they wanted to play baseball in the Spring instead of State Cup, and didn't come back in the Fall as they preferred high school sports. Our elite young goalkeeper eventually played midfield and backup keeper for Valley Center HS. The last time I saw him in action was in a tournament in Irvine on a Surf boy's team where he was so dominant in goal that his defenders were often working around the midfield line.
notintheface
GOLD
Blowouts are happening in the highest tier of Coast youngers. Enjoy your drive.
At U10 - U12 my daughter was playing keeper and striker. At U13 she went keeper full time, but still had team practices where she used her feet at least half the time along with once a week keeper training. Now U16 it is twice a week keeper training with two team practices, plus a game or two on weekends. I think too many kids are put at keeper full time too early.
Eagle33
PREMIER
Kids that "put at keeper" have parents who needs to step in if this is what's happening.
notintheface
GOLD
I 100% disagree with this. This may be the case for the overbearing helicopter parents but it is 100% not tolerated with the parents I deal with.
And let's even say that your statement was the absolute truth. What on earth makes that a scenario where Coast is the preferable option for those parents? "Sorry, Rayden's dad, because our attacking mid Emma was out of town visiting her grandparents that she hasn't seen since the pandemic started, we didn't get enough points to move up to Silver Elite." Again -- make that make sense where you aren't saying "oh just petition Coast they'll let you move up!" when we know that isn't the reality.
But couldn't you say that about every position? Who at u9 or u10 has mastered their position? At u9 or u10 there is so much to learn at every position and one kid who is elite at that level could be extinct 5 years later, way too many factors to consider.
I think you can only look at what is comparable...what is the top level goalkeeper look like at u9 and u10 and are they above their peers? There are going to be some that are better, and some that aren't, but trying to identify a gk as being elite because of a certain skill set is ridiculous. You have to look at them comparable to world class and see where they rank. An elite player, is an elite player, because they have more skills than someone at that same age...if you are trying to identify an elite player based solely on a skill set you will come up short, especially in the younger ages.
Yep, but so many parents aren't involved enough, don't know enough, or trust head coaches too much.
notintheface
GOLD
Control of what, exactly? Who plays who and when? Have you ever been a part of the SCDSL bracketing and scheduling process? It is a clusterfuck to define all clusterfucks.
"I'm going to move this team to flight 1 so I can extract another year of fees from my parents" is such a ludicrous statement when you consider that most parents care about drive time to practices more than anything else.
At the U10 level, no. As I said, there are naturals. But to be truly elite you need both the natural ability + training and unless your dad was a GK, you are unusually precocious and starts training you at age 2, I don't see how that happens. The human body at that age simply isn't capable of it.
You're moving the goalposts.
I get what you are saying, but if you don't think putting a higher level on a team brings in more players you are wrong. Advertise a F3 tryout in Irvine and post and ECRL tryout in Irvine and see how many players come to the F3 tryout. Of course that is the extreme, but there are going to be more players trying out for a higher team then a lower one. And what brings in the money, the players. The higher the team, the better chance a club has on being able to keep the team together and actually bring in more players. In my opinion, that is a big reason why those mega clubs broke off, they knew that was how to get the players, they have more control of were they place the team and that matters. It unfortunately all comes down to the money
Again - you use one game or 1 person as an example and rarely does a team get retained at a bracket over one game or 1 person. Do you often see teams that are affected by 1 person or 1 game in league (tournaments is different bc it's 2 days)? It's a whole season and a whole team that is reflected in standings.
As for parents caring about moving up, I offer you up as a prime example - you're not happy because a team who came in third has to stay in the same bracket or petition to go up. Why does it bother you at all that the team has to remain at the same level for another year until they improve a few more areas? I offer you my evidence of all the new advanced divisions we keep creating to keep up with demand, to a point where no one even understands the system anymore - Discovery, Europa, Champion, ECRL, CRL, ECNL, GA, DPL, SDDA Flight 1 Gold, SDDA Flight 1 Blue, SDDA Flight 2 Blue, SDDA Flight 2 Gold.