Is club soccer a waste of time/money for youngers (under 10 yo)?
- Thread starter Socal-Soccer-Dad
- Start date
Yes, but what's even worse is that sometimes if you go to Vegas they force you to stay at hotels that you might hate (the Luxor or Circus Circus for me).
The question on the rondos isn't whether they do rondos but which (there are many including 1/4 sided and 1/2 sided), with whom and how (e.g., with how much intensity) do they do the rondos. If the team is spending all it's time doing rondos and they are over 10 years old get out fast (coach does not know what he's doing). The good AYSO kids don't only move onto club but also other sports, which also are pressuring specialization. When my niece was going up the ranks it was 12, when the kid was going up the rank it was 10, so if it's 8 now there's been an acceleration.
I should have defined that.
Waste purely in terms of soccer development vs doing something else related to soccer.
So the question of in terms of ball skills, spatial awareness, off the ball movement, soccer IQ, etc, which paths will yield a better soccer player by the time they're 12 years old (or just before puberty):
1) club soccer from 7-12 years old. $3-5000/year. lots of driving all over socal for league games and tournaments.
2) local futsal program $100/mo. rec or rec+/signature $200-500/year in addition to futsal. maybe play different sport with the time/money "left over" from not having to go to all the club games far away.
Covid, no doubt about it, same kids that went in to fall 2019 as U6 players, that didn't get any soccer for two years, came in to U8 fall 2021 looking like they were still in U6.
I can't speak for how much high level math and debate tutors cost... and costs to attend national competitions and all that...
But for music, there will be no money left over to put into an account when compared to soccer...
Youth music at the highest levels is extremely expensive... (all the private lessons required)
Stay and play local unless the best coach ever emails you to train with the best so you can be your best. I do believe you get better by being challenged by better players. I'm just not sure when you should leave local play for bigger play. I say after 14 but the game for girls after 14 is all about the individual and showcases and traveling, when they should be playing and not on the road so much.
I already know this is going to drive me insane haha. I haven't paid for rooms in Vegas in a decade... If they make me pay for Luxor while my comped room in Bellagio sits empty, I'm going to lose my mind...
I rarely hear the parents of top boy players talk in terms of financial return, but you hear it a lot on the girls side. That's probably because the chance of getting a little college scholarship money for girls is higher than the chance for boys, even though the numbers rarely pencil out to actually be a good investment. Bottom line, though, is that youth soccer is an experience no different than any of the thousands of ways parents spend money to give their kids experiences from camps, lessons, birthday parties, and vacations to things like movies, amusement parks, and nice restaurants. None of them are actually "necessary" and they only provide a ROI in the very general sense of being the building blocks of raising a normal kid to go on to a productive life in society. Some help the kid develop life skills, some give them information, others just help pass the time more pleasantly.
I tell parents the time to move from AYSO to club is when your kid is passionate about practicing more and getting better, which is no different than saying the time to get cello lessons is not when the kid picks up the cello at school and is immediately decent, but when they practice all the time and want help getting better. The goal is not to get your kid to a point where they will become the next Yo Yo Ma, but to make your kid happy and to help them work to whatever their immediate goal is even if it IS to become the next Yo Yo Ma and you know that's not realistic. And just like you wouldn't let your kid spent all of their time on something like video games or amusement parks or the movies to the exclusion of their education, sleep, nutrition etc, the parents' role is to make sure they are getting a little balance while helping to nurture their dreams
That is an interesting point in regards to girls and boys. I definitely hear it more from the parents of girls than boys. Maybe its because boys parents believe their boys have more opportunities on a professional track.
Just wait bro. I honestly thought it was a joke at first. I got so busted and they took it out on my dd play time. That's why I come on here to complain. It's worse then paying so your kid can play. You also have to STFU when you see bad behavior by Doc, who also happens to be best pals with the TM and that's where this can take a turn for the worst. Double whammy and it can get awful because the Docs and TM share gossip and Doc/Coach get the scoop. They all agree that pay to play and pay to stay is the way to play. No play is the only way to force/scare parents if they dont pay and stay, no seen by coaches. Someone gets a cut on the marked up hotel fees. Yes, it's cheaper to go through Orbits or timeshare but even that is not allowed.
100%. If you ask a boy who can ball what their end games is, they all say they want to go pro and they tell everyone their goal. On the girls side, if you or parent says, "I want to go pro" you get laughed at from parents and called, "you must be stupid and on meds" and "no money in pro for girls" and just laughed at by dads who want their dd to go to college or their dd is big failure in life.
I do think there are delusional parents on the boys' side, but their delusion is that their kid is going to go pro in Mexico if they can just get them down there to train with one of the academies of a LigaMX team. As with getting a full scholarship to college, it can happen, but not enough to justify huge financial sacrifices.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
Regardless of the sport or level, one thing is for sure, kids learn how to balance their workload when they get older if they start young with sports or hobbies. When kids understand that they cannot miss practice and have to work hard to get playing minutes. When they understand that the expectation is to work hard at school and sports/arts, they will do very good as they go into college. Time Management and competitive drive can go a long way in building the future for our kids.
I am new to US youth soccer club scene and this seems to be the right thread to get some opinions on my decision.
My kid is 11yo and have been playing recreational leagues (i9, local county leagues, futsal, camps, ayso, etc.) for 5+ years minus COVID years.
I am looking at clubs at North OC now but get totally confused (Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, etc.):
1) All Flight 3 teams are ready to sign up my kid (no surprise based on reading this forum)
2) Some Flight 2 teams are offering a spot (somewhat surprise but the team does not look very strong).
3) 1 flight 1 team and another Flight 2 team that plan to go to Flight 1 next season also offered a spot.
Even more confusing is the fact that some of these teams belong to the same club/organization. We have "tried out" with 9 teams so far (perhaps 5 different clubs...I lost track).
My Questions:
1) Are there really big skill gaps between Flights? or is it more about team organization/strategy/aggressiveness?
2) I think all of these teams belong to Socal, maybe coast soccer league or other leagues have better level definition?
3) Also confused with the jargon of some coaches/clubs saying about path to higher level like ECNL, MLSnext, Discovery. How many level are there? 8?
Cost wise, I did my math and in the past already spent about $1200 annually for soccer activities, the clubs have been offering $1800-$2400 annual fee (including referee fee and 2 tournaments according to the contract). I think additional $100/month is not bad considering that YMCA after school charge me $500/month for staying at school 2-6pm with no "real" activities.
No aspirations to be pro or getting scholarship but I do think joining competition at an appropriate level of one's skill always beneficial to children's general education.
I used to play youth soccer in another country, another time but cannot relate with this environment at all, totally overwhelmed.
My kid is 11yo and have been playing recreational leagues (i9, local county leagues, futsal, camps, ayso, etc.) for 5+ years minus COVID years.
I am looking at clubs at North OC now but get totally confused (Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, etc.):
1) All Flight 3 teams are ready to sign up my kid (no surprise based on reading this forum)
2) Some Flight 2 teams are offering a spot (somewhat surprise but the team does not look very strong).
3) 1 flight 1 team and another Flight 2 team that plan to go to Flight 1 next season also offered a spot.
Even more confusing is the fact that some of these teams belong to the same club/organization. We have "tried out" with 9 teams so far (perhaps 5 different clubs...I lost track).
My Questions:
1) Are there really big skill gaps between Flights? or is it more about team organization/strategy/aggressiveness?
2) I think all of these teams belong to Socal, maybe coast soccer league or other leagues have better level definition?
3) Also confused with the jargon of some coaches/clubs saying about path to higher level like ECNL, MLSnext, Discovery. How many level are there? 8?
Cost wise, I did my math and in the past already spent about $1200 annually for soccer activities, the clubs have been offering $1800-$2400 annual fee (including referee fee and 2 tournaments according to the contract). I think additional $100/month is not bad considering that YMCA after school charge me $500/month for staying at school 2-6pm with no "real" activities.
No aspirations to be pro or getting scholarship but I do think joining competition at an appropriate level of one's skill always beneficial to children's general education.
I used to play youth soccer in another country, another time but cannot relate with this environment at all, totally overwhelmed.
Flight 1 teams tend to play more of a possession game. This is because all the players are equally "good" the only way to win is to play as a team.
Flight 2 teams tend to be more individual effort ='s goals/wins
Flight 3 teams are even more on the scale of individual effort ='s goals/wins
All depends on what you want your kid to be involved with/in.
graciesdad
BRONZE
All depends on your situation and your kid. My DD was slow to develop so we did AYSO for 6 years, last two were All-Stars and Xtras. It was playing at a higher level that juiced her to want more. Was recruited to a club team as an 06. Been playing on a 03 club last two years. This has been great for her HS season which she loves.
Yes there are huge differences in the flights at the younger ages, but they aren't necessarily skill based. Don't get me wrong....skills are an important part of the equation and it is likely if you put a flight 1 striker 1v1 against a flight 3 striker they will outdribble them. But soccer is a team sport and there are other functions. One big one at the younger ages is the age, size and speed of the players....if you look at the higher flights they just tend to have the bigger and older kids because at the younger ages, an individual player who is fast can make a substantial difference. A bigger leg is able to whip one passed the keeper while a weaker still forming leg will be blocked. Another is a function of how long the team has been playing together (though you have plenty of coast bronze teams that have been around forever and not advanced). You see it, for example, at tournaments that have joint brackets between the flights (you can usually...not always...predict the winner based on who is a higher flight) or in coast soccer league (which has pro/rel) where sometimes newly promoted teams struggled in the new brackets (again not always).
The pathways they are talking about is the higher flights that exist as the kids get older. Because US soccer is so disorganized with competing orgs overseeing it, there's a lot of division instead of one clear path way. On the boys end MLS Next is the big one (though that exists in two parts too with the true MLS Academies on one end plus a handful of other teams, and the rest of the cannon fodder for the MLS teams on the other), though there's also a split with ENCL which is the other top tier. The second tier has similar splits with Coast Premiere, EA, Elite 64, and Discovery. It's still all sorting out.
One of the big decisions you'll have when determining a flight should be not only money, but time. As you move up the ranks, the kids and families tend to get a little more serious about soccer. Are you o.k. with putting in the extra practices or extra private trainings which might be expected? Are you o.k. with missing the occassional family holiday to participate in a soccer tournament? Up the ranks the teams are also more geographically dispersed so are you o.k. with the kid doing homework in the car in the commute? If your kid is moving up from AYSO and just wants to have fun, a good strong flight 3 team (where the kid isn't getting punished by loss after loss) is just about right. If your kid is serious maybe moving up a few flights, though it's important if you move up to understand exactly how much play time your player might get relative to the strength of the rest of the team. Another question to ask yourself is if the coach is all about winning (and will act accordingly to get the win) or if the coach is interested in developing the players (in which case it might cost a victory as the team learns)...it's all a balancing act.
Schedule | SOCAL Soccer League
socalsoccerleague.org
Here is the socal schedule for last fall. You can see the fields and determine if fight 1 traveling is what you want.
Welcome to the forum jojon. What was soccer like for you as a youth in other country? I played local AYSO for 7 years and had so much fun. No travel soccer, just local LB AYSO. Kids from our city played in a league. We played one game on Saturday, rain or shine. Daily Pilot came to our games and did write ups. Today, I don;t know what to say except to try and find a local team and local coach and go have fun is next to impossible. You have to pay to play. I have been around this youth sport for 11 years and June 5th is my last day and last day on the forum. My dd is aging out and this weekend was her last club match but she got hurt playing sports in high school again and her youth career is over just like that. One year at a time is my advice as well.