Preparing for Tryouts

Feel free to disregard, OP. Your kid’s 10. Just get him good coaching on a team he enjoys. You’ll figure it out with time.

P.S. “A Team = Amazing player” is just what the parents think, persuaded by the clubs and their various expensive “pathways.”
LOL it's all in good fun. I'm not delusional about my kid's abilities, but yeah... it was surprising to not hear back from anyone but also be good enough to get the invite into a smaller top team.
 
How is this done without the clubs violating the recruiting rules outside of the open tryout window?
Players are free to contact clubs/coaches/teams at any time. It is the Clubs/Coaches/Teams that are not allowed to recruit outside of the tryout window. With an exception for same league scenarios with the letter leagues.
 
It is also not likely that players will be moved up a team at the same club. It does happen, but it is rare, even if the player should be moved based on their knowledge and abilities. People talk smack about club hoppers, but that is how a lot of A team players get to the top team.
 
Feel free to disregard, OP. Your kid’s 10. Just get him good coaching on a team he enjoys. You’ll figure it out with time.

P.S. “A Team = Amazing player” is just what the parents think, persuaded by the clubs and their various expensive “pathways.”
This was just for satire purposes regarding all the letter teams, like A, B, C and D teams. My dd was A Team in soccer and in Volleyball she only made the B team.
 
It is also not likely that players will be moved up a team at the same club. It does happen, but it is rare, even if the player should be moved based on their knowledge and abilities. People talk smack about club hoppers, but that is how a lot of A team players get to the top team.
The story of my life in youth soccer. I was called "club hoper" by assholes at the highest level of soccer. One Doc told me, "College coaches don't like club hoppers." Now look at college sports today. It's called, "The Transfer Hop Portal." By the way Code, you're spot on regarding the smack talk. I knew a player back when they were 14 and she couldn't make the A Team of the #1 team & club in the country. Doc sold DPL B team and said with more effort, she might make his A Team. So, she and her old man went hoping for greener pasture to find a spot on another clubs A Team and she is now one of the top players in our country.
 
Haha love it!
A Team= Amazing player
B Team= Better work harder
C Team= Can't cut it
D Team= Dream of something else

A Team = Big/fast, coach's kid or Friend of the DOC.
B Team = You might be good later. Didn't call the coach ahead of tryouts. Hire one of the club coaches for private trainings.
C Team = Revenue Stream. You still get the same uniform as the A kids. Omit 'Bronze' when your mom puts "State Champs" on Facebook.
D Team = We'll snicker when we see you at tournaments. Please don't do ANY social media. Even WE are embarrassed you're here.
 
A team = 10 more scrimmages in the off season than the B team, better fields/ bigger share of field space, no rain cancellation, more tournaments, parents complaining about combined practice with the B team.
 
A Team = Big/fast, coach's kid or Friend of the DOC.
B Team = You might be good later. Didn't call the coach ahead of tryouts. Hire one of the club coaches for private trainings.
C Team = Revenue Stream. You still get the same uniform as the A kids. Omit 'Bronze' when your mom puts "State Champs" on Facebook.
D Team = We'll snicker when we see you at tournaments. Please don't do ANY social media. Even WE are embarrassed you're here.
We're talking 10-year-olds, not 16. Surf Cup had one top group for all the top A teams back when my dd was balling called, "The Best of the Best." It was true that some A Teams from certain clubs got snubbed every year, especially the local ones in SoCal. In fact, my 10-year-old dd wanted Surf Cup bad and her A Team she was one of the top teams in Socal at the time but got snubbed during selection week. Dad, club, coach and the doc were pissed off because our team should have gotten the call. So we hopped to a place where the club was an automatic bid to Surf Cup every year as Duke is to college basketball tournament. The Doc was so pissed because not only was his A Teams ripped off every year, the ECNL clubs would poach his top A team players when they turned 13. This was also a big mess because elite parents also wanted Surf Cup for their kids as well and have their little Susie on the A Team. So, the boys over at Surf Cup Sports got smart and allowed all the clubs A teams, B teams and C teams to participate in a Surf Cup, just the like the best of the best. No one wants their kid on the C team when their 10. Bag that man, I am not paying $15K a year to watch my kid suffer on the C team and all that driving, good God!!! When LA Galaxy got in the youth club business, they came marching to OC Great Park and every elite parent I knew posted that their son was now playing for LA Galaxy. Same thing with the Girls Development Academy. Parents would post on these Instagratification online platforms to show off their little Sally being one step closer to the National Team. With 25% starts guaranteed for Sally, mom can post her starts online for all to see and dad can brag at work how is dd is playing for US Soccer and starts now. Insane!!!
 
A team = 10 more scrimmages in the off season than the B team, better fields/ bigger share of field space, no rain cancellation, more tournaments, parents complaining about combined practice with the B team.
Oh my, I remember the cries of parents complaining that they have to scrimmage the B team or worse, they have to practice with them. I still remember my dd A Team losing to our B Team in a tournament. The cries and wailing were unbelievable. Plus, the excuses for the loss was classic. The top B team players got snubbed by coach because he wanted rich parents on his bench. So, dude took the best 11 in his mind and then took 9 of the richest parents to fill his bench. He would then sell privates to the bench parents with promises of 25% starts for their children and extra favoritism and in case of a tie, tie would go to their kid because of pay for play and kissing the coach's ass and ring. Donating to the club also helps. I saw these Top B Team players hop over to the next best club and they became A Team starters and got some really nice revenge beating their old clubs A team and getting better college deals.
 
Hi there! New here and wanted some insight regarding club tryouts.

I have a 10yo who only played a year at club last year (AYSO and city rec league before that). His current team is the B team, with the coach also coaching the A team. He's not the top but above average at pretty much everything: speed, passing, skills, etc. He is also the most versatile member of the team, usually playing mid/winger, but can play shutdown defense too.

Over this winter, the team lost a few key members, and in case the worst happened, we went around and did tryouts for the first time at a few big name clubs. He played well once he got past the nerves, but we never got any callbacks.

I noticed that both tryouts had scrimmage rotations where randomly assigned teams played each other. I'm assuming this is pretty standard. My kid tends to plug himself in where the team needs, and basically ended up playing defense for these scrimmages.

One of them, his 4v4 team went 7 wins with no losses. I thought he would at least get a second look because of that, but we just got crickets. Did he shortchange himself by sticking to defense?

I can attest that he's not a bad player, as we did a tryout/practice with one of the top teams in his age group in the area and got an invite to play for their A team. But we stuck with his old team because he still had a few friends, I preferred the coaching style, and he's getting around 90% playing time .

We will probably end up exploring other clubs again in the future and wanted to see if you guys had any advice for tryouts.

Thanks!
If you're looking to join a good A team, in many cases coach is only looking for players who can be an immediate starter. No reason to replace an existing bench player with another one. If your kid plays at the starter level, someone will pull him aside and ask for his name during tryout. If not, they often don't even bother giving you any feedback despite saying everyone will get an answer during tryout.

For B/C teams it's more important for the club to fill a full roster. Someone we know registered but did not attend the tryout of a club they had no previous contact with. To their surprise, they got an offer in the email the next day for a F2 spot. lol
 
Sometimes you just need a bit of luck and do a good move when the coach is watching. My kid went to an A team tryout/practice 5-6 times. On the 6th tryout he did a bicycle kick with his left foot and on that same day the coach offered him a spot.
 
Sometimes you just need a bit of luck and do a good move when the coach is watching. My kid went to an A team tryout/practice 5-6 times. On the 6th tryout he did a bicycle kick with his left foot and on that same day the coach offered him a spot.
The cross over and or the scissor move is a great way to make the A team. I would also rent a new Mercedes for the day of tryouts and pullup with your son or daughter, and I bet your chances of your kid making the A team skyrockets :cool:
 
The cross over and or the scissor move is a great way to make the A team. I would also rent a new Mercedes for the day of tryouts and pullup with your son or daughter, and I bet your chances of your kid making the A team skyrockets :cool:

... or if your wife is hot and enjoys flirting with guys in zip up collars.
 
It is also not likely that players will be moved up a team at the same club. It does happen, but it is rare, even if the player should be moved based on their knowledge and abilities. People talk smack about club hoppers, but that is how a lot of A team players get to the top team.
This seems to be, unfortunately, also very true. We've had a few players move up within our club (mainly as players on the A team moved to better clubs, eg: Galaxy and LAFC), but there is very little movement between levels otherwise, even as skill development differs per-player over time. Moreover, selection for moving up seems more based on team positional needs and individual coach preferences than anything else.

I'm in a position (currently) where I feel like my son still has significant room for improvement on the B team, and enjoys the experience there, so I am not pushing this or exploring other clubs. That said, I am also of the opinion that a scholarship path in soccer for my son is a pretty long shot, and as such is not something I'm putting significant effort into either. I think if I was determined to give him the best chance of success for that path, I'd need to be club hopping, doing private lessons with the coaches, etc. That seems to be the nature of the system.
 
... or if your wife is hot and enjoys flirting with guys in zip up collars.
Wel, if dad can't fork out the money for the nice ride, then mom has to do what mom has to do. I swear I had one of the best coaches and Docs ever say to me, "College coaches want to see what mom looks like before they make offer to females" They have to have a better read on what the 9th grader might look like at 20 years old. I was so shocked, but I do hear its true. I know one mom that had 6 kids and Doc said some coaches can still read the body type, even if mom had 6 kids. It's a harsh reality in girls recruiting.
 
We've been fortunate that in all circumstances over the past few years, the same coach has had both the A & B team. Some seasons our youngest has been a standout on A with a million goals, other seasons (including this one) it hasn't been as clear, and some extra playtime with the B team can help with confidence and the opportunity to try things that he might not feel as comfortable with at the top level. Kids on B who are doing well are brought up to guest reasonably often, and those on A who want or need more play time experience, help out on the B team. It's not a rare occurrence, and seems to have been good for the kids and for the teams as a whole. That B team is registered in additional leagues as well as tournaments, so there hasn't been a significant issue for playing time. I can imagine that in cases where the upper team has completely different coaching, that flexibility/fluidity isn't quite there, even if it's within the same club. Also - this cross-team pollination only works if the teams are within a reasonable proximity of a level or 2. Cherry-picking wins by playing obviously gifted players on low-level teams doesn't help anybody, neither the kid, their teammates, or the other team. Though it sure is fun to stomp teams who have brought a number of MLS N kids down judging by their patches to help, but it wasn't enough for them. :)
 
It is also not likely that players will be moved up a team at the same club. It does happen, but it is rare, even if the player should be moved based on their knowledge and abilities. People talk smack about club hoppers, but that is how a lot of A team players get to the top team.
Oh yeah, we got sold on that when we first started, but have since realized how impossible it is to achieve. The A team has been together for a while longer than us and their parents have already expressed resistance to the idea that their kid might be moved to B team. I'm fine with that, but my gripe is that there's obviously a difference in the coach's priority when it comes to setting up friendlies, training focus, recruitment, etc., which was the big reason for the people leaving earlier in the year.
 
Oh yeah, we got sold on that when we first started, but have since realized how impossible it is to achieve. The A team has been together for a while longer than us and their parents have already expressed resistance to the idea that their kid might be moved to B team. I'm fine with that, but my gripe is that there's obviously a difference in the coach's priority when it comes to setting up friendlies, training focus, recruitment, etc., which was the big reason for the people leaving earlier in the year.
No one likes to go backwards with salary or in the soccer life of a young youth, A Team to B Team is no bueno. If I can't make the A team, I will look for another A Team to join and then seek my revenge on the old A Team Coach who tried to drop me to the B Team withing the same club. I would not drop down with egg on my face like that. No way.
 
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