MacDre
PREMIER
Uh, no. All of those players were great youth athletes. Maybe not the best but still in the top 10% of their respective cohort.
And FYI, I grew up with Brady and he’s always been a good but slow athlete.
Say bye-bye-bye to Girls and Boys DA
- Thread starter dreamz
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And FYI, I grew up with Brady and he’s always been a good but slow athlete.
methood
SILVER
You agreed that Blues emphasizes recruiting over development, and that is an inaccurate trope.
Of course they sell their services to those in the market. They are a business. They are “recruiting” just like Mercedes is recruiting when it advertises in tv. They’re doing exactly what they should be doing when they aren’t spending most of their time developing players.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
I can say that in our small club, the 3 coaches that coached DA are all integral to the club operation and will not be going anywhere. Most of the DA girls in the club were there well before DA and only played DA because that’s what came to their club. There are a few that came over because they were attracted by DA, but not many, and those might look to leave. Also some of the top DA players from the club want to continue playing at the highest available and now have a tough choice to make. It’s an especially difficult decision for players on my DD’s team because the team is very strong (stronger than the nearby ECNL competition).
MacDre
PREMIER
Many of the youth coaches volunteer. The Olympic Development Center is funded by the government.
Childhood obesity is a problem and it’s cheaper to establish a healthy active lifestyle while young than deal with the health problems associated with physical inactivity. So, the mindset is that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
MacDre
PREMIER
He’s actually my cousin. Bahamas!
Ummm...Michael Jordan...didn't be get cut from the high school basketball team? If that is true. We will find out in the ESPN special. Undrafted free agents in football that make it, 6th round Tom Brady. There are later bloomers. The are always exceptions, and the goal for most of these kids is that this helps them get into a good school. They don't need to be world class, just pretty good.
I'm all for not setting unrealistic expectations for you kid and being realistic and grounded in reality. But people/kids do develop at different rates. Sometimes the right coach and environment does make a difference. You see it all the time in to sports when a player has success in a different place from where they started. I think the Bolt example is a little unfair, just as the Brady and Jordan comparisons are. Those are outliers. Maybe some of your Goats are world class, mine certainly is not
As long as she works hard and puts the effort in than I am good as gold. All you can ask for.
methood
SILVER
Okay All knowing "soccer Dad" have fun living through your kid.
Barcalona PAY MASSIVE transfer fees for PRO players. Can we stop looking at these 5013c clubs in south orange county like BARCALONA? lol. Your kids are not in Europe. You all pay for kids to play YOUTH SOCCER. Playing for a NON-PROFIT youth club is not an honor. The problem with this generation of parents is you all have no clue what you are talking about but act like you do. You use youre glory days playing basketball in the park as a way of making a point. 99% of you never played soccer but act like you know the sport. The funniest thing on these threads is repsonses like these. "look at barcalona! I played basketball!"
MacDre
PREMIER
Not a late bloomer. He’s always had the potential. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His dad was one of the first professional athletes to make it off of the Island (Bahamas)
Just because you don’t “peak” in HS doesn’t make you a late bloomer.
Agree, MAP, and that is primarily - not exclusively - but primarily a product of only a few things: natural athletic ability, personal drive/resilience and, to a lesser degree, coaching. You can only buy one of those and that one is the only one with ready substitutes. No kids will make it to a high level of any sport without all of them. Period. End of story. Doesn't matter how much money their parents spend or don't spend. If your kid doesn't look different on the field as a young kid and almost surely by the time they are 13-14 years old, then, sure, maybe your kid will be the late blooming Michael Jordan or Tom Brady. But almost all of the time the hoof beats you hear in Texas are horses or cows, not zebras. Why do people think that journeymen NFL players that most of us have never heard of DESTROYED school records in multiple sports at their high schools? Players you wouldn't have on your fantasy team are almost surely better athletes than you ever saw growing up. There are more deaths in the US every year from lightening strikes than there are starting quarterback spots in the NFL. Elite athletes are different than the rest of us. And no, there aren't nearly enough of them to make up 100 soccer teams in a given birth year in the entire country, much less 20 in Southern California. Not even close. If your kid is not participating in sports for the love of the game, the experience and the intangible life skills they acquire from team sports and competition, then your kid is either one of those 25-40 or they and you are misguided.
SoccerGuru
SILVER ELITE
I personally think Beach, Legends, Albion and City SC will get into ecnl but further down the road once the mass exodus is done (and of course if they survive the rona) and they will have to rebuild and I think ecnl will use that as their punishment for not "playing ball" the correct way with them. In about 3-5 years we will have that ultra competitive SW ecnl league that everyone is talking about and the teams I just mentioned will be middle of the pack or lower by the time they get in but slowly the talent will begin to spread out again.
Players will leave first, then coaches. The ex-DA non ecnl clubs will have nothing to offer and parents will want to get ahead of this and not be left with nowhere to go. It is unfortunate but that is youth soccer in America and the loyal ones end up getting screwed. The system is flawed but you have to play within the rules if you want to win the game. I hope everyone doesn't panic and makes a sound decision that they think is best for their DD not club, not coach, not parent.
Players will leave first, then coaches. The ex-DA non ecnl clubs will have nothing to offer and parents will want to get ahead of this and not be left with nowhere to go. It is unfortunate but that is youth soccer in America and the loyal ones end up getting screwed. The system is flawed but you have to play within the rules if you want to win the game. I hope everyone doesn't panic and makes a sound decision that they think is best for their DD not club, not coach, not parent.
vegasguy
GOLD
He was not great. He was good enough to get to Michigan not good enough to start but one year. MJ and Shaq were not four varsity lettermen in high school. Great at the youth level starts all four years. The difference is very good with drive to work into great.
I love thisUmmm...Michael Jordan...didn't be get cut from the high school basketball team? If that is true. We will find out in the ESPN special. Undrafted free agents in football that make it, 6th round Tom Brady. There are later bloomers. The are always exceptions, and the goal for most of these kids is that this helps them get into a good school. They don't need to be world class, just pretty good.
I'm all for not setting unrealistic expectations for you kid and being realistic and grounded in reality. But people/kids do develop at different rates. Sometimes the right coach and environment does make a difference. You see it all the time in to sports when a player has success in a different place from where they started. I think the Bolt example is a little unfair, just as the Brady and Jordan comparisons are. Those are outliers. Maybe some of your Goats are world class, mine certainly is not
Great takes and honest. Most of the "late bloomers" also got passed over for many other reasons. You don;t know what is inside an athlete's heart and will until they have been battled tested. What comes from inside is what makes them a goat or not. Sometimes a coach only looks at the outward appearance. Rodman was 6 1' in HS and then grew 7 inches I think. He grew late, not a late bloomer.
methood
SILVER
LOL this guy... what joke. No one is jealous of a Goat, goats eat grass and live in barns. Kids play soccer not goats. Your kid is not a goat. Your kid is a complex human that is more than just a talented soccer player.
MacDre
PREMIER
Funny. I have managed to acquire access to fields for free in the bay area. Nice fields too with lights. Working on volunteer coaches as we speak.
SoccerGuru
SILVER ELITE
That is a great point but the only reason you hear about Brady, Jordan and Shaq is because they were late bloomers and that is extremely rare for them to be able to not just catch up with the rest of the pack but to also get to the front. Every situation is different but it is hard to base a belief off an outlier. For every Jordan and Brady there are thousands of kids who were never able to catch up. However, what it does teach kids is that the belief to never give up and keep working will serve them extremely well in sports and whatever they do after if they aren't able to catch up to the pack. I think that is the message you are sending and I fully support that. The personality traits they will gain from always being looked past for "johnny football" will lead him to something great in sports or out.
Some top players will change clubs, but only the rich ones and the ones who live close by.
Looking at norcal here. Oakland has some very good athletes. Clippers were near the top in state cup youngers for 2011 through 2009. 2011 lost by one to Palo Alto. 2009 lost by 2 to Santa Rosa. 2010 tied MVLA 7-7, and lost in PK. This is not a weak club.
What happens to those girls as they get older? Do they get to keep playing together? Not at that level. Santa Rosa and MVLA go to ECNL and refuse to play them in league play. The top 2 or 3 rich girls try out for Mustangs. But a low income kid from the flats can’t get to Danville 3 days a week. So she drops soccer and plays hoops.
Net result? Mustangs add one good player, and NorCal loses a good team. The rest of us pay money to fly to games, because we have ruined over half of the good local competition.
Funded by the government? Does that government have a special money tree hidden somewhere? That government is simply marshaling resources from the collective population and spending it on something that otherwise would not exist. Sort of like an interstate highway system. How much does that same government spend on volleyball? Tennis? Badminton? That culture prioritizes that sport and thus its government subsidizes that sport for the benefit of its citizenry. Great. I'm glad they do. This culture does not prioritize soccer and thus it falls to the participants to pay for the opportunity. So thank you for agreeing with me and reiterating my point.
Butt-Head
BRONZE
it applies to all sports in general not just soccer.
what age/team do you coach?
Bro, I was so good at hoops but I was only 5 9'. If I was 6'5, I would have replaced Danny Ainge at BYU and been drafted by the Lakers and not the Celtics. My dd is going to play in the pro girls soccer league someday. Someone in my family needs to be a pro so my life can have purpose and accomplishment. I failed at making the NBA, MLB and the pro surfing circuit. I made one final pro baseball attempt with a semi pro team out in Upland. I got a base hit off a former MLB pitcher which was super cool. Lined one right up the middle. I was pumped and my dream of MLB came back when I was 18 years old. I ended up batting .310 in this league. Some scouts came but no one talked to me. I walked on at Fullerton JC and coach said I could red shirt at the JC. No thanks!!! My dream ended right there. So I set my sights on having kids and make sure they get developed because if someone would have developed me, I believe I would have been in the NBA like Scottie Brooks.