shaka
Jr. Academy
Posts: 96
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Post by shaka on Jan 17, 2018 13:26:38 GMT -5
Any suggestions on which clubs standout in the Atlanta metro area? Specifically regarding the academy director, coaching, player development. I'm not interested in who wins the most games in the academy ages.
who does the best at developing individual players? Which clubs have a playing style and philosophy that is consistent throughout U8-U12? Who emphasizes playing the ball out of the back? Who emphasizes possession vs playing Direct? Which clubs emphasize the players playing multiple positions instead of specializing in just one?
It seems the tournaments bring out the worst in Clubs. Punting, playing direct, playing to the strongest player all of the time. I've seen several clubs play in tournaments recently but don't want to judge the club solely based on what I've seen in a tournament. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 17, 2018 15:49:54 GMT -5
There are a number of girls clubs that have strong academy program NASA Tophat, Concorde, GSA and UFA are the ones that immediately come to mind. There are other clubs that have strong teams in various age groups but from top to bottom those clubs typically have strong academy programs which translates to very good U13 and above teams.
TopDrawer soccer recently voted NASA Tophat as the the top girls club in the country.
I'm certainly a little biased but having been coaching there for a number of years, Ted is far away the best academy director in the state. All the teams train together and practice the same things, yes the players will be divided by ability but all the teams are doing the same practice session. Most of the session is spent on technical development and some tactics (how to move without the ball, principles of possession building through the three lines, etc). All the teams play the same way regardless of level, so players that may move between teams it allows a seamless process. The NTH second teams can beat most clubs top teams even though the opposing top team may have a superior athletic advantage, this from understanding how to possess, technical proficiency and understanding tactics. NTH's ascendance coincides directly with Ted leaving GSA years ago and coming to Tophat, he along with his academy coaches produce results year after year.
As I said at the top there are a number of great girls academy programs in the area, just do your homework and find what's the best fit for you.
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shaka
Jr. Academy
Posts: 96
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Post by shaka on Jan 17, 2018 18:32:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. Your remarks mirror what I witnessed when watching NTH play in a December tournament. They are one of the few, if only clubs I've seen where the players are playing multiple positions - including GK, the ball is never punted, and it's played out of the back. I believe this was one of the few if only clubs in the area that initiated the build-out line and no punting rule before US soccer decided to adopt it?
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shaka
Jr. Academy
Posts: 96
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Post by shaka on Jan 17, 2018 23:49:23 GMT -5
Thanks for the insight. Fortunately I am equidistant from both of those clubs. GSA is also about the same distance. UFA Norcross and Concorde North are closer. Concorde Central is about 25 minutes as well. Great to have a lot of options but harder to narrow down :-)
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Post by fridge on Jan 18, 2018 9:37:24 GMT -5
I agree with the above posts that you have great options. Since no one has chimed in for Concorde, I will. Ironically, in the recent national poll (which was based on # of players being called into national camps), while TH was #1, it was omitted that CF was tied for #2 or 3 if I recall. YES, two clubs from Atl in the top 2 or 3 in the nation! In the head to head over the years between the clubs, it has been a great rivalry. Both CF and TH 01 made it to the final four last year (and CF beat TH in the consolation game). At the higher levels, CF has great coaching and it is more individualized and each team has its own identity. Both clubs in the 01/02 ages have kids going to great schools. I agree with the above that TH has a "system." I think there are pros/cons to kids playing in a "system" because obviously there are many systems in college not just one.
Going back to the rankings, here is one observation to be fair to the GSA's and the UFA's especially. Both CF and TH have national ranked players that have come from GSA and UFA--as recently is 2 years ago and several were either "in" national camps before TH/CF or clearly "can't misses." A large portion of TH goals/asst from one team came from a recent UFA transfer. Pull out the GSA and UFA recent transfers, and the #1 club title goes away. Bottom line, I think these clubs are very good. While I cannot argue with TH success, I am sure TH has a good "system" or "development," I also think TH has out paced most clubs by being very active at ODP and getting kids to move over to TH in the earlier age groups.
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Post by oldboy on Jan 18, 2018 11:30:24 GMT -5
The recent rankings being cited have nothing to do with the academy programs at the clubs. They are about competitive success with the older age groups and national team placements.
Those things are tricky when trying to use them to judge the younger programs. For example, Concorde has several national team players in their older teams. Of all those players on the girls side though, only one girl who has recently been in a national team roster spent any time in Concorde's academy program from U8-U12 and she came through Concorde North.
Tophat is much better in that regard, but many of their call-ups also never played at Tophat during the youth academy ages.
Taking nothing away from Concorde and Tophat, but the U8-U12 academies at GSA, UFA, SSA, and even Alpharetta and Roswell can take the credit for many of the CF and Tophat national team kids.
All that to say, lots of very good choices in the city.
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Post by fridge on Jan 18, 2018 12:21:13 GMT -5
The recent rankings being cited have nothing to do with the academy programs at the clubs. They are about competitive success with the older age groups and national team placements. Those things are tricky when trying to use them to judge the younger programs. For example, Concorde has several national team players in their older teams. Of all those players on the girls side though, only one girl who has recently been in a national team roster spent any time in Concorde's academy program from U8-U12 and she came through Concorde North. Tophat is much better in that regard, but many of their call-ups also never played at Tophat during the youth academy ages. Taking nothing away from Concorde and Tophat, but the U8-U12 academies at GSA, UFA, SSA, and even Alpharetta and Roswell can take the credit for many of the CF and Tophat national team kids. All that to say, lots of very good choices in the city. I agree and I think we are saying the same thing. I would edit your second to last comment and say that 2 of CF's call ups over the past year started CF at u9 and a third came over at u12. 3 others came at u14 and their first camp invites were at u15 or u16 which suggests CF helped them along a bit.
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Post by oldboy on Jan 18, 2018 17:09:32 GMT -5
I'll defer on the exact numbers. I could easily have missed a couple of Concorde's call-ups.
But you're right, I think we're saying the same thing. Lot of good options.
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Post by RedDevil10 on Jan 19, 2018 20:59:59 GMT -5
Where do Tophat select girls train ?
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Post by spectator on Jan 19, 2018 23:15:11 GMT -5
I'll weigh in for a small club - not denying the success of NTH, Concorde, UFA and the like - but we're talking Academy - this is when it's more important to learn the game, the tactics, the touch, than to be part of a winning team and at the bigger clubs, it tends to sometimes (not always) be more about putting a 'top' team out there at U10-U11-U12 and pushing these kids onto the big field playing 11v11 long before they have the skills to actually do it. So the bigger more athletic kids get those spots and often the smaller, more technical kids are overlooked and put on lower level teams.
Academy is the time to learn - not be part of set rostered teams that never vary. NASA for the most part does the best job of rotating kids around to multiple teams and positions - or they did back in our day. It's what other clubs will use a criticism ('you never know who you're playing with') but it worked for NASA - not sure if Top Hat kept that philosophy with the merger. I have heard good things about Ted, but people we know on other teams teams there were a little disgruntled complaining that if your kid wasn't on a top team, you were ignored. I'm sure many big clubs get this criticism.
To me the most important factor of Academy is finding a good coach and good fit so that your player learns the game effectively. Not kick and run but how to dribble, how to handle pressure, hot to make decisions on the field in the moment - even if it's the wrong one and the team loses, the kids need to learn the game not be over coached and told every move to make.
We did our Academy years at small clubs and it was a great experience. A good teaching ground that has benefited her tremendously.
There ARE options for Academy - lots of them but keep the short term goal about learning the game not finding the team that will take you to a State Cup title. That'll come in time. Good luck.
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