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Post by docnfulton on Oct 23, 2017 20:07:35 GMT -5
College athletes often are ill prepared for the dramatic changes college sports present. Soccer especially is difficult with very large rosters,, international recruiting, no guarantees to ever step onto the field to play in a game, this after probably rarely coming out of games through their youth experience. Parents have no ability to get information, to influence much of anything with a coach. Be sure your child is focused on academics even if they are choosing a school because of a sport. Injuries occur both nagging and significant ones that also impact success. Players transfer schools which may or may not lead to success.
There are no guarantees. A player may step in as a freshman and never leave. A player may work hard for her freshman and sophomore years only to have the coach leave or heave two freshmen and two transfers come in at her positions. If your child is heading to college, do everything to prepare the. That. They won't play for at least two years. If they are struggling then just do everything to keep the. Focused on the process on academics and that they want to be at the school in the first place
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Post by docnfulton on Oct 23, 2017 10:29:53 GMT -5
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Post by docnfulton on Oct 11, 2017 9:39:42 GMT -5
A few thoughts in the first 24 hours after this dark night.
>> Best players heading abroad where there is lower likelihood of succeeding vs the youth club/DA/NCAA/MLS pathway. Klinsmann I think tired of fighting US Soccer over his direction for the best upcoming players to move away from college and MLS and head abroad. Think back on Dempsey; he headed to Fulham, had to fight his way onto the pitch, succeeded, moved to Spurs, had a great spell then had to fight to keep his spot. His move back to Seattle was the right move for him; however, it is a very short list of players who have followed his path. Klinsmann searched for dual nationals to fill the void. Look now at the roster, and you see Newcastle (Yedlin), Stoke City (Cameron) , Hamburg (Wood), Fulham/Championship (Ream), with Borussia Dortmund (Pusilic), Hertha Berlin (Brooks) and Borussia Moenchengladbach (Johnson)
>> I had the privilege to see presentations from the England FA 8-9 years ago on their reinvention of their development system. They benchmarked Germany, which had reinvented their own development system following the success of Spain. Look at Germany today, where their B-team has success, where veterans are pushed out by young and upcoming players. Fastforward to England, it is a cautionary tale of the challenge of how difficult reinventing a culture and processes of developing players to compete on the global scale.
>> Lack of faith in younger players; this has been a flaw for US Soccer for many, many years but the teams would succeed via workrate and grit to compensate for lesser skills and age. Last night was as fitting a case study of that, beaten by a T&T team using youth. The last 20 minutes of the first half were just dreadful, with the US sending long balls everywhere, players like Wood who should have been shining relegated to ballwatching. Soccer is a young man's game with the exception of a very few special players (see Robben yesterday).
>> CONCACAF is a hindrance to US Soccer advancement. If CONMEBOL/CONCACAF were combined for World Cup qualifying, qualification would go from near certainty to an accomplishment you have to achieve with a higher likelihood of not making it each cycle.
>> Arena eats his words about UEFA's best struggling in CONCACAF. USA, here is your peer group of 5th place teams in UEFA qualifying: Luxembourg, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Cyprus, Finland
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 25, 2017 20:37:48 GMT -5
Please somebody listen this is an emergency and not only a public health emergency but something must be done ---- The turf fields at fowler are to small for 9v9 and u12 DA. Its terrible and painful to watch. The fields could be made wider, and the space is there. Or even better, use one of other turf fields that arent'' even being played on and create a nice size 9v9 pitch where kids can actually try to play soccer. I get it play in tight spaces etc, the middle of the field is way to congested and their is little room to open up. Something must be done to save the galaxy. please do something! In summary small 9v9 pitches along with being played on turf makes for some painful painful soccer. GA Soccer has a min and max for 9v9 as well as other ages. If it is outside of those rules then it is a problem. Minimum is 60x40 yards whichever smaller than typical. I have ours at 72x50
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 14, 2017 21:28:04 GMT -5
Heard good things and seen the results of the GK coaching at GSA, other than that I would connect with one of the clubs that is tied in to the Atlanta United club Goalkeeping clinics. Free training. Thanks. I should have prefaced above that my kid is a girl. Georgia Express has Friday keeper training Coach Paul Campbell coached two MLS goalkeepers of the year.
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 11, 2017 15:21:48 GMT -5
Do you think that if 11v11 at U12 becomes the standard, that clubs will start playing 11v11 at U11 (some clubs ARE already doing this from what I've heard) so the teams will be better prepared for U12? Then 11v11 at U11 will become the standard, so clubs will start playing 11v11 at U10 so that teams will be better prepared for U11? Leaving out a few steps, will we start to see 11v11 at U6 so that teams will be better prepared for 11v11 at U7? Obviously I'm in favor of picking a standard and sticking with it. If there are specific players ready for the bigger field (unlikely in most cases) then let them play up on a higher age team if they can handle it. Otherwise, pick your standard and stick with it. How do you prevent (or should you prevent) this from happening if clubs continue to creep the 11v11 age down? I don't think 11v11 will become the standard. DA 9v9 vs 11v11 at U13 is in conflict with this for the bigger clubs. I think that is the more interesting experiment that US Soccer has convinced/forced large clubs to be part of. With 120-150 of the top 250 players in ga soccer 2004 boys playing an extra year of small-sided play, arguably the cream of the crop, what will those 2004 participants look like at U15 vs those with an extra year of 11v11 play? I'm not close enough to DA to have an opinion or have much data on retention and individual development
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 11, 2017 5:59:58 GMT -5
What do you think about strong U12 teams playing up at U13 in a lower level to prepare the team for its true U13 season? My opinion is that teams perform better at U13 by playing up at U12. Some smaller clubs do this to get 11v11 games in the Spring against non A-level teams or just games in general. Typically in Spring it is difficult to find U12 11v11 games unless it is against 1st teams from large clubs. Clubs have resisted creating a U12 Classic/Athena division yet moved forward with U12 DA. I don't have a good feel for adjustment in training focus of U12 teams playing up related to development/technical vs 11v11 tactical training.
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 1, 2017 22:30:50 GMT -5
Thanks docnfulton Great stuff and your a huge asset to this community!!! Do you ever ask coaches or clubs about other teams they have competed against for their opinions as well? Yes especially at U13 we will ask top team coaches for their input.
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 21:10:24 GMT -5
Is "relative age effect" the biggest bunch of horse crap you ever heard? I recall seeing a paper from the FA about ten years ago regarding relative age effect at that time. Their data supported that it existed but spoke more about coaching bias non-physical attributes of players in the 4th quartile (emotional/mental maturity). FA spoke more about how to combat relative age effect through coaching behavior. It didn't align very well last year with teams/new age groups. U14 Boys was the largest, strongest of the age groups last year, with a portion of strong teams that played up several players/stayed together as a team (jumped from U12 to U14) plus large club 2003's. Some very strong teams with underage player.
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 21:01:22 GMT -5
U19B. What the heck is that? Did the AGC pick the wrong week to stop sniffing glue or something? AGC is the Georgia Soccer President (don't know if he had the age group last year). 40 teams asked for CL-I, so I believe his logic was it is U19/give it to them. I'm unsure what he will do with State Cup seedings, which is part of the pushback on more than one CL-I/ATH-A division.
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 18:13:27 GMT -5
Can you explain how a team keeps a classic 1 spot when it finished at very bottom of classic 1, added an ecnl team which uses most of the players from the classic 1 team, thus brings up players from its classic 2 team which finished dead last to play on the classic one team? I know it is political but I'd love to hear how they try and justify keeping this spot. Every team in classic 2 deserves the spot over that team I cannot. I haven't followed all of the different issues this year for each age group. we are asked to provide input which I do. I will say AGC is an extremely time consuming position, clubs and teams have short memories when it comes to their pleading, there is more parity than most folks want to admit.
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 18:06:01 GMT -5
Explain to me how an Athena B team that finished 3 from bottom in their age group ended up being "promoted" to Athena A? A lot of factors you may not realize when it comes to placement, can't answer specifics for this year 1) total number of teams in an age group 2) Direction from affiliates to have max 13 team divisions with rare exceptions 3) what a team declares/asks for. You would be surprised that several teams refuse promotion 4) resistance to 2-3 divisions at same level first year we have had two CL-1 U13 divisions
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 17:57:48 GMT -5
1) Do the AGC's hate the age mandate change as much as the majority of parents do? 2) Are you or other AGC's ticked off that no body from U.S. Soccer is willing to listen to any of the concerns or suggestions from AGC's or parents have when it comes to figuring out what is best for the majority of participants and the growth of the sport? 1) it was a major headache last year. This year I see more teams reforming at their correct age group vs last year where there were more mixed teams especially at smaller clubs 2). Violent agreement that this was a lot of upheaval for youth soccer without much rigor, evaluation etc.
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 17:55:05 GMT -5
1) Do the AGC's hate the age mandate change as much as the majority of parents do? 2) Are you or other AGC's ticked off that no body from U.S. Soccer is willing to listen to any of the concerns or suggestions from AGC's or parents have when it comes to figuring out what is best for the majority of participants and the growth of the sport? 1) it was a major headache last year. This year I see more teams reforming at their correct age group vs last year where there were more mixed teams especially at smaller clubs
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 17:51:59 GMT -5
Fire away with any questions you may have and ill respond if possible This is awesome. First, thanks for your volunteer service to the GA Soccer community. What do you and other AGCs wish that all the parents and players knew about GA Soccer? That is, what is the "if they only knew" thing or things that you wish they understood? 1. No coach can tell you what level you will be at during Tryouts. 2. Don't sweat where a team is or a player is at U13
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 31, 2017 17:49:25 GMT -5
Do AGCs independently select the groupings? Or is it a commitee effort? Do AGCs use soccer in college and got soccer to look at results for younger age groups? U13 is different than the other age groups which have previous seasons and player history. Each AGC handles their age group and have their own approach. Soccer in college is there but is not reliable for precision; I.e, if a team is 7th vs 12th. Affiliate members have pushed back on most attempts to bring more data and structure to bear. Some DOCs and clubs are very helpful some not at all
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 29, 2017 22:59:00 GMT -5
Fire away with any questions you may have and ill respond if possible
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Post by docnfulton on Aug 29, 2017 22:57:11 GMT -5
It sounds like the coach is doing more than many coaches would do given a similar situation. Classic 5/Athena D teams at large clubs often have a large number of players who did not play Academy soccer. Fundamentals are often lacking and if the coach is investing now in these skills it will pay off for the team by the end of the year. As a parent, I would challenge your daughter to learn different positions and volunteer to play anywhere the coach needs her to. These weaker players will progress at different rates and the coach will value a player who can handle a lot of hange as the season goes on.
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Post by docnfulton on Jul 13, 2017 19:59:53 GMT -5
original question has become even more complicated last year and this year with the expansion of ecnl, da, rpl etc. As an Age Group Coordinator for the last several years, we start with roster continuity combined with requests each team makes. Some clubs are more accurate in the input and info they provide than others, the level they ask for. We typically have larger divisions in fall than spring to allow team results to clarify where a team should be. RPL is more rigid in how it works with the club holding the place rather than the team.
I cant speak to what coaches tell parents at Tryouts. I would say parents should have some common sense in what level to expect. If a team is 6th in the spring in CL3, then unlikely they will be CL2 in the fall. My own view is there is more parity than most DOCs would admit, but there has been little energy to change much in how Classic and Athena placement works. DA and ECNL may change things, although we will see.
I can say that it's not a fun role at times, although AGCs spend a tremendous number of hours helping coordinate and sort out all of this.
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Post by docnfulton on Jun 23, 2017 11:47:02 GMT -5
Mid-August, declaration deadline is July15
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Post by docnfulton on Jun 20, 2017 17:30:47 GMT -5
Georgia Express has makeup Tryouts this Saturday at Shakerag Elementary email player info to Craig.cunningham@georgiaexpressfc.com
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Post by docnfulton on Nov 10, 2016 12:28:13 GMT -5
Georgia Soccer isn't involved in DA, so I can't comment. I do know the history of the above ecnl/Athena rule being voted in under objections that it was unenforceable as well as agains US Youth Soccer. Then voted out following AGM.
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Post by docnfulton on Nov 10, 2016 7:10:25 GMT -5
ECNL is US Club, rule shot down as US Soccer said you cannot forbid a player to register with US Youth Soccer I.e., Georgia Soccer
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Post by docnfulton on Jun 25, 2016 12:59:16 GMT -5
We are looking for a few more players for the following teams: 01-03 Girls, 99-02 Boys. Contact Craig.cunningham@georgiaexpressfc.com to schedule Evaluation this week. Please include player name, date of birth, and contact info
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Post by docnfulton on Feb 5, 2016 14:37:16 GMT -5
It includes the key Technical Directors of AYSO, SAY Soccer, MLS Clubs, US Club Soccer, USFF Futsal, USSA, and US Youth Soccer. These are the logos represented on the release. Here is the statement on US Club Soccer's website.
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Post by docnfulton on Feb 5, 2016 13:51:32 GMT -5
Pretty significant pushback, just received this from US Club Soccer. The Working Group includes representatives from US Youth Soccer (Georgia Soccer's is part of this organization), as well as AYSO, US Club Soccer, and other organizations.
Statement from Youth Council Technical Working Group to U.S. Soccer
To: Leaders and members of U.S. Soccer From: Youth Council technical leaders Subject: Inclusion in policy discussions
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Feb. 5, 2016) - The Youth Council Technical Working Group unanimously agreed that there has been generally insufficient dialogue between the U.S. Soccer Federation technical staff and the technical leadership of the various youth membership organizations.
Substantial questions remain about the impact of the new calendar-year registration model, and the interpretation that a player's eligible competition year is determined by his/her age in the year in which the competition ends. This change results in every player moving up one age group and may not align appropriately with the mandated age appropriate play guidelines.
There are broad concerns about the efficacy of those new guidelines, which should have been addressed prior to broad dissemination of the materials.
Not only does the Federation have a responsibility to discuss such broad issues with its membership, but a transparent and inclusive process will produce better outcomes for everyone.
The Youth Council Technical Working Group would like the Federation to agree to a formal, institutionalized communications process to ensure that an ongoing dialogue is established with the youth members. Federation technical and administrative leadership should schedule approximately three meetings annually with the Youth Council Technical Working Group and other meetings as needed with ad-hoc sub-committees of the Group.
Specific issues, which should be discussed include: • Calendar-year birth date and implications • Age-appropriate play guidelines o Field sizes o Goal sizes o Team sizes o Build-out lines • Concussion protocols and practical implications • Modifications to the Laws to accommodate the above • Broad player development philosophy • Coaching education policies o Licensing philosophy o Access o Communication o CEU's It is the intention of the Youth Council Technical Working Group to cooperate closely with the Federation and support its efforts to raise the standard of development for all youth players. Through regular dialogue and a rigorous examination of these and other related issues, we believe that the best outcomes can be achieved for all interested parties.
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Post by docnfulton on Jan 21, 2016 10:53:01 GMT -5
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Post by docnfulton on Dec 5, 2015 14:36:31 GMT -5
Here are a few thoughts, 1. Set up a separate checking account. 2. Collect $x money I before each season that should cover tourneys, online checkin, etc. 3. Set rules on how to handle extra tourneys. 4. Have a Tournament manager for team in addition to team manager that only handles tourney administrivia. 5. Determine hoe to handle scholarship players. 6. Digitize all documents. 7. At end of year redistribute funds or provide party
The above is rare although I've seen some teams operated like this
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Post by docnfulton on Oct 28, 2015 10:45:00 GMT -5
We are hosting a new tournament December 12-13, the Atlanta Showdown, and I'm realizing there are no rules for the 7v7 play when it comes to the playout line (U9 & U10). Since we are first to go, I'm adding rules specifically about violations to the playout line (opposing team must be behind the playout line when the keeper has the ball and on goal kicks). My plan is to have a first warning for punts then a punt will result in a throw-in for the opposing team at midfield (I think U9's and U10's are more likely to forget and punt, so I don't want it too punitive like an indirect kick). I'm unsure what to do for a violation of the playout line. I could see a U10B Academy finals where the opposing team keeps jumping the playout line to waste time and/or to steal the ball. My current draft is to award an indirect kick at the playout line for the team with the ball. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
As a side-note, I think I read in the Q&A posted on a previous link that the field dimensions from US Soccer are MAX field dimensions. We have already lined our 6v6 fields with the 47x30 and smaller goal box (no playout line yet). It is a very small field, especially for stronger U10 Academy games.
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Post by docnfulton on Sept 17, 2015 16:05:05 GMT -5
Couple thoughts.
1. Teams can always add a u13 to make the team u13 regardless of rules 2. Academy scheduling of 11v11 games can be very difficult, especially for midsize clubs like AFC, remote clubs like savannah, or clubs looking for Cl 3/Ath C at u13 3. From looking at last years play ups, it accelerates the teams progress during u12 playing one or two seasons at u13. Only savannahs 2nd u12 boys team faired poorly in spring 2015, all others held their own and are stronger this fall 4. GA Soccer affiliates want freedom to do whatever they want as it suits their purpose. See Academy Cup lack of participation, resistance to any uniformity to assist placements
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