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Post by atlcoach84 on Jun 13, 2016 14:47:12 GMT -5
Oglethorpe University Soccer Coach Posted in NSCAA Soccer JournalWhile the article above isn't new (it was posted in the NSCAA Soccer Journal in 2013), it was just shared with me recently and really does hit home. It seems especially appropriate this tryout season with all the craziness going on here in Georgia-an MLS Club starting a youth program, club mergers, lots of coaches switching clubs, and on top of all of this a major shift to birth year player registrations.
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Post by infoguy on Jun 13, 2016 14:56:40 GMT -5
Good article, and Jon's a great coach. But as he stated himself, "I do not want to deny the fact that there are times to change clubs..." And, "If a child is not being challenged, that is a good time to leave."
Bottom line.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jun 13, 2016 15:50:19 GMT -5
For some reason in youth soccer, their is fear of communication. Fear of coaches to communicate with their players Fear of coaches to communicate with the parents Fear of parents to communicate with the coaches Fear of players to communicate with the coaches Fear of criticism and their is absolutely no format to provide constructive criticism. When a parent does communicate they are considered crazy and selfish. Their is no forum to have constructive discussions with your coach or even club leadership.
Our club is 'supposed' to do 2 assessments a year, haven't seen one in 2 years.
There is also no loyalty. Clubs rarely look within to fill spots on top teams, they look outside. Kids are labeled as 2nd team players at 10, and it is extremely hard to shake that.
I think in this city its much worse. So much competition, coaches think what is in the best interest for them vs the best interest in the club.
Clubs and coaches forget we are talking about youth soccer. Youth soccer, this isn't the freaking world cup.
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Post by Keeper on Jun 13, 2016 21:37:29 GMT -5
Our club is 'supposed' to do 2 assessments a year, haven't seen one in 2 years. There is also no loyalty. Clubs rarely look within to fill spots on top teams, they look outside. Kids are labeled as 2nd team players at 10, and it is extremely hard to shake that. I think in this city its much worse. So much competition, coaches think what is in the best interest for them vs the best interest in the club. Clubs and coaches forget we are talking about youth soccer. Youth soccer, this isn't the freaking world cup. Is it really that bad and poorly ran at other clubs?? By assessments do you mean player or coaches? As a coach I go through one every season. For players at least the same with written evaluations at the end of each year by your coach. We constantly look within to fill spots. I mean we have a club rule that all returning players will have a spot, if their old team folds then we will find a spot on an older team of the same skill level. Typically 80% of our games have players club passed up from younger or lower level teams that are trying to get to the top. And it's rarely the same kids until everyone that's wanted a chance to play up has gotten it. Heck we have boys that just graduated HS going to GaTech, Emory and uga in the fall that are going to come back to play Classic 1 & 2 U19 because they can and love it so much. I've heard about with non pooled academies it's hard for a player to break out from a lower team to a top team but isn't that what you sign up for going to a non pooled system? Until parents leave that for a true pooled systems nothing will change. The best interest of our club coaches is keeping their job so we all follow the club philosophy, and what we as a whole staff have decided what's best. First rule of practice, games and anything we do as a club with the kids is have fun. If it's not fun based then what's the point? Like you said it's not the World Cup and no ones going to become instantly famous off how well little Suzy plays as a u11. So to answer your question, no it's not that bad or poorly ran at other clubs.
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Post by SoccerMom on Jun 14, 2016 8:00:17 GMT -5
For some reason in youth soccer, their is fear of communication. Fear of coaches to communicate with their players Fear of coaches to communicate with the parents Fear of parents to communicate with the coaches Fear of players to communicate with the coaches Fear of criticism and their is absolutely no format to provide constructive criticism. When a parent does communicate they are considered crazy and selfish. Their is no forum to have constructive discussions with your coach or even club leadership. Our club is 'supposed' to do 2 assessments a year, haven't seen one in 2 years. There is also no loyalty. Clubs rarely look within to fill spots on top teams, they look outside. Kids are labeled as 2nd team players at 10, and it is extremely hard to shake that. I think in this city its much worse. So much competition, coaches think what is in the best interest for them vs the best interest in the club. Clubs and coaches forget we are talking about youth soccer. Youth soccer, this isn't the freaking world cup. I get 2 assessments a year per kid...and if i need to address any issues during the year, we have a sit-down with the coach. I don't have a problem with communication at my kids' club at all. For the younger one we get a written evaluation as well to discuss during the assessment. We also have a pool system until U11 and kids are moved around every week for games. Loyalty goes both ways....
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Post by spectator on Jun 14, 2016 12:19:21 GMT -5
Great article - I remember our club coach sharing it with the team the year it was published. Great advice - sadly though, the overzealous parent looking for what is 'best for their child' has gotten worse since I first read Jon's words. We have lived through the aftermath of some parents blowing up a team because they felt the team wasn't good enough, the coach wasn't good enough, their kid wasn't getting enough playing time or developing fast enough, (choose your reason - not a one had merit at that time) all screaming for instant gratification and to heck with the other players left behind because by gosh, they were doing what was right for their child.
Well - I don't see it getting better any time soon. The crazies were out in full force this year at tryouts - rushing to 2 or three clubs in a day. All because Junior HAS to get on the highest team they could and leaving teammates in the lurch as they did it. Great life lessons you're teaching your kids with that - screw your team, leave if you don't like it, mommy will get you on whatever team you need to be on. I've seen first hand the entitled little brats coming out of college and expecting the best job with the best salary regardless of their abilities and experience. Newsflash, kid, mommy can't get you hired! Even if she did get you on that high level travel team when you were 14 years old.
Maybe if parents realized 'what's best for their child' is to earn it themselves, to work for what they achieve, to not give up and cut out on their teammates, I wouldn't see so many ridiculously entitled 22 year olds look shocked when we tell them no, you're not qualified and you're not getting that salary.
But Girls DA is coming so I doubt anything will change. Sigh!
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Post by guest on Jun 14, 2016 13:10:42 GMT -5
Dare I point out two somewhat contradictory statements from his article:
I stayed with our team until I was a U-17 player and went to a team out of Tallahassee (North F.C. that actually won the '95 State Cup and lost in the regional finals). .... I honestly would want my three kids to be on an average team with integrity, rather than a state championship team without it!
That kind of jumped out at me.
I agree with what the guy is saying but I have to say that Pensacola in the 90's is a totally different animal than Atlanta in the 10's.
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Post by guest on Jun 14, 2016 13:13:23 GMT -5
PS: Pensacola and Tallahassee are 3 hours apart. That makes the club hopper who goes from GSA to TH not so crazy doesn't it?
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Post by spectator on Jun 14, 2016 13:46:22 GMT -5
Dare I point out two somewhat contradictory statements from his article:
I stayed with our team until I was a U-17 player and went to a team out of Tallahassee (North F.C. that actually won the '95 State Cup and lost in the regional finals). .... I honestly would want my three kids to be on an average team with integrity, rather than a state championship team without it!
That kind of jumped out at me.
I agree with what the guy is saying but I have to say that Pensacola in the 90's is a totally different animal than Atlanta in the 10's. I don't see that as contradictory. Staying with a club from say U9 thorough U16 is a pretty long time. By U17 - some kids quit or even graduate early so I can see the need to make a move. I've known several girls that age who ended up switching clubs their senior year just to keep playing. Here in Metro Atlanta, some people will move clubs three dimes during Academy! As for his last statement, I don't see that as contradicting what he stated earlier about winning a State Cup or implying that team lacked integrity, His point is that he'd rather his children remain true to their own ideals, ethics and morals rather than chasing down a winning team. I don't see the two statements as linked so that they contradict themselves. But I didn't write it - call him up at Oglethorpe - he's still there, too! OH - and Atlanta is a totally different beast just within the past five years with DA, ECNL, and the addition of First Division RPL. I'm not naturally pessimistic but I don't see Atlanta Youth Soccer getting any more 'sane' anytime in the future. It's up to us as parents to stop chasing down the next greatest thing all in the name of what we think is best for our kids.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jun 14, 2016 14:13:39 GMT -5
Its a different time and atlanta is a 100% completely different beast as spectator states. Their are competitive clubs every 5 miles. Its crazy competitive. I assume Texas and California are very similar. I've never seen anyting like it. but I hear cheer-leading and volleyball are almost just as bad in this town. My last few years of playing club though, we had kids driving from 1 to 2 hours twice a week to play on our team. It was pretty insane. But back then there was no RPL or DA, and the best of the best all played regular club soccer. ODP and regional teams were the ultimate gateways for player identification. College coaches were coaching ODP teams, and using it as feeder for their campuses.
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Post by touchlinedad on Jun 15, 2016 10:40:19 GMT -5
I think soccerhouse has it right: There is also no loyalty. Clubs rarely look within to fill spots on top teams, they look outside. Kids are labeled as 2nd team players at 10, and it is extremely hard to shake that.
This was my first year with one of my players trying out at a different club and it was a very negative experience. No communication until we received a call offering a spot on the 2nd team when all the other players were told several days before. Seems like with several players, they held off on giving them a spot until they had all the the top team filled and then the club called the players that were in limbo and moved them to the 2nd team. Whereas another player I know that was new to this club, he and his parents were pressured to make a decision almost immediately or they were going to take the spot on the top team away from him.
It's just youth soccer at the end of the day. All this competition between clubs for players (and their parent's money) is taking the fun out of playing. Now I understand why I've heard from so many players that they like playing for high school instead of club even though high school is less competitive.
Most players aren't going to play college and only a tiny percentage will go pro. There's got to be a middle ground for boys and girls who want to play competitive soccer that is beyond what is offered at the recreational level but not as insane as what Select appears to be.
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mark
Jr. Academy
Posts: 62
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Post by mark on Jun 15, 2016 10:59:01 GMT -5
Poachers not Coachers.
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Post by mamampira on Jun 15, 2016 12:02:15 GMT -5
Our reality: Three clubs in three years. Now he is back "home" so-to-speak. Interesting that most of his new "98" team mates were on the same academy team right before they hit puberty, or around the time they were all going through their various growing pains. Reunited and it feels so good, is our hope, for them. Interesting how each of their divergent paths have brought them all back together again. Only in Atlanta/Georgia.
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Post by aliensource on Jun 29, 2016 9:43:18 GMT -5
Navigating the merger of TH and NASA was a nightmare. It was predetermined days in advance regardless of skill, loyalty, or the input of the head of an entire girls program. Rough lesson for a 13yr old. We were not club hoppers but we are interested in an authentic evaluation and actual coaching.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jun 29, 2016 10:17:10 GMT -5
Navigating the merger of TH and NASA was a nightmare. It was predetermined days in advance regardless of skill, loyalty, or the input of the head of an entire girls program. Rough lesson for a 13yr old. We were not club hoppers but we are interested in an authentic evaluation and actual coaching. Can you elaborate on your thoughts, I've been coaching at Tophat for eight years, I know TC and TG don't play politics nor would they ever allow a parent to dictate anything to them. I think any coach will take a player who they feel will help their team be successful, regardless of where they came from.
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