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Post by guest on Dec 26, 2013 21:54:33 GMT -5
Just curious how this has worked for folks. There's always a discussion about whether a coach moves up with his/her team and for how many seasons. We will have a new coach for our U13 teams next year (current coaches will probably drop back down to U11). Our club uses the pool play system for Academy teams.
The coach for next year will be joining our U12 team for the Spring to help with the selection process. I was wondering how this would work because other than at the tryouts, the new coaches would know precious little about a player's style of play, strengths and weaknesses, play level during games, work ethic, etc. Anyone can maintain a fiction of good attitude for a day or two during tryouts. So I think it's helpful for next year's coach to see a season of games and practices.
Any experiences out there?
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Post by rifle on Dec 27, 2013 7:01:51 GMT -5
When my son tried out for U13 at the same place he played since U9, the coach was new to the club - zero history with the players. This seemed like a good thing for tryouts - a fresh start and a better look for some who had been pigeon holed during academy years. The new coach made selections, even spoke to several parents, then evidently was told by the DOC what players he had to take (!). It made for an interesting scenario, full of crap political shenanigans (i.e. players who spent money with DOC on extra training, were suddenly on the team when the season started). It was pretty discouraging, to be honest.
Having the Fall U13 coach involved during Spring U12 season, to me, seems like a really good idea. If the coach has a backbone.
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Post by spectator on Dec 27, 2013 16:17:05 GMT -5
I think it'd best to leave the Academy coach behind when transitioning to Select/Athena. When we moved from U12 to U13 it was a political hotbed and the two teams that ultimately formed at U13 were lopsided -neither performed well where they were placed. The DOC and Coach went with 'team chemistry' - aka mommy and daddy threatening to leave if cupcake wasn't on the A team. In the end, it killed the club, all of the overlooked players from the lower team left for other clubs and almost half the players from the top team left out of frustration due to lack of performance. Had the coach selected the true top 16 players from the club, the entire makeup of both teams would have been very different but the coach had his own perceptions of players and was heavily influenced by certain parents.
I think fresh eyes are best when putting together a truly competitive team for Select/Athena. Academy is a place for learning and getting the skills but not every Academy player is of the same level. Put all your Classic 1/Athena A players on those teams and you'll be competitive. If one little snowflake has played on the top Academy team for however many years and still isn't of that level, move him/her to the level they are don't just keep them for history sake.
The larger clubs get this and will form their teams to be competitive. It's the smaller clubs with 1-2 teams that inevitably fail due to the politics and perceptions of parents and coaches not the abilities of the players.
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Post by jack4343 on Dec 29, 2013 10:13:32 GMT -5
I get the pros and cons of having or not having the same coaches year after year. I think I'm in favor of getting a different coach each year. Each coach has his own style of coaching and a philosophy of the game and this exposes the players to new approaches to the game. It also helps in tryouts to keep some of the politics at bay by not having players on this team or that team based on past performance but rather on current skills. It doesn't get rid of all the politics though but that's another discussion for another thread. By having the same coach move up year after year makes it very difficult for those who are on the B or C team to move up as these coaches usually like to keep their entire team intact to keep the chemistry of the team and the coach knows what players know and can take things to another level. However, if you happen to have a child that was a slow starter they might get overlooked based on past performance. Hence the kids jumping from club to club. At NSA, I think all the coaches are solid so moving them from team to team each year shouldn't be a problem. The problem might be at other clubs where coaches aren't at the same skil level in terms of coaching ability. Others from other clubs can weigh in on that.
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Post by dreaddy on Dec 30, 2013 6:44:24 GMT -5
I think changing coaches every year is a bit much. A two year cycle would be good though. At one point in my local club they had it set up where you knew who the top team coach would be for U13 & 14, U15 & 16 and U17 & 18. Unfortunately, with the way coaches move around it all fell a part after a few years.
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