Small Club vs Big Club?

well, sounds like if at u14 you are where you need to be and the hard work is behind you. small clubs have pockets of quality teams, usually just don't have the depth in each group as the larger clubs.
if your happy and girls stick around, your good to go. It is scary though, if one or two players leave, but honestly, the larger clubs are usually in the same boat - the drop off between teams a , b ,c etc are usually fairly great with only one to two players on the fringes of each team.

i'm at a larger club and extremely happy, with 3 kids playing it meets the needs for all 3 without having to have them spread out. we have quality coaching at every level, respected coaches, and a staff that understands the "process"

Good stuff to read. Thanks soccerdude and soccergator!

I think that is a good read, but I do not agree with all of it. I think that kids from small clubs can become more creative players and have the opportunity to gain leadership qualities. These are intangibles that aren't as obvious as technical skills, but they are important and good coaches recognize them. I also have seen very good players join a small club at the U13 and U14 level-some have come from big clubs, some from even smaller clubs, and some have moved from another state. It happens. I have seen it personally. I just encourage you to find your own child's path and do not get sucked in to the bigger is better mentality. For some people it is better, but not for everyone, and especially not at U13 and U14. You (and your child) will not be left behind.

This is always the hope. They will find you. This is one of the selling points smaller clubs use. I do not blame them.

There are at least two issues here. First, you cannot maximize your potential playing with and against players that are not the best players you can handle without being totally overwhelmed. Coaches know this. As a player you just cannot play fast by yourself. This means you have to take displays by players that look really good playing for average teams and against average competition with a grain of salt. Not denigrating anyone here. This is just true on average. It might be the case that a small club has a team that has a bunch of great players. And they play against other really good teams and compete well. If so, that is great and one would hope they would stay together. Or that this particular player is transcendent. Does not matter who they play against.

Second, this is a probability business. Lots of players can look good playing against players not at their level. If you were recruiting, would you take a Tophat girl who looks good playing against a top 5 team or a girl from a middling team at a small club who looks good against another middling team? If you were making ODP selections, you taking the Hatter girl or the girl from the small club if the two are close in rating? I know, raters are not supposed to know club affiliation! The latter might get chosen sometimes, but that does not mean playing at that level has maximized her potential and provided a good test of what she will do if level of competition is stepped up a notch or two. Again, I am not denigrating anyone here. This is just a matter of probabilities and experience.

I have one kid at a small club who's team is pretty good. She is happy staying where she is. Our other kid switched to a bigger club because her team at the smaller club was a disaster. She would still be a good player at the smaller club but not as good as she is now. And she would be miserable. Still not an easy decision to invest considerable addition time in soccer at expense of other things.

Of course, this comes down to kid and family choice. So many factors come into play. Only some of them soccer-related. Hard to fault anyone for doing what is best for them!

My daughter was recruited to one of the top 3 Atlanta clubs and now plays for a smaller local club. At the big club she learned a lot about the game of soccer, but the environment she played in was not positive. The coaching style was aggressive, derogatory and lacked any form of team building. The parents are civil but consider your child a threat to their child's spot on the team. The players themselves are tired stressed and don't respect the coach. Two years of this environment took it's toll on my daughters love for the game of soccer. Don't be fooled by these big clubs. They recruit in talent, chase tournaments and and let these players know they are replaceable. After making the preEcnl team for this season, our daughter said she had had enough. We went back to a local team that has a great group of girls. Though the skill level varies, my daughter is happy and still plays amazing soccer. I find the style of coaching much more positive, her team has already won a tournament. She feels like she is part of a community. The big Atlanta clubs might work for some, but the amount of pressure that is put on these young children is outrageous. They burnout before high school or college. Small clubs do have smaller pools of talent to work with, but they can produce really well rounded soccer players.

That sounds miserable. Have a Good Suspected Approximate guess about the club identity. But I don't want to make false accusations. Fortunately that is far from our player's experience in the larger club environment, which has been pretty good so far.

LOL!

That is top shelf...

LOL  I must confir that the play on words is hilarious

LOL ...considering the 1st two don't have ecnl...I think everyone can make a good assumption ;-)

Personally I like the big club opportunities and exposure, but its understandable that it doesn't work for everyone. When we first joined (prior to all the merges) it wasn't that big and we have enjoyed growing with the club. I feel that you need to make the decision not based on the club size but based on the group that your daughter/son will be playing with. Go out there meet the coaches, watch some games and you may just find something you like