Our son will be U15 next year. Looking for information on these two clubs... How is the Coaching/Development/Leagues/Travel between these two clubs? It seems FC Sudamerica is GA soccer and UFA Forsyth is SCCL right? Our son is not a top player, but works really hard and is developing. Ideally he is looking for a solid development team that is competitive and not all new players joining a club team for the first time. Any concerns with GA Soccer vs SCCL leagues?
Sudamerica offers mostly hype... the best teams play what style of play is effective, they play space and are versed in both. U15 is a more tactical age group, technical skills should be primarily developed by then and can certainly be improved... but like the lady said their team was together for 7 seasons, this myth that a newbie player can just into this system and it be developmentally "better" for them than a "direct" style is false. It sounds good on a website but in reality what MS, HS, NAIA,DIII-DI school plays this style is the USA? Richard IS a good coach from what I've heard but he played NAIA and has placed how many college players thus far?
Every soccer team is "like a family" until you don't cut your $1200 check buy 2 uniform kits and pay all your extra fees...
It's absolutely important for a coach to be approachable and commitment and passionate; but if you need to be coddled at this age and someone else us ultimately becoming your motivation factor, maybe you need to find a new sport? or put the work in and get better.
Spoiler Alert: The best player is the coaches favorite player on every team. They should be invested in each of their players they offer a spot too, and do what they can to help them grow. They can't do the work for you and they can't be the internal motivator more than themselves. The "attention" thing is OK, if you want more attention, go get it... I bet your son probably looks at the prettiest girl in his class a bit more than all the others too; that just the way life is. Sometimes the best thing I did for my boys was let them be angry; if you're son is struggling - support them and empathize with them, it's OK to hurt if your boy is upset, that just means they care... but doing them the disservice of "passing the buck" to someone else vs. well what can you do differently, does it give them a chip on their shoulder? do you suggest they seek out talking to coach on their own? this is a game of learning, and accountability and they can find out what they want and make progress quicker that way. No style of play, or coach or drill or amount of attention is going to change that in a dramatic way; it's their game and regardless of what club they play at probably 75% of it will be their attitude, approach and natural God given ability.
GA Soccer is not a matter of if
but when it's done in my opinion;
UFA has 4-5 teams in every age group, you will have a team and
a coach and play SCCL (at a top 50 club in the country) NPL / ECNL
(3 quality leagues). You know what you're getting as far as far 3-4-5 teams will slot out.
Sudamerica would not have tried to join last year and partner with SSA and get in the back door again twice had they truly felt their "pathway" or staying in GYSA was comparable long term without a membership. The boys side is weaker the girls side is gutted...
SCCL now includes the top 10 clubs (not really) arguably in the state:
AFC, AFU, Concorde, GSA, Inter Atlanta, NTH, Roswell, SSA, UFA, Con South
see here:
http://instagr.am/p/CPJPWstBE9b
NGSA filled Suda partner spot, and the 2 bigger clubs left on que... there
North Georgia Soccer Academy
Inter Atlanta FC
AFC
"Someone said that players were leaving that team. There are 2 that will probably leave, but the quality of the team won't be impacted that much. The core will still be there and they are a good group of kids" like the lady said that sounds good and its probably 100% true. But does it not become what of a conflict of interest for the DOC of Suda to not tell kids to stay because of X-Y-Z or shift the circumstances of the benefit? 1 team is what $19k in player fees to Suda? I mean I'm sure that's more of a driver of your recommendation than for UFA that's nothing... so yeah you're gonna "become family" real quick at a small club over a larger proven one, much more easily. Really ethically it's more appropriate at tryouts for them not to care (everyone does though why they have the ID camps) so that the playing field is "equal... The chips could fall either way good or bad; but if you make Suda home and it's gloried rec, drop an entire level or worse case a team doesn't make at all and you get stranded on no team... that could very realistically happen.
Is that Suda's control? no not directly... but they have two options:
-UFA doesn't have to wow or cuddle you for you to play there... they could lose 20 kids and not bat an eye and the others slide down accordingly...
-Suda can lose 1-2-3 kids per team and the team not make and collapse enitrely...
So they can either frame every thing in a positive light without really any certainty...
like right now they are "projecting" TWENTY academy/select teams at Suda:
http://instagr.am/p/CO-qGFoHCqp
Is that lying no not technically... they are saying we hope to have these 20 teams.
is it immoral? debatable? don't know...but its intentionally deceptive for a reason...
to promote confidence duh, I will give you my BMW if they place 20 teams.
UFA is certainly been known as the Wal-Mart of soccer clubs often or they don't care about each kid/team and rightfully sometimes...
but if the "we're like family" club does this is it not right in that same category? something to consider -
all around this is the ugly part of youth soccer that we all hate this time a year - TRYOUTS... always ready for it to be over.
Do your due diligence at both! best of luck
