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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 7:54:32 GMT -5
Tryouts for rising u9 to u14 kicked off last night. How was everyone's experience?
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Post by terimakasih12 on May 21, 2024 8:11:42 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son.
Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past?
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Post by randomparent on May 21, 2024 8:29:15 GMT -5
Tryouts for rising u9 to u14 kicked off last night. How was everyone's experience? Just what I thought was a funny/typical tryout situation. New kid trying out at our club we were doing small sided games. After the coach talks to the entire group of players the new kid runs on field and is goalie. His dad was furious, rofl. He was standing by the field, what are you doing?  Kid was like, they needed someone to play so I volunteered. Dad is looking at field and pointing at random kid and saying go switch with them. Son is super annoyed, tells dad to leave him alone. Dad storms off to parking lot. I had a good laugh with it all, because I can remember more than a dozen times over the years telling my kids no goalie especially at tryouts and of course the kids don't listen. Even though the dad seemed a bit crazy to me I felt for him. |
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Post by mamadona on May 21, 2024 8:32:33 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? Oh gosh, this sounds just like how my daughter used to be. Hated anything new. I guess you have good reasons not to want to go back? Maybe try to talk your son around, say something like: “I know you don’t like it, but it might be a good opportunity for you to get better at soccer. Just do your best, pretend you like it there, and play really good. If they want you to join their team you still have the option to say no but it’s good to have choices!” And bribe him too if needed! |
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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 8:40:58 GMT -5
Tryouts for rising u9 to u14 kicked off last night. How was everyone's experience? Just what I thought was a funny/typical tryout situation. New kid trying out at our club we were doing small sided games. After the coach talks to the entire group of players the new kid runs on field and is goalie. His dad was furious, rofl. He was standing by the field, what are you doing? Kid was like, they needed someone to play so I volunteered. Dad is looking at field and pointing at random kid and saying go switch with them. Son is super annoyed, tells dad to leave him alone. Dad storms off to parking lot. I had a good laugh with it all, because I can remember more than a dozen times over the years telling my kids no goalie especially at tryouts and of course the kids don't listen. Even though the dad seemed a bit crazy to me I felt for him. That is too funny. Except for me it is the opposite. I had to remind my son that he is a keeper. Sometimes in small sided games he thinks he is playing futsal and is a sweeper keeper that should go all the way down the field. |
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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 8:43:39 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? I heard from someone at one of the big 5 clubs with the 2013's kids they completely separated everyone who was new to the club for the night. They just did footwork drills and 5v5 no keepers. My friend's son is a keeper and he was not assessed at all as a keeper night 1. |
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Post by jcsoccerdad on May 21, 2024 8:49:21 GMT -5
My son was trying out for a new club as well. He was dominate, controlling the ball well, made a few goals and couple of assists. Every time we looked at the coaches they weren't paying attention. Is there even a point of going to the rest of the week if they are going to put new kids on the lowest team??
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Post by soccerlegacy on May 21, 2024 9:09:00 GMT -5
My son was trying out for a new club as well. He was dominate, controlling the ball well, made a few goals and couple of assists. Every time we looked at the coaches they weren't paying attention. Is there even a point of going to the rest of the week if they are going to put new kids on the lowest team?? It's sad but I have definitely seen this myself over the course of many years. The coaches all stand together talking and not truly watching. Some of this is due to them knowing who they are going to take and some of this is from having done it so many times that it doesn't take them very long to identify the talent level it takes to play at the highest level. Once they determine if the player (in their minds) has a legit chance, they will invite them to the top, the coaches that are going to wind up with the "lesser" talented players don't bother because they know they have to wait for the top team choices to be made... so they all just hang out and wait until the end of tryouts, chatting. Definitely keep going if your kid "balled out" like you described. You might be surprised and see them move up to the top field, even though in your view, they weren't paying attention. I've seen that happen also. |
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Post by terimakasih12 on May 21, 2024 10:04:18 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? Oh gosh, this sounds just like how my daughter used to be. Hated anything new. I guess you have good reasons not to want to go back? Maybe try to talk your son around, say something like: “I know you don’t like it, but it might be a good opportunity for you to get better at soccer. Just do your best, pretend you like it there, and play really good. If they want you to join their team you still have the option to say no but it’s good to have choices!” And bribe him too if needed! This was definitely a life lesson for my son. Good opening to talk about how you often only get one chance in sports, job interviews, etc. We’ll see if he can play like he usually does tonight! |
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Post by terimakasih12 on May 21, 2024 10:16:53 GMT -5
My son was trying out for a new club as well. He was dominate, controlling the ball well, made a few goals and couple of assists. Every time we looked at the coaches they weren't paying attention. Is there even a point of going to the rest of the week if they are going to put new kids on the lowest team?? I noticed last night that coaches were doing mostly the same when my son tried out for a new club. That said, there were two new kids who moved up to the top field after one of the coaches saw them do nifty moves and score. Apparently that was all it took for the coach to know they had top-level talent (which they did). I recommend going again tonight if your son played well. The coaches should eventually notice. |
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Post by newguy on May 21, 2024 10:26:10 GMT -5
First time going in to the week knowing which team we were going to be on from the start. Man, is that a different feeling.
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 21, 2024 10:36:04 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? How old is your child? Sometimes the large groups can be overwhelming to kids. If he is usually friendly see if he can strike up a conversation with a kid who looks like he is also not from the club prior to the start of training and it might make him less nervous. Your suggestion on how to play is good. And there are three nights so you can check somewhere else the third night if you feel it is a bad fit. Or if he insists, follow his lead and find somewhere else if it is feasible. |
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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 11:13:02 GMT -5
My son was trying out for a new club as well. He was dominate, controlling the ball well, made a few goals and couple of assists. Every time we looked at the coaches they weren't paying attention. Is there even a point of going to the rest of the week if they are going to put new kids on the lowest team?? I would come back for at least one more night. Below is something I posted after night 1. While we didn't end up going to that club it got better. He moved up the fields over the next two days and got an offer on their 3rd team.... It took them forever to get organized which is understandable. But once they did they had their top team in the back corner playing. They had keepers doing very basic drills really just making sure they can catch a ball while fields players did some passing drills. That lasted maybe 20 minutes. Then they broke up into teams and just played. No teams were moving fields. No one was really watching closely. One "game" was being played between fields using cones for goals. There was no changing of fields or players moving around it was just playing where they sent the teams. Coming in from the outside it was not a great first impression. I was not expecting my son to make their first team, we were expecting 2nd or 3rd team, maybe the 4th just because they don't know him. But based on last night I see them just placing him on their lowest team without really looking. Maybe it will get better but it was not a great first impression and it did not help with the stigma that they only cares about their top team. |
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Post by terimakasih12 on May 21, 2024 11:20:21 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? How old is your child? Sometimes the large groups can be overwhelming to kids. If he is usually friendly see if he can strike up a conversation with a kid who looks like he is also not from the club prior to the start of training and it might make him less nervous. Your suggestion on how to play is good. And there are three nights so you can check somewhere else the third night if you feel it is a bad fit. Or if he insists, follow his lead and find somewhere else if it is feasible. Good ideas. He has a few friends from school out there. Maybe he can arrive early and do drills with them. He’s young (still has several years until he ages out of Academy), so I am thinking he was a little overwhelmed like some kids are at his age. Plus, he was frustrated how the new players were treated differently. I remember waiting in line to sign in and one of the coaches was walking down the line talking to every kid. After saying hello and exchanging pleasantries with several people in front of us, he looked at my son and I then walked to the next person who had on a club jersey. Basically sums up the way new kids were treated. He could have at least asked if we were new and welcomed us. |
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Post by gobirds on May 21, 2024 11:47:07 GMT -5
I heard from someone at one of the big 5 clubs with the 2013's kids they completely separated everyone who was new to the club for the night. They just did footwork drills and 5v5 no keepers. My friend's son is a keeper and he was not assessed at all as a keeper night 1. That sounds like Concorde (Ashford Dunwoody) to me. We went last year (U12) and my son who was new was put on the right field and barely was watched at all. We went all 3 nights. At one point on the second day, he approached a coach and asked if he could get a shot on the middle field so he could show his ability compared to the Concorde kids. The coach replied 'You are where you are supposed to be'. It definitely wasn't just my kid either because everyone on the middle and left fields were in their Concorde uniforms. Everyone on the right field was in random kits. We were offered a team after tryouts last year but it was clearly a team made to 'get him in the system'. I might have considered it if they had truly evaluated him and decided that was the appropriate spot, but he barely got a look. 100% money grab. So I don't totally shizat on Concorde, I feel like they run it this way because SO MANY kids were there. It might have been too large to be manageable so they just phone it in and stick with what they know. We chose to go to a different club tryout (U13) this year and it is much better run (from a tryout perspective at least). All the kids mixed together. Skill level seemed similar but there weren't nearly as many kids. Hoping we'll get a spot from this club. |
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Post by DunwoodySoccerDad on May 21, 2024 12:47:41 GMT -5
I heard from someone at one of the big 5 clubs with the 2013's kids they completely separated everyone who was new to the club for the night. They just did footwork drills and 5v5 no keepers. My friend's son is a keeper and he was not assessed at all as a keeper night 1. That sounds like Concorde (Ashford Dunwoody) to me. We went last year (U12) and my son who was new was put on the right field and barely was watched at all. We went all 3 nights. At one point on the second day, he approached a coach and asked if he could get a shot on the middle field so he could show his ability compared to the Concorde kids. The coach replied 'You are where you are supposed to be'. It definitely wasn't just my kid either because everyone on the middle and left fields were in their Concorde uniforms. Everyone on the right field was in random kits. We were offered a team after tryouts last year but it was clearly a team made to 'get him in the system'. I might have considered it if they had truly evaluated him and decided that was the appropriate spot, but he barely got a look. 100% money grab. So I don't totally shizat on Concorde, I feel like they run it this way because SO MANY kids were there. It might have been too large to be manageable so they just phone it in and stick with what they know. We chose to go to a different club tryout (U13) this year and it is much better run (from a tryout perspective at least). All the kids mixed together. Skill level seemed similar but there weren't nearly as many kids. Hoping we'll get a spot from this club. Yep, that was our experience at Concorde and others I know had the same thing happen to them. |
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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 13:03:47 GMT -5
That sounds like Concorde (Ashford Dunwoody) to me. We went last year (U12) and my son who was new was put on the right field and barely was watched at all. We went all 3 nights. At one point on the second day, he approached a coach and asked if he could get a shot on the middle field so he could show his ability compared to the Concorde kids. The coach replied 'You are where you are supposed to be'. It definitely wasn't just my kid either because everyone on the middle and left fields were in their Concorde uniforms. Everyone on the right field was in random kits. We were offered a team after tryouts last year but it was clearly a team made to 'get him in the system'. I might have considered it if they had truly evaluated him and decided that was the appropriate spot, but he barely got a look. 100% money grab. So I don't totally shizat on Concorde, I feel like they run it this way because SO MANY kids were there. It might have been too large to be manageable so they just phone it in and stick with what they know. We chose to go to a different club tryout (U13) this year and it is much better run (from a tryout perspective at least). All the kids mixed together. Skill level seemed similar but there weren't nearly as many kids. Hoping we'll get a spot from this club. Yep, that was our experience at Concorde and others I know had the same thing happen to them. This person wasn't at Concorde but it probably could have been any of the big 5. |
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Post by mamasoccer on May 21, 2024 13:09:18 GMT -5
Many of the CF teams are all ready made!
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Post by blu on May 21, 2024 13:27:05 GMT -5
Don't feel bad, I know several boys ECNL players that went to Concorde's ID camps and no one even spoke to them. This happened even after they reached out to let the coaches know they were coming.
Concorde basically put all their current NL players on a far field and all but two of the coaches watched their current team members. 6-8 coaches watching current players with 2 coaches watching the other 2 fields occasionally.
Tryouts haha!
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Post by cluelessparents on May 21, 2024 13:58:39 GMT -5
Sounds like a lot of people are starting to realize the Kool-Aid at Concorde and UFA doesn’t really taste as good as described.
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Post by rpsoccer on May 21, 2024 13:58:47 GMT -5
I think that one of the best tryouts/ecnl-id that my kid has been is at UFA. They had 2 or 3 coaches per field, one of the coaches was in the middle of the field almost like a Ref, that was totally different experience from any other tryout/ecnl camp that we have been (usually coaches are in sidelines, getting distracted, chatting or looking at their phones). Almost like 15 minutes before the end, they took the best players of each team and put them aside to play 11v11.
Although my kid did not made the cut, I really liked this approach, coaches really were paying attention. Most importantly, my kid realized about the differences between the players that were selected and those who don't.
Disclaimer, my kid does not play for UFA and had not been at UFA before.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on May 21, 2024 14:01:25 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? Sorry, that was your experience. Unfortunately, this is more the norm than the exception. I know it may be a little late but in the future, have you kid train with the current team. Have him go to an ID camp. He gets a glimpse of how the club trains and runs drills, so he's not seeing or experiencing them for the first time during tryouts. Also, in his case, he's not just showcasing his soccer skills but his ability to make friends. Kids are comfortable with those that they know and will work with, string passes to and interact on the pitch with those kids. Additionally, before the tryout session, have him try to strike up a convo with one or more of the players. Have him find some common item/issue. Hey, is this coach hard? Hey cool boots, do you like them? Or better yet, as parents stand around with their kids, you try to introduce yourself to the parents/kids. Good-Luck!!! |
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Post by DunwoodySoccerDad on May 21, 2024 15:04:41 GMT -5
Sounds like a lot of people are starting to realize the Kool-Aid at Concorde and UFA doesn’t really taste as good as described. Concorde yes, but disagree on UFA. Not saying UFA is without flaws but their tryouts are generally a better experience for the kids than it is at Concorde. |
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Post by cluelessparents on May 21, 2024 15:09:46 GMT -5
Sounds like a lot of people are starting to realize the Kool-Aid at Concorde and UFA doesn’t really taste as good as described. Concorde yes, but disagree on UFA. Not saying UFA is without flaws but their tryouts are generally a better experience for the kids than it is at Concorde. Top teams on one field everyone else spread out? I think you can look at post from last year detailing the experience of players getting lost in the numbers. Like others have said you should be in touch with the club you are interested in well before tryouts so the player can become familiar with the other players and coach. |
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Post by DunwoodySoccerDad on May 21, 2024 15:40:15 GMT -5
Concorde yes, but disagree on UFA. Not saying UFA is without flaws but their tryouts are generally a better experience for the kids than it is at Concorde. Top teams on one field everyone else spread out? I think you can look at post from last year detailing the experience of players getting lost in the numbers. Like others have said you should be in touch with the club you are interested in well before tryouts so the player can become familiar with the other players and coach. I can’t speak to what was posted about last year, I just know that UFA overall has a better tryout model than Concorde does. That doesn’t mean every kid trying out at UFA has a good experience so I’m sure there are plenty who didn’t enjoy it. I think all of the big clubs struggle to a certain degree with tryouts but some do it better than others. |
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Post by allthingsoccer on May 21, 2024 16:02:53 GMT -5
Sounds like a lot of people are starting to realize the Kool-Aid at Concorde and UFA doesn’t really taste as good as described. Concorde yes, but disagree on UFA. Not saying UFA is without flaws but their tryouts are generally a better experience for the kids than it is at Concorde. UFA is not any better. |
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Post by DunwoodySoccerDad on May 21, 2024 16:13:59 GMT -5
Concorde yes, but disagree on UFA. Not saying UFA is without flaws but their tryouts are generally a better experience for the kids than it is at Concorde. UFA is not any better. Okay |
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Post by playfromtheback on May 21, 2024 16:23:36 GMT -5
No one is perfect anyone who thinks that is crazy, but I agree UFA is much better than Concorde. My post from above was from my post last year where I called out how bad UFA was night 1, only to come back to say after nights 2 and 3 how it got better. Concorde had ID sessions this year that where a joke. We did not go, but in talking to people who went they had all of their black teams there scrimmaging each other as full teams. Anyone else that came was just on another field by themselves. ENCL offers out before tryout even started for even the second ECNL team. While it may be an uphill battle I feel from after night 1 at UFA everyone will have a chance. And no my son is not currently playing for UFA. I can just see a process that while it may have flaws is better than someone else's. I honestly am somewhat impressed with how these clubs are able to work with this many kids in a short period of time. I have my thoughts on how tryouts can be improved but I won't go there. 1) the clubs don't care and why waste anyone's time and 2) it would belong in a different theard. |
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Post by terimakasih12 on May 22, 2024 7:24:33 GMT -5
Unfortunately, had a rough night. Kid tried out at a new Academy club and hated it. He said he didn’t know anyone and that the coaches were very “mean”. He’s a good player who has done well when pitted against some of the Big 5 club players, but last night he basically stood around. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there. The new Academy also didn’t give any context for the new players and many of them were lost like my son. Not sure what to do. I don’t anticipate he’ll make a team at the new club. I don’t want to force him to tryout again but I don’t really want him going back to his old club. Anyone else have an experience like this in the past? Sorry, that was your experience. Unfortunately, this is more the norm than the exception. I know it may be a little late but in the future, have you kid train with the current team. Have him go to an ID camp. He gets a glimpse of how the club trains and runs drills, so he's not seeing or experiencing them for the first time during tryouts. Also, in his case, he's not just showcasing his soccer skills but his ability to make friends. Kids are comfortable with those that they know and will work with, string passes to and interact on the pitch with those kids. Additionally, before the tryout session, have him try to strike up a convo with one or more of the players. Have him find some common item/issue. Hey, is this coach hard? Hey cool boots, do you like them? Or better yet, as parents stand around with their kids, you try to introduce yourself to the parents/kids. Good-Luck!!! Yeah, I think you are right about this being the norm. Thankfully my son has a tryout next week at Inter (his top club) and can treat this week as a learning opportunity. I think he’s better positioned for the Inter tryouts because we’ve talked to coaches and parents there, and have another kid who plays at Inter. Also, 100% agree that parents should go to a practice and talk with a coach at a new club before switching. Hope others can learn from my experience! |
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Post by futbolislife17 on May 22, 2024 7:33:42 GMT -5
How has tryouts been at Tophat this week?
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Kid was like, they needed someone to play so I volunteered. Dad is looking at field and pointing at random kid and saying go switch with them. Son is super annoyed, tells dad to leave him alone. Dad storms off to parking lot.
