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Post by adad on Aug 10, 2024 16:16:11 GMT -5
Starting our second season at a u8 academy. Just curious everyone's opinion of the best academies in this area. GSA, Atlanta Fire, Concord... I'm not revealing mine yet. I just stumbled across this forum when googling academies in the area after noticing competition further along in their skills and development. I know he's still young but as a dad I just want to give my kid the best chance to succeed. Thanks!
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Post by randomparent on Aug 11, 2024 9:22:29 GMT -5
Starting our second season at a u8 academy. Just curious everyone's opinion of the best academies in this area. GSA, Atlanta Fire, Concord... I'm not revealing mine yet. I just stumbled across this forum when googling academies in the area after noticing competition further along in their skills and development. I know he's still young but as a dad I just want to give my kid the best chance to succeed. Thanks! Honestly, it may be too late. Most serious families and programs lock in top teams by U6. Joking. Literally doesn't matter what club you pick, I would recommend whatever club practices closest to your house. Good luck. |
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Post by bogan on Aug 11, 2024 10:29:15 GMT -5
Starting our second season at a u8 academy. Just curious everyone's opinion of the best academies in this area. GSA, Atlanta Fire, Concord... I'm not revealing mine yet. I just stumbled across this forum when googling academies in the area after noticing competition further along in their skills and development. I know he's still young but as a dad I just want to give my kid the best chance to succeed. Thanks! Honestly, it may be too late. Most serious families and programs lock in top teams by U6. Joking. Literally doesn't matter what club you pick, I would recommend whatever club practices closest to your house. Good luck. Nah-U4 is the lock-in age…🤣 |
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Post by soccernoleuk on Aug 11, 2024 15:25:15 GMT -5
It really depends on the drive and the coach. At that age there is no need to drive an hour+ to go to a specific club. You can also look into smaller clubs like All-In Buford or Sugar Hill. If you are close enough for AFU then you are probably close enough for Duluth Soccer Academy (DSA) since they play out of Bunten Road Park.
The biggest thing to look at IMO is the coach and their philosophy. At this age the kids should be learning the game and having fun. Winning will come, but it isn't the most important thing. If the coach is going to look to win, and thus play his best players all the time, then head elsewhere. Young kids need to play to learn to love the game, and get better.
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Post by terimakasih12 on Aug 11, 2024 17:02:05 GMT -5
It really depends on the drive and the coach. At that age there is no need to drive an hour+ to go to a specific club. You can also look into smaller clubs like All-In Buford or Sugar Hill. If you are close enough for AFU then you are probably close enough for Duluth Soccer Academy (DSA) since they play out of Bunten Road Park. The biggest thing to look at IMO is the coach and their philosophy. At this age the kids should be learning the game and having fun. Winning will come, but it isn't the most important thing. If the coach is going to look to win, and thus play his best players all the time, then head elsewhere. Young kids need to play to learn to love the game, and get better. Agree with this. Win/loss records mean nothing at U8. It’s all about the coach and if they are teaching the kids skills, having fun, getting better, etc. One way I learned about the different academies was by watching their coaches when they went against my kid’s team. Were the coaches teaching and being hands-on during warm-up or were they standing around or yelling the entire time? I also watched their demeanor on the touchline during the game. Did the coaches scream at kids who made mistakes or did they “coach ‘em’ up” and show them what to do better next time? You can learn a ton by putting kids in summer soccer camps at different clubs too. Saw several coaches in action at various clubs the last two summers and gave me a great feel for the culture at each place. Good luck! |
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Post by rifle on Aug 11, 2024 20:44:49 GMT -5
It really depends on the drive and the coach. At that age there is no need to drive an hour+ to go to a specific club. You can also look into smaller clubs like All-In Buford or Sugar Hill. If you are close enough for AFU then you are probably close enough for Duluth Soccer Academy (DSA) since they play out of Bunten Road Park. The biggest thing to look at IMO is the coach and their philosophy. At this age the kids should be learning the game and having fun. Winning will come, but it isn't the most important thing. If the coach is going to look to win, and thus play his best players all the time, then head elsewhere. Young kids need to play to learn to love the game, and get better. Agree with this. Win/loss records mean nothing at U8. It’s all about the coach and if they are teaching the kids skills, having fun, getting better, etc. One way I learned about the different academies was by watching their coaches when they went against my kid’s team. Were the coaches teaching and being hands-on during warm-up or were they standing around or yelling the entire time? I also watched their demeanor on the touchline during the game. Did the coaches scream at kids who made mistakes or did they “coach ‘em’ up” and show them what to do better next time? You can learn a ton by putting kids in summer soccer camps at different clubs too. Saw several coaches in action at various clubs the last two summers and gave me a great feel for the culture at each place. Good luck! agree with all this. This forum would be a lot more useful if it named names for observations about coaches and their clubs. False descriptions could be easily disproven. |
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Post by 04gparent on Aug 11, 2024 21:55:36 GMT -5
Agree with this. Win/loss records mean nothing at U8. It’s all about the coach and if they are teaching the kids skills, having fun, getting better, etc. One way I learned about the different academies was by watching their coaches when they went against my kid’s team. Were the coaches teaching and being hands-on during warm-up or were they standing around or yelling the entire time? I also watched their demeanor on the touchline during the game. Did the coaches scream at kids who made mistakes or did they “coach ‘em’ up” and show them what to do better next time? You can learn a ton by putting kids in summer soccer camps at different clubs too. Saw several coaches in action at various clubs the last two summers and gave me a great feel for the culture at each place. Good luck! agree with all this. This forum would be a lot more useful if it named names for observations about coaches and their clubs. False descriptions could be easily disproven. To this original poster congrats and welcome to the soccer community. If you notice other players that are more advanced it is MOST likely because they are doing things outside of practice or have an older brother or sister that play. The best advice I would give is to find a way to supplement the club training with training at home... At this age make it fun! For example we would do fun things with a skills ball at home with challenges around the house. My kids didnt realize they were learning ball skills while having fun. The most skilled players are not developing this totally at a 90 min practice twice a week. Remember to keep it fun at this age. Good luck. |
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Post by terimakasih12 on Aug 12, 2024 17:25:31 GMT -5
Agree with this. Win/loss records mean nothing at U8. It’s all about the coach and if they are teaching the kids skills, having fun, getting better, etc. One way I learned about the different academies was by watching their coaches when they went against my kid’s team. Were the coaches teaching and being hands-on during warm-up or were they standing around or yelling the entire time? I also watched their demeanor on the touchline during the game. Did the coaches scream at kids who made mistakes or did they “coach ‘em’ up” and show them what to do better next time? You can learn a ton by putting kids in summer soccer camps at different clubs too. Saw several coaches in action at various clubs the last two summers and gave me a great feel for the culture at each place. Good luck! agree with all this. This forum would be a lot more useful if it named names for observations about coaches and their clubs. False descriptions could be easily disproven. I can provide my observations about some of the clubs I've seen near the Lawrenceville/Buford area over the last year. Not intended to throw shade at any club. Just my two cents. GSA South- I think my kid's team played the second team (GSA Red). Coach showed up just a few minutes before start time. GSA only had seven players for the first 5-10 minutes for a 7v7 game. Coach was not really involved in the warm-up or the game. Mostly stood silently on the sideline. I honestly expected more from a Big 5 club. Hope the parents did too. GSA North- Can't remember which team we played but I liked the coach. He was out on the field coaching the kids during warm up and asking questions to get them to think (where was the best pass?, why did that shot go wide?). He also got down and their level and showed them how to properly pass, shoot, etc. with a few of the players. High intensity but positive reinforcement when they made mistakes in small sided play. Gave positive feedback during the game when appropriate and also knew when to shut up and let the kids play. Seemed like a good place to learn as a young player, but I can't speak for other coaches there. AFU- Ugh. Reminded me of SSA teams that are overly physical. Couldn't count the number of times their players pushed our players. Coach yelled at his players constantly. Will never forget the coach yelling at his players to tackle one of our players several times. Maybe he confused American football for real football. Kids were talented, though. No experience yet with LSA or All-In. |
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Post by Panenka on Aug 14, 2024 13:31:19 GMT -5
Based on your geographic area of interest, if I had to choose between AFU, GSA and Concorde North I would go with GSA North in a heartbeat. I've seen many of the current U8, U9 and U10 GSA kids play, they have very good players and most importantly you can tell they are learning and playing as a team which is evident in how they move the ball around the field.
Regarding AFU, have no idea what coach was being referenced in the previous post, but the Coach who comes to mind fits that description well and we left AFU because of him.
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Post by allthingsoccer on Aug 16, 2024 11:25:17 GMT -5
LSA is a smaller club (fees are pretty good) and have a very solid boys program (MLS Next). Good coaches.
Agree at this age make it fun. The road is very, very long. Most important thing is to develop. Do fun stuff outside of scheduled practices.
Juggle for allowance- Was a great way to get my son to "earn" some spending money
Cross bar challenges- Just fun in general
So many other ways but you get what im saying.
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Post by adad on Aug 18, 2024 7:27:34 GMT -5
Thanks so much for all the information. I agree about not winning. I honestly couldn't care less. I just like to see him having fun and getting better. I did however read that BVB (Borussia Dortmund) had an international Academy out of Sugar Hill. Wasn't quite sure given their involvement, however minimal, at u9 next season might make it a better destination than say like a GSA or AFU.
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Post by newposter on Aug 18, 2024 19:41:55 GMT -5
Thanks so much for all the information. I agree about not winning. I honestly couldn't care less. I just like to see him having fun and getting better. I did however read that BVB (Borussia Dortmund) had an international Academy out of Sugar Hill. Wasn't quite sure given their involvement, however minimal, at u9 next season might make it a better destination than say like a GSA or AFU. Just to be sure you know as you seem to be a new parent. MLS Next clubs are clubs not in ECNL which is the top National club soccer. Some may argue MLS is top but I look at numbers. It appears there are just as many ECNL/College players in MLS as are from MLS homegrowns. Those of us who follow AU can attest to how few homegrowns have made it to AU. GSA, Concorde, NASA, SSA are all great options. |
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