Top 10 Clubs for boys

Which are the best clubs on the boys side and why do most clubs do a better job with either boys or girls, but not both?

What makes a coach better for boys or girls?

you want your kid to play for same? gotta do it regionally then. bolts metro boston; noreaster fall riv, new bed, etc. area; no idea out west.

interested

I think it depends on what you mean by "best." If it's best record in competition, that's easily discerned by looking at the MAPLE and/or MYSA websites and finding the clubs whose teams do well. If it's exposure to "premier" out of state competition, you can look at the club websites and get a pretty good idea of whether their teams travel a lot. This may vary by age within a particular club (e.g. maybe their U14 team is particularly strong compared to their other teams).

If "best" means best training, I think that is heavily coach-driven. Even within the same club, some coaches will spend more of each practice on ball skills, etc.

Finally, if "best" means the most fun, the answer could be almost any club, including town travel or town.

[beentheredonethat]

Let's try and put some of this in buckets. At the earlier ages the coach is the primary factor in determining who is the "best" With that in mind can we start by identifying who might be the best boys coaches?

[footyfan]

Re: Top 10 Clubs for boys

Which are the best clubs on the boys side and why do most clubs do a better job with either boys or girls, but not both?

What makes a coach better for boys or girls?

After almost 6 years of club Soccer, ODP and an assortment of other things all soccer related I put this to you when asking about the "BEST"

1.) What level is your player honestly, can they handle the rigors of club soccer or are they happy at an upper town level.

2.) Are you ready to sacrifice family vacations and quite a bot of cash to follow him/her around from tournament to tournament and/or game to game.

3.) Look at the coaching credentials of the age group coach for your player are they well credentialed or that of a parent level. (Anything D or over requires invites and practical as well as written testing)

4.) Look at the credentials of he coaches throughout the club

5.) Ask about fees, training days per week per season, tournaments, club focus and leagues participating in, how many palyers they turn ver year to year as an average, do they switch coaches every year or two years...

6.) Look at their win/loss record over the last few seasons

7.) Ask to take in a training session or two and really observe, talk to other parents ask what they like what they don't like

8.) After the session is the coach available to the palyers and parents for any questions?

9.) Take in a game see how this coach handles the game v. the training

10.) And by far the most important! Ask your player how they feel about the players, the coach and how they felt out there. And follow what THEY want. They have to live in the situation.

If you find the team that is the right fit for your player where they can grow as a player, gain confidence on and off the field with this team and coach then you are doing well no matter the win loss record.

I can tell you to simply follow the coaching since every coach has a style and concentration and not all coaches are for all players. You need it to be a fit for your player.

We drive long distances for solid coaching and have been in very good and very bad situations. In the end we listene to our son and what his concerns are. We talk as a family about it and his game and skill level have grown. We have experienced perfect seasons and dismall seasons. Have we been happy? for the most part yes but we have also learned alot along the way.
Has he been happy? Yes and he still has a deep passion for the game that on those long tournament weekends and double header days motivate us to keep making sure he gets to where he needs to be to play the game he loves.

[Blue Devil]

Footyfan - What a great first post!

Thre are a couple more things that I would add:

What other activities is your kid going to do and how will the club and you handle conflicts?

When is the next coaching switch going to occur and are the likely successors good as well?

As far as Defender 1's request for info on coaching - great thread on the old forum can be found here http://board2.maplesoccer.com/viewtopic ... reat+coach

But hurry before it is gone for good.

Re: Top 10 Clubs for boys

[
3.) Look at the coaching credentials of the age group coach for your player are they well credentialed or that of a parent level. (Anything D or over requires invites and practical as well as written testing)

4.) Look at the credentials of he coaches throughout the club

Careful, you're going to get Cujo on his soapbox again.