Path for Physical Late Bloomers

[Unregistered]

Sometimes, coaches fail to see the technical skill and innate creativity that might be hiding in a smaller, less physical player. Similarly, a coach might fail to see the skill that resides in a big, fast player and mid-use him or her. I do wonder, though, how much of these complaints are coming from parents of smaller players who just don't realize that junior isn't that great (regardless of size/speed).

There is nothing subtle about athletic prowess. You don't need to be a genius to spot it. Where coaching genius does come into play is figuring out how to use a marginal player.

[Unregistered]

Sometimes, coaches fail to see the technical skill and innate creativity that might be hiding in a smaller, less physical player. Similarly, a coach might fail to see the skill that resides in a big, fast player and mid-use him or her. I do wonder, though, how much of these complaints are coming from parents of smaller players who just don't realize that junior isn't that great (regardless of size/speed).

Yes, to your last sentence. And most of these posters who then go on to cite small players like Messi have no idea how athletically talented those players are. Those are the kind of "late bloomers" who run circles around the competition despite their small size. Even on the boys side, the smaller players in Mass who have been standouts were standouts at 13, 14, 15 and their size did not prevent them from showing prominently. What is more likely is kids who "bloom early" and are shaving by 14/15 who are physically dominant and then by 18/19 are smaller or at least not any bigger than anyone else and they fade quietly into the sunset.

[Unregistered]

My daughter was small too and took a beating on the field until she figured out that the point of her elbow was just as hard and sharp as everyone else's. She learned when to throw them to gain respect and space. Nice kid off the field - totaly a b*tch on it.

My daughter needs to learn how to be like that. Her coaches keep telling her she is too nice! She's a great kid off the field, I keep telling her to become mean while on it....that it's ok!

[Unregistered]

My daughter is 2.5 years behind physically- hand xray at 12. She is now almost 15. She too is extremely technical, relatively fast but extraordinarily quick. When she was a U13 - 4'9" and 70 pounds, she was benched on a top level team. We asked the coach what she needed to do to get more time and he said "grow." He also said that he expected her to be the best player on the team in a few years and therefore was not going to cut her. We knew, due to family genetics, that she wouldnt begin her adoloscent growth spurt until she was 14 (she was 12 at the time) and she didn't want to wait to play. So we decided to drop her down a level with our large local travel club...Huge mistake!

The local coach was very unsophiscticated and played total - get the ball to the fast kids-soccer. She lasted 6 weeks as the only balls that were played to her were 50-50s and she didn't win many of those. We aslo felt she was in physical danger due to constantly battling for these 50-50s with kids literally 50 pounds heavier. Some were easily twice her 70 pounds. She became disouraged and lost her mojo. However we helped her to turn it all around.

In October of her U14 year, we found her a great spot with a great coach at another high level club. Her teammates were now sufficiently technically advanced to be able to play balls to her feet so that she wasn't in constant 50-50 battles. He also told her to play the ball quickly if pressured, to take the space if she had it and to only try and beat a single defender if no other was in sight. She played like this for a year. She played 50-75% of most games. Started most but not all. I would say her impact was marginal. With the play time and attention though, her confidence resurged. She began to grow as most others stopped. She is now almost 5'5" and still rapidly growing. She is still relatively thin, but no longer is noticeably small. She still looks 2 years or more younger than her age.

8 months ago she tried out for high school soccer. She did not make varsity. The coach is a close friend of the local coach previously mentioned and shares his soccer "tactics". As she was preparing for the fall id2 camp, she decided that training with the JV, risking injury and overuse would not be advised. She quit the school team. Because of the risks involved and frankly because she felt "dissed", she probably will never play high school soccer. We don't consider this a problem.

As a freshmen, she is preparing for her first "unofficial"-official visit. It is planned for multiple recruits includes a sleep over with a player and multiple interviews and tours. It is unofficial only in name...and price. She has another about to be scheduled. Both are top 25 and one is top 10. Her impact is now significant and she is hitting her stride as many, but clearly not all, of the early puberty kids are declining.

The late bloomer thing was a big problem for her from U13 through U14. If I can offer you advice it would be to find a coach who can see your son's ceiling and not care too much about the impact that he has right now. The coach will hopefully offer him the advice on how to manage the size issues during competition as my daughter's coach did. I suspect that he might be best with a DA club as the coach should be fairly sophisticated and be able to do this. Also the DA clubs are less about results now, as they are about sending kids to the next level (pros or high level college). Do not assume he will be better with a lower level team! That was a huge mistake that we made. The first coach in this treatise (:)) did see my daughter's ceiing as high, but he wanted to win right now and was not willing to nurture her through the rough period. She would probably have been OK if we left her there, but she wanted to play, and 2 years seemed like an eternity to the 12 year old she was.

She is definitely better for having weathered her period of weakness. She is an amazing one touch passer, has unbelievable flicks and tricks to avoid pressure and get out of tight spaces and now is as "athletic" as any of the others. Hopefully your son (who will probably be a year or so behind this timeline) will similarly come into his own, I am guessing though it might not be until he's a U16 or U17. Hang in and good luck.

[Unregistered]

Can't wait to read the postscript when this one is a high school senior. Bet more than a few here can predict the ending.

[Unregistered]

And that would be...

[Unregistered]

My daughter is 2.5 years behind physically- hand xray at 12. She is now almost 15. She too is extremely technical, relatively fast but extraordinarily quick. When she was a U13 - 4'9" and 70 pounds, she was benched on a top level team. We asked the coach what she needed to do to get more time and he said "grow." He also said that he expected her to be the best player on the team in a few years and therefore was not going to cut her. We knew, due to family genetics, that she wouldnt begin her adoloscent growth spurt until she was 14 (she was 12 at the time) and she didn't want to wait to play. So we decided to drop her down a level with our large local travel club...Huge mistake!

OP here, thanks to everyone for the responses. Looks like a mix of opinions on this. Poster #34, your lessons learned are much appreciated! Right now, he's playing midfield, and even with the two year delay, he's still one of the fastest kids on his team. As another poster mentioned, he may be able to get away with moving forward for a year or two once the other boys start growing, so he's not losing out on the 50/50 balls in midfield, or having trouble tracking back on defense.

If soccer is still his thing by 14, I'm thinking he'll be fine if he can't play high school soccer, as he has to switch districts after 8th grade anyway, so won't really have any ties to the other players at school. Plus, he will have been involved in the same club for nine years at that point, so will have plenty of camaraderie with his club teammates & coaches.

It's sounding like the only option, other than packing up and moving to Europe or South America, is to make sure he's at a club that appreciates player development over winning (which is currently true at his level, but we'll revisit this at the upper levels), and acknowledging the possibility that he may be a "training only" player for a couple of years until he can compete physically. If anyone does know of any clubs that are particularly focused on the technical/creative side of the game much more so than the average club, please let me know!

Thanks again! I'll be sure to send that update his senior year :)

[Unregistered]

My daughter is 2.5 years behind physically- hand xray at 12. She is now almost 15. She too is extremely technical, relatively fast but extraordinarily quick. When she was a U13 - 4'9" and 70 pounds, she was benched on a top level team. We asked the coach what she needed to do to get more time and he said "grow." He also said that he expected her to be the best player on the team in a few years and therefore was not going to cut her. We knew, due to family genetics, that she wouldnt begin her adoloscent growth spurt until she was 14 (she was 12 at the time) and she didn't want to wait to play. So we decided to drop her down a level with our large local travel club...Huge mistake!

The local coach was very unsophiscticated and played total - get the ball to the fast kids-soccer. She lasted 6 weeks as the only balls that were played to her were 50-50s and she didn't win many of those. We aslo felt she was in physical danger due to constantly battling for these 50-50s with kids literally 50 pounds heavier. Some were easily twice her 70 pounds. She became disouraged and lost her mojo. However we helped her to turn it all around.

In October of her U14 year, we found her a great spot with a great coach at another high level club. Her teammates were now sufficiently technically advanced to be able to play balls to her feet so that she wasn't in constant 50-50 battles. He also told her to play the ball quickly if pressured, to take the space if she had it and to only try and beat a single defender if no other was in sight. She played like this for a year. She played 50-75% of most games. Started most but not all. I would say her impact was marginal. With the play time and attention though, her confidence resurged. She began to grow as most others stopped. She is now almost 5'5" and still rapidly growing. She is still relatively thin, but no longer is noticeably small. She still looks 2 years or more younger than her age.

8 months ago she tried out for high school soccer. She did not make varsity. The coach is a close friend of the local coach previously mentioned and shares his soccer "tactics". As she was preparing for the fall id2 camp, she decided that training with the JV, risking injury and overuse would not be advised. She quit the school team. Because of the risks involved and frankly because she felt "dissed", she probably will never play high school soccer. We don't consider this a problem.

As a freshmen, she is preparing for her first "unofficial"-official visit. It is planned for multiple recruits includes a sleep over with a player and multiple interviews and tours. It is unofficial only in name...and price. She has another about to be scheduled. Both are top 25 and one is top 10. Her impact is now significant and she is hitting her stride as many, but clearly not all, of the early puberty kids are declining.

The late bloomer thing was a big problem for her from U13 through U14. If I can offer you advice it would be to find a coach who can see your son's ceiling and not care too much about the impact that he has right now. The coach will hopefully offer him the advice on how to manage the size issues during competition as my daughter's coach did. I suspect that he might be best with a DA club as the coach should be fairly sophisticated and be able to do this. Also the DA clubs are less about results now, as they are about sending kids to the next level (pros or high level college). Do not assume he will be better with a lower level team! That was a huge mistake that we made. The first coach in this treatise (:)) did see my daughter's ceiing as high, but he wanted to win right now and was not willing to nurture her through the rough period. She would probably have been OK if we left her there, but she wanted to play, and 2 years seemed like an eternity to the 12 year old she was.

She is definitely better for having weathered her period of weakness. She is an amazing one touch passer, has unbelievable flicks and tricks to avoid pressure and get out of tight spaces and now is as "athletic" as any of the others. Hopefully your son (who will probably be a year or so behind this timeline) will similarly come into his own, I am guessing though it might not be until he's a U16 or U17. Hang in and good luck.

Size and strength are valued anywhere "unbelievable one touch passing" is a positional requirement. Sounds like this player will likely end up on the outside where they look for extreme speed and a strong crossing leg but based upon the description that might match her physical gifts all that well. Common situation for tweener players.

[Unregistered]

OP here, thanks to everyone for the responses. Looks like a mix of opinions on this. Poster #34, your lessons learned are much appreciated! Right now, he's playing midfield, and even with the two year delay, he's still one of the fastest kids on his team. As another poster mentioned, he may be able to get away with moving forward for a year or two once the other boys start growing, so he's not losing out on the 50/50 balls in midfield, or having trouble tracking back on defense.

If soccer is still his thing by 14, I'm thinking he'll be fine if he can't play high school soccer, as he has to switch districts after 8th grade anyway, so won't really have any ties to the other players at school. Plus, he will have been involved in the same club for nine years at that point, so will have plenty of camaraderie with his club teammates & coaches.

It's sounding like the only option, other than packing up and moving to Europe or South America, is to make sure he's at a club that appreciates player development over winning (which is currently true at his level, but we'll revisit this at the upper levels), and acknowledging the possibility that he may be a "training only" player for a couple of years until he can compete physically. If anyone does know of any clubs that are particularly focused on the technical/creative side of the game much more so than the average club, please let me know!

Thanks again! I'll be sure to send that update his senior year :)

Clubs and coaches differ greatly on this as does the american mindset mentioned so many times. There was a U12 team of "ulittles" in the "top" maple playing up last year at U13 and won the division (even against their own club U13s). This club/coach obviously follows the technique, fast, skilled motto v sheer size and boot and run. Find the right club and if your kid is that good, he'll add to it

[Unregistered]

Clubs and coaches differ greatly on this as does the american mindset mentioned so many times. There was a U12 team of "ulittles" in the "top" maple playing up last year at U13 and won the division (even against their own club U13s). This club/coach obviously follows the technique, fast, skilled motto v sheer size and boot and run. Find the right club and if your kid is that good, he'll add to it

You are 100% correct. That undersized team was determined to "flop to the top" of the bracket. The tactic is an effective one. It's a part of the game most US coaches overlook.

[Unregistered]

Clubs and coaches differ greatly on this as does the american mindset mentioned so many times. There was a U12 team of "ulittles" in the "top" maple playing up last year at U13 and won the division (even against their own club U13s). This club/coach obviously follows the technique, fast, skilled motto v sheer size and boot and run. Find the right club and if your kid is that good, he'll add to it

this hints at a classic TS mind-set around here. teams are either small and skilled or they are big and play boot and run. there's no in-between; no room for playing to context. these people cannot look at a kid over 5'5" and recognize skill, subtlety or creativity. big=direct to these folks, and they'll never advance their thinking. tiresome.

[Unregistered]

this hints at a classic TS mind-set around here. teams are either small and skilled or they are big and play boot and run. there's no in-between; no room for playing to context. these people cannot look at a kid over 5'5" and recognize skill, subtlety or creativity. big=direct to these folks, and they'll never advance their thinking. tiresome.

Agree. Soccer used to be the last hope for the smaller athletes. Now that it has become more mainstream, bigger, better skilled athletes are choosing soccer vs. other sports. As with virtually any sport, if a player is of equal skill, speed AND is bigger, he will likely get the nod.

[Unregistered]

Agree. Soccer used to be the last hope for the smaller athletes. Now that it has become more mainstream, bigger, better skilled athletes are choosing soccer vs. other sports. As with virtually any sport, if a player is of equal skill, speed AND is bigger, he will likely get the nod.

It's as if parents aren't looking at readily available EPL games to get a better sense of the general direction the game is going. Nor do they seem to have looked at men's or women's college games.

[Unregistered]

Really? If the opponent is continually faster to the spot, or is able to fight the player off their route to it then how is the kid going to have any impact? Soccer is a physical game and some of you seem to be putting an awful lot of stock in the physically inferior being able to outsmart the other players so they don't have to engage with them physically. They would need to be awfully smart to make up the sort of physical disadvantages the poster is talking about.

You are narrow in your focus. Sure running is a part of the game but it is just one of many skills needed to succeed. I don't know what games you are watching but you can't tackle somebody "running to a spot". I know HS can be hack soccer but it isn't that bad. Soccer is a contact sport but not in the same context as football or hockey. Contact is allowable under only certain conditions. It is not a unilateral tactic.

Messi is a classic example. He does not rely on speed, size or physical strength to dominate a game. If he was an American he would have been passed on by many coaches.

[Unregistered]

Messi is a classic example. He does not rely on speed, size or physical strength to dominate a game. If he was an American he would have been passed on by many coaches.

This is a gross generalization. It essentially discredits everything you typed prior.