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How to know if a coach really sees potential

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    How to know if a coach really sees potential

    I don't mean national team or D1 star player worthy potential. But at the u10 and u11 age, enough potential for the child to need development beyond town or small club soccer? We all want our kids to be happy but is driving kids an hour away to play on the 2nd best Stars or NEFC team worth it? Is the 2nd team still stronger developmentally than many local clubs? I ask because tryout season is coming and I know many families are facing this type of decision. Those that have been there, what do you think?

    #2
    The question always comes back to the simple question, what are you developing your soccer player for? Meaning, what is YOUR goal for your child. If you can honestly answer that question then you already have your answer.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      I don't mean national team or D1 star player worthy potential. But at the u10 and u11 age, enough potential for the child to need development beyond town or small club soccer? We all want our kids to be happy but is driving kids an hour away to play on the 2nd best Stars or NEFC team worth it? Is the 2nd team still stronger developmentally than many local clubs? I ask because tryout season is coming and I know many families are facing this type of decision. Those that have been there, what do you think?
      Decent coaches can also be found at places other than the big clubs. As with everything else in life, your milage may vary, even at the big clubs. The best thing is to go to practices at clubs you are interested in and check out the coaches and team interaction. Then once you've narrowed your choices, have your child attend a practice with the respective teams.

      The difficult thing is getting a good assessment of your child's potential. Some clubs like having warm bodies and will not tell you if your child is sub-par. However, if a few coaches see your child play and express an interest, you have your answer.

      One other thing, at that age you really don't want to travel too far. Get your child on the best local team you can find. She how well he/she does, then decide. You'll figure it out. It is not rock science.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        I don't mean national team or D1 star player worthy potential. But at the u10 and u11 age, enough potential for the child to need development beyond town or small club soccer? We all want our kids to be happy but is driving kids an hour away to play on the 2nd best Stars or NEFC team worth it? Is the 2nd team still stronger developmentally than many local clubs? I ask because tryout season is coming and I know many families are facing this type of decision. Those that have been there, what do you think?
        OMG! Please stop. It is not your problem. It's not a problem. How many threads are you going to stoop to???

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          OMG! Please stop. It is not your problem. It's not a problem. How many threads are you going to stoop to???
          Why should anyone stop? Do you stop posting these stupid little rebuttals as though you know who started the thread and why? You seem to think every conversation on this forum is about you and your choices and for some reason feel compelled to shoot down any that don't support your pathetic little view of the world. If the forum must suffer you, why shouldn't it suffer the next guy? Why not just take the thread at face value for a change and simply engage in the discussion? If the topic doesn't interest you, you can always leave it and not open it again.

          My question to the OP is where do you see your child going with soccer? I personally think that is the first thing a parent needs to answer when they are asking the sort of questions that are being asked. What are they trying to accomplish by participating in all of this madness. There are a lot of possible destinations that can come out of participating in club soccer and one of the real big problems with this forum is there tends to be a message that everyone needs to "keep up with the Jones" if they want to reach theirs. It is what fuels a lot of the insanity.

          Here are a couple of bits of advice if your kid is really into soccer and they want to pursue where the game might take them:

          1. Focus on the process of "getting better" instead of what team they are on and where it plays. Develop a work ethic in them and an understanding of the prices they will have to pay to achieve what they want with soccer. If they have talent it is amazing how things will all work out if they simply work to develop it.

          2. 99% of the rhetoric here on TS is BS. You don't "NEED" to do anything special except support your child through all of this and keep moving forward towards the particular goal. Club soccer is more a marathon than a sprint. You will find that half the battle is simply just staying on course through all the ups and downs as life intersects with soccer. There are no short cuts and what ever is going to happen is almost entirely on the shoulders of your child. Helping to focus and arranging the structural elements are one thing but the kids need to figure things out for themselves. Child development being what it is you will find the more your ego gets into their head the less likely they are going to stay with soccer.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            Why should anyone stop? Do you stop posting these stupid little rebuttals as though you know who started the thread and why? You seem to think every conversation on this forum is about you and your choices and for some reason feel compelled to shoot down any that don't support your pathetic little view of the world. If the forum must suffer you, why shouldn't it suffer the next guy? Why not just take the thread at face value for a change and simply engage in the discussion? If the topic doesn't interest you, you can always leave it and not open it again.

            My question to the OP is where do you see your child going with soccer? I personally think that is the first thing a parent needs to answer when they are asking the sort of questions that are being asked. What are they trying to accomplish by participating in all of this madness. There are a lot of possible destinations that can come out of participating in club soccer and one of the real big problems with this forum is there tends to be a message that everyone needs to "keep up with the Jones" if they want to reach theirs. It is what fuels a lot of the insanity.

            Here are a couple of bits of advice if your kid is really into soccer and they want to pursue where the game might take them:

            1. Focus on the process of "getting better" instead of what team they are on and where it plays. Develop a work ethic in them and an understanding of the prices they will have to pay to achieve what they want with soccer. If they have talent it is amazing how things will all work out if they simply work to develop it.

            2. 99% of the rhetoric here on TS is BS. You don't "NEED" to do anything special except support your child through all of this and keep moving forward towards the particular goal. Club soccer is more a marathon than a sprint. You will find that half the battle is simply just staying on course through all the ups and downs as life intersects with soccer. There are no short cuts and what ever is going to happen is almost entirely on the shoulders of your child. Helping to focus and arranging the structural elements are one thing but the kids need to figure things out for themselves. Child development being what it is you will find the more your ego gets into their head the less likely they are going to stay with soccer.
            and the pathetic obsession continues

            Comment


              #7
              Wrong again, but please don't bother telling us all how you explain YOUR obvious obsession away to yourself. That is as beyond boring and tedious as what you claim to be defending the rest of us from. Why don't you just stay on topic for once. Do you have anything.. ANYTHING, the least bit intellectually stimulating to add to the conversation?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                I don't mean national team or D1 star player worthy potential. But at the u10 and u11 age, enough potential for the child to need development beyond town or small club soccer? We all want our kids to be happy but is driving kids an hour away to play on the 2nd best Stars or NEFC team worth it? Is the 2nd team still stronger developmentally than many local clubs? I ask because tryout season is coming and I know many families are facing this type of decision. Those that have been there, what do you think?
                Assessing a player's potential at that age is a ridiculous concept. At that age any player with drive and motivation should get maximum exposure to competent technical coaching and simply given the opportunity to perform without respect to playing time or overcoaching during games. The word potential should not even enter into the equation until the player has a year of tactical instruction (ie. u14). That is a critical year for players and what direction they are going in and if they will even continue to play the game (half stop playing...)

                - Cujo

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  I don't mean national team or D1 star player worthy potential. But at the u10 and u11 age, enough potential for the child to need development beyond town or small club soccer? We all want our kids to be happy but is driving kids an hour away to play on the 2nd best Stars or NEFC team worth it? Is the 2nd team still stronger developmentally than many local clubs? I ask because tryout season is coming and I know many families are facing this type of decision. Those that have been there, what do you think?
                  Just my two cents (after having 4 kids that have gone through (and still going through) both town and club). The town I live in has a very established and well run program. Lot's of dedicated people trying to truly develop young soccer players. While it absolutely does have some politics and parent coaches giving their kids more playing time, I think it is pretty well done. With all of that said (and again just my experience), town soccer doesn't even come close to the development that my kids have received through club soccer. Now, other then two years with one of the larger clubs for my oldest son, we have always been with one of the "smaller" clubs that only focuses on one team per age bracket. Additionally, there has been consistency in coaching which is such an important component to this. I think in all reality it really doesn't matter which club they play for, IMO it is all about the coach and the level of development he/she does and his/her dedication to each of the players. One of the larger clubs has a philosophy of swapping out coaches every couple of years. There may be some value to that as kids may gain the ability to play for different types of coaches, but I've not been a proponent of this during the most critical years of development where you really need a coach to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your kid.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    Wrong again, but please don't bother telling us all how you explain YOUR obvious obsession away to yourself. That is as beyond boring and tedious as what you claim to be defending the rest of us from. Why don't you just stay on topic for once. Do you have anything.. ANYTHING, the least bit intellectually stimulating to add to the conversation?
                    Then why do all of these simultaneous posts read like confessions? Why are the denials important to you? Just embrace your rants and never-ending agendas. You are truly a sad and pathetic person. The tedium you complain about would never happen if you weren't here every single game playing your little games. The Duke coach must be really impressed.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Assessing a player's potential at that age is a ridiculous concept. At that age any player with drive and motivation should get maximum exposure to competent technical coaching and simply given the opportunity to perform without respect to playing time or overcoaching during games. The word potential should not even enter into the equation until the player has a year of tactical instruction (ie. u14). That is a critical year for players and what direction they are going in and if they will even continue to play the game (half stop playing...)

                      - Cujo
                      Potential is open ended. It is never too early to assess potential. The mistake is drawing concrete conclusions and shutting down opportunities, no?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Honestly don't feed the troll. He stopped signing in so you cant block his name. He also stopped using the BTDT initials so we cant block him on those either. Shows serious psychopathology that we should just ignore. I know he will think its the NEFC guy posting but its not.

                        Anyway...

                        If your child and you aspire to the top level achievable:

                        Find a great trainer close to home. Easier if you have a girls. Get her on a boys teams with a great trainer or a girls team (if socially she has an issue with boys) in a club that will allow her to train with boys. She will be ready, if she has the drive and athleticism to succeed, to move to a top team at u13 or so.

                        Boys are harder. Again find the best trainer. Try and get him to be able to train up if the team is not at his level. Move to a DA club team when he is in an off birth year (U13 or 15 by DA age groups) Then they can see him and if worthy, move him up to a DA the following year.

                        If there are other aspirations then still find the best local trainer, but consider keeping him/her there. Just be aware that many relatively local teams blow up at u14 or so. Don't want to be left holding the bag. Make the move if it seems squirrely. Don't want to be withot a team after tryouts if possible.

                        Good luck

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Potential can be assessed earlier.

                          Barcelona scouts look to specifically how a child touches the ball. Does he "caress" it with his touches or does he hit it? How does he move with the ball at his feet? Basic athleticism is less of an issue- hence the Messi experiment. A learned scout can assess potential in an 8 year old in about 5 minutes.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Then why do all of these simultaneous posts read like confessions? Why are the denials important to you? Just embrace your rants and never-ending agendas. You are truly a sad and pathetic person. The tedium you complain about would never happen if you weren't here every single game playing your little games. The Duke coach must be really impressed.
                            Truth.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Thanks for #11 and #12 TZTZ.

                              Comment

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