Club advice for boy

J

Jar!23

SILVER ELITE
Kid is a HS freshman. Currently on his club’s second team. Might be able to crack into first team but doesn’t seem likely as they have a full roster. He is a top player on the 2nd team and per his coach is liked by the 1st team coach. From observation the club doesn’t drop player from the first team and instead space opens up when current players leave on their own. Also there seems to be bit of a bias as the coach tends to promote/guest play younger players from a year below from that age’s group’s 1st team (same coach) instead as kids from the 2nd team, which is coached by another. Looking to tryout at the end of Spring to keep options open in case he doesn’t get promoted to the 1st team. Any recommendations/insights/reviews?

Kid has good grades in challenging classes and we are looking for a club that will give him opportunities to go to showcases/tournaments for college recruiting. Current club only does that for 1st team. Peninsula area.
 
He's a 2008B? In NorCal, peninsula area, the top 2008B teams are:

MVLA, De Anza Force, SVSA, Stanford, FC Bay Area

Others in bay area (but probably not drivable) include Association, Mustang, Ballistic, Livermore Fusion, SF Glens.

Some are MLS Next (which don't allow HS play), and some are ECNL. 1 is NPL. Anything not listed here isn't in the top #100 teams (out of ~600 2008B in CA). There are a few other ECNL teams - which might provide some opportunities, but their top team isn't comparably that good.
 
RandomSoccerFan said:
He's a 2008B? In NorCal, peninsula area, the top 2008B teams are:

MVLA, De Anza Force, SVSA, Stanford, FC Bay Area

Others in bay area (but probably not drivable) include Association, Mustang, Ballistic, Livermore Fusion, SF Glens.

Some are MLS Next (which don't allow HS play), and some are ECNL. 1 is NPL. Anything not listed here isn't in the top #100 teams (out of ~600 2008B in CA). There are a few other ECNL teams - which might provide some opportunities, but their top team isn't comparably that good.
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2009. We will definitely check out MVLA and De Ana Force but it’s definitely a drive with traffic. Same with SVSA and FC Bay Area. Glens is closer. Aiming for ECNL. Kid had a great HS season and we don’t want to give that up.
 
Jar!23 said:
2009. We will definitely check out MVLA and De Ana Force but it’s definitely a drive with traffic. Same with SVSA and FC Bay Area. Glens is closer. Aiming for ECNL. Kid had a great HS season and we don’t want to give that up.
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Some difference, but maybe not much, for 2009B. Top teams are:

SJ Earthquakes, Newark, SF Glens, Santa Clara Sporting, De Anza, MVLA. #50 - #100 include Almaden. Association, Mustang, and SVSA.

Only ECNL listed are Newark, Santa Clara, MVLA, and Mustang. Rest are MLS Next or not either.
 
de anza mls 09s from what I have heard are in a rough state with internal issues and if you are going to play with force's second team, they're quality is very low. MVLA has better management and more stability as a whole although the team isn't as good as force mls. If you live in the peninsula I suggest playing for SF elite ecnl or glens MLS next due to traffic. I've learned that it's better to spend more time practicing locally and by yourself before deciding to drive 2 hours round trip instead of studying or practicing. Be careful about coaches telling you about part time positions, especially MLS next. I know someone who was told they would play part-time but ended up playing 2nd team until the coach switched and gave him oppurtunities.
 
bayernfan2342 said:
de anza mls 09s from what I have heard are in a rough state with internal issues and if you are going to play with force's second team, they're quality is very low. MVLA has better management and more stability as a whole although the team isn't as good as force mls. If you live in the peninsula I suggest playing for SF elite ecnl or glens MLS next due to traffic. I've learned that it's better to spend more time practicing locally and by yourself before deciding to drive 2 hours round trip instead of studying or practicing. Be careful about coaches telling you about part time positions, especially MLS next. I know someone who was told they would play part-time but ended up playing 2nd team until the coach switched and gave him oppurtunities.
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Good info. I’m looking for avoid unstable teams/clubs/toxic coaches/toxic teammates/toxic parents. It wouldn’t be worth it for us to switch unless it was a good fit. Not looking for my kid to play for the 2nd team, already doing that now. His grades are the top priority so we won’t let that suffer. Current team is only 15 minutes away. We will check out SF Elite since they have an ECNL boys team, although it looks they are not competitive in the league (lost every game this season). If it still worth switching just to say it’s an ECNL team? I would imagine the team would have kids looking to move to more successful teams as well. SF Glens I am hesitant about. Heard about a kid that got cut mid-season after foregoing HS for club. Also know several others that switched over there and ended up changing again in 1-2 years. But no harm in trying out.
 
The SF Elite top 09 team appears pretty bad. I can't imagine that it's a positive environment. The top 5 different SF Glen 09 teams, all 5 would beat that SF Elite team; the top 2 teams by 6 goals and by 4 goals respectively. The other 3 teams would show closer games, but they are still favored.
 
While politics are rampant in competitive youth soccer, I've rarely seen a player not make the 1st team that should be there. It's players that are on the cusp where things get weird and incredibly subjective. Every coach wants to win, especially at that age. They're not going to turn down a player that will help them achieve that -- unless, of course, they're on the cusp.

I only raise this because, some of the clubs mentioned have extremely high bars. In contrast, a club like SF Elite, would probably love to have your son. He could probably also make a difference there. Both MLS Next and ECNL are great platforms. Sounds like your son wants to play high school soccer -- so the choice is pretty clear.
 
Yup, on the cusp. In my opinion, he’s comparable to the bottom 5 of the 1st team. Top team gets more practices, more and higher quality tournaments, better communication/organization, possible college recruiting is discussed, college ID tournaments, etc. I’ll see how this spring plays out and whether we get any indication that he will move up or not.
 
Jar!23 said:
Yup, on the cusp. In my opinion, he’s comparable to the bottom 5 of the 1st team. Top team gets more practices, more and higher quality tournaments, better communication/organization, possible college recruiting is discussed, college ID tournaments, etc. I’ll see how this spring plays out and whether we get any indication that he will move up or not.
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I would definitely reach out to some of the target clubs and see if your son can be assessed prior to tryouts. You will have to do the whole DoC approval dance, but that will also indicate to your current club that your son is looking for something more. This might change their tune a bit as sad as that may sound -- but for cusp players it's important.
 
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