and you have to offer free rides bro to be truly #1. Come on, if the big dog is offering the best of the best from the rest free soccer, then you need to build a local program and hope the big dog misses out or the team has division and bad chemistry. Start with being honest with the local players. Big dog will recruit players from SD County, Riverside County and Orange County and LA. I hear Vegas too and offer free ride.
While I support the idea of player pools, it does leave out the issue of politics effecting playing time.
The Europe model is for profit professional football academies that are fully funded like some of our MLS youth academies are. I'm not sure it's an equal comparison to our pay to play non-profit youth soccer organizations.
They are clearly in decline: TWENTY Surf Players Called Up to YNT Camps! – San Diego Surf Soccer Club
It's not equal. Pay to play will disrupt the player pool approach. No one wants to pay the $$ and be "relegated" to the lower team. There is hardly a parent in this country who is shelling out the money, their time, and their stress to play who will willingly go along with player pools - unless it's free of charge.
Virtual call ups count? ID Centers? I'm confused but super proud of all the players. Deza is the real deal.
I have so many thoughts and questions about this from my own experiences. With the exception of the obvious skilled smart exceptional player, the decision on who is A team and who is B team can change with so many variables. Coach preference of players (some prefer smart and tactical, some prefer aggressive and big, some value speed over everything, some value team players over selfish players, etc.), coach style of play ([possession, direct, win at all cost, cheat), other level of players on B team, short term approach vs. long term development, goals of the club, culture of the club, politics. The point being the decision is largely subjective and two different coaches would potentially make different decisions. Not to mention that on the boys side, there is a whole physical development issue where the smartest tactical player at 11 struggles from 12-15 and then rebounds at 16 once they hit puberty. Maybe they are okay playing on the B team for those years but in a lot of clubs, the B team is extremely far off from the A team, like a rec team compared to the mentality and commitment of the A team.
If the player has already committed to a college what would dropping them to a "C" team do? If anything a move like that would make the club look bad and the player would leave with a negative perception.
This is exactly right, these clubs have managers more than they do coaches. Thank you for articulating it better and in less words than I did.
Just curious, how many pool team championships have you been a part of? Any team championships for dd?
