It's Club Soccer - Don't Complain About it

U

uburoi

Guest
Club soccer is about winning. Any complaint about your coach, your team, the players on your team, the philosophy of the team, the coaching style, are all traced back to the club charter, which is to win.

If your DD or DS is a young Xavi or Iniesta, they will be subbed out for a bigger, faster, stronger, less skilled player who can hunt down hopeful balls and run over the other team in order to win. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend developing your player's skills. Better to find your skilled player an academy team or other type of setup where they are respected and there is something more important than the final score. If you find a coach who appreciates you, stay with him or her. Your coach and your club do not share the same desire as you if your goal is to have your child develop, doesn’t matter what the age. If you don’t win games, place high enough in club league standings, you didn’t succeed, doesn’t matter the motivational speech the coach gives at the end of the season. Players will leave to find a winning team and so will the coach. This is not a soccer problem, this is an American problem that comes from the philosophy of other sports where there is no other way but to win. You can’t develop in an American football game or baseball game. No one thinks like that. Soccer is a young sport in the United States and it will take a while for those who participate in the game at any level to understand that we need to look at the game differently from other sports.

If you don’t care about what happens in the game, how it is played, have unlimited gas and travel money to pay for hotels and lunches out, don’t mind sitting all day in traffic or at random fields in your chair with a cooler in all weather, during holidays, or whenever the game is scheduled, and if you need a place for your DD or DS (or for yourself) to keep busy so no one gets bored sitting at home watching TV or playing vids getting fat... by all means sign up for club soccer.
 
Club soccer is recreational, and for the most part so is DA and ECNL.

I understand your frustration but the end product is clearly manifested in the USMNT which couldn't even qualify for the World Cup. It's a lose lose situation because even if you were to develop your player independently he still wouldn't meet the American kick and chase criteria at the upper levels.

Serious parents with semi knowledge of the sport need to either look down south of the border or Europe the ideal destination. Good luck.
 
Club soccer is about winning. Any complaint about your coach, your team, the players on your team, the philosophy of the team, the coaching style, are all traced back to the club charter, which is to win.

If your DD or DS is a young Xavi or Iniesta, they will be subbed out for a bigger, faster, stronger, less skilled player who can hunt down hopeful balls and run over the other team in order to win. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend developing your player's skills. Better to find your skilled player an academy team or other type of setup where they are respected and there is something more important than the final score. If you find a coach who appreciates you, stay with him or her. Your coach and your club do not share the same desire as you if your goal is to have your child develop, doesn’t matter what the age. If you don’t win games, place high enough in club league standings, you didn’t succeed, doesn’t matter the motivational speech the coach gives at the end of the season. Players will leave to find a winning team and so will the coach. This is not a soccer problem, this is an American problem that comes from the philosophy of other sports where there is no other way but to win. You can’t develop in an American football game or baseball game. No one thinks like that. Soccer is a young sport in the United States and it will take a while for those who participate in the game at any level to understand that we need to look at the game differently from other sports.

If you don’t care about what happens in the game, how it is played, have unlimited gas and travel money to pay for hotels and lunches out, don’t mind sitting all day in traffic or at random fields in your chair with a cooler in all weather, during holidays, or whenever the game is scheduled, and if you need a place for your DD or DS (or for yourself) to keep busy so no one gets bored sitting at home watching TV or playing vids getting fat... by all means sign up for club soccer.
Been here before for sure. Used to try to talk and dialogue with clubs but that’s a waste of time. The myth that is perpetuated by US Soccer is that the sport is a young sport here and we need more time. That is simply not true. Soccer in the US is more than 100 years old. Brought over by immigrants through Ellis Island, and South America. This narrative has been systematically destroyed by the power elite to constantly recycle through new youth in order to profit from generations of players, and to deny access to large portions of the country who are not middle class or above. The game that we know today has been hijacked by a largely greedy suburban soft recreational soccer mom culture that seeks to deny and suppress history, true Soccer culture and long term development for control, power and money.
 
Been here before for sure. Used to try to talk and dialogue with clubs but that’s a waste of time. The myth that is perpetuated by US Soccer is that the sport is a young sport here and we need more time. That is simply not true. Soccer in the US is more than 100 years old. Brought over by immigrants through Ellis Island, and South America. This narrative has been systematically destroyed by the power elite to constantly recycle through new youth in order to profit from generations of players, and to deny access to large portions of the country who are not middle class or above. The game that we know today has been hijacked by a largely greedy suburban soft recreational soccer mom culture that seeks to deny and suppress history, true Soccer culture and long term development for control, power and money.
I gotta admit this is one confusing theory, "The game that we know today has been hijacked by a largely greedy suburban soft recreational soccer mom culture that seeks to deny and suppress history..." Please elaborate further.
 
I gotta admit this is one confusing theory, "The game that we know today has been hijacked by a largely greedy suburban soft recreational soccer mom culture that seeks to deny and suppress history..." Please elaborate further.
This is a big topic with lots of points but I will try...Basically it means that Soccer as we know it in the US is not the same that is played throughout the world. The story being sold by US Soccer and Soccer United Marketing and their media outlets is only the narrative they want told. That narrative does not allow for American soccer history to be told or for any culture that does not abide by the pay to play, anti competition, anti promotion/relegation structure of Soccer in our country to exist. The Soccer suburban mindset does not allow for parents who pay for a season of Soccer to be relegated to a lower league because their club and coach failed to develope them and provide results. The paying customer wants and demands status regardless of results. This disincentives clubs and coaches to produce quality players because what’s the point if there are never any consequences. This further reinforces the soft recreational mentality. This rec mindset is our country. It is club soccer, college soccer, MLS and the NWSL. There is no difference between DA and AYSO, except one costs more. The mentality and culture is by and large the same. Thus the game of soccer as the world knows it has been hijacked here, not by the “Soccer mom” herself but rather by US Soccer, packaged and sold to the demographic that it values.
 
I gotta admit this is one confusing theory, "The game that we know today has been hijacked by a largely greedy suburban soft recreational soccer mom culture that seeks to deny and suppress history..." Please elaborate further.
Sounds like a bunch of words you'd learn at Cal, or an occupy pre-protest meeting.
 
Sounds like a bunch of words you'd learn at Cal, or an occupy pre-protest meeting.
Cal? How dare you sir. It comes from playing the game my whole life, coaching it, living in South America and Europe, traveling, and my having kids play the game. It’s just my thoughts shared on a forum.
 
Sounds like a bunch of words you'd learn at Cal, or an occupy pre-protest meeting.
Nutmeg is exactly right. The sport has not been allowed to grow the way it has elsewhere in the world. I blamed it on the need to win but there are more reasons, and the soccer mom phenomenon is part of it.
 
This is a big topic with lots of points but I will try...Basically it means that Soccer as we know it in the US is not the same that is played throughout the world. The story being sold by US Soccer and Soccer United Marketing and their media outlets is only the narrative they want told. That narrative does not allow for American soccer history to be told or for any culture that does not abide by the pay to play, anti competition, anti promotion/relegation structure of Soccer in our country to exist. The Soccer suburban mindset does not allow for parents who pay for a season of Soccer to be relegated to a lower league because their club and coach failed to develope them and provide results. The paying customer wants and demands status regardless of results. This disincentives clubs and coaches to produce quality players because what’s the point if there are never any consequences. This further reinforces the soft recreational mentality. This rec mindset is our country. It is club soccer, college soccer, MLS and the NWSL. There is no difference between DA and AYSO, except one costs more. The mentality and culture is by and large the same. Thus the game of soccer as the world knows it has been hijacked here, not by the “Soccer mom” herself but rather by US Soccer, packaged and sold to the demographic that it values.
Got it. Thanks for clarifying.
 
Club Soccer wouldn't exist if parents would just face reality that 99% of the kids will not make it to the pro's and 90% will not obtain scholarships. With no demand, there is no club soccer. My kids will never be pro's or obtain a college scholarship. Basically don't blame the clubs, blame yourself for thinking that your kid will become a pro and the club team will help him/her.


The real problem for most of us is that if we want our kids to play high school soccer, they more than likely need club soccer experience. This is becoming for of a fact with not just soccer but other high school sports.

So now we need to decide, do I spend the money for my kids to play in a club team so they have a chance to make it to high school? Then you also start thinking, rec soccer is horrible because everyone gets a trophy (not the real world) and you need to join a new team every year or every 6 months and meet new parents and new players.

The fact is club soccer needs to focus on selling parents on the fact that kids will need to become team players, competitive, committed, organized, and make some friends along the way. Now that to me is worth the money (up to $1,800 max) to sign up to club soccer, these are life skills that they cannot get by sitting at home or playing in recreational teams.
 
Club Soccer wouldn't exist if parents would just face reality that 99% of the kids will not make it to the pro's and 90% will not obtain scholarships. With no demand, there is no club soccer. My kids will never be pro's or obtain a college scholarship. Basically don't blame the clubs, blame yourself for thinking that your kid will become a pro and the club team will help him/her.


The real problem for most of us is that if we want our kids to play high school soccer, they more than likely need club soccer experience. This is becoming for of a fact with not just soccer but other high school sports.

So now we need to decide, do I spend the money for my kids to play in a club team so they have a chance to make it to high school? Then you also start thinking, rec soccer is horrible because everyone gets a trophy (not the real world) and you need to join a new team every year or every 6 months and meet new parents and new players.

The fact is club soccer needs to focus on selling parents on the fact that kids will need to become team players, competitive, committed, organized, and make some friends along the way. Now that to me is worth the money (up to $1,800 max) to sign up to club soccer, these are life skills that they cannot get by sitting at home or playing in recreational teams.
This is a recreational mentality
 
This is a recreational mentality

Nutmeg! Show me the stats to prove me wrong!!! What percentage of boys playing soccer in SoCal, go pro (MLS, Europe)??? What percentage get more than 50% scholarship in college? The fact is it that our boys are now competing with players from Mexico, Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world to obtain scholarships in college.


Please keep in mind, I am not saying club soccer is bad, I am bashing on the expectations of parents and what some of the coaches sell to parents. My kids have been bench players in club soccer for several years, and I would do it all over again. They are now in high school and they are keeping up with the busy schedule of sports and academics. One of them is playing high school soccer and doing great against flight 1 players on his team. The other one went to another sport and he is crushing it thanks to the years of pushing himself hard to become a starter during his years of signature and club soccer. All that running in soccer, paid off for cross country and track & field.
 
Nutmeg! Show me the stats to prove me wrong!!! What percentage of boys playing soccer in SoCal, go pro (MLS, Europe)??? What percentage get more than 50% scholarship in college? The fact is it that our boys are now competing with players from Mexico, Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world to obtain scholarships in college.


Please keep in mind, I am not saying club soccer is bad, I am bashing on the expectations of parents and what some of the coaches sell to parents. My kids have been bench players in club soccer for several years, and I would do it all over again. They are now in high school and they are keeping up with the busy schedule of sports and academics. One of them is playing high school soccer and doing great against flight 1 players on his team. The other one went to another sport and he is crushing it thanks to the years of pushing himself hard to become a starter during his years of signature and club soccer. All that running in soccer, paid off for cross country and track & field.
First off that’s great for your family and your kids. Clearly you have done well by them and I hope for continued success on and off the field.
My talking points are mostly related to international level caliber players. The rec mindset does not fit these players or families thus they are often marginalized. The rec mindset of club, college etc is the problem. We agree on club Soccer parents expectations. But my assertion is that those expectations of MOST parents and the coaches, clubs and federation that sell them is recreational in nature. It’s marketed toward the masses. The dream to be sold is college not pro. Yes even bench players can and do play in college. The reason so few are able to make it in Europe (other than passport and FIFA articles on player movement) is our players are mostly inferior at an international level ages 14-19. College soccer on the boys side is a wasteland of talent and a path to nowhere but maybe an mls open tryout and low tier contract with no hopes of playing internationally. If there exsisted enough college quality boys from club soccer than colleges would not seek out foreign players. However that is not the case. And more international players value an American education. And those college coaches recognize their abilities are often times superior to domestic players. On the girls side it is marginally better but provides a better short term financial benefit than playing for free in the NWSL. College is a 3 months season and if you are a male and intending to play in it than that’s fantastic for you. But college soccer is simply an extension of club Soccer on the boys side. The limited scholarship money is more an NCAA issue than anything as coaches will chop up money in most sports. As far as stats I have some but it’s on a national level not SoCal level. There are players with Passports lucky enough to be training overseas some make it some don’t. It’s hard to provide the proper context for how different it is overseas.
 
I'm going to tell you a secret.

I could care less about the score or what the "team" does. It's really only about my kid developing and doing their thing on the field.

If the coach is a nuckel head and can't create a competitive environment at practice and at least share some knowledge about the game to my kids, I'm out.

Most intelligent parents here will agree a clubs record means nothing because top players are discovered regardless.
 
Soccer Moms Rule!
No disrespect intended. When the game reaches a higher level, Little Jane or Johnny need to be able to step it up beyond what is comfortable for us parents who want it close, convenient and safe.
 
I'm going to tell you a secret.

I could care less about the score or what the "team" does. It's really only about my kid developing and doing their thing on the field.

If the coach is a nuckel head and can't create a competitive environment at practice and at least share some knowledge about the game to my kids, I'm out.

Most intelligent parents here will agree a clubs record means nothing because top players are discovered regardless.
So well said. Exactly the point of my post. Don’t expect the coach or club or team to care about making it competitive or worthwhile or anything close to what quality is.
 
Actually most coaches regress development and suck all the fun out the sport.

Except maybe for their high esteemed athletes that grow to be nothing more than that, athletes.
 
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