Switching clubs next year questions...

It's August. She's discussing how her kid will be leaving. That's not very loyal to the team.
She's shown loyalty to her daughter, commitment to her daughter's best interests. Good soccer mom. Period.
 
That's a lot of tournament money spent at this age. I'd wonder about that, too.
I thought the same thing. If the players aren't showing up and the ones who are aren't very good, why spend the money/travel on 6 tournaments?
Play some friendlies. Even a few per day if you must.
 
Lancer they were actually champions of their last tournament. But I think they just played in the entirely wrong flight. Has nothing to do with it. Winning/losing. There is no development, no camaraderie, inconsistent coaching, rules etc. I don't take pleasure in watching kids blow out other teams bc they aren't playing where they should be. They haven't developed several things playing back to keeper, crossing effectively, passing down field. It's definitely the stronger, bigger, faster girls running down the side and taking shots on the goal until one goes in. Defense kicking the ball out of bounds as soon as there is pressure. No working on getting out of tight passes, communication on the field. All these things I think of as development. I wonder if it's just in the soccer world where parents think the worst of each other? You don't know me at all, I asked for advice and I've been told I'm disloyal, only focus on winning etc, etc.
 
Of course I don't know you. However, I have been a team manager for more years than I'd like to admit. When our teams have a winning season we have to turn talented players away, but finish at the bottom of a bracket and parents start looking for a better fit.
 
Lancer they were actually champions of their last tournament. But I think they just played in the entirely wrong flight. Has nothing to do with it. Winning/losing. There is no development, no camaraderie, inconsistent coaching, rules etc. I don't take pleasure in watching kids blow out other teams bc they aren't playing where they should be. They haven't developed several things playing back to keeper, crossing effectively, passing down field. It's definitely the stronger, bigger, faster girls running down the side and taking shots on the goal until one goes in. Defense kicking the ball out of bounds as soon as there is pressure. No working on getting out of tight passes, communication on the field. All these things I think of as development. I wonder if it's just in the soccer world where parents think the worst of each other? You don't know me at all, I asked for advice and I've been told I'm disloyal, only focus on winning etc, etc.

Good insight on what you are not happy with. Many of the things you mention should be starting to happen at this age group. But it takes discipline, practice, teammate trust and skill to do it.
1. Playing back to the keeper - Is your keeper competent? Does she communicate? How's' her first touch with her feet?
2. Crossing effectively - Are they not crossing at all? Are they crossing and nobody is there to receive it? Are they shanking it out of bounds when they try?
3. Passing downfield - How are they scoring/winning tournaments if they aren't passing forward?
4. Kicking it out of bounds - Bad habits are hard to break. This one is something that lots of u-little coaches teach (because it is effective at stopping an attack). "When in doubt, kick it out" is something that many 8-9 year olds have heard repeatedly. It's crap coaching, but it's out there. My assistant wanted us to donk it out of bounds at the smallest sign of trouble. We disagreed. He's not with me anymore (not because of this).
5. Communication - one of the easiest things for a kid to do (they all know how to talk and it doesn't matter if they can sprint fast, smash a ball or dribble through 5 defenders. They can all talk). But for some reason, it's hard to get the girls to do it all the time. I think with girls it's even harder. They don't want to be seen as "bossy" or as ball hogs. Have them go and watch a girls college soccer game. They are constantly talking on the field.

Now - If your team has several girls who are new to the big field (I think your daughter is an 05, right?), there is some time to adjust. And if many of them are weaker players, hopefully your coach is trying to work on technical aspects of the game. If you have kids who are toe poking the ball and can't do a sole roll at pace, there's really no sense in trying to spend an entire practice working to get them to pass the ball backwards to a keeper. If they receive a ball incorrectly (too big of a touch, too small of a touch, skipping it up in the air), they need to work on the technical aspect of passing and receiving before they can fully work on combination play, switching the field, etc. Or if on defense they all want to dive in, there's no sense in trying to get them to play out of the back if they don't understand "pressure, cover, balance" concepts.

And if you have a 15 player roster, but haven't had all 15 together at practices all summer, the kids who aren't aware of what the coach "might" be trying to teach will fall back to their old habits. If little Suzie is playing right back and hasn't been at practice in 5 weeks, telling her to kick it out of bounds when she is in trouble isn't the worst advice (it's not great advice, but it's better than Suzie flubbing it, costing her team a few goals and crushing her confidence).
 
It's August. She's discussing how her kid will be leaving. That's not very loyal to the team.
Sped, you know a thing or 2 about changing clubs. Maybe instead of judging her for seeking out advise, you could do something constructive and share in your experience....offer some advice....be helpful.
 
People talk about loyalty to a team, so the question is should that go both ways? If you are made promises when you sign up and they don't materialize, what should you do?

Lets say you are told 15 max on a team and all kids play and you end up with 18 and 6 ride the bench? Your promised certain training, but it doesn't happen? What recourse do you have? What should you do for your kid? I"m thankful I"m not in this situation, but I imagine many are, and to lose a whole season would seem to be a terrible thing if your son or daughter were truly unhappy.
 
People talk about loyalty to a team, so the question is should that go both ways? If you are made promises when you sign up and they don't materialize, what should you do?

Lets say you are told 15 max on a team and all kids play and you end up with 18 and 6 ride the bench? Your promised certain training, but it doesn't happen? What recourse do you have? What should you do for your kid? I"m thankful I"m not in this situation, but I imagine many are, and to lose a whole season would seem to be a terrible thing if your son or daughter were truly unhappy.
There's a full spring and summer to feel that stuff out and split if you were lied to.
 
So asking questions on a discussion forum about leaving her team next year is being dis-loyal to her team?
oh my. Her complaint was that other parents weren't loyal to the team and here she is talking about how her kid is leaving next year and asking how soon she can start contacting other teams. I think the word I'm looking for is hypocrite.
 
oh my. Her complaint was that other parents weren't loyal to the team and here she is talking about how her kid is leaving next year and asking how soon she can start contacting other teams. I think the word I'm looking for is hypocrite.

I did see her mention:
Her coach is a good guy, he's not in the best situation with a handful of parents that have zero commitment to the team. One girl we haven't seen in over a month, then we have a handful that ride the coach to play their kids in that one position that they favor and another handful that won't run after a ball unless it rolls right to their feet.

...not sure how that makes her a hypocrite because she is seeking information about changing clubs.

So Sped, what is the proper protocol for discussing leaving a team on a discussion board?
 
There's a full spring and summer to feel that stuff out and split if you were lied to.
So up until August 1 you can switch clubs? Thus play with the club for a few months and make a decision? When is the earliest that you could leave a club once signed after August 1? Once again not interested in doing any of this, just wondering what the rules of these things are.
 
So up until August 1 you can switch clubs? Thus play with the club for a few months and make a decision? When is the earliest that you could leave a club once signed after August 1? Once again not interested in doing any of this, just wondering what the rules of these things are.
the day after the league season ends, I guess. But at that point, not sure what the benefit is to just sticking with it another month or so and then doing tryouts like everyone else.
 
I did see her mention:


...not sure how that makes her a hypocrite because she is seeking information about changing clubs.

So Sped, what is the proper protocol for discussing leaving a team on a discussion board?
Wait until the league season is over, ask who's taking new players in for practices in advance of tryouts. Until then, what's the point? I fail to see how it's anything but hypocritical to complain about parent loyalty when you're on a board discussing next year's move in August.
 
I think this thread is also a good reminder to make sure that your kid is on a team that is at the right level. If your kid is a superstar on a Flight 3 team (not saying this is the case with the OP), then they may get frustrated with players that aren't as advanced. Kinda like having a 3rd grader that reads at a 7th grade level reading books for 3rd graders. They get bored and can't understand why the rest of the kids are on page 7 when your kid has finished the book.
 
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