Thoughts on split team practices

B

Bluemen

BRONZE
Hello All
I had a question and needed some thoughts and opinions.
My Child got offered a spot to join a newly formed ECNL team for 20/21 The team will consist of players from a combination of 3 teams. A DA team, an ECNL team and an ECRL team.
The practices will be split with 1/2 of the players practicing with the Head Coach in the Pasadena area and the other half with an assistant coach in Irvine. Eventually the two teams will come together on the weekends to form a full team for league, tournaments, and scrimmages.
Before I fully commit I want to hear from others. Do you foresee this working out? Pros and Cons? Has anybody’s child ever played on a team with split practices, if so how did it work out?
 
Sounds like a recipe for disaster....a “team” should train together, no way this doesn’t end badly from the info given.....I’d look for something more stable for my kid unless they absolutely must play ecnl as it is their junior year for recruitment
 
That doesn’t sound like a good idea. What age group?
If playing 11v11, a good portion of your team practices should be focused on your game model/style of play.
A split practice like that with a group of players that are super athletic might win some games- but the soccer might not look so good.
Team bonding at most ages (especially for female players) can also have a big impact on long term player happiness and development.
I could be wrong. Maybe you’ll have the perfect mix of coaches and players.
 
Keepers a big problem. Which location is the keeper at? If there are 2, one at each location? Otherwise 1/2 the team shooting at an empty net, while the other is getting pressure (including 1 v 1s) from the keeper. If 2, are both of them equivalent? The keeper needs to have the defensive lineup with him/her so that they can figure out how to start distribution and how to cover against a shot, cross, or corner as well...if there are 2 keepers, are the back 4 and keepers going to operate as a unit, with 1 unit playing sometimes, and another another time. Who is deciding on play time?....the ones with the head coach will have the advantage of his seeing their development day to day and getting the feedback. If your kid is an offensive player, it's important to get to know the teammates and style of play too, but if your kid is in the back 5 it's absolutely essentially to play as a unit.
 
Bluemen said:
Hello All
I had a question and needed some thoughts and opinions.
My Child got offered a spot to join a newly formed ECNL team for 20/21 The team will consist of players from a combination of 3 teams. A DA team, an ECNL team and an ECRL team.
The practices will be split with 1/2 of the players practicing with the Head Coach in the Pasadena area and the other half with an assistant coach in Irvine. Eventually the two teams will come together on the weekends to form a full team for league, tournaments, and scrimmages.
Before I fully commit I want to hear from others. Do you foresee this working out? Pros and Cons? Has anybody’s child ever played on a team with split practices, if so how did it work out?
Click to expand...
This will NEVER work.....still cant believe these guys are selling this S...
 
In Houston (big spread out city with hour plus commutes across town) the Dash had two training locations for DA and DPL teams, one on the North and one on the South side of town.

Players went to the closest location two nights a week for non-team training (one night of fitness and finishing and one night of technical and ball mastery work), and then one night there was team training up north and one night team training down south. So players had four nights of training but only had one night per week where they had to make a long commute.

That is doable for most families and worked quite well.

I can't imagine what you are describing will work out nearly as well as the coaches are hoping. Teams need to be together in order to grow tactically.
 
This sounds like the pitch LA Soccer Club and Strikers ECNL is making....

Will be interesting to see if it works.
 
Bluemen said:
Hello All
I had a question and needed some thoughts and opinions.
My Child got offered a spot to join a newly formed ECNL team for 20/21 The team will consist of players from a combination of 3 teams. A DA team, an ECNL team and an ECRL team.
The practices will be split with 1/2 of the players practicing with the Head Coach in the Pasadena area and the other half with an assistant coach in Irvine. Eventually the two teams will come together on the weekends to form a full team for league, tournaments, and scrimmages.
Before I fully commit I want to hear from others. Do you foresee this working out? Pros and Cons? Has anybody’s child ever played on a team with split practices, if so how did it work out?
Click to expand...
Is it split based on location? IE kids around Pasadena go to one practice and the others around Irvine go to that practice? Or do you have kids from around Irvine doing practice in Pasadena for example?

So split by location? Or are they putting the "best" kids in one practice and the rest in the other. If by location it is not ideal, but doable. If they are splitting by perceived player ranking I would have to think about it.

What is their justification for the split?
 
Oh and I’m willing to bet that at some point along the way they say “sorry, we need to combine practices”. Everyone is going to to Pasadena or Irvine.
A few possible reasons why this might happen:
1. Coaching (either a coach will leave or they’ll decide it’s not a good idea after getting blown out in a game).
2. A parent will complain. Either due to playing time (“that girl from Irvine isn’t very good. Why did she play more than my kid). Or after getting blown out.
3. A few kids from either group will leave or get hurt. “We are moving all practices to Pasadena this week since we only have 4 players for Irvine“.
 
My rumor mill is saying that all the ECNL socal teams need some find tuning. What I mean is this. I believe ECNL will play this fall and maybe a little showcase before to close out the worst times in most of our lives and kickoff the new American Way. All the teams had players on it that have changed their mind sets. Here's what I see going down. Soccer Guru, ignore this prediction from me. Many girls have quit from the old teams. That's a fact jack. Some girls parents don;t want to travel anymore. Some girls have boyfriends and want to play regionally. Some girls aren;t so sure what they want. If i were a coach for the new U17 team and colleges waiting to offer scholarships to them, I would just have a pool of 30 or so 04s and separate them from ECNL commitment and local commitment. Both players could be equally as good but has other hobbies or sports and don;t want all the travel. You will also have some players who want a little of both. I see my dd in this category. So maybe have 11 girls on each ECNL and ENRL teams and then another 10 or so who are dual threats. Meaning they can play on both teams. I like that.
 
06 players, and yes most are very athletic, not sure about the other 1/2 of the team. Rumor has it that better part of the other 1/2 left to another team. Maybe they weren’t happy with the split practices. I guess the more I type lm realizing this might not be the best for my child. G
timbuck said:
That doesn’t sound like a good idea. What age group?
If playing 11v11, a good portion of your team practices should be focused on your game model/style of play.
A split practice like that with a group of players that are super athletic might win some games- but the soccer might not look so good.
Team bonding at most ages (especially for female players) can also have a big impact on long term player happiness and development.
I could be wrong. Maybe you’ll have the perfect mix of coaches and players.
Click to expand...
The age group as of next year will be U15.
 
Bluemen said:
Hello All
I had a question and needed some thoughts and opinions.
My Child got offered a spot to join a newly formed ECNL team for 20/21 The team will consist of players from a combination of 3 teams. A DA team, an ECNL team and an ECRL team.
The practices will be split with 1/2 of the players practicing with the Head Coach in the Pasadena area and the other half with an assistant coach in Irvine. Eventually the two teams will come together on the weekends to form a full team for league, tournaments, and scrimmages.
Before I fully commit I want to hear from others. Do you foresee this working out? Pros and Cons? Has anybody’s child ever played on a team with split practices, if so how did it work out?
Click to expand...
I can't believe that a club actually think it can sell this BS.
 
Eagle33 said:
I can't believe that a club actually think it can sell this BS.
Click to expand...
Especially since you'd think (based on what we all hear) that there should be a line of players begging to join an ECNL team. The club could probably field a full team in Pasadena and another full team in OC.
 
Bluemen said:
Hello All
I had a question and needed some thoughts and opinions.
My Child got offered a spot to join a newly formed ECNL team for 20/21 The team will consist of players from a combination of 3 teams. A DA team, an ECNL team and an ECRL team.
The practices will be split with 1/2 of the players practicing with the Head Coach in the Pasadena area and the other half with an assistant coach in Irvine. Eventually the two teams will come together on the weekends to form a full team for league, tournaments, and scrimmages.
Before I fully commit I want to hear from others. Do you foresee this working out? Pros and Cons? Has anybody’s child ever played on a team with split practices, if so how did it work out?
Click to expand...

This is a bad idea unless all the top players are at one of the practices and your DD is at that one. You will get the most development in practice by going against some of the toughest competition you can. "Toughest competiton" is different for every player so make sure you put her in an environment that is challenging but not impossible, when it becomes impossible you realize your DD is that paycheck player for the coach. Games can teach mental toughness, adjusting on the fly, etc. But battling against teammates 2-3 times a week will push the player further in their individual abilities. Team bonding is also important so not having the full team will be tough, it doesn't sound like a good situation and I would try to look around for something better. My two cents, best of luck and hope everything works out for you and your DD.
 
Bluemen said:
06 players, and yes most are very athletic, not sure about the other 1/2 of the team. Rumor has it that better part of the other 1/2 left to another team. Maybe they weren’t happy with the split practices. I guess the more I type lm realizing this might not be the best for my child. G

The age group as of next year will be U15.
Click to expand...
I imagine they would have no problems filling an entire team either in Pasadena or in OC given the number of DA/ECNL teams in SW division just went from 26 to 14. When someone offers a kludge like this, it usually means they're trying to work out some problem temporarily and something will change again.

Figure out what problem they're trying to address or whom they're trying to accommodate, then you can decide accordingly (for example. if the entire team is likely to move to Pasadena next year, is that good or bad for you?)
 
We all may be faced with a similar scenario for the foreseeable future regardless of the club. Most plans that have been floated to county and state officials include the caveat of less than 12 players on the field at one time with no rotation of players permitted.
 
Threeyardsback said:
We all may be faced with a similar scenario for the foreseeable future regardless of the club. Most plans that have been floated to county and state officials include the caveat of less than 12 players on the field at one time with no rotation of players permitted.
Click to expand...
I've seen those proposals as well (SD County), because 12 is a lot safer than 15, WTF. I suspect that cutoff will be ignored or worked around after a couple practices, as well it should. File this one under better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
 
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