Here's an update on the club situation for my son. The coaches want to take this group (named "Dominators") to the next level and turn the rec league all stars into a travel team. Note that the "club" is actually 2 teams, birth year 2013 and 2014. I'm going to post the email that was sent out. The full google doc I won't link.
My wife is not best pleased about this, as she never wanted to be involved in any travel team for any kid sport, ever. I'd like to give my son the opportunity to develop and build strong friendships around his preferred sport.
I think what you posted sounds very reasonable a next step to see if that is what he wants his focus to be. While it is travel it isn't a crazy amount. Honestly where we live our kids naturally moved to a league like you described starting at U9 if they wanted to continue to play because there was no true "rec" league unless you wanted to also drive 30 minutes to a program in a bigger area. Practice schedule is reasonable to still allow for other things in his life but still enough to weed out those that aren't really interested.
The only thing I would disagree with at all is the every kid playing goalie. So the 2013's are U11, usually by then kids know if they have an interest in being a keeper and the mentality. Not saying it hurts in practice or a blow out game to try some other kids or if a kid says hey I'd like to try it sure give him a shot. But it takes a special type of person to be able to shake off giving up a goal and to be vocal back there. I wouldn't force kids to do on some sort of planned rotation. Let the kids that have a interest in it develop, it will make the team better and everyone else better.
Best of luck with the wife. Mine was always supportive of any time my son moved to a higher level but also apprehensive of the travel, time and costs but as that became his circle of friends and thus the parents ours as well it became normal. She says now that when he heads to college after next year she's not sure what we will do and when will we see this person and that.
Swamp is on point on many fronts. By U11, kids should be dialed in to one or two positions, and likely a striker/winger, winger/midfielder, midfielder/defender, and goalie/X position combo. And this doesn't sound like a travel team really, at least for the Bay Area. My son plays competition soccer (as opposed to rec) and we travel up to an hour for games and 90 minutes for tournaments. The true Bay Area travel teams are getting on planes to go to Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix. Maybe if the team never called it a travel team, your wife would have been more amenable? "Travel team" sounds stressful and expensive.
Yea "Travel" means many different things depending on the area and even to different people in the area. The best way to tell what you are getting in for is the sanction/association of the league. There is a fairly clear pyramid at the top but it gets muddy as you go down an may vary state by state there. I'll lay it out on the boys side because that is what I know, girls is slightly different.
1. MLS Next
2. ECNL and National Academy League (east coast only, associated with MLS Next)
3. ECNL-Regional League and USYS Conference Play (run by 3rd party, EDP for North Atlantic; New England; Mid Atlantic and South Atlantic Conferences)
4. US Club Soccer Associated Leagues
5. USYS Affiliate Leagues and Independent Leagues
MLS Next is national and travel from coast to coast, kids are also not allowed to play high school soccer unless a requirement of a private school they attend.
ECNL has national playoffs and national showcases, league play is regional but still multiple states. My son plays on an ECNL team and we are in PA, our league this year consists of PA, MD, DE, NJ but has in the past included MA, CT, NY, RI. We just did a showcase in SC and have done VA, SC and FL in the past. National Academy League is new this year, MLS has forbid associated clubs from also having ECNL teams so on the East Coast this was started as a place for them to move those teams to if they had them. I don't know much about its structure.
ECNL-RL divisions are pretty much the same as the ECNL but their showcases are regional and playoffs are regional as well. USYS Conference Play leagues have their winners qualify to their regional tournaments along with State Cup winners for a chance to qualify for USYS Nationals.
US Club Soccer Leagues (
@The Z Machine this is what the CMSA league is) leagues can vary but some leagues will qualify teams to US Club Soccer's playoff path which eventually can lead to a national tournament.
Finally you have your independent leagues and those associated with USYS for things like rules, tournaments and player id cards but are not part of the national playoff structure.
MLS Next and ECNL the entire club needs to be affiliated and compete at that level at each age group in order to be part of it. USYS Conference play and US Club Soccer Leagues usually the whole club is associated but you might have one or two age groups playing at the top level and others at a lower level.
My son has played at everyone of them except MLS Next, our local youth club with dad coaches that he played U9 to U12 with was part of a local league, travel was our county and a couple neighboring counties. U13 he played for a USYS associated club but was on the B team so they played in an associated USYS league, travel was all PA but up to an hour and a half. U14 and U15 he played for a club that played independent league one year and USYS EDP the second year. U15 he also dual rostered with his current club and they played in both US Club League and USYS Conference. They qualified for the US Club Eastern Regional, so league play was all PA and NJ within 2 hours but the Regional was in SC and they came up one game short of qualifying for the final 4 in CO. U16 they played ECNL and USYS Conference, qualified for USYS Regionals in WV. That was the year the ECNL conference included New England so I think we determined he played in 10 states from FL to MA that year. U17 they played ECNL and USYS Conference, qualified for USYS Regionals again and made the semi-finals just short of making Nationals. This year because it is U18/U19 his 06 team is focused on ECNL only and making the playoffs there, they have a separate 05 team doing USYS although they are all duel rostered so they can move a player if needed to fill in. We have done showcases in SC and NJ already and league play will be PA, NJ, MD and the goal is the ECNL playoffs in CA.
So all are "travel" teams but what that entails is very different.