El Floppo
Footballguy
people will mention "Manhattan" or NYC facilities.... that's about it. there's something called Pier 40 down by me on the Hudson- outdoor soccer and limited baseball on a pier.
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Youth Soccer - Questions, Discussion and Stories (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SwampDawg
- Start date
Two games for my daughter since my last update in here.
Playing without any subs in a league game, we dominated - final score was 4-1, but could have easily been 7-1 or 8-1.
Next game was State Cup quarterfinal (I think this is not the top level of state cup) AND counted as our league game against the same team. Playing with no subs again, we were up 1-0 with about 5 minutes left, but it definitely felt like the wheels were coming off. My daughter cramped up badly and limping around the field, another girl had a minor sprained ankle and came back in. Other team score a tying goal on a really good long shot, and then with one minute left, our goalie (who is pretty solid, but not our regular goalie or regular member of our team) kicked the ball right to an opponent who buried it in the corner. Really painful loss, particularly because this was one of the most obnoxious teams we've played - arguing every call with the refs, laughing when our players got hurt and even arguing with each other when we scored.
Playing without any subs in a league game, we dominated - final score was 4-1, but could have easily been 7-1 or 8-1.
Next game was State Cup quarterfinal (I think this is not the top level of state cup) AND counted as our league game against the same team. Playing with no subs again, we were up 1-0 with about 5 minutes left, but it definitely felt like the wheels were coming off. My daughter cramped up badly and limping around the field, another girl had a minor sprained ankle and came back in. Other team score a tying goal on a really good long shot, and then with one minute left, our goalie (who is pretty solid, but not our regular goalie or regular member of our team) kicked the ball right to an opponent who buried it in the corner. Really painful loss, particularly because this was one of the most obnoxious teams we've played - arguing every call with the refs, laughing when our players got hurt and even arguing with each other when we scored.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Wife is not on board with the time commitment for this club soccer thing... thinks we are going to get sucked in and give up all our free time.
For those of you with multiple children and only one plays club, how do you handle it?
For those of you with multiple children and only one plays club, how do you handle it?
Divide and conquer and build up a good network of friends on the teams to help with carpooling for practices/games. We have 3 boys, all 3 in multiple sports with varying levels of commitment from high level club soccer/basketball (now high school sports as well) to rec sports. As much as possible, we try make sure one of us can be at every one of our kids games, but on those weekends when all 3 have games at the same times, it's divide, conquer and sometimes my mother in law or an aunt/uncle will make the effort to get to a game. If that can't happen, we have other parents give us updates.
I forget the age of your kids, but at some point, if they are a competitive kid, athletic or have a desire to compete at the high school or higher level, you do need to up the competition level for them. Being the big fish in a small pond is all well and good, but if they don't experience the big pond at some point, it's a huge shock when they are forced to at the high school level.
Regarding the "free time" thing, that's really something to figure out between you and your wife, but what is the definition of "free time" for your family. If being able to pick up and take off for a weekend on a whim is a high priority, than any type of sport (or any other activity) is going to cause issue with that. If it's being able to lounge around the house instead of having to be at an 8AM game, then it's a prioritization thing. For me (and my wife) personally, while we of course enjoy the occasional lazy weekend, we much prefer enjoying the fun our kids have in their sports and the challenge they have with increasing levels of competition.
E2A: For that U10 team, what is the practice schedule and game commitment. I'm assuming it'll include a few summer tournaments, probably 2 practices/week, maybe an extra training session, and then league once that starts (Sept-November for that age in Southern California). If it's close to that, that's really not a major time commitment compared to what you face when they are older.. but at the same time, at that young of an age there is no need to rush into "club" just to be able to say you play club, but, if your son is the type that is competitive and wants to push himself to make the higher level teams, and the club you tried out for has decent coaching, then it may be the right choice for your son/family.
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PIK95
Footballguy
We got sucked in and gave up all our free time.
I went to NY from RI two days in a row, while my wife and daughter were at our beach both days. Im typing this up from a McDonald's in Ct. as a matter of fact. New Hampshire tournament next. Ima be divorced if this keeps up.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
PIK95
Footballguy
SwampDawg
Footballguy
@acarey50 said it about as good as I could. It really depends what you want, what the kids want and you need to be in agreement. My son played on the local town travel team until U13. At that time he was still playing baseball as well in the spring and our older son baseball spring and fall as well. We would divide and conquer but everything was within 45 minutes of home. U13 and U14 he moved up to a little more serious travel team, practices were 30 minutes away and travel was up to an hour and a half. But he gave up baseball and played soccer fall/spring and basketball in the winter. U13 year was still divide and conquer but by U14 my older son had his license and could drive to his rec baseball practices. One of us always took him to away games still and while he might go down to warm up for home games one of always got there. Last spring is when things got serious but by then my older son was done with playing baseball. I am at 99% of his games and practices, my wife usually tries to make most of the home games, we all went to Florida in January but mostly it is him and I for away games especially if they require an overnight.
Before we had the kids we would take off to the shore with friends on a whim, their kids were the age ours are now but weren't into sports or other activities so they would go along or be ok at home for a weekend. I golfed at least weekly. That doesn't happen now but I wouldn't trade it. Our weekend trips to away games are fun, he loves it and by next summer he can drive himself to practices and I can get back to golfing at least one night a week.
At U10 as was said I'm guessing you are talking two practices a week, if it is their third team likely games are going to be within an hour to hour and a half and a few tournaments but I doubt much if any overnight stays, but ask to be sure. My son was lucky while he played on the local travel team he had a great coach who knew what he was doing and a great core to the team so they grew every year. If you have that then a big club isn't needed yet. But the longer you wait to get in and if they don't have that solid coaching locally it gets harder to break in.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
We decided on one more year of rec league soccer for my son plus some additional training camps for the fall through the club where he made the team. His twin sister will also likely play girls only rec in the same league in the fall too. This way we don't have to split up stuff on the weekend and get to spend more time as a family. We weren't ready to commit to being a club soccer family just yet.
Will my son progress as fast as he would if he were playing club? No, but this isn't about maximizing his soccer potential. It's about what's right for the family as a whole.
The bigger question will be what do we do about the winter and spring? Do any clubs add players during those seasons?
Will my son progress as fast as he would if he were playing club? No, but this isn't about maximizing his soccer potential. It's about what's right for the family as a whole.
The bigger question will be what do we do about the winter and spring? Do any clubs add players during those seasons?
PIK95
Footballguy
SwampDawg
Footballguy
Sounds like a smart move for you guys, he's young yet and let him get a little more experience with the camps to see if that is what he really wants. Plus if that is the same club running them he will continue to be in front of them and on their radar. For winter as @PIK95 said futsal is great for building skills. Or find some indoor leagues and ask them if they know of teams that need and extra player or two for a winter league. If he is still interested after the camps and winter stuff I'd reach out to the coach/manager of the team that they wanted him for in maybe late February and they might let him train with them in the spring if he is going to try out and who knows if a kid quits or gets hurt they could even have an opening. My sons team will bring kids in all the time to train so the coaches can see them in more then just a tryout setting.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
Finished out our spring regular season over the weekend with a trip to Massachusetts and Rhode Island with the boys picking up a pair of wins. Overall really happy with the way they have come together as a team. Since January 1st: 23 wins, 6 losses, 3 draws, 72 goals scored, 30 goals allowed with 14 shutouts.
Looking forward to two and a half weeks at home and no practices for 10 days to give the boys some recovery although i am sure he will want to go to the high school summer league game next week.
- Won the PA State Cup
- EDP Academy Mid Atlantic U16 went 6 wins and 1 loss with 6 shutouts. Only loss was to the NJ State Cup winner NJ Premier who went 6-0-1
- ECNL Northeast U16 went 7 wins, 7 losses, 2 draws (3 games were last fall so not in my spring totals) to finish mid-pack our first year in ECNL
- Went 3 wins, 1 loss, 2 draws in two ECNL National showcases
- Went 3 wins 0 losses in our other regional showcase we did.
- Next stop USYS Eastern Regionals in West Virginia the end of June.
Looking forward to two and a half weeks at home and no practices for 10 days to give the boys some recovery although i am sure he will want to go to the high school summer league game next week.
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SwampDawg
Footballguy
@PIK95 damn just realized we were playing you guys yesterday. Well technically my son played in the game right before yours would have played since he's an 06 but you were probably there at the end of our game to warm up. Wish I would have thought of that and said hello. How did the 05 game go? We split for home pretty much as soon as our game got over.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
My son's team lost the Championship game. The only game they lost all season. 0-2 previously ended with a tie with that same team played earlier.
The other team had.... I hate to call it lucky but.... a kick early on that was pretty far out and had a beautiful perfect arch right over the goalie and just under the bar. It was a kick that I haven't seen from this age group all season from anyone and I don't think it was even meant to be a shot on goal attempt.
The second goal was on a penalty kick which I think was highly questionable.
But both are part of the game and that is how it goes.
On our side of things, our top player seemed to not have his best stuff. It was the only game he has been shut out on having scored multiple goals in all of the other games.
We were the top seed and the favorites but that is why you play the game.
The kids took it pretty well and my son said "At least we got to the Championship" and "Even though we lost, it was a good season." which I love to hear. I purposefully didn't say much as I wanted to hear what he thought and how he would react without me leading him on it. I actually expected him to take it harder but he responded well.
The school has 4 of their teams in the Championship. Only one of them won (the girls 5-6 grade team). My nephew (7-8 grade) was in their Championship game and lost as well. The other team that lost was the girls 7-8 grade. The other team has one girl who played goalie and was a very good player. She stopped everything and then they went into a shootout at the end, she had some great stops and then also kicked and scored. My guess is she will be playing varsity soccer for a HS team next year.
The other team had.... I hate to call it lucky but.... a kick early on that was pretty far out and had a beautiful perfect arch right over the goalie and just under the bar. It was a kick that I haven't seen from this age group all season from anyone and I don't think it was even meant to be a shot on goal attempt.
The second goal was on a penalty kick which I think was highly questionable.
But both are part of the game and that is how it goes.
On our side of things, our top player seemed to not have his best stuff. It was the only game he has been shut out on having scored multiple goals in all of the other games.
We were the top seed and the favorites but that is why you play the game.
The kids took it pretty well and my son said "At least we got to the Championship" and "Even though we lost, it was a good season." which I love to hear. I purposefully didn't say much as I wanted to hear what he thought and how he would react without me leading him on it. I actually expected him to take it harder but he responded well.
The school has 4 of their teams in the Championship. Only one of them won (the girls 5-6 grade team). My nephew (7-8 grade) was in their Championship game and lost as well. The other team that lost was the girls 7-8 grade. The other team has one girl who played goalie and was a very good player. She stopped everything and then they went into a shootout at the end, she had some great stops and then also kicked and scored. My guess is she will be playing varsity soccer for a HS team next year.
PIK95
Footballguy
My son was relagated to the second team this weekend. So we were in CT both Saturday and Sunday. It was an AWFUL season for that group. We played three games with only ten men, and had no subs for most. This weekend we were down 1-0 at the half, and lost that game 8-0. Lost the other 10-0 with only nine men.
I am proud of my son for not missing any games on a winless team. He got screwed BECAUSE he aways showed up. They just left him there most weeks so they wouldn't forfeit. We usually would drive other kids that needed rides to games also. In retrospect, I should have realized we were being played by his coach much earlier.
Next year isn't looking much better for him with that club. Because he didn't want to try out for the MLS Next and miss high school, he may end up with no team available next season.
The good news is futsal starts again in a week, and high school captains practices will be soon after. He is the best player on the high school team and is the beat candidate for captain. But you know how those things go.
So yeah, frustrating last two months with club. No good deed...
SwampDawg
Footballguy
So last Saturday my son (U16) ended up playing up on the U18/19 team later in the evening after his game. It was a big graduation weekend in our area and they were short kids that couldn't make the trip. He even actually started because they didn't have any of their outside backs. While they lost 1-0 they were playing the first place team so it was a good result. Found out yesterday the one kid he was on a good part of the game was a high school All American last year (United Soccer Coaches and prepsoccer.com) and committed to play D1 next year. He gave up two shots but only one was on goal and an easy save for the keeper so pretty proud of his play against a kid that talented and 3 years older.
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Lehigh98
Footballguy
Sorry for no check-ins / updates through the season, it's been an odd one for us. My 2008's season was pretty uneventful. Started off getting blown out by three teams in a season-opening tourney so we were all worried about the season. League games were pretty even though but were shifted all over the place due to weather and travel issues for teams from other states and we never ended up playing a few of them. Ended up with the PA Classics B level tourney a couple weekends ago and won that won pretty comfortably but my son was a little unfocused / struggling probably somewhat due to some family issues (death of grandfather / my FIL).
Anyway, he's still interested in trying out for high school soccer as a freshman next year. Problem is there are 2800+ kids at our high school and only JV and Varsity with no freshman team, so won't be easy. He's got about two months before tryouts and I'm trying to keep him sharp and in shape without burning him out. The HS has already been running strength and conditioning sessions 3x a week through one of the two big local health networks and incoming freshman are invited. Evidently they will have some turf time soon too where the kids can get some actual play in. His club is also running summer "mini-camps" 2x per week with strength and conditioning with the other big local health network but also with some ball work and scrimmages, etc. Lastly, my older son (who switched from soccer to track) is working with a great personal trainer who actually focuses on improving the kids vs just running them through the same contracted exercises like the health networks so I'm starting my younger son with him 1x a week. So he could be working out 6-7x a week but I'm shooting for hitting each once per week (3 total) and if he decides to do more he can (which I doubt he will). Not to mention I need to get him out in the backyard more to work on his weaker left foot too.
In other news, we both went and did our field session last night to finish our referee certification and are now official officials. My older son got certified two years ago when he turned 14. We're all going to be working the PA Classics Mid-Atlantic Cup this upcoming weekend along with a growing ref group of friends from our area, I think we're up to 13 of us working 4 fields that day as centers and us newbies primarily as ARs. So if you've got any U12 or U11 boys or girls playing there this weekend, I apologize in advance for the blown calls!
Anyway, he's still interested in trying out for high school soccer as a freshman next year. Problem is there are 2800+ kids at our high school and only JV and Varsity with no freshman team, so won't be easy. He's got about two months before tryouts and I'm trying to keep him sharp and in shape without burning him out. The HS has already been running strength and conditioning sessions 3x a week through one of the two big local health networks and incoming freshman are invited. Evidently they will have some turf time soon too where the kids can get some actual play in. His club is also running summer "mini-camps" 2x per week with strength and conditioning with the other big local health network but also with some ball work and scrimmages, etc. Lastly, my older son (who switched from soccer to track) is working with a great personal trainer who actually focuses on improving the kids vs just running them through the same contracted exercises like the health networks so I'm starting my younger son with him 1x a week. So he could be working out 6-7x a week but I'm shooting for hitting each once per week (3 total) and if he decides to do more he can (which I doubt he will). Not to mention I need to get him out in the backyard more to work on his weaker left foot too.
In other news, we both went and did our field session last night to finish our referee certification and are now official officials. My older son got certified two years ago when he turned 14. We're all going to be working the PA Classics Mid-Atlantic Cup this upcoming weekend along with a growing ref group of friends from our area, I think we're up to 13 of us working 4 fields that day as centers and us newbies primarily as ARs. So if you've got any U12 or U11 boys or girls playing there this weekend, I apologize in advance for the blown calls!
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Lehigh98
Footballguy
All in all a pretty good weekend. My older son and I had 4 games on Sat and my younger had 3, all as ARs. We were on different, but close, fields all day. My kids had one game together on the same field. On Sunday, my younger son and I had 3 games together on the same field and my older son ended up with only 2. I was on the same field both days and here were all my games, all 9v9 and a mix of U11 and U12 boys and girls.In other news, we both went and did our field session last night to finish our referee certification and are now official officials. My older son got certified two years ago when he turned 14. We're all going to be working the PA Classics Mid-Atlantic Cup this upcoming weekend along with a growing ref group of friends from our area, I think we're up to 13 of us working 4 fields that day as centers and us newbies primarily as ARs. So if you've got any U12 or U11 boys or girls playing there this weekend, I apologize in advance for the blown calls!
I started off with a U11 girls game so I thought that would be a nice slow start running the line for the first time and calling offside. My older son had complained about younger girls games he'd done where the defenders play so far back that they don't ever get close to an offside call. Not the case in this one! I guess since these was a higher level tourney. I think I raised my flag around 3 times in the first 5 mins or so. It was busy back there and I was so focused on not missing an offside call that I completely missed a ball rolling across the end line and back in (not in the goal though), oops!
It's definitely harder than it looks from the coach's box and there can be multiple things you're watching for and doing at the same time. The more games I did, the more comfortable I got and the game started to slow down a bit for me. It gets tough when you get opposing players challenging for the ball along your sideline so you have to keep your eye level low for if the ball goes out, while also watching the kids for fouls, while still keeping track of potential offside on the other side of the field and having to change eye level and look back and forth without missing anything. I was getting pretty comfortable and confident that I was making the right calls and not missing much by the end. Need to study up a bit more on the fouls and signals and maybe I'll do some centers when things start back up.
The one issue that we had that was more of a problem. Late in the first half, "Team A" was up by a goal or two. "Team B" had a free kick on my son's half of the field. Kick leads to an apparent goal after a couple of touches, I couldn't see everything clearly. Team B celebrates goal. Team A coach (who is on the half of the field where the goal was scored and probably had a pretty good angle) yells out that it absolutely had to be offside based on player positions before the kick and goal. Center ref goes over to my son and speaks with him and after the conference waves off goal as offside. (My son later said he raised his flag for offside but recognized he probably did it too quickly, not totally confident in making calls at that point. Center and I didn't see the flag and coaches and parents didn't see it either.) Correct call appears to be made, better late than never, but Team B not happy... well, the kids took it in stride but not so much the adults.
I'm on the other half of the field on the coaches side. Team B coach is upset and immediately tells me, in a calm and non-confrontational manner, that "that's not right" and "you shouldn't change a call just because the other coach called for it". I told him I could see the center and other AR had discussed the call before making the decision and I'd be talking to them at the half anyway and I'd ask about the details. I didn't have a problem with his reasonable reaction.
The problem came from the Team B parents that were across the field from me and fortunately on the other half from where my son was running the line as AR. They were very vocal about the call immediately after it was made and continued to make comments. Not long after, it was halftime and we all met up at midfield. While we were talking there were multiple parents that again started calling out to us that we were awful, the call was awful, how could you do that to their kids, you better make up some goals for us in the second half, etc, etc. (Reminder, my son is 14 and the center is a 16 yo girl) After discussing with Center and my son I told them it sounds like you guys made the right call so just ignore the parents and we'll all move on. (And my son... keep your flag up longer, which he did confidently from then on.)
This was probably a good example of how parents are driving off new (and old) referees before they really even get started. Fortunately my son has been playing for years and has seen this behavior and was able to shake it off for the most part. I was proud of how he handled it and adjusted after it happened.
So a fun weekend on a road trip and hanging around some soccer fields together with my kids, looking forward to the next one. I'd recommend it if your soccer kids are looking for jobs and I'd now I'd also recommend giving the refs a little bit more of a break as parents and coaches.
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SwampDawg
Footballguy
@Lehigh98 jumping right in the deep end doing tournaments, that always brings out the "best" in parents. My sons hoping to start doing some games as soon as their season is over and right now he only has two Saturday high school games on the schedule so he should be able to do most weekends.
Given your location do your kids go to the big school with red and white colors or geeen and yellow? It's funny that our district borders them and we are lucky to get 30 kids total to come out and they will cut 80+. If he wants playing time just send him a little west
Given your location do your kids go to the big school with red and white colors or geeen and yellow? It's funny that our district borders them and we are lucky to get 30 kids total to come out and they will cut 80+. If he wants playing time just send him a little west
Lehigh98
Footballguy
We're in East Penn so he'll be going to Emmaus. There are also a bunch of kids on his LVU club team that will be going to both Emmaus and Parkland. Should be a fun rivalry if the kids can make the teams.Given your location do your kids go to the big school with red and white colors or geeen and yellow? It's funny that our district borders them and we are lucky to get 30 kids total to come out and they will cut 80+. If he wants playing time just send him a little west
SwampDawg
Footballguy
Ok, 4 or 5 kids on my son's PAD team go to Parkland but we don't have anyone from Emmaus on our direct team, I'm sure there is at other age groups. All his teammates were JV at Parkland last year, I think a couple got called up at the end of the year to Varsity but more as training players/bench depth. Will be interesting to see this year as I think all but one of them will be juniors if they get Varsity minutes.We're in East Penn so he'll be going to Emmaus. There are also a bunch of kids on his LVU club team that will be going to both Emmaus and Parkland. Should be a fun rivalry if the kids can make the teams.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
West bound and down headed for West Virginia and the USYS Eastern Regionals tonight after work. Cashing in some hotel points and breaking the 7 1/2 hour drive up, they are training at 4pm tomorrow so would have meant leaving early, driving all day and then training. Group play Friday/Saturday/Sunday then we shall see. Drew a pretty hard group, have the New York East State Cup winner and Barca's Virginia Academy team our first two games.
Been impressed, my son started lifting with the high school team which he needed to work on upper body strength since he is on the smaller side for a defender. This week because they have been practicing in the morning I've been dropping him off at the school by 7am to lift, wife picks him up a little after 8 and drives him 45 minutes for practice 9 to 11. He likes to stay up during the summer and play video games with his buddies at night but he's been getting up putting in the work. I think he sees a few of his teammates that are 2024's (he's a 2025 graduate) got some official visit invites and calls from D1 and D2 coaches this past week and he wants to be in that spot next year when they can contact him so he's motivated.
Been impressed, my son started lifting with the high school team which he needed to work on upper body strength since he is on the smaller side for a defender. This week because they have been practicing in the morning I've been dropping him off at the school by 7am to lift, wife picks him up a little after 8 and drives him 45 minutes for practice 9 to 11. He likes to stay up during the summer and play video games with his buddies at night but he's been getting up putting in the work. I think he sees a few of his teammates that are 2024's (he's a 2025 graduate) got some official visit invites and calls from D1 and D2 coaches this past week and he wants to be in that spot next year when they can contact him so he's motivated.
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SwampDawg
Footballguy
Back from USYS Eastern Regionals and that is a wrap on the club season. Boys did well, they went 2 wins and a draw in group play to win the group before falling in the quarter finals to the same club that gave us our only defeat in EDP league play this year. They did beat the Barça Virginia Academy team and had we made the Semi's would have played Juventus Academy Boston which from a name stand point they thought was cool. We definitely had a bad draw in that we had 3 very tough opponents (Eastern NY State Cup Champ, EDP South Atlantic Premier I Champ, Connecticut State Cup Champ) while some of the other groups got teams (and no offense to these states meant they just aren't soccer hot beds) from Vermont, West Virginia, Maine that allowed them to basically play all their subs one game. We weren't near as fresh legged for the quarter final.
Overall for my son kind of a downer. First game he played his usual 15 minutes the end of the first half and was suppose to start the second half but started feeling dizzy so ended up sitting out. He didn't want the breakfast buffet that morning so he got cereal and a yogurt and took a protein bar with him for an 11:00 game. Well I guess I should have checked him closer he only ate half the cereal in the morning, didn't eat the yogurt or the bar before the game. He was hydrated well but with the heat and humidity zapped him with the lack of food intake. Game 2 was a nail biter and the two starting outside backs played the whole game, I think him also being dizzy the day before with the limited subs they were afraid to put him in with the game so close. Game 3 he played as normal and played well. Game 4 near the end of the first half while making a tackle a kid stepped on the top of his foot and rolled his ankle. Trainer looked at it and said he was done. As he had fresher legs from not playing as much the first two games so he likely would have ended up in a lot the second half as we tried to come back. Good news is he has some time to rest it up and get it fully healed before his next HS summer league game in a few weeks and it feels a ton better just a few days later.
Couple college ID clinics and summer league over the next 6 weeks or so before they start high school practices. Heard a rumor ECNL could be rearranging division again and we could be back more mid-atlantic which is fine by me, I'd much rather drive a 2 or 3 hours to Maryland/Northern VA then 5 and 6 hours up to New England. Team also applied for one of the four wildcard spots to USYS National League PRO next year and I think have a pretty good chance so we should find out late July.
Overall for my son kind of a downer. First game he played his usual 15 minutes the end of the first half and was suppose to start the second half but started feeling dizzy so ended up sitting out. He didn't want the breakfast buffet that morning so he got cereal and a yogurt and took a protein bar with him for an 11:00 game. Well I guess I should have checked him closer he only ate half the cereal in the morning, didn't eat the yogurt or the bar before the game. He was hydrated well but with the heat and humidity zapped him with the lack of food intake. Game 2 was a nail biter and the two starting outside backs played the whole game, I think him also being dizzy the day before with the limited subs they were afraid to put him in with the game so close. Game 3 he played as normal and played well. Game 4 near the end of the first half while making a tackle a kid stepped on the top of his foot and rolled his ankle. Trainer looked at it and said he was done. As he had fresher legs from not playing as much the first two games so he likely would have ended up in a lot the second half as we tried to come back. Good news is he has some time to rest it up and get it fully healed before his next HS summer league game in a few weeks and it feels a ton better just a few days later.
Couple college ID clinics and summer league over the next 6 weeks or so before they start high school practices. Heard a rumor ECNL could be rearranging division again and we could be back more mid-atlantic which is fine by me, I'd much rather drive a 2 or 3 hours to Maryland/Northern VA then 5 and 6 hours up to New England. Team also applied for one of the four wildcard spots to USYS National League PRO next year and I think have a pretty good chance so we should find out late July.
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SwampDawg
Footballguy
Finally got a chance to look at the video from regionals. Pulled out this clip from one of the games, love his defensive work rate. For those with experience playing or kids playing in college I assume this is the type of stuff coaches want to see on your recruiting reel. We are in the process of going through all the spring games and putting a spring compellation together.
https://youtu.be/24fYVrJCbFk
https://youtu.be/24fYVrJCbFk
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
My son is coaching (babysitting) for a local youth program called MicroKickers and has had some great stories this summer. Tonight he had 4 and 5 year old girls. Many kids have both parents there cheering them on as they play ball tag or sharks and minnows. One dad approached my son tonight and said he thought his 4 year old should “play up” with the five year olds. This girl at the time was sitting on the ground biting her ball, completely oblivious to the drill they were running. On Sunday he offended a parent when he asked a kid to stop stealing other kids’ balls and punting them off the field. Apparently the kids mom was very proud of how far her boy could punt other kids balls and took issue with that behavior being discouraged.
![[scooter]](/data/avatars/m/22/22287.jpg?1659477690){kind=avatar}
[scooter]
Footballguy
My niece's U-17 club team had tryouts last month. 45 girls auditioned, but rather than fielding 3 teams of 15 (like last year), the club decided to go with 2 teams of 18 players each. If I was the parent of a benchwarmer I'd be pretty miffed about giving the club thousands of dollars to watch my child sit.
To make matters worse, they decided to field a combined team of 23 players for a recent tournament. And since only 18 players can dress for a game, it meant that each girl had to sit out one entire game. And it gets worse. For the first two games, the coach decided not to utilize any semblance of strategic substitutions -- he started his best 11 players, and then did a wholesale 7-for-7 substitution at the exact midpoint of each half. Also, the subs were based solely on position, and since the team had more forwards than defenders, it meant that the team's 3 best players (including my niece) got the least amount of playing time, and some of the team's worst players (defenders) never went out of the game.
In the first game, we were up 1-0 with the starters, then got outscored 4-0 when the bench players were put in. The second game was more of the same, with the starters scoring 3 goals in the first 15 minutes (2.5 assists from my niece), only to see the backups give up 2 goals.
Anyway, we squeaked in to the tournament playoffs, at which point the coach finally came to his senses, giving the majority of the playing time to the starters. The championship game was a rematch against the team that had beaten us 4-1 in the first game -- they had cruised through the bracket with successive 5-0 victories, and they acted like the championship game was a mere formality. Their girls were merely cocky, but the parents were downright obnoxious. I thought they might quiet down after we took a 1-0 lead, but they only got louder. Then when we went up 2-0, the parents started to turn on their own players. (The cheers went from "You can do it!" to "What's wrong with you?!")
Then, one of their players got a red card. She had been fouled, and the foul was properly called by the ref. But the girl decided to take matters into her own hands (literally) and she gave a blindside shove to one of our players when play was stopped. That drew a yellow. Then she charged at the ref and started pointing her finger in his face.....I didn't hear everything that she said but I know I heard the F-word at least twice. Boom, red card.
Of course, the other team's parents thought that the red card was totally unfair. ("All she did was say words! How can you penalize someone for words?") Oh well, hope you enjoy your 2nd place medals.
To make matters worse, they decided to field a combined team of 23 players for a recent tournament. And since only 18 players can dress for a game, it meant that each girl had to sit out one entire game. And it gets worse. For the first two games, the coach decided not to utilize any semblance of strategic substitutions -- he started his best 11 players, and then did a wholesale 7-for-7 substitution at the exact midpoint of each half. Also, the subs were based solely on position, and since the team had more forwards than defenders, it meant that the team's 3 best players (including my niece) got the least amount of playing time, and some of the team's worst players (defenders) never went out of the game.
In the first game, we were up 1-0 with the starters, then got outscored 4-0 when the bench players were put in. The second game was more of the same, with the starters scoring 3 goals in the first 15 minutes (2.5 assists from my niece), only to see the backups give up 2 goals.
Anyway, we squeaked in to the tournament playoffs, at which point the coach finally came to his senses, giving the majority of the playing time to the starters. The championship game was a rematch against the team that had beaten us 4-1 in the first game -- they had cruised through the bracket with successive 5-0 victories, and they acted like the championship game was a mere formality. Their girls were merely cocky, but the parents were downright obnoxious. I thought they might quiet down after we took a 1-0 lead, but they only got louder. Then when we went up 2-0, the parents started to turn on their own players. (The cheers went from "You can do it!" to "What's wrong with you?!")
Then, one of their players got a red card. She had been fouled, and the foul was properly called by the ref. But the girl decided to take matters into her own hands (literally) and she gave a blindside shove to one of our players when play was stopped. That drew a yellow. Then she charged at the ref and started pointing her finger in his face.....I didn't hear everything that she said but I know I heard the F-word at least twice. Boom, red card.
Of course, the other team's parents thought that the red card was totally unfair. ("All she did was say words! How can you penalize someone for words?") Oh well, hope you enjoy your 2nd place medals.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
I'm admittedly not familiar with the girls side but if you tried to field a competitive level team on the boys side with only 15 players it would be a disaster. Between the physicality of the game once you get to like U14 (and I've watched the girls play they might be as strong but they are physical) and many leagues having limited sub rules you would be asking the majority of your players to go the full game and you better hope you have no injuries. 18 or more is pretty standard. Now that said the club and coach should be upfront with each of the girls and let them know their intended roll before they commit then it is up to them.
On my sons team they roster 20, but because we play in two leagues, plus state cups, plus showcases they played 46 games between November 2021 and June 2022. When you factor in injuries, sickness, vacation, school commitments I think he as a player that primarily comes of the bench sat out two games. He knows he could move down to a club that plays at a lower level and start but he also knows he is training against top quality players and getting minutes week in and week out against great competition which has greatly raised his game. Does it suck sometimes to drive 2 1/2 hours and because of game flow or the fact the way he trained that week he only gets 15 minutes...sure...but we knew going in what the expectations were. And he averages like 30 to 35 minutes a game normally so with that many games he is still playing a ton.
Lehigh98
Footballguy
AR'ed (with my sons) seven 9v9 games this past weekend in 95+ degree weather. 30 minute halves with water breaks at 15 and it was still pretty rough. I've never appreciated air conditioning more in my life than when we stopped in a Wawa after about 8 straight hours on the fields. I must have mentioned how great the A/C felt too many times because one of my boys commented that strangers were going to think I was amish or something.
Lehigh98
Footballguy
HS soccer tryouts start today, should have near 100 kids combined for JV and Varsity. I think each team will be taking about 22 and not sure how double-rostering a few kids will affect those numbers. They will have two sessions a day Mon-Thurs. One round of Varsity cuts and the first round of JV cuts after Tuesday. Final JV cuts after Thursday. I think my son should have a shot at making JV but you just never know how these things are going to go, especially with that many kids. 
SwampDawg
Footballguy
So weird the way school districts are, we literally share a border with you guys and I think my son said they had a little over 30 kids at their first practice this morning. We won't have any cuts and a few of the JV starters will be bench players for Varsity.HS soccer tryouts start today, should have near 100 kids combined for JV and Varsity. I think each team will be taking about 22 and not sure how double-rostering a few kids will affect those numbers. They will have two sessions a day Mon-Thurs. One round of Varsity cuts and the first round of JV cuts after Tuesday. Final JV cuts after Thursday. I think my son should have a shot at making JV but you just never know how these things are going to go, especially with that many kids.
PIK95
Footballguy
As I mentioned in another thread, we had a very rough go of it this season. Some positive news though. My son made some sort of regional all league thing for ECNL. He just sent it to me. Not sure what it means exactly, but we will take any positive at this point. Maybe you know.
Insta link, northeast was page 4
Lehigh98
Footballguy
PIK95
Footballguy
Good luck! Our tryouts are next week. This is a tough time of year, but at least high school is usually fun.
Potential interesting development for my son. He is one of 3 goalkeepers in the high school program (though they did find a 4th during summer that will play with the frosh/soph team). There will be two juniors and my son (a sophomore) vying for the Varsity positions. One of the juniors has the starting varsity spot all but locked up (he was the backup varsity keeper as a sophomore). Basically leaves my son and the junior competing for the other spot. From the rumblings I hear (I'm friendly with the coach but will never ask him about rostering, etc.), my son has essentially shown to be the #2 keeper, but, with him being a year younger they think it may be better for his development to get all of the minutes on JV vs. be bench on varsity (as our games are all on the same day, CIF rules do not allow players to be dual rostered, so he could only go back and forth on instances where the games are on different days).
Now for the interesting development - the boy who has the starting varsity spot (good friends of ours) - is in the running for an MLS Next spot and should find out in the next day or so if he is being offered the spot. Talking with his parents, their intent would be to accept. Caveat is if he does accept, he would not play for the high school, which then opens up the competition for the #1 spot on varsity. Season isn't until winter so some time for this to develop, but if it falls this way my son is excited to fight for that spot.
Now for the interesting development - the boy who has the starting varsity spot (good friends of ours) - is in the running for an MLS Next spot and should find out in the next day or so if he is being offered the spot. Talking with his parents, their intent would be to accept. Caveat is if he does accept, he would not play for the high school, which then opens up the competition for the #1 spot on varsity. Season isn't until winter so some time for this to develop, but if it falls this way my son is excited to fight for that spot.
PIK95
Footballguy
I am shocked so many kids accepted mls next spots. Not being allowed to play high school was a deal breaker for many, but not all. It really changed the power rankings in our small state. My son didn't even try out because he would NEVER leave his guys and skip senior year.
Good luck to your boy. Sounds like a win win either way.
Confirmed that he took the MLS spot - going to be having a conversation with the MLS coaches about playing the high school season as well. So will see how that goes.
I asked my son what he would do if offered an MLS spot and he said that right now he would not want to take that as he wants to keep playing in high school. Also, as playing in college is not a top priority for him, he's not sure that he'd even want to go to that level. For now he is happy being able to train with the MLS keepers and play with his NPL team.
Lehigh98
Footballguy
He made it!
Was probably worried about nothing but that's my job.
[scooter]
Footballguy
High School soccer doesn't mean as much these days. Kids spend 9 months out of the year with their club team -- often with the same teammates, year after year. At a certain point, the high school season seems more like an exhibition -- especially if you're at a school with a large talent pool, where you might have significant turnover every year.
And it seems that for those with college aspirations, the big MLS and EA/ECNL tournaments draw more exposure than most high school events.
PIK95
Footballguy
That's true, but we have some serious high school rivalries. At the end of the day, that is more important to us than more exposure.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
All depends on the kids asperations. MLS next is definitely the most exposure if you are looking to go to a big D1 program, and if you are good enough to make a good MLS next team chances are you have that type of goal. We've never really talked about MLS Next but pretty sure if he was approached my son would consider it. HS is fun because he plays with all of his buddies but he gets really frustrated by the level of coaching (or lack of) and the old school kick it and run style of play. He'd pick playing for his club team over his school every time because he enjoys the challenge and being pushed and he wants to play in college.
And might be different in different areas but I've only ever seen exactly one college coach attend a HS game. And that was a D3 coach who happened to live in the town and I am guessing likely knew a family of someone playing. Only knew because a friend that was there is a college volleyball coach and knew him and she relayed a comment he made asking her who my son and one other player were.
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PIK95
Footballguy
Maybe it's just different in RI. Plenty of our top kids looking at D1 skipped trying out for MLS to play this high school season. Over fifty percent (probably 85%) of the best skipped, easily. Most of the top high school players know each other, and want to win with school bad. As a matter of fact, the best team here had zero of their kids do mls, because they want the high school title. I know one of those kids is already signed with Maryland. I think they are decent.
My son is gonna start figuring out college options this year. He's a little late, but he is so unsure of what he wants to so academics wise. He can always take a bridge year and try for mls after the high school season if it makes sense. Futsal is still our main priority after this fall. Whatever happens, it should be fun. My son was still playing rec soccer a year go, lol. Fun is his top priority.
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brettdj
Footballguy
JV Team (16 players-1 goalie). First scrimmage yesterday. He played the whole game. He is a CB- center defender in front of goalie. They lost 3-1. He played decent, but did hurt his ankle/foot early in the game. Played thru it. Took a few goal kicks afterward. Another scrimmage on Thursday.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
Had our first scrimmage Saturday, lost 2-1 but the starters looked good. They rotated way more players in then normal plus our best offensive player just got cleared on Friday so he didn't play. My son played the whole first half until he got his ankle stepped on with about 5 minutes left. He said he would have been fine to play the second half but the coach told him rest since it was a scrimmage. Another scrimmage tomorrow night. Looking forward to seeing one of my sons friends who he played with growing up back on the pitch. His dad was dead set on him not playing school and only playing club so he hasn't played with the boys since 7th grade. He's a good a player and can be a true striker which we need. Season kicks off for real on Friday night.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
First game of HS season in the books and not sure my heart will take it if the whole season is like this. Our best player (attacking mid) who was out 4 weeks with an injury from club season and just came back to practice on Monday was on a tight minutes restriction from the trainer. Starting right wing was out hurt. 10 minutes into the game our sweeper (yes we play stopper/sweeper and two outside backs) gets feet tangled and goes down holding his ankle, the kid on the other team starts motioning for the trainer so you know it's not good. So our jack of all trades normal center mid who had moved up to attacking mid now moves back to sweeper. Boys are hanging tough but we finally give up a goal with about 5 minutes left in the half on some nice passing by the other team. Second half and my son moves from LB to Sweeper, he hasn't played there since U12. While he's a solid built 5'6" 135lbs his size and speed is really more suited for the outside. We give up a second goal on a miscommunication and our other normal attacking mid picks up a yellow and has to come off so things are looking bleak. 15 minutes remaining and a kid new to the team puts a rebound in off a corner. About 8 minutes to go and the same kid draws a foul in the box and makes the PK to tie the game. We get a corner with less then a minute remaining and the ball bounces around and a freshman who is supposed to be a mid field sub mainly gets on it to give us a 3-2 lead with 13 seconds remaining. They play it deep just outside the 18 and the kid beats our player but my son comes in to make a nice tackle and clear the ball. We knew this was one of the harder games on our schedule so to come away with the W after all the injuries and being down 0-2 is a great start and good payback because we lost to this team 2-1 last season in OT on a goal with 5 seconds remaining. Heard either broken foot or high ankle sprain for the normal sweeper so told my son to expect a move inside and to be playing all 80 minutes like he did last night in tight games. The kid that plays sweeper for JV is ok and I can see getting some minutes if we have a couple goal lead at least. Resting up this weekend because they play back to back Monday and Tuesday.
First scrimmages coming up this week. Daughter is on JV, which has a roster of 20. Coach indicated they'll be rotating everyone in until playoffs start. Looking forward to this, as last high school season, the freshman team was a pretty bad experience and Spring club season was a war of attrition with my daughter coming off an eye injury and three of her teammates out for most of the season with major injuries. Almost blew it by not scheduling her doctor's appt early enough this summer. Because of some follow up on the eye, my daughter would have missed tryouts (and therefore, the entire season), except the first day was rained out, which pushed things back one day and allowed her to be cleared in time for the last day of tryouts.
SwampDawg
Footballguy
2-0 after a win last night. As expected my son played sweeper and played all 80 minutes and did a great job organizing the defense, made a few nice runs carrying the ball one of which ended in an assist. Should have had a second assist on a perfectly placed free kick but I swear the one ref interrupted offsides as where the attacking player was when he touched the ball not when it was played to him. He ended up getting the teams MOTM award. Supposed to play tonight but they are calling for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening so I'm doubtful. Mini tournament (2 games) Saturday, first one is against the defending District champion so that will be a test.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Son goes to his first practice for the rec league team tomorrow. We'll see if his game has gotten better over the summer since he had 2 weeks of soccer camp during the summer. His team will be a combined U10 and U11. He's a U10, so hopefully this is a good spot for him. If he does continue to like it through this season I'll look into club options again for him. His sister won't be playing this year. She's going girl scouts instead.
