http://www.fortworthunited.com/applications/myteam/TeamList.asp
Chris Cates (214) 417-7482
I think David Phillips is also helping train the team. Im not sure where they train but if you give them a call then you will get your answers.

Aswan wrote:I don’t know where they will be practicing either but I just hope there are no ants. A good-sized ant hill will keep half a team of seven year olds distracted for at least 40 minutes.

That would be very painful if they got in them. Guees you could put the goal over them and they can practice shooting, maybe that would help them, aiming at the ant hill

Aswan wrote:Ah yes, my mistake. At my advanced age I find it hard to keep up with the rapid pace of change.

Just curious, do you have an 03 boy? And is he on a club team?

Aswan wrote:No, my son is 15. At age seven he was picking flowers, stomping on anthills, and oblivious as to whether or not his team won the game. At 15 is a core player on one of the top-10-ranked teams in the nation. My acerbic comments regarding seven year old competitive soccer arise from this; most of his neighborhood friends at age seven were more focused than him and were already talented in multiple sports. In basketball, they started club ball at age seven, he was not ready for it, and ultimately developed no interest in basketball since he could not play with his friends. I am convinced that if the club soccer system had extended down to his age at that time, the other boys would have gone off to far-flung clubs, he would have lost interest in the sport, and would have quit soccer for other activities. Based on this, and other, experiences, I have concluded that the intrusion of competive club soccer into the lower age groups is damaging the dynamic of recreational soccer, a type of soccer that is more age-appropriate for young kids than the inherently competitive type of soccer practiced by clubs. In doing so, we may develop a higher level of skill at earlier ages, but will lose many of the best, but later-maturing, athletes to other endeavors, will lose some good kids to burn out before the real show begins, and will destroy the developing broad fan base that ultimately will decide the fate of American Soccer in general. Competitive club soccer practiced at young ages, in the long run, will do the sport and the kids more harm than good. But, of course, I could be wrong.

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Nice to see you back on here Aswan...been awhile!

Aswan wrote:No, my son is 15. At age seven he was picking flowers, stomping on anthills, and oblivious as to whether or not his team won the game. At 15 is a core player on one of the top-10-ranked teams in the nation. My acerbic comments regarding seven year old competitive soccer arise from this; most of his neighborhood friends at age seven were more focused than him and were already talented in multiple sports. In basketball, they started club ball at age seven, he was not ready for it, and ultimately developed no interest in basketball since he could not play with his friends. I am convinced that if the club soccer system had extended down to his age at that time, the other boys would have gone off to far-flung clubs, he would have lost interest in the sport, and would have quit soccer for other activities. Based on this, and other, experiences, I have concluded that the intrusion of competive club soccer into the lower age groups is damaging the dynamic of recreational soccer, a type of soccer that is more age-appropriate for young kids than the inherently competitive type of soccer practiced by clubs. In doing so, we may develop a higher level of skill at earlier ages, but will lose many of the best, but later-maturing, athletes to other endeavors, will lose some good kids to burn out before the real show begins, and will destroy the developing broad fan base that ultimately will decide the fate of American Soccer in general. Competitive club soccer practiced at young ages, in the long run, will do the sport and the kids more harm than good. But, of course, I could be wrong.

You could not be more right. Words of wisdom indeed.

Amen to that. I was thinking of posting something similar on another post. In every sport, we need to let the kids be kids. Sorting kids before puberty is pretty silly. Unfortunately , many of the coaches in the Rec leagues (soccer, baseball, football, etc. ) didn't get the memo that it is Recreational. Really sad. You can't give a childhood back later on. Maybe kids should start suing former coaches for psychological damage.
Any coach that makes the same 9, 10,11,12 year old ride the bench should take a lap.

Receational soccer, as curretnly excercised, has inherent structural deficiencies. Dog poop, in particular, is a bitch.

Aswan wrote:No, my son is 15. At age seven he was picking flowers, stomping on anthills, and oblivious as to whether or not his team won the game. At 15 is a core player on one of the top-10-ranked teams in the nation. My acerbic comments regarding seven year old competitive soccer arise from this; most of his neighborhood friends at age seven were more focused than him and were already talented in multiple sports. In basketball, they started club ball at age seven, he was not ready for it, and ultimately developed no interest in basketball since he could not play with his friends. I am convinced that if the club soccer system had extended down to his age at that time, the other boys would have gone off to far-flung clubs, he would have lost interest in the sport, and would have quit soccer for other activities. Based on this, and other, experiences, I have concluded that the intrusion of competive club soccer into the lower age groups is damaging the dynamic of recreational soccer, a type of soccer that is more age-appropriate for young kids than the inherently competitive type of soccer practiced by clubs. In doing so, we may develop a higher level of skill at earlier ages, but will lose many of the best, but later-maturing, athletes to other endeavors, will lose some good kids to burn out before the real show begins, and will destroy the developing broad fan base that ultimately will decide the fate of American Soccer in general. Competitive club soccer practiced at young ages, in the long run, will do the sport and the kids more harm than good. But, of course, I could be wrong.

I don't agree. I think if we want the first class worldwide players we do need the clubs and the competition. It is just not for everybody and the clubs need to acknowledge that the kids develop differently. Coaches need to keep the fun in their practices and don't focus or insist on the wins (but from what I see they actually don't, it is the parents that are faulty). They also need to early on group the kids by level and by competitiveness (because at a given age, you can be super good but not competitive) and let them move from one group to another based on the kid's need. My point here is that random rec rosters can't offer that and only the large club can sort that out and offer the right service at the right moment for each kid. And again, in the end, it is not really the coaches that are creating that destructive competitive environment that our kids are in. In the end, it really is the parents. Us. The coaches are just working. Shame on us.

Some good points-in addition to dog poop there are significant deficiencies in rec soccer as currently practiced. I am afraid, however, that the economics will win out because, as you said, The coaches are just working. In America Wins=players=-dollars at every age. In addition, I have a less benign attitude with respect to club coaches. I have now seen all the grown men screaming at eight year old girls that I ever need to see. Also, my concern with respect to the overall development of American soccer is sociological. I intuit that we are diminishing the communal aspect of the sport and may thereby marginalize it. This conclusion is based entirely on extrapolation of my own experience and, as I said, I could be wrong.

Aswan wrote:Some good points-in addition to dog poop there are significant deficiencies in rec soccer as currently practiced. I am afraid, however, that the economics will win out because, as you said, The coaches are just working. In America Wins=players=-dollars at every age. In addition, I have a less benign attitude with respect to club coaches. I have now seen all the grown men screaming at eight year old girls that I ever need to see. Also, my concern with respect to the overall development of American soccer is sociological. I intuit that we are diminishing the communal aspect of the sport and may thereby marginalize it. This conclusion is based entirely on extrapolation of my own experience and, as I said, I could be wrong.

" In America Wins=players=-dollars at every age" Who puts that pressure on the coach ? Who has no clue what development means ? And who wants to go home on saturday bragging to the neighbors about little Jonny's last win ? Only Daddy and mommy. So, once again we are the one to blame, not the coaches. Let's begin to clean up our own doorsteps...

How bout this; we all band together to demand that the club sanctioning organizations ban clubs from holding competitions of any sort prior to age 11. Such a ban would remove pressure from parents to push their kids into inappropriate situations, remove the pressure on club "skills" coaches to use age-inappropriate training regimens, and invigorate the local recreational leagues. As novel as this proposal seems, old timers will remember that prior to six years ago, that was the law of the land.
On a side note, the entire academy system is an outgrowth of skills clinics. The skills clinic were profferred by clubs with the noble intention of making better training available to younger kids. The skills clinic principle was soon perverted, however, into a recruitment system that demanded competitive performance results.

Yes, not long ago the younger competitive kids wanting more than rec leagues had little choice but to keep clobbering poop scoopers. Those who disagree with the concept of competitive soccer need to search for greener pastures. Leave the rest of us behind. We'll try and manage on our own.

Aswan wrote:How bout this; we all band together to demand that the club sanctioning organizations ban clubs from holding competitions of any sort prior to age 11. Such a ban would remove pressure from parents to push their kids into inappropriate situations, remove the pressure on club "skills" coaches to use age-inappropriate training regimens, and invigorate the local recreational leagues. As novel as this proposal seems, old timers will remember that prior to six years ago, that was the law of the land.
On a side note, the entire academy system is an outgrowth of skills clinics. The skills clinic were profferred by clubs with the noble intention of making better training available to younger kids. The skills clinic principle was soon perverted, however, into a recruitment system that demanded competitive performance results.

Whaouhh.  Always nice to know history ! 6 years ago. Very interesting indeed...So, since you are able to compare, what's your take on the current U12 level compared to 6 years ago? Let's talk about the average player and then separately about the the top 5%.

Aswan wrote:No, my son is 15. At age seven he was picking flowers, stomping on anthills, and oblivious as to whether or not his team won the game. At 15 is a core player on one of the top-10-ranked teams in the nation. My acerbic comments regarding seven year old competitive soccer arise from this; most of his neighborhood friends at age seven were more focused than him and were already talented in multiple sports. In basketball, they started club ball at age seven, he was not ready for it, and ultimately developed no interest in basketball since he could not play with his friends. I am convinced that if the club soccer system had extended down to his age at that time, the other boys would have gone off to far-flung clubs, he would have lost interest in the sport, and would have quit soccer for other activities. Based on this, and other, experiences, I have concluded that the intrusion of competive club soccer into the lower age groups is damaging the dynamic of recreational soccer, a type of soccer that is more age-appropriate for young kids than the inherently competitive type of soccer practiced by clubs. In doing so, we may develop a higher level of skill at earlier ages, but will lose many of the best, but later-maturing, athletes to other endeavors, will lose some good kids to burn out before the real show begins, and will destroy the developing broad fan base that ultimately will decide the fate of American Soccer in general. Competitive club soccer practiced at young ages, in the long run, will do the sport and the kids more harm than good. But, of course, I could be wrong.

Thanks, but a simple no would have been plenty. It was really all of the answer that I was looking for rather than a complete resume on your accoplishments as a father. Perhaps the 95 boys forum is a better place for you since you seem to have no dog in play in this section. Maybe you want others critizing other various aspects of how you raised your son or are we to assume that you have been perfect in all regards? I've seen other posts from you critizing others. You know, we all do the best we can do as parents. There is much bragging I can do on my own kids but is that because of me or in spite of me? Who knows. Maybe the same can be said for your world class decisions you made with regards to your son and how all of his friends parents F&&*ed up their decisions and how they raised their kids. I'm sure your co-workers, neighbors, "friends", relatives and random people you run into at the grocery store don't appreciate your unsolicited criticisms on their decisions. Put me in their camp. Enjoy the 95 forum and please refrain from posting in here. Umm kayy? Thx.

You should understand that your posts come off as extremely judgemental. You don't know anything about other people's kids,situations, goals, .... If you want to offer insights, thoughts, experiences, please try doing so in a manner that doesn't come across as jusdging the decisions of others Again, I don't know why you take such an interest in the 03 forum when you don't have an 03. And while you are of the opinion that kids shouldn't be pushed too early, that is fine for you to have that opinion. After all, 30-40 years ago we thought babies just sat there and didn't have the ability to learn anything. Today, we are teaching very young kids things that we would have previously taught at a much older age. Read the book Outliers. Personally, I think the reason why we have struggled in some sports and even in academics (when compared to other countries) is because we have had too many generations where kids had LOTS of fun. So, if you don't mind, I am going to continue to expose my 03 to competitive soccer while mixing in fun activities. He may end up quitting soccer in a few years, but my guess is the competitive spirit he is developing now, along with the drive for higher success, will serve him well in future sports, academics and in his career.
And since you brought him up, how do you know that your son wouldn't be at an even higher level of soccer had you taken away some fun and instilled a higher level of committment at a younger age? How do you know that he wouldn't have dropped soccer but picked up Lacross and perhaps would be an even better Lacross player than soccer player? You made your choices with him and that may have served him well or it may have set him back from where he could be.

Jugdish wrote:You should understand that your posts come off as extremely judgemental. You don't know anything about other people's kids,situations, goals, .... If you want to offer insights, thoughts, experiences, please try doing so in a manner that doesn't come across as jusdging the decisions of others Again, I don't know why you take such an interest in the 03 forum when you don't have an 03. And while you are of the opinion that kids shouldn't be pushed too early, that is fine for you to have that opinion. After all, 30-40 years ago we thought babies just sat there and didn't have the ability to learn anything. Today, we are teaching very young kids things that we would have previously taught at a much older age. Read the book Outliers. Personally, I think the reason why we have struggled in some sports and even in academics (when compared to other countries) is because we have had too many generations where kids had LOTS of fun. So, if you don't mind, I am going to continue to expose my 03 to competitive soccer while mixing in fun activities. He may end up quitting soccer in a few years, but my guess is the competitive spirit he is developing now, along with the drive for higher success, will serve him well in future sports, academics and in his career.
And since you brought him up, how do you know that your son wouldn't be at an even higher level of soccer had you taken away some fun and instilled a higher level of committment at a younger age? How do you know that he wouldn't have dropped soccer but picked up Lacross and perhaps would be an even better Lacross player than soccer player? You made your choices with him and that may have served him well or it may have set him back from where he could be.

Sounds like this is your first rodeo cowboy. I bet you'll have a somewhat different perspective in 7 or 8 years.

THE NEEDLE wrote:
Sounds like this is your first rodeo cowboy. I bet you'll have a somewhat different perspective in 7 or 8 years.

You'd be wrong with that assumption Cowpie.

Jugdish wrote:

THE NEEDLE wrote:
Sounds like this is your first rodeo cowboy. I bet you'll have a somewhat different perspective in 7 or 8 years.

You'd be wrong with that assumption Cowpie.

Jughead,
I look forward to your post in 7 or 8 years when your little wunderkind is playing for the US National team.
In the meantime, you best keep your boots on 'cause North Texas soccer is littered with cowpies.