Try out time is fun. I think it is great to go around, have the kids meet each others, see and talk to the parents that usually are from the other side of the field. All that is good stuff. Now what, is that all ? What are we actually expecting to see during a try out ? What should it tell us ? Is it a test for our own kid or should we look at everything but our own kid ? Then what should we look for ? What can a try out session tell us about the coach, his training, the team itself ? Practically, how was yesterday for you ? Did you like what you saw ?

Personally, I think it's dreadful and the worst time of the year. All of the politicking, backstabbing, rumor and innuendo is 10x worse in this month than it ever is otherwise. Everyone's looking out for themselves and no one can be trusted. You have no idea of the future of your BB. It's very stressful.

Unfortunately I don't think we see much of the coaches training etc. Most of the time is spent evaluating the kids so I would expect mostly scrimmages and little in the way of drills. I don't worry much about this time of year either. You should always have an idea about the future of your BB. This is competitive sports and his skills will take care of it. Leave the politics, manipulations to others. Talented kids will find a place to play and those parents will not be able to carry the load for their kids forever. Eventually everyone only cares about one thing, "can you play" Be better than the kids around you and you will probably be on the team, if not then someone else will pick you up. If you are worried then there is probably a reason. Where there is smoke there is usually fire.

Replies to this post show us which parents are humble and care and which are arrogant.

At our tryouts last night, it was the new parents whom were notably nervous. I had an urge to say, "go take a walk, and let your kid play. He'll be fine. You need to relax." Of course, I couldn't say that, so I was just as friendly as possible.

txlongball wrote:Replies to this post show us which parents are humble and care and which are arrogant.

Not sure what humility has to do with soccer and what exactly are we supposed to care about?

After 4 years I would tell you if your looking at a new team to ask your boy did you like the other boys, how did they treat you. Did you like the coach. Ask yourself, do you get a good impression of the boys, coach and the other parents. Your going to spend a lot of time together. If your changing teams, what do you know about the coach? How is he going to treat your boy. Is he going to foster growth and development or is he going to tear down your son's confidence and love of the game. Are the other players on the team going to unite and play together or are they going to infight and cause a team to be divided. Don't choose D1 over growth and development of your son. If you can get that in D1, then go for it...

What Wait armadillo, We use our care and humility to make sure our kids are playing in D1 on a top team (insert sarcasm here). All this talk about fit and good for bb is heresy (another dose of sarcasm). There are some who are looking for a good place for their bb to learn soccer or following a coach they like. Most are looking for a top team and a D1 spot to feed their own ego.

I think much of it can be bull. Coaches will be on their best behavior, all smiling for some new recruit to sign up. It's a business and good players make their job easier and makes winning easier.
I would go where your kid feels comfortable and can play. If he likes the kids on the team I think that is the most important thing at this age. I am one to think there is not a huge difference in the 20 d1or d2 coaches out there. Also, think about what is easier for you as a family. Where practices take place. I am with go 99, I wouldn't stress. If your kid is going to be a player, it will all come out in the wash eventually.

There is the big one. Don"t Stress Kids pick up on it and feed on it. Going to other practices, playing with other kids can only help your bb. Let him relax, enjoy and play his best.

As long as your kid loves every minute of it, who cares? BB just said that he's really happy to be practicing every single day. He loves coming home exhausted. It's great. There's NO stress, either. Just pure, satisfying fatigue after expending energy doing something he truly loves. And as long as I'm not the one taking him, then everyone's happy!

Yeah, that takes us back to an already discussed  point : we don't have enough time to choose the right environment. The open practices in June are not enough and we don't get practice release from anybody before that. The big problems is that those tryouts are not providing enough information. As mentioned above the coaches are going to be on their best behavior telling you that all the want is to develop your kid and play beautiful possession soccer. As a parent you show up in June, not knowing how the team (the roster) is going to be since everybody is moving around, not able to see the way the coaches run the practice (since they mostly evaluate kids) and you are left in the dark not knowing much of the team you are going to have to sign up with for a year. So, after a year playing in a team for reasons X,Y and Z you feel like moving and you have to take a dive into something you don't really know...and the cycle will start over. I guess we are back to basis : Do you trust the club ? Do they have field ? Lights ? Indoor ? how much is it and how far is it from home...
The good thing is that we get plenty of practices with plenty of different kids and coaches (for FREE !!!). Hey, I know what we need: year long tryouts. The good clubs and good coaches will attract all the players, the bad coaches would be left on their own after a few sessions. I am telling you open tryout all year long that is  soccer paradise !

Gabba- You are right on all points but your soccer paradise world is not changing in our lifetime. They have you where they want you. Looking around without much time to put up $3000 so your kid can play the sport he loves. I guess we just have to live with the saying "life's not fair". I find it interesting that most all teams practice on the same day Monday and Wendesday. How interesting?

how about clubs with a point of view and a system of soccer, not just a collection of coaches doing whatever? Andro has the special on and he clearly has his point of view on soccer. Like it or not, he will not change it for you, your kid, or andromeda. The only problem is he could be gone from your team in a season or less. Then what are you left with? Fields, lights, practices? What about the soccer? If he leaves, so does what he does. FCD is trying to put in a system, but whether they can get it done in any club wide fashion or not remains to be seen. Texans rule the evil empire so why change? Even dd's coach talked about the difficulties of tempering parental expectations of winning with his goals of trying to teach at texans. Solar was a catastrophe and now with the chelsea tie in they are a catasrophe in blue. Independents are often niche teams that offer more of the same at a lower cost but less opportunities etc. We can't all play for the special one and he is not the right fit for everyone. So who else is out there. I will throw one in for the unknown Jose Pino. Starting to get a sense of the guy and talked with him about the game. I like his views on soccer and style he wants to play. Can he hold on to it thru the fast, brutal, physical games of N Texas and stay true? Remains to be seen. Anyone else want to chime in on a team, coach, or club? Don't worry, they are not listening so you don't have to be afraid.

Welcome back, Gab. Haven't heard from you in a while. Good to know all is well. The problem with tryouts is there is so much soccer being played the same way. Go described the NTX game as fast and physical. I call it reckless and sloppy. The ball bouncing everywhere, kids kicking it straight up (horizontal and vertical), players running around everywhere, taking way too many touches. I don't blame the coaches. I blame us. We know better, but we encourage that type of play. Omega joked that maybe rec is an option. My point is the biggest difference between the two is cost. The style is very similar.

Funny thing about select and skills. We had absolutely zero skills lessons with our club last Fall. Coincidentally, we all started talking about it on the bored and presto, this Spring we had more options than we could possibly choose. Skills training is still a huge hole in our very expensive sport. We are forced pay extra as an option, but it should come as standard equipment with this model.

Tryouts... even that's designed to make the parents and kids feel like
the club is doing them a great favor, or that the kid 'won' or deserved
the spot due to his hard work and talent. Seems to me it's about getting an asset that will allow them to win (to win green, to earn more dollars), not about development otherwise every team would pride itself not in winning every game, but in winning as many with players that improve considerably and kids that love playing the game more everyday.

I think understanding the details of this business would allow a lot of parents to determine whether the $3K paid to the clubs are really worth their money. What are you really paying for, and would there be another way to get the skills and level of competition required for the kids to want to keep playing the sport they like for a while... or for a very very long time.

In most countries you show up one or two days, the kid will be accepted
or not. If you want to leave in the middle of the season, that's fine,
have fun... and most if not all the clubs charge less, and make less out
of the junior leagues...and still produce proportionally a lot more talented players.

I wonder, why is it that in most countries outside the US you pay a small fraction of what's paid in North Texas and they produce ten times better players? Is it that football is an "elite" sport in the US? Not enough lads playing this and many 'athletes' going to that perversion of American Rugby, the abomination of Cricket or the one true American sport - basketball (no offense for all ya'll Cowboys, and Yankees)? Unfortunately I think football is a super Elite sport in the US at the junior competitive level.

Let your wisdom flow into this forum.

Marcio is taking over the Andro Red 99 team.

If your BB has potential and is thick skin. Go play for Marcio.
He is one of the best coaches in the US.
He has more international players playing outside the USA than any Coach in our area.

Man that's great news. We are on our way.

hey good news for me. BB has exceptionally thick skin. Trained by Castro and is probably the biggest Castro fan in CL so he can probably take Marcio

Dissent wrote:Marcio is taking over the Andro Red 99 team.

If your BB has potential and is thick skin. Go play for Marcio.
He is one of the best coaches in the US.
He has more international players playing outside the USA than any Coach in our area.

Cool news but why must they have thick skin to play for Elvis?

What do you think Marcio can do for my d3 kid? Is changing teams really worth it at this age? Do you really need to move up to a d2 or d1 team to improve?

Frankly I think going up is easy. I should say it is easy to tell: if you are in a d3 and you dominate you teammates and the games you probably already thinking of playing up a division. You then show the kid to upper division teams and  if he really needs to play up the coaches will see that right away and offer a spot.Now it is harder to do the opposite (going down a division), but I think it is way more important in order to insure development. I don't see the point of having a kid always play under physical and technical pressure and always in panic mode. First the kid probably knows or feels he is not at the level, which is not pleasant but on top of that he may never be able to think, play cool and play correctly with fluidity. It is hard call for the ego of the parents but I would bet it can be beneficial to switch to a lower division (the game is slower) allowing the kid time to think and to play better soccer. On top of that, that borderline D1 kid can now play with more confidence and try new things. 2 choices : the borderline kid stays in D1, always struggle, gets frustrated and ends up not liking soccer anymore or he plays a season in a lower division allowing him to really develop his own game, he gets better feels useful keep the love of the game and he can try to go back up the next season. 

CLUB31 wrote:What do you think Marcio can do for my d3 kid? Is changing teams really worth it at this age? Do you really need to move up to a d2 or d1 team to improve?

It's not about the division you play in, it's not about the club you play for, it's the Coach who makes the difference.
Too many parents are blinded by the glory of the club, by the record of the team. Your son needs to develop, that's what it all comes down to!!
Find the best coach for your bb and he will be fine!!

Axxman wrote:Man that's great news. We are on our way.

Axxman, is Josema leaving? If not which teams is he taking?

Josema is not leaving and will keep a couple of his existing older teams amongst other interests. He is the director of coaching and will focus more on that as well.