Why care which club and team is “best” in MA

[Unregistered]

Why should anyone care whether MA collects all their best kids on one team and sends them out to beat teams from other states? That is NOT the objective of youth soccer - for anyone! No one cares whether the best team of MA-developed kids can beat the best group of kids from CA, TX, NJ or VA. It's irrelevant.

Families want their kids to learn and play the sport at a competitive level that suits them. The families of the best players want their kids to get exposure and opportunities to play in college, and use soccer to get access to the schools they're targeting. Others want to have fun, play with friends, be active, etc. NO ONE GIVES A RAT'S ***** ABOUT THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS SOCCER VS. OTHER STATES. No one. Do I need to repeat it? No one.

That’s where you are WRONG...that’s what makes the great state of MA produce great talent, because we DO care and we are competitive. There’s a reason MA produces great talent...if you don’t want to participate or can’t take it leave.

[Unregistered]

None of the posts here that say any clubs are the best are actually from someone from that club. If you don’t know this you have not been on talking soccer very long. They are just to stir the pot and see what negative comments come out. This forum often does not serve the purpose that it should or has the potential to.

[Unregistered]

That’s where you are WRONG...that’s what makes the great state of MA produce great talent, because we DO care and we are competitive. There’s a reason MA produces great talent...if you don’t want to participate or can’t take it leave.

MA has absolutely nothing to do with talent creation.
It is merely the repository of a staggering number of clubs per population.
And even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally.

[Unregistered]

fwiw here are the number of teams in the YSR U14 girls top 1000 nationally by state, some of which include total number of tracked teams from that state as well as number of teams by population.

Observations-
* YSR definitely is missing teams so these numbers are not exact. (but the data they do has is easy to process!)
* CA and CT have very high % of teams in top 1000
* NJ has almost twice the number of teams by population than us
* MA doesn't appear to be on the high end of teams by population but does not do well on quality (defined as being in top 1000 nationally).

STATE TOP_1000_TEAMS / TOTAL_TEAMS / TOTAL_TEAMS_PER_MILLION
TX 94 / 226 / 7.8
CA 68 / 74 / 1.9 (I'm betting this is due to lack of coverage??)
NJ 64 / 159 / 18.0
OH 60
FL 53 / 112 / 5.2
PA 52 / 127 / 9.9
NY 47 / 67 / 3.4
GA 46 / 97
MI 43
MO 36
NC 34
VA 28
MD 28
MA 28 / 74 / 10.7
CT 28 / 32 / 8.97
IN 27
UT 25
AZ 24
IL 23
CO 20
WI 18
SC 18
OK 17
KS 17
(other) 17
TN 14
NV 13
KY 10
AL 9
MN 8
MS 6
LA 6
NE 5
RI 4
OR 4
NH 4
IA 4
WV 3
SD 3
WA 2
ID 2
DE 2
WY 1
NM 1
MT 1
AR 1

[Unregistered]

That list bums me out. Time to move to Texas or Florida.
Wha's the point of paying for club in MA if this is the sad result.

[Unregistered]

That list bums me out. Time to move to Texas or Florida.
Wha's the point of paying for club in MA if this is the sad result.

Pretty much... MA is no better than CT, VA, and MD and while impressive considering the smaller size of the state, doesn't even come close to what is produced in CA, TX and FL.

As other TS posters have pointed out time and again, our area is lucky to get a nationally recognized player every few years, but we aren't producing soccer prodigies on the whole. If the goal is to play soccer at a local D1, then it is probably worth it to play club. If the goal is to find a spot with a significant program outside of New England, seems we're spending quite a bit of money and time for not a lot of progress... better to move elsewhere where the quality and quantity of talent is better. Also, again, weather seems to play a part. Better to be in a warmer climate, just based on those numbers.

[Unregistered]

I don't think there is more talent born in the South. I think the clubs are doing a better job.
Friends of mine in TX say the kids train year round and many don't bother with town or high school because the club season is active and very busy year round. Players are better because the clubs and players are more committed and their is happening at the same time of Football and Volleyball leading in sports too. The clubs are practicing 4 days a week with a game on the weekend. They aren't saying oh we need winters and summers off, they just go year round at the competitive level. Now sure you can blame it on the farther but I say if clubs up here charge what they charge they need to build or rent indoor facilities with turf fields running 7 days a week. So tired of hearing we cannot play because the field is wet. Stars needs to build a Dome so does NEFC. Yep it coast a ton but hey Select is doing this. Offering year round indoor and outdoor. Clubs are taking money for a part time training schedule. I am not impressed. If you have a serious athlete and you can choose to move or live anywhere and you have kids who play sports you should go to NJ, TX, FL, and CA maybe in two years post covid.

[Unregistered]

Meant to say you can blame it on the weather not the father. Although you can blame many things on dads too.

[Unregistered]

Also, some of us have younger kids and are considering dipping into the club scene for the first time. There's hardly any information out there on clubs, and due to COVID going to watch games/practices isn't possible. I've picked up on the fact that TS isn't exactly the wealth of knowledge I was hoping it would be, but there doesn't seem to be any other site out there to scour for nuggets of truth. God knows the club websites aren't that helpful...

[Unregistered]

Well TS is just an insane forum to brag, speculate, entertain and argue.
If you want real information start with asking your local town soccer league about reputable clubs the other town players are liking. Talk to the parents and town coaches and they will give you more than TS.

[Unregistered]

Well TS is just an insane forum to brag, speculate, entertain and argue.
If you want real information start with asking your local town soccer league about reputable clubs the other town players are liking. Talk to the parents and town coaches and they will give you more than TS.

Ha - have picked up on that. Really should have a chan in the name.

Yeah, will have more discussions once town starts up. From what I can tell, the kids are spread across 3 clubs. Not sure why, but will try to get to the bottom of club and team quality without ******* someone off. Parents can be so sensitive.

[Unregistered]

I find it admirable that you want MA to be more competitive on a national scale. I also think you are grossly out of touch with the goals of parents paying for club soccer.
Stated many times on TS, Parent's goal is college, and I'll take our college placements vs. theirs.

[Unregistered]

my kid is skipping college going straight to pro didn't you know that?

[Unregistered]

I find it admirable that you want MA to be more competitive on a national scale. I also think you are grossly out of touch with the goals of parents paying for club soccer.
Stated many times on TS, Parent's goal is college, and I'll take our college placements vs. theirs.

OHHHHH okay club owner, so mediocre part-time soccer in the Northeast is good enough for your players. Blame cancellations and lack of practices on weather and who cares because our kids want to go to college in the North east. Because the North East colleges don't look at the best players from all over the country? Yea right. Our players from MA end up at D2 and D3 colleges while the D1 spots go to kids coming from other states.

Club owners stop selling your BS excuses. you owe the players more trainings and year round and indoor facilities for the fees they pay.

[Unregistered]

Specifically, where did you read this from anybody representing or part of Select?

Its a easy recruiting tool for clubs to say they have the #1 team in Massachusetts in a division. Everyone wants to go a top team. Select has always used the got soccer points to say they are the best team and thats how they recruit. Nothimg wrong with that and makes eecruiting kids much easier.