Hello. I am hoping that someone can help me out in the interest of a talented pre-teen age soccer player (my son) who is serious about developing as a player.
He has been playing on town rec league teams since Kindergarten. After playing a few seasons he has consistently been one of the top 1-2 kids on his team / top 5 kids in the league. I’m not saying that to brag, especially considering the lower level competition, I’m just giving context that he’s excelled thus far in limited capacity and now that he’s a bit older I’d like to see him against better competition. However, I have watched some “travel” teams his age play and am confident with his skill set that he would easily pass try-outs in almost all but the most extremely advanced programs.
To date we have avoided the whole “travel” thing for numerous reasons, primarily because (especially at the younger ages) it’s mostly a waste of money, it’s mostly just a status thing for the parents, it leads to over-use injuries and burn-out, etc.
His current team does not have a trainer; the parent coaches do not have any idea of how to train the players to play a possession-based game. This was fine for 5-10 year olds running around having fun, but as he starts gets into teen years he needs to be on a team that can play with proper tactics.
What I need to do as a parent is provide him with the best possible development avenue without going “overboard” (from a time and money perspective).
If anyone can please give some recommendations on an appropriate trainer/team/club/league based on the following criteria:
This is what I want:
- Competent coach/trainer who
a) Understands how to teach possession / attack building tactics
b) knows how to get kids out of the “blast it and run it down” mode
c) is focused on long-term player development
- 8-10 game fall and spring seasons (plus a couple of tournaments if possible)
- reasonable fees (ideally approx. $650 or less combined for fall+spring seasons)
- max 2 practices per week
- Central-ish LI home field / practice location
This is what I do not want:
- “full year” / 10-month commitment, winter/summer training/games
- total fees above $1k / year
- away games / tourneys off of LI
I know an 100% match is highly unlikely, but does something remotely like this even exist?
I don’t care if the right fit is called “travel” or not. I don’t care if the team/club/league is considered “prestigious” or “elite”. I just want to find some sanity in this insanity (if that’s possible).
Bottom line – is there a way to get competent training without having to pay big bucks / devote your whole life to the team?
If you are kind enough to reply, please do so with the understanding that I am not very familiar with all of the thousand acronyms / abbreviations that are used on these message boards. If you do use them, a brief explanation would be appreciated.
Thank you.
He has been playing on town rec league teams since Kindergarten. After playing a few seasons he has consistently been one of the top 1-2 kids on his team / top 5 kids in the league. I’m not saying that to brag, especially considering the lower level competition, I’m just giving context that he’s excelled thus far in limited capacity and now that he’s a bit older I’d like to see him against better competition. However, I have watched some “travel” teams his age play and am confident with his skill set that he would easily pass try-outs in almost all but the most extremely advanced programs.
To date we have avoided the whole “travel” thing for numerous reasons, primarily because (especially at the younger ages) it’s mostly a waste of money, it’s mostly just a status thing for the parents, it leads to over-use injuries and burn-out, etc.
His current team does not have a trainer; the parent coaches do not have any idea of how to train the players to play a possession-based game. This was fine for 5-10 year olds running around having fun, but as he starts gets into teen years he needs to be on a team that can play with proper tactics.
What I need to do as a parent is provide him with the best possible development avenue without going “overboard” (from a time and money perspective).
If anyone can please give some recommendations on an appropriate trainer/team/club/league based on the following criteria:
This is what I want:
- Competent coach/trainer who
a) Understands how to teach possession / attack building tactics
b) knows how to get kids out of the “blast it and run it down” mode
c) is focused on long-term player development
- 8-10 game fall and spring seasons (plus a couple of tournaments if possible)
- reasonable fees (ideally approx. $650 or less combined for fall+spring seasons)
- max 2 practices per week
- Central-ish LI home field / practice location
This is what I do not want:
- “full year” / 10-month commitment, winter/summer training/games
- total fees above $1k / year
- away games / tourneys off of LI
I know an 100% match is highly unlikely, but does something remotely like this even exist?
I don’t care if the right fit is called “travel” or not. I don’t care if the team/club/league is considered “prestigious” or “elite”. I just want to find some sanity in this insanity (if that’s possible).
Bottom line – is there a way to get competent training without having to pay big bucks / devote your whole life to the team?
If you are kind enough to reply, please do so with the understanding that I am not very familiar with all of the thousand acronyms / abbreviations that are used on these message boards. If you do use them, a brief explanation would be appreciated.
Thank you.
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