Originally posted by Unregistered
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Best Soccer in Southwest Florida
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Unregistered
Pathway to getting ripped off?
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThere are way over a million people living in Collier and Lee County and you are telling me that only one club has NPL? You have areas of Florida with less then 200,000 people that have NPL, ENCL as well as Academy.
Glad you have one club that something but it is really strange that you have other clubs advertising that they have ties and pathways to pros yet it seems as if they play in recreational soccer leagues. Please correct this if this is wrong.
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostIf one looks at this objectively then one can conclude that with the exception of a single club the southwest Florida region is mainly recreational soccer.
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Unregistered
View Points
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostOr... you could look at it another way: that population numbers are not a strong predictor of soccer success. Many very small countries take down much larger countries all the time in World Cup.
Clubs in Collier also have a stigma of having players who don’t deserve it being hyped up with lies and half truths and given all the clubs connections due to nepotism and who pays for private training to whom. One of the cancers that has been destroying American Soccer.
GPS West is trying but they have to stop comparing what they do to Cape Coral or the Fire and start trying to do what the real clubs are doing in this nation. They are the future of American Soccer. Those small honest clubs.
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Unregistered
The real issue in SW FL is the amount of kids who (1) play soccer and (2) have enough quality/technical ability to play at an elite level. Most kids in this area don't want to do the extra private training, summer conditioning, etc. that is required to play the game at a higher level. If you go out to local fields or NCRP you don't see a whole bunch of kids playing its mostly adults. Really good soccer players are hard to find here. Other places, like the East Coast, the soccer fields are always filled with kids playing soccer. Although my family is no longer affiliated with the club, I do believe GPS West has the best set-up/coaching to progress their club into a potential elite level that can compete outside of the area. The reason SW FL will likely never have a truly elite club is due to the fact that we don't have one club that clearly stands out from the rest as the best. If there was, all the best players would train there. What we have is several local clubs that fight each other for the few talented kids and with no truly good options parents and kids must choose between one or the other. What happens is due to location, friends, league, wanting to be the best on the team etc. the really talented kids in our area get split up amongst 4 to six clubs with the rest of the rosters filled up with crap. And none of the teams do well outside of SW FL and we just try to beat up each other to show whose better in SW FL. On the East Coast, all the players know the couple of clubs that are elite and EVERYONE tries to make those teams so you get the most talented kids playing together not split up. It is very hard to put together a really good team here in addition to getting one of the few elite coaches or which there aren't many to coach your kids team and do so consistently for several years. For instance, the Fire 05 Girls that just won a State Cup (while not DA level or ECNL comp still a worthy acomplishment for SW FL) is a an example of a team that was able to (1) put together a roster of mostly quality players that have stayed together for the last few years and have a very good coach who has stayed with this team for several years. The coach ran sessions in summer, the players were invested and committed to working on personal development away from the team. And so you got a really good team that can win games outside of SW FL but these types of teams/set-up are rare here. So how do we fix this, how do we get the elite players all on the same team? How do we stop fighting each other and start working towards something more for these players to help them grow and see what they can become. Do we try to merge clubs? Do parents committ to making a longer drive so there kid can compete at a higher level. Do the parents who say we'll never let our kids play for certain clubs change course and try to put their kids in more competitive environment. Or does no one simply care and everyone is happy with SWL FL being a recreational soccer at best region where we think more than 2 days of soccer practice a week is unreasonable, ridiculous and takes up too much of our time?
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThe real issue in SW FL is the amount of kids who (1) play soccer and (2) have enough quality/technical ability to play at an elite level. Most kids in this area don't want to do the extra private training, summer conditioning, etc. that is required to play the game at a higher level. If you go out to local fields or NCRP you don't see a whole bunch of kids playing its mostly adults. Really good soccer players are hard to find here. Other places, like the East Coast, the soccer fields are always filled with kids playing soccer. Although my family is no longer affiliated with the club, I do believe GPS West has the best set-up/coaching to progress their club into a potential elite level that can compete outside of the area. The reason SW FL will likely never have a truly elite club is due to the fact that we don't have one club that clearly stands out from the rest as the best. If there was, all the best players would train there. What we have is several local clubs that fight each other for the few talented kids and with no truly good options parents and kids must choose between one or the other. What happens is due to location, friends, league, wanting to be the best on the team etc. the really talented kids in our area get split up amongst 4 to six clubs with the rest of the rosters filled up with crap. And none of the teams do well outside of SW FL and we just try to beat up each other to show whose better in SW FL. On the East Coast, all the players know the couple of clubs that are elite and EVERYONE tries to make those teams so you get the most talented kids playing together not split up. It is very hard to put together a really good team here in addition to getting one of the few elite coaches or which there aren't many to coach your kids team and do so consistently for several years. For instance, the Fire 05 Girls that just won a State Cup (while not DA level or ECNL comp still a worthy acomplishment for SW FL) is a an example of a team that was able to (1) put together a roster of mostly quality players that have stayed together for the last few years and have a very good coach who has stayed with this team for several years. The coach ran sessions in summer, the players were invested and committed to working on personal development away from the team. And so you got a really good team that can win games outside of SW FL but these types of teams/set-up are rare here. So how do we fix this, how do we get the elite players all on the same team? How do we stop fighting each other and start working towards something more for these players to help them grow and see what they can become. Do we try to merge clubs? Do parents committ to making a longer drive so there kid can compete at a higher level. Do the parents who say we'll never let our kids play for certain clubs change course and try to put their kids in more competitive environment. Or does no one simply care and everyone is happy with SWL FL being a recreational soccer at best region where we think more than 2 days of soccer practice a week is unreasonable, ridiculous and takes up too much of our time?
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThe real issue in SW FL is the amount of kids who (1) play soccer and (2) have enough quality/technical ability to play at an elite level. Most kids in this area don't want to do the extra private training, summer conditioning, etc. that is required to play the game at a higher level. If you go out to local fields or NCRP you don't see a whole bunch of kids playing its mostly adults. Really good soccer players are hard to find here. Other places, like the East Coast, the soccer fields are always filled with kids playing soccer. Although my family is no longer affiliated with the club, I do believe GPS West has the best set-up/coaching to progress their club into a potential elite level that can compete outside of the area. The reason SW FL will likely never have a truly elite club is due to the fact that we don't have one club that clearly stands out from the rest as the best. If there was, all the best players would train there. What we have is several local clubs that fight each other for the few talented kids and with no truly good options parents and kids must choose between one or the other. What happens is due to location, friends, league, wanting to be the best on the team etc. the really talented kids in our area get split up amongst 4 to six clubs with the rest of the rosters filled up with crap. And none of the teams do well outside of SW FL and we just try to beat up each other to show whose better in SW FL. On the East Coast, all the players know the couple of clubs that are elite and EVERYONE tries to make those teams so you get the most talented kids playing together not split up. It is very hard to put together a really good team here in addition to getting one of the few elite coaches or which there aren't many to coach your kids team and do so consistently for several years. For instance, the Fire 05 Girls that just won a State Cup (while not DA level or ECNL comp still a worthy acomplishment for SW FL) is a an example of a team that was able to (1) put together a roster of mostly quality players that have stayed together for the last few years and have a very good coach who has stayed with this team for several years. The coach ran sessions in summer, the players were invested and committed to working on personal development away from the team. And so you got a really good team that can win games outside of SW FL but these types of teams/set-up are rare here. So how do we fix this, how do we get the elite players all on the same team? How do we stop fighting each other and start working towards something more for these players to help them grow and see what they can become. Do we try to merge clubs? Do parents committ to making a longer drive so there kid can compete at a higher level. Do the parents who say we'll never let our kids play for certain clubs change course and try to put their kids in more competitive environment. Or does no one simply care and everyone is happy with SWL FL being a recreational soccer at best region where we think more than 2 days of soccer practice a week is unreasonable, ridiculous and takes up too much of our time?
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Unregistered
Could be wrong but may be right
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostCC is only good thing at Fire. No idea why he is still there. He needs to come to GPS as Fire is going backwards.
But don’t count out the Fire yet for great things are happening with PW.
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostFire is being blown out by The Blue Storm. They were first on the scene and could have had it all but many think after MP left the names that won’t be mentioned and are no longer there blew it with nepotism and perhaps mismanagement of funds to say the least.
But don’t count out the Fire yet for great things are happening with PW.
What has PW done in last 5-6 years to say he has things going in right direction? Before he took over, they were most premier club in area. Then NFM got GPS/RP, Azzuri merged with Bonita and has OCYS with big feeder system... Now Fire is probably same as Azzuri and Lee County. Just another SWFL Community Club. Nothing wrong, but don’t call it or charge for Premier. Get rid of PW and partner up with another club.
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThe real issue in SW FL is the amount of kids who (1) play soccer and (2) have enough quality/technical ability to play at an elite level. Most kids in this area don't want to do the extra private training, summer conditioning, etc. that is required to play the game at a higher level. If you go out to local fields or NCRP you don't see a whole bunch of kids playing its mostly adults. Really good soccer players are hard to find here. Other places, like the East Coast, the soccer fields are always filled with kids playing soccer. Although my family is no longer affiliated with the club, I do believe GPS West has the best set-up/coaching to progress their club into a potential elite level that can compete outside of the area. The reason SW FL will likely never have a truly elite club is due to the fact that we don't have one club that clearly stands out from the rest as the best. If there was, all the best players would train there. What we have is several local clubs that fight each other for the few talented kids and with no truly good options parents and kids must choose between one or the other. What happens is due to location, friends, league, wanting to be the best on the team etc. the really talented kids in our area get split up amongst 4 to six clubs with the rest of the rosters filled up with crap. And none of the teams do well outside of SW FL and we just try to beat up each other to show whose better in SW FL. On the East Coast, all the players know the couple of clubs that are elite and EVERYONE tries to make those teams so you get the most talented kids playing together not split up. It is very hard to put together a really good team here in addition to getting one of the few elite coaches or which there aren't many to coach your kids team and do so consistently for several years. For instance, the Fire 05 Girls that just won a State Cup (while not DA level or ECNL comp still a worthy acomplishment for SW FL) is a an example of a team that was able to (1) put together a roster of mostly quality players that have stayed together for the last few years and have a very good coach who has stayed with this team for several years. The coach ran sessions in summer, the players were invested and committed to working on personal development away from the team. And so you got a really good team that can win games outside of SW FL but these types of teams/set-up are rare here. So how do we fix this, how do we get the elite players all on the same team? How do we stop fighting each other and start working towards something more for these players to help them grow and see what they can become. Do we try to merge clubs? Do parents committ to making a longer drive so there kid can compete at a higher level. Do the parents who say we'll never let our kids play for certain clubs change course and try to put their kids in more competitive environment. Or does no one simply care and everyone is happy with SWL FL being a recreational soccer at best region where we think more than 2 days of soccer practice a week is unreasonable, ridiculous and takes up too much of our time?
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Unregistered
Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThis post nails it for SWF Youth Soccer - if my child had exceptional soccer talent GPS would be the place to go IMO. Fire is overpriced and trys to be something they are not. Storm I guess is a little better priced and has better coaching, but also has issue's. Cape Cyclones has the Dutch Lions to deal with. Fort Myers has two programs - everything is watered down and over-priced for what you get. Not to mention only 4 teams for league play!? As a parent I guess it is what it is but why does it have to be so expensive? But our children still want to play which is great!! But us parents are left wondering what to do because we write the checks to these over-priced clubs. Optimist is a fantastic option and a wonderful soccer club but it would be nice to have something a step up from that.
GPS has best boys product. It’s hard to argue against their U13 and up teams. Other clubs can compete in certain ages, but not the program as a whole. Girls, it’s really up in the air. Azzuri is by far the weakest as I think only their U12 team is good and they just fired their coach. Cape used to be by far the best, but they’ve lost so many players over the years, I would say Fire and GPS are about equal.
Optimist used to be a great option, but if you have a younger kid playing and laying that much for just 3 months of soccer? 1 practice a week with 1 game? Trained by a mom/dad and kicked off fields when club team needs them? No thank you. I’ll pay a little extra to get better quality.
I suppose you need to think about pricing and divide it by he 9-10 months of soccer you get. Then think about it per month and if it’s worth it? Depends what level, but most around around $1000. More for older premier teams at Fire and GPS. That’s $100/mo. You get 8-12 trainings with league games and anything else? Yes, tournaments and travel adds up, but as far as what the actual club charges, I don’t believe it’s crazy. I came here from New Jersey and I paid $1400 for my daughter that was 8 years old to play. It just was the norm.
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Unregistered
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Unregistered
Atlanta is the place to be for Academy. Try for a tryout there. They don’t care who your daddy is so no pulling strings.
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