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The state of travel soccer

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    #91
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Ok, I've read though this novel of a thread about pretty much nothing. Some decent fights going on and feelings getting hurt, and that I can appreciate, as this is talkingtrash, I mean talkingsoccer.....

    "Travel" soccer is fine, please everyone, just compartmentalize all this stuff. It is not all stuck together, its not a zero sum game. There is plenty of space for everyone here, as demonstrated by the constant stream of pop-ups that enter and leave the environment. So let travel be what it is.

    Some kids/families are Rec famies, and some are DA/ECNL, and some are somewhere inbetween - travel/pop up premier/whatever. Its all about the kid and what they want/can handle.

    Rec is fun and about having fun with your friends, whats wrong with that? No higher honor than having fun and not giving an f about scores or other nonsense, rec kids are more pure enjoyers of the game in some respects, not all tangled up in the different crowns and eliteness and status's - lets just go play. I guess what could be wrong with rec is the PARENTS who think its Travel or NPL or DA. Its rec. Accept that its rec and the product is awesome. Dont be a crazy person who is not self aware of where you are playing. EVERYONE knows these people.

    Now, travel folks are an interesting mix. Some are realistic on what the product is and where theyre playing, whereas others not so much.... The people that get it are fine and the competition is ok for their kid. The people that dont get it, theyre the issue. Some of the people/families/kids think that theyre in the World Cup and its just travel.... My kid is great, or I've heard kids say "I play travel" like it means something....... It doesnt. Travel is a little higher than rec. These are the problem people. Travel is not DA, its not NPL, or even NEP. Just take it as higher level fun - having fun doing little road trips to other towns with your friends and family.

    DA/ECNL is like Normandy Beach for the kids. Thats where the crucible is and expect your kid to get washed out at some point and have another come in. Its what happens, no big deal, no dishonor. Its a stressful environment and the club doesnt care about your kid, its a process and a machine. If they don't have thick skin and a super competitive drive, it is not the place for them, thats what really washes the kids out. At some point the either they cant compete anymore (too fast/too physical), or do not want to compete at that level anymore. Big stakes table at the center of the gaming pit. Not for everyone, you should know better before you go there....

    So, just stop trying to entangle and mix all these things, they are distinct and separate things. Just let Travel be Travel, Rec be Rec, and whatever alphabet stuff be what it is...

    The real issue is people, people are the problem.....

    Now, lets all go back over the to BS and OW forums and insult each other like true professionals.
    So, I would add that popup premier is a waste of money; stay with travel. FSA lower than B team is a waste of money; stay with travel. If you are truly not rec., staying with travel will get you on the h.s. varsity team as a sophomore or junior.

    Now, the controversial it: there is no point playing on a B team if you want college play. None. This pretty much means make academy or ECNL or go to ... travel.

    I did not mention the several long-term legit premier clubs, such as Southeast, NEU, Wolves, etc. That's mostly because they are largely irrelevant.

    Otherwise, yeah, what that guy said.

    Comment


      #92
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      "and CJSA does absolutely nothing "

      If they are providing insurance under their umbrella, does that qualify as " nothing " ? If the children register , they get " nothing " from the CJSA ?
      Please grow up.
      Any league can provide an umbrella insurance policy. That's hardly a reason for being. CJSA was a nightmare to work with when they still had something going on. Now I'm not even sure anyone even works there.

      Comment


        #93
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        CCSL is letting in too much low-rent "premier" customers. It was a much better organization the first year when it was only the old classic premier (ie. real premier) clubs.
        There really aren't that many town premier teams per bracket. The towns in there are the bigger ones with ok premier teams (FUSA, Greenwich). I think they promote and relegate?
        Face it, all of premier is watered down, but clubs will go to where the best competition is. For now that's CCSL. Used to be CJSA. Top teams play out of state mostly by U12.

        Comment


          #94
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          So, I would add that popup premier is a waste of money; stay with travel. FSA lower than B team is a waste of money; stay with travel. If you are truly not rec., staying with travel will get you on the h.s. varsity team as a sophomore or junior.

          Now, the controversial it: there is no point playing on a B team if you want college play. None. This pretty much means make academy or ECNL or go to ... travel.

          I did not mention the several long-term legit premier clubs, such as Southeast, NEU, Wolves, etc. That's mostly because they are largely irrelevant.

          Otherwise, yeah, what that guy said.
          My only issue with the current environment is that it’s become more about getting into parent’s pockets than it is about the soccer.

          The town premier scheme is pretty bad in my opinion. By 8th grade top talent has already moved to real club teams. So why not just have an organized travel team with a paid coach? Try to win your district and the State cup and maybe even splurge on a weekend tournament out of state. The notion that these teams are “premier or elite” is nonsense. The only exclusive aspect is that you are probably paying double what you should be.

          The issue is that it always ends the same way. Numbers become a struggle and teams get folded or combined.

          Top kids should never be held back. Let them go to strong programs and compete for a position.

          Comment


            #95
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            So, I would add that popup premier is a waste of money; stay with travel. FSA lower than B team is a waste of money; stay with travel. If you are truly not rec., staying with travel will get you on the h.s. varsity team as a sophomore or junior.
            FSA lower than B team (or a club like Sporting's B teams for that matter) fills a niche that is a whole lot better than some travel programs. Hey, if any old joe from any town in CT could sign their kid up for a Fairfield or Wilton or West Hartford or Avon travel team I'm all in for travel. But to the extent my travel choice is my kid playing for a coach who never played a lick of soccer in his life or has never heard of playing out of the back or thinks teaching footskills isnt necessary, a B or C team might fill the void for some families.

            Comment


              #96
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              FSA lower than B team (or a club like Sporting's B teams for that matter) fills a niche that is a whole lot better than some travel programs. Hey, if any old joe from any town in CT could sign their kid up for a Fairfield or Wilton or West Hartford or Avon travel team I'm all in for travel. But to the extent my travel choice is my kid playing for a coach who never played a lick of soccer in his life or has never heard of playing out of the back or thinks teaching footskills isnt necessary, a B or C team might fill the void for some families.
              That’s a valid point. At FSA, the state teams ( C teams) serve that need. The B teams are actually in the NPL at 13 and up and that comes with significant time and expense. That’s the path for kids who desire college but aren’t the top kids at their age. Typically D3 and it can help with admissions. If kids don’t have that goal I’d avoid that.

              Also think that the older teams at Sporting could be selling a dream as well. Lots of travel and the average player there won’t start on their HS varsity team especially at large schools. Those kids traveling to PA and Long Island for regular games seems like a bad deal.

              Comment


                #97
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                FSA lower than B team (or a club like Sporting's B teams for that matter) fills a niche that is a whole lot better than some travel programs. Hey, if any old joe from any town in CT could sign their kid up for a Fairfield or Wilton or West Hartford or Avon travel team I'm all in for travel. But to the extent my travel choice is my kid playing for a coach who never played a lick of soccer in his life or has never heard of playing out of the back or thinks teaching footskills isnt necessary, a B or C team might fill the void for some families.
                You are living in the 1980s. Even the smaller towns have parent-coaches who played high school and college, and have licensing to boot. Finding people in your town who played college soccer is actually not difficult, and finding people who played high school is easy. Plus, some of these towns pay for English coaches (and similar), so there's that, also.

                So, no, it's not just the "Fairfields" and "Avons" that have decent travel teams.

                Comment


                  #98
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Any league can provide an umbrella insurance policy. That's hardly a reason for being. CJSA was a nightmare to work with when they still had something going on. Now I'm not even sure anyone even works there.
                  Then register your child someplace else. They are an Association providing a service. Who cares what you think and what you consider a nightmare ? The vast majority of the people that are involved with CJSA, Rec and Travel coaches, administrators, parents etc. are volunteers. Why don't you just concentrate on to your own personal soccer nirvana and right the wrongs there ? They still have " something going on" , regardless of your need to disparage them. Plenty of children get a chance to play soccer. maybe you forgot, it is about them, not you. Or perhaps you never even acknowledged that point.

                  Comment


                    #99
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    You are living in the 1980s. Even the smaller towns have parent-coaches who played high school and college, and have licensing to boot. Finding people in your town who played college soccer is actually not difficult, and finding people who played high school is easy. Plus, some of these towns pay for English coaches (and similar), so there's that, also.

                    So, no, it's not just the "Fairfields" and "Avons" that have decent travel teams.
                    I quickly threw out four towns that I know have quality town programs as examples. Geez ... you are taking me to task that I did not include an exhaustive list of CT towns? The real point is there are towns out there that don't have decent travel teams. And just because there are people in the town that have played before, some former players may not be good coaches, there may not be enough of them to go around, and they may not have the time to or be interested in volunteering. Plus in a lot of smaller towns, the appointment of the coaches are based on who has a drinking buddy on the board regardless of qualifications.

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      You are living in the 1980s. Even the smaller towns have parent-coaches who played high school and college, and have licensing to boot. Finding people in your town who played college soccer is actually not difficult, and finding people who played high school is easy. Plus, some of these towns pay for English coaches (and similar), so there's that, also.

                      So, no, it's not just the "Fairfields" and "Avons" that have decent travel teams.
                      Even in the better travel towns, most of those decent travel teams dry up by U12 tough ... .then what?

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        I quickly threw out four towns that I know have quality town programs as examples. Geez ... you are taking me to task that I did not include an exhaustive list of CT towns? The real point is there are towns out there that don't have decent travel teams. And just because there are people in the town that have played before, some former players may not be good coaches, there may not be enough of them to go around, and they may not have the time to or be interested in volunteering. Plus in a lot of smaller towns, the appointment of the coaches are based on who has a drinking buddy on the board regardless of qualifications.
                        You are misunderestimating what I wrote. You did throw out four quality town programs but then implied there are a lot of towns that don't have good programs because they only have coaches who never played soccer.

                        I countered that in the 1980s your assertion would have been correct. But, today, and for the past dozen or more years, adults who played college soccer are common and you can't move without tripping over adults who played high school soccer. No town, even the small ones, are devoid of these resources. Furthermore, some towns pay for, ahem, "expert coaching" by Brits. So, there's that.

                        As for the rest, yes, the drinking buddy thing happens, and often it's the local popup premier owner who uses that to grab rec players from the local town program. But, your notion that coaches haven't played is very, very 1980s. WHAM! Mic drop.

                        Comment

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