No soccer games! Club is dead

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Lots of chatter about focus on winning vs development. Agreed kids 12 and under must get the basics. A good coach evaluates the game taking note as players play and uses the game as a teaching tool. I know some coaches even record their games, watch the game, and then send individual feedback to the players. The coaches that fail our kids spend the game scraping at them, and after the game lecturing them. These coaches play the same group of kids as their "starters" every game. They follow a formula, big slow kid in goal, slow big kids on D, long legged runners in mid, and fast savvy players who can shoot up front. When those players need a rest they pull in their subs. Kids get bored with this style which the play to win idea. The practices are a few warm up drills with the same formation I mentioned scrimmaging each other "team development" over individual. Now this is more of an issue on town soccer, and note the coaches kid, that kid will be up front often playing the most. However clubs can have this mentality too. I have a kid who was Bayside and now Surf... guess what both clubs play to win. They play hard to win. I am not sure, but it seems the parents and coaches are pushing it. Both clubs are win at all costs and same stressed out screaming parents are at both clubs. So we have two major problems here, the RI town model (play to win by putting big kids in back, fast kids up front, everyone else on bench) or the club model (screaming parents focused only on winning and bragging.) Neither is focused on individual development. That's why kids in RI mostly won't play D1. They will burn out from Daddy screaming and forcing them to run 4 miles a day, orrrr they will quit town soccer when they get cut from their friends because they were not big enough, fast enough whatever....Need to focus on each individual not only winning.

You are generalizing coaches and programs here. We see much different. At our U12 premier team, our coach moves the kids around to make them play all different positions to purposely put them in uncomfortable situations. The kids to gravitate to specific positions and yes, the big kids are most often in the back, but guess what, that's where they are in the pros too. The kids have the drive to win. The coach will help the get their, but not at the cost of development. They will play out of the back even if they are down by 5 points just for the development. When they are ahead, the demand to move the ball around the pitch will be even greater, but there is still a focus on the attack, as that is what needs to be developed. And this is a U12 team at the highest level of premier soccer. We are paying for development and that is what is most important to the parents, not the wins. We want our kids challenged at the highest level, and the kids want that too. They all have a killer instinct and take their game seriously - but they sure have fun scoring goals and winning.

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“ We want our kids challenged at the highest level, and the kids want that too. They all have a killer instinct and take their game seriously.”

Killer instinct u12? Ok. Sure. U little parents are so cute.
The poster above neglects to mention their child’s amazing club.
Likely doesn’t exist.
At least the poster above mentioned their child’s club experiences, Bayside then Surf.
I respect that. And although both of those clubs have insane parents and questionable recruiting tactics, at least they own it. Those clubs play to win! And that’s not good for individual development as mentioned but the parents know what they are getting into a cut throat club that goes for the gold. Insane club stuff for sure!

However my issue with the above posters is the lack of acknowledgment of how shady the town coaching and politics are and how kids really are getting left behind for being younger and smaller especially the boys! Towns are struggling to keep their good players from playing club only because either they lack good coaches or good competition. You want kids to love the sport? Develop the new kids (every town needs a rec program like East Prov) and challenge your experienced serious players.

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Previous poster in question here. Clib is Bayside. Great coaching focused on development.

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Scoring goals is fun too (and probably the best aspect of playing for most kids and somewhat necessary for winning) so I suppose you hate mercy rules?

Since for most games there is a winner and a loser, you are saying the best situation is where kids flock to the "better" team -- well the math says at some point the better teams have to either be all somewhat equal (then there is no real "better") or you need a horde of fodder kids/teams for the better teams to have their "fun" playing.

The reality is soccer is an individual game at the young ages. The game is just a construct for kids to practice their skills and ability to think and execute under pressure that often doesn't exist in training. That's until about U14 or so when the game certainly becomes more about the team and winning.

But there is of course a element of truth in your post -- that's why the ideal situation at u10 and below for sure is Academy style, non-fixed rosters. One team isn't doing well - rebalance the team for the next match -- heck, in a great situation it's round robin small sided games so coaches move kids between games (yes in practice a bit harder to do but an academy set up can at least move kids intra-club on a weekly basis).

Where the issue has been is at ages 12 and below, kids develop differently physically and a stud athlete can just play out kick, out run, and out muscle to "win" games and too many coaches (and parents) think that's a sign of the future and great coaching.

SRI and the larger USYS would "preach one thing" but their practices (fixed rosters, protected fiefdoms to grow teams vice grow quality with the old 3 town rule, protected weak premier clubs that would have folded earlier without the protection, made ODP a pay for play vice a real merit based program, etc.).

Most kids aren't playing in college so what becomes fun for them is playing with their friends and high school teammates -- my kids did that and they didn't mind being "middle of the run" because it was about the next fall's HS season. The coach of that team didn't play to win (per se - of course he wanted to be competitive) but worked on stuff the HS coach didn't have time to spend on in the limited HS period (like set plays and building out of the back, etc.).

I didn't mean I expected wins every game. What I meant was I want to see teams TRYING to win. My kid was on a team that went something like 12 games without even seeming to try. It was like watching a scrimmage with the coach having them work on nothing but playing it out of the back, and he'd get very upset if they tried anything else. There was no attempt at counter-attack, no penetration, no creativity, just work on possession to the exclusion of all else for a dozen freaking games. And they lost every single one of them, some badly, even though they were generally superior players on an individual basis. Team morale was in the crapper. Some ended up moving to other clubs, some quit soccer altogether.

[Unregistered]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/30-year-ma...ry?id=71731414

COVID: Please don't report this kind of news! I want them to think they are invincible, that they and their kids will be fine. And please keep that myocarditis stuff out of the spotlight. We want these ignorant parents to only look at me through the lens of live or die. Let them keep thinking it is binary.

1918 Influenza: So true. The internet wasn't around with me, and it seems like it is both helping your cause and hurting it. The best you can do is keep pushing the idea that any bad news is anecdotal. I loved it when they had those thoughts. I killed 20 million, you still have a ways to go to catch me!!

COVID: Ok, look. It's a lot harder for me. Science/medicine is better. Much better.

1918 Influenza: Yeah, but people today are complete idiots. Most are so self-absorbed they do things like brag about club soccer teams. They are so focused on little johnny succeeding in a b.s. youth sports game that they will risk his health, their health, and any other persons health to see him dribble

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/20/fact-check-covid-19-deadlier-than-1918-spanish-flu-seasonal-flu/3378208001/

COVID: Uggh. I hate the internet! See, stories like this one that indicate my lethality and also debunk the social media myths that I am not harmful are just so frustrating!! How am I supposed to compete with you (1918 influenza) with this internet thing?

1918 Influenza: Relax. Remember, you are dealing with a population that focuses on instant gratification, the almighty dollar and sports glory over things like science and discipline. Just remember, your internet thingy is also helping a lot of your future victims to focus on politics. I've seen a number of them claim you will go away after their presidential election. That one makes me laugh every time!

COVID: I know. I love it when they use confirmation bias to select news headlines that support their hubris. "My son won't get it." "He's young and healthy." "Myocarditis is just fear mongering." These words are music to my viral soul.

1918 Influenza: Look at how the colleges are operating now. They are STILL going to play football even when they send kids home!! LOL. You are so lucky, COVID, these people are as dumb as they come.

COVID: Yeah, guess you are right. I just need the internet to avoid the posting headlines that come up when some of these young kids develop long-term heart issues and brain inflammation after playing this fall.

1918 Influenza: Relax. You worry too much. You are new at this pandemic thing, so let me educate you. Even if a young person is hospitalized due to a soccer game, or passes, MANY parents will STILL push forward. Their confirmation bias knows no bounds. Plus, they are youth sports parents - the best kind: irrational, crazy and largely uneducated. Many of them do not hold advanced degrees or couldn't fine the words capsomere or virion if you gave them a medical dictionary.

[Unregistered]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/20/fact-check-covid-19-deadlier-than-1918-spanish-flu-seasonal-flu/3378208001/

COVID: Uggh. I hate the internet! See, stories like this one that indicate my lethality and also debunk the social media myths that I am not harmful are just so frustrating!! How am I supposed to compete with you (1918 influenza) with this internet thing?

1918 Influenza: Relax. Remember, you are dealing with a population that focuses on instant gratification, the almighty dollar and sports glory over things like science and discipline. Just remember, your internet thingy is also helping a lot of your future victims to focus on politics. I've seen a number of them claim you will go away after their presidential election. That one makes me laugh every time!

COVID: I know. I love it when they use confirmation bias to select news headlines that support their hubris. "My son won't get it." "He's young and healthy." "Myocarditis is just fear mongering." These words are music to my viral soul.

1918 Influenza: Look at how the colleges are operating now. They are STILL going to play football even when they send kids home!! LOL. You are so lucky, COVID, these people are as dumb as they come.

COVID: Yeah, guess you are right. I just need the internet to avoid the posting headlines that come up when some of these young kids develop long-term heart issues and brain inflammation after playing this fall.

1918 Influenza: Relax. You worry too much. You are new at this pandemic thing, so let me educate you. Even if a young person is hospitalized due to a soccer game, or passes, MANY parents will STILL push forward. Their confirmation bias knows no bounds. Plus, they are youth sports parents - the best kind: irrational, crazy and largely uneducated. Many of them do not hold advanced degrees or couldn't fine the words capsomere or virion if you gave them a medical dictionary.

Why? Just why are you trying to spread fear like this? It's not just irresponsible, it's unethical. You know there are people in the path of wildfires in CA who are refusing to evacuate because people like you have them so scared of COVID that they'd actually rather take the chance of them and their families burning alive rather than face the "certain death" that they believe COVID represents.

The garbage article you linked to uses a lot of bullsh_t to try to paint as negative a picture as possible. But from right within that article:

"Though it is true that about 50 million people died from the Spanish flu, according to an estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Global Change Data Lab places the estimated world population in 1918 at 1.8 billion. An article in 2006 in the health journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the CDC, cites a 2.5% global mortality rate."

Setting aside the odd use of "though," let's extrapolate that out. The global population sits at just above 7.5 BILLION today. A 2.5% mortality rate would equate to 187,500,000 deaths. We're about 186,705,000 deaths short of that at the moment. I guess the virus better get hopping if it expects to live up to the hype of being "deadlier than the Spanish Flu."

[Unregistered]

COVID: Yes! This confirmation bias thing is working. They are still thinking in binary terms. Life or death. They don't understand the risks I pose long-term.

1918 Influenza: Told you. Look at how fast they responded with anecdotes. As if they know SO MUCH about you, when you are only 8 months old in the U.S. I love this kind of hubris. You know, when I started, they didn't take me seriously either. Took about 3 million deaths worldwide before the woke up.

[Unregistered]

1918 Influenza: Just remember, your ability to cause early death 10 years after due to heart issues or destabilizing someone's brain function with long-term inflammation is your true power.

COVID: I know, I just hope they don't get smart and really start focusing on social distancing and mask wearing. I'm so excited they are going back to school.

1918 Influenza: That is a gift. It will coincide with my cousin's arrival (today's flu strain) that will really throw them for a loop. They will all assume you are just my cousin. They won't see the impact you will have on their long-term health. The ultimate distraction

[Unregistered]

COVID: YES! Just what I want. People so skeptical and cynical that they keep on keeping on. What a dream. Poking holes in any warning signs. Continuing to feel better about their own confirmation biases. I love these people. Even these Americans, who are supposed to be the leaders of the world, are so divided. I live for the division. The hatred, the mental health strains - it all causes them to give up, get fatigued in fighting me. Then I can continue to wreak havoc - either through immediate death or nagging long-term health issues that compromise their existence. I love my job!!

1918 Influenza: Don't let your guard down. While the circumstances are setting up well for you, remember: all it takes is one article about the death of a child, or heart issues that lead to real trouble that might cause some parents to start taking you seriously. Let's hope you can infect as many of these young athletes as possible before their parents change their ways. We cannot let them lose their confirmation bias!! We must let them light up message boards with their own anecdotes and baseless confidence that they are doing what is in the best interest of their children (although they never stop to consider the other people that get the virus from their own kids).

COVID: Good points, 1918. All good points. My favorite tactic is when they pivot to the logic of "the cure can't be worse than the virus." They are using things like the mental health trauma of lockdowns as reasons to put their own kids at risk. I love it!! They have no idea that myocarditis will crush a child for the remainder of their life - a far worse fate than repeated lockdowns during my spread. We must never let them understand this trade off. They seem to use logic like, "my kid will 100% be destroyed by no sports, but only has a 3% chance of viral health complications." I love this line of thinking. FOOLS!!! They don't understand that it is not just their health that is at risk. They only think of their own family. Not the 100s and 1000s of others they put at risk. That is why I love people in the year 2020. So selfish they are willing to play youth sports even if it hurts 10 other people. THEY DON'T CARE!! What a gift these fools are. What a gift

[Unregistered]

STUPID TEENAGERS: Let's get together and have parties with other students with no masks. Top that one!

RI SOCCER PARENTS: Hold my mask...

[Unregistered]

From NJ Talking Soccer:

How Many Kids Have Died Of CoVid Due To Soccer Tournaments Nationwide?

Zero. That’s how many.

How many Family members have died from contracting CoVid from their infected soccer player?

Zero as well!

San Diego County CoVid Soccer Statistical Study (No kids infected through practice but rather contracted through outside)

http://surfcupsports.com/2020/08/14/...ty-whitepaper/

Lastly, 90% of all deaths by CoVid are above age 55. 37% are above the age of 81 (The US life expectancy).

Insult and grown all you want but it is people like you raising the youth abuse and suicide rate 10 fold.

We wear our mask and act responsible. Quit hiding behind CoVid because you don’t agree with a President. There is no reason for anyone to have the type crazy soccer policies that the Northeast has put in place!

[Unregistered]

COVID: YES! Just what I want. People so skeptical and cynical that they keep on keeping on. What a dream. Poking holes in any warning signs. Continuing to feel better about their own confirmation biases. I love these people. Even these Americans, who are supposed to be the leaders of the world, are so divided. I live for the division. The hatred, the mental health strains - it all causes them to give up, get fatigued in fighting me. Then I can continue to wreak havoc - either through immediate death or nagging long-term health issues that compromise their existence. I love my job!!

1918 Influenza: Don't let your guard down. While the circumstances are setting up well for you, remember: all it takes is one article about the death of a child, or heart issues that lead to real trouble that might cause some parents to start taking you seriously. Let's hope you can infect as many of these young athletes as possible before their parents change their ways. We cannot let them lose their confirmation bias!! We must let them light up message boards with their own anecdotes and baseless confidence that they are doing what is in the best interest of their children (although they never stop to consider the other people that get the virus from their own kids).

COVID: Good points, 1918. All good points. My favorite tactic is when they pivot to the logic of "the cure can't be worse than the virus." They are using things like the mental health trauma of lockdowns as reasons to put their own kids at risk. I love it!! They have no idea that myocarditis will crush a child for the remainder of their life - a far worse fate than repeated lockdowns during my spread. We must never let them understand this trade off. They seem to use logic like, "my kid will 100% be destroyed by no sports, but only has a 3% chance of viral health complications." I love this line of thinking. FOOLS!!! They don't understand that it is not just their health that is at risk. They only think of their own family. Not the 100s and 1000s of others they put at risk. That is why I love people in the year 2020. So selfish they are willing to play youth sports even if it hurts 10 other people. THEY DON'T CARE!! What a gift these fools are. What a gift

Are you going to post this in every state board? Lots of effort, but honestly, not that great.

[Unregistered]

So clubs are going to have to scramble and start planning their games in CT.
Since Baker is still firm on this MA /RI rule which is absurd. The way to deal with him is take our business and soccer business elsewhere. CT has plenty of options for clubs to compete.

“Raimondo noted New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut aligned their travel policies, but Massachusetts “decided to be stricter than we are.”

“I don’t even think Massachusetts qualifies right now under their own criteria, which is in no way a criticism,” she said. “These are judgment calls.”

[Unregistered]

So clubs are going to have to scramble and start planning their games in CT.
Since Baker is still firm on this MA /RI rule which is absurd. The way to deal with him is take our business and soccer business elsewhere. CT has plenty of options for clubs to compete.

“Raimondo noted New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut aligned their travel policies, but Massachusetts “decided to be stricter than we are.”

“I don’t even think Massachusetts qualifies right now under their own criteria, which is in no way a criticism,” she said. “These are judgment calls.”

Of course it's a criticism -- like Gina is SO guided by science (you know the peer reviewed research that the virus sleeps until 11pm and then comes out or transmission R values take off at groups of 16 versus 15.

If Gina was so into alignment, why doesn't she adopt the same bus policy as CT, which allows far more than 33% (oops, now 50% when she realized charter schools were impacted at 33% - cuz you know, science came out over the last month that said 50% was right..).

People are so in perfect. Why not try experiments? You know, allow one week of training and a weekend of games and then take a week pause -- doing that say next week would also help with seeing how schools will go as kids in say soccer, field hockey, etc. will be in closer contact than schools..