toughest position to play and get called up to NT

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I'm calling horse doo doo on this. If you are losing your games, how can you be developing? This theory is perpetrated by the clubs that can't win. They can say development is most important but kids have to develop a winning attitude by WINNING.
Our coach played kids to their strengths, in certain positions. Moving kids around is good for U12 and under but positions have to be given and adhered to after that. My son goes to a youth academy over the summer and the first thing the college coaches ask is "What position do you play?"

Development doesn't mean always winning - you should be competitive, win some , lose some in close matches. But clubs need wins to attract more talent, get into the right tournaments and leagues etc. The tourney thing starts at a young age because its tough to break into the good events without a prior winning record and playing in the better leagues. Then there's giant coach egos to contend with. Of course they want to win. Easy to do that by going with what you know works. They become unwilling to try new things or give weaker players more playing time.

A college coach will ask you about your position but they love players that can play multiple spot. You limit your marketability in not being versatile - if a program is filled with quality center mids and that's all you will play? Pass. Best answer is more like, " my coach normally has me play x but I also like playing y and z....or I play x in club and y in school"

[Unregistered]

I'm calling horse doo doo on this. If you are losing your games, how can you be developing? This theory is perpetrated by the clubs that can't win. They can say development is most important but kids have to develop a winning attitude by WINNING.
Our coach played kids to their strengths, in certain positions. Moving kids around is good for U12 and under but positions have to be given and adhered to after that. My son goes to a youth academy over the summer and the first thing the college coaches ask is "What position do you play?"

I disagree. You can win all games and not develop players on the team. If a player has a great shot, but overall not great at playing defense, then moving the kid away from forward and into defense, where being able to defend is more critical and therefore greater incentive to do it better - this is development. That player is now much better. You can have a team with really strong players that can win without really passing to each other, so they all keep the ball when they get it and don't learn how to play a high level passing game which must also be developed to be a good player. But they are winning right now.

A winning attitude is needed to win in very difficult situations. Maybe when your best forward was just injured, or your center back. (Or any other position) Or when conditions are extremely hot, or slippery, or windy, or bad ref. Or when you are really challenged. Or the other team is crazy fouling you and getting away with it.This can be developed from switching players around and getting them out of their comfort zones, and they learn to do their best and keep up their strong desire to win even when they could make an excuse for themselves that they were not able to play their strongest position.

Plus, players often develop an attitude about other players on the team that they wouldn't have necessarily if they tried that position once in a while. A winning attitude on a team sport is understanding the whole game, not just your position. That makes you a very limited player. My player was a winger for many years, and as other kids grew taller and faster, needed to transition to the middle, and it was difficult for a while because going from an outside into the middle was very different (360 degrees vs 180, less space, more pressure, etc). More experience at middle earlier would have been helpful.

My advice would be to seek opportunities for your player to play around the field as much as possible. If you think your player should select their position at U12 and focus just on that, I think this is greatly shortchanging long term development in exchange for the earlier reward of maybe looking a little better in games at a young age from staying inside your comfort zone.

And one other thing, at a recent ID camp my player was noticed by a college coach and invited to come visit for defense - never played defense before. You just never know how another coach will see your player.

As a parent it is tempting to watch out for your child and fight to keep them in the position you think will be the winning situation for their future. But without a crystal ball, that will just as often fail for your child as help them. Plus, the more you show them that they must be in a certain position, the more stress they and you will feel if that doesn't work out, rather than embracing new challenges and doing their best. Instead they could become complainers and blame coaches rather than learning the winning attitude.

[Unregistered]

Depends...

Players should be encouraged to play multiple positions at young ages to find their niche. I have seen players change positions and develop even at the high school, college and professional levels to continue their careers, with that said all players have natural tendencies to defend more or attack. There are many reasons for movement: better players ahead of them on the roster, filling on need on the team,lack of pace etc. I see a lot of movement on designated "atheletes" which are players with speed and athleticism but lack skill (forward to defender). This usually will not happen with very skillful finishers, or extremely skillful players at the attacking midfield positions. Lack of technique is a major flaw in soccer in this country even at the higher levels. This is why you might see player movement but no coach in their right mind is going to move a skillful finisher with a ton of technique or an attacking mid who can control the whole game to a defensive position. The main reason for a positional move is lack of productivity. Coaches try to keep athletes on the roster even if the lack skill if they have a ton of pace. I see it at all levels. The next step if they do not produce is off the roster. The problem of soccer in the U.S. is not the talent. It is the lack of coaching. Just because you are fast and athletic does not mean you can play soccer. Somehow many good soccer players are overlooked because they do not have tremendous speed or are not your prototypical Barbie or Ken. Let's get real. We need better coaches who can identify a player who can beat players 1 vs 1 not just through pace but skill, pick out open players, play one touch balls, change the pace of the game, protect the ball and finish when possible. It is not just who is the fastest and tallest. I does not take a lot of soccer knowledge to see that. It is not difficult to pick out
a real player if you know the game. Unfortunately, It seems many "coaches"here in the states do not really "know" the game.

[Unregistered]

Goalie ! Hands down

[Unregistered]

I played all my life 'cause my dad was in the military and I grew up overseas. I think the most underrated and unnoticed position is defender, then goalie. People only notice when you make mistakes and MANY coaches don't understand defense or how to teach defensive skills like blocking shots or slide tackling.

[Unregistered]

I'm calling horse doo doo on this. If you are losing your games, how can you be developing? This theory is perpetrated by the clubs that can't win. They can say development is most important but kids have to develop a winning attitude by WINNING.
Our coach played kids to their strengths, in certain positions. Moving kids around is good for U12 and under but positions have to be given and adhered to after that. My son goes to a youth academy over the summer and the first thing the college coaches ask is "What position do you play?"

I don't mind playing kids at different positions, or sitting down starters in key moments, but it will impact winning, without question. And then when the same club says "what's wrong w the u12s, why aren't they winning ....?" you can't have it both ways. if the club has DA and a kid is looking for a shot, hard to get seen if your coach plays you out of position or if the club thinks their in-house talent is not good enough based on results (the same results that supposedly don't matter b/c of development).

[Unregistered]

A few tests over the course of a season:

If you start in September season losing all the time but progress by spring to winning some and/or having close games? There's some development happening there. Not every team in a league can be stagnant, so if you're getting better against the same opponents fall to spring then something is working. Consider staying

If you start off strong, or at least decent, and are losing pretty consistently by spring?
You've either flatlined or even went backwards (I've seen that happen) while the rest of the world has passed you by. Leave.

If you start with a losing record and continue losing? Leave, in a full sprint, to a club that has a clue

[Unregistered]

I think gk is a tougher position to get noticed

GK is the toughest position to master. The list of things the GK has to master goes on and on compared to other soccer positions. It's partly why they get better older and then play into their later years. The position is changing so much in the last 5 years.

Used to be you were considered "elite" if you were an acrobatic shot-stopper, now it is so much more; the 11th field player, start the attack, communicator, organize the defense, dictate the set plays, soft feet, great hands, ability to read developing plays, etc. And even then it is hard to get noticed....

[Unregistered]

GK is the toughest position to master. The list of things the GK has to master goes on and on compared to other soccer positions. It's partly why they get better older and then play into their later years. The position is changing so much in the last 5 years.

Used to be you were considered "elite" if you were an acrobatic shot-stopper, now it is so much more; the 11th field player, start the attack, communicator, organize the defense, dictate the set plays, soft feet, great hands, ability to read developing plays, etc. And even then it is hard to get noticed....

It also takes a twinge of crazy :), nerves of steel (high pressure that ebbs and flows in a game) and a thick skin. All eyes are on you for every shot on goal. Those who don't understand the game (of which there are many) will always blame the goal on you. Usually they are the ones that didn't see the 7 mistakes their kids made to allow the shot to happen. It's easy to overlook a good GK, but have a bad one and you'll know it soon enough.

Proud GK parent

[Unregistered]

National team call ups are base on relationship that people have with each other and not on actual skill of the players they are calling in. When you actual realized that you will know that everything else doesn't matter. A coach can know the player work ethic and know the player is better then everyone there and that player will still not get called in because in life it's about who you know not what you know.

My daughter played against "Internationals" from Ohio a few years ago. The team had 3 midfielders on U.S. GNT/WNT rosters. The next age group down had 2 midfielders on GNT/WNT rosters. So this club that was not winning that many ECNL games has 5 National Team midfielders? Someone at the club must be related to April Hendricks. There are clearly certain clubs that have relationships with National Team scouts.

[Unregistered]

My daughter played against "Internationals" from Ohio a few years ago. The team had 3 midfielders on U.S. GNT/WNT rosters. The next age group down had 2 midfielders on GNT/WNT rosters. So this club that was not winning that many ECNL games has 5 National Team midfielders? Someone at the club must be related to April Hendricks. There are clearly certain clubs that have relationships with National Team scouts.

Or become a full blown lesbian. That's helpful too

[Unregistered]

Or become a full blown lesbian. That's helpful too

Oh yes - I am sure that is why your kid did not get put on the US team.

[Unregistered]

Or become a full blown lesbian. That's helpful too

Why? They may be naturally stronger.

[Unregistered]

FL coaches don't develop

What I've noticed about Florida is that coaches only care about their record and got soccer points. When it comes to developing players, they don't care. Our last coach claimed that he was developing players by moving them around on the field but his favorites played the same position all year long. When the subject was brought up in the team huddle, the coach responded that he couldn't move those players or the team would lose. So, he wasn't "developing" the team, he was just trying to win. Nice try coach

[Unregistered]

What I've noticed about Florida is that coaches only care about their record and got soccer points. When it comes to developing players, they don't care. Our last coach claimed that he was developing players by moving them around on the field but his favorites played the same position all year long. When the subject was brought up in the team huddle, the coach responded that he couldn't move those players or the team would lose. So, he wasn't "developing" the team, he was just trying to win. Nice try coach

Yes that happens quite often. But in airness to the coaches ii is often driven by the club. It's a cut throat environment and a very shortsighted. Parents are pulled to winning records because they think that means kids are developing. Normally they'll just look at recent very shortsighted results. Clubs need the wins to keep talent coming in the door, which begets them more wins. Most coaches mean well and are trying to do their best but also keep their jobs.