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?"

Funny They ask my kid the same question and he says wherever you need me coach. The answer every coach should want to hear.

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Funny They ask my kid the same question and he says wherever you need me coach. The answer every coach should want to hear.

YES! And probably many kids feel this way, but their parents insist "Colton is an excellent center mid." The kid starts to believe it because he's played little else to compare to, and the coach gets bullied into putting him there all the time. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. A coach with balls will put kids all over, not listen to the parents, and take his lumps if the team loses for awhile. the more flexible a player you are, especially with a great attitude like above, the more valuable you are to a coach.

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after 6 years of watching girls soccer (ECNL for me), ive noticed that even the best of the best forwards/attacking mids all play the same style, they are quick, have foot skills to dribble past 1 or 2 defenders and take a variety of shots, but they all play the same cookie cutter style, pretty tough to unseat a current u17 or u20 who have the exact same skill set.

my advice to the u13's and younger, have your kid try to play a different position than the attacking mid/forward... a great aggressive defensive mid and=or center back with ball skills are much tougher to find and looked at much closer than any of the other positions ... just my 2 cents

the youth national teams need midfielders who can defend and turn right around a assist with the offense....there are probably 50 forwards waiting for the current starters to quit or get hurt...

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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....

Agreed, look at the current GK situation on the WNT. Very difficult position to fill.

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the youth national teams need midfielders who can defend and turn right around a assist with the offense....there are probably 50 forwards waiting for the current starters to quit or get hurt...

And they all play exactly the same style

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Agreed, look at the current GK situation on the WNT. Very difficult position to fill.

Good point.

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1st GK
2nd center defender
3rd holding mid

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Seems to me all positions have their challenges. The center players are often the most technical from what I've seen. They also see the field well. Players in the back also see the field well. The outside players are faster than the center players usually. The goal keepers have the most pressure for sure. Forwards are often players that can't think about anything else but shooting, from my experience. and this mentality if helpful in that position. maybe if you see similar styles at high levels of play (is that what cookie cutter means) its because that's the style that is effective there? I think kids should feel good wherever they play and not hear from parents that certain positions are the most important or hardest to fill or whatever. Every position is needed and your kid should be able to feel good about any position they are suited for.

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Seems to me all positions have their challenges. The center players are often the most technical from what I've seen. They also see the field well. Players in the back also see the field well. The outside players are faster than the center players usually. The goal keepers have the most pressure for sure. Forwards are often players that can't think about anything else but shooting, from my experience. and this mentality if helpful in that position. maybe if you see similar styles at high levels of play (is that what cookie cutter means) its because that's the style that is effective there? I think kids should feel good wherever they play and not hear from parents that certain positions are the most important or hardest to fill or whatever. Every position is needed and your kid should be able to feel good about any position they are suited for.

my 17 year old got called up to one of the NT camps, shes a forward for one of the north florida ecnl teams and has only played forward since she was 12. she was told to learn to play other positions if she ever had any real aspirations of being on any of the final rosters. the current group of forwards waiting for a shot is huge. i still think forward is almost impossible to get noticed and called up for the girls/womens NT's, ive been to the showcases and not one of the girls stood out, they are all good, but wont take a spot away from the girls already picked, either by merit and or connections.

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I think most players that make national team would be the best player in any position on their top level club teams. I've noticed those players, no matter where you put them, they stand out. They have strong mental determination and winning at soccer is about the only thing they care about. every time your player plays on a team, they play the position the coach needs them to play. it's not easy to figure out the best position for them to play to increase their chances, and then make sure they get to play there. Sometimes the national team will need different types of players than other times. But they will always make room for an incredible standout. I really think parents do more harm than good trying to guide their players into the right positions. And you can't always make it happen because of all kinds of reasons, including team politics. But if you player kicks ass no matter where they play, then you might have something.

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I think most players that make national team would be the best player in any position on their top level club teams. I've noticed those players, no matter where you put them, they stand out. They have strong mental determination and winning at soccer is about the only thing they care about. every time your player plays on a team, they play the position the coach needs them to play. it's not easy to figure out the best position for them to play to increase their chances, and then make sure they get to play there. Sometimes the national team will need different types of players than other times. But they will always make room for an incredible standout. I really think parents do more harm than good trying to guide their players into the right positions. And you can't always make it happen because of all kinds of reasons, including team politics. But if you player kicks ass no matter where they play, then you might have something.

Absolutely an ideal player can play multiple positions effectively. Playing different positions during the development years is the best way to learn the entire field and the roles of each position, even spending time in goal (due to its specialized role you won't find many GK who can fill field positions and vice versa well, but it's good to spend time doing both). The right attitude matters too. Parents who dig their heels into their kids staying in the "best" spot are doing their kids a disservice. Besides being educational the player might find they are even stronger in a different position. Unfortunately not enough coaches rotate positions. It's easier and helps insure wins when you stick neither what you know. Avoid lazy coaches like that

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I think defense has more difficult positions as far as actual playing. However, I think it is more difficult to get national call ups at attacking mid/forward. Certainly not all, but the majority of top athletic girls seem to prefer attacking positions when they start at ulittle. The good ones are successful so they end up staying attacking, getting the most touches on the ball, scoring lots of goals, getting the most kudos & opportunities. If a defense player turns out to be a stud at defense, most ulittle kids/parents/coaches soon move the stud to attacking because everyone loves scoring goals. The result is there is a much higher percentage of top athletes/soccer players in the attacking positions in the US. Hence why colleges & the USWNT end up often recruiting top forwards and then switching them to outside back, ala Kelly O'Hara. Stanford & others do this often. Therefore, if your player wants to increase call ups to the US National pools, the best strategy might be to have them play attacking at ulittles and then switch to defense. I've personally seen many girls that play forward make odp regional teams by playing outside back for odp. These same girls tried for years at forward but never made it to regional team. This also has the beneficial outcome of making the player much more versatile across the board, which coaches love.

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NT strikers are the hardest position ! Not many are produce to that matter not many top American players any position so true !

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NT strikers are the hardest position ! Not many are produce to that matter not many top American players any position so true !

Are you hitting the Jack Daniels again?

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I think defense has more difficult positions as far as actual playing. However, I think it is more difficult to get national call ups at attacking mid/forward. Certainly not all, but the majority of top athletic girls seem to prefer attacking positions when they start at ulittle. The good ones are successful so they end up staying attacking, getting the most touches on the ball, scoring lots of goals, getting the most kudos & opportunities. If a defense player turns out to be a stud at defense, most ulittle kids/parents/coaches soon move the stud to attacking because everyone loves scoring goals. The result is there is a much higher percentage of top athletes/soccer players in the attacking positions in the US. Hence why colleges & the USWNT end up often recruiting top forwards and then switching them to outside back, ala Kelly O'Hara. Stanford & others do this often. Therefore, if your player wants to increase call ups to the US National pools, the best strategy might be to have them play attacking at ulittles and then switch to defense. I've personally seen many girls that play forward make odp regional teams by playing outside back for odp. These same girls tried for years at forward but never made it to regional team. This also has the beneficial outcome of making the player much more versatile across the board, which coaches love.

Agree with this. Thanks for good explanation.