Girls Robatic Style of Play

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Yes they are many examples of top female players who trained with boys teams - MP in CO did, EJ did at OW (boys DA club in the NE). But the practicality of doing it on a broad level isn't there. Sure a top female player may be able to keep up but certainly not all. Is that fair to the boys to have to train with/scrimmage against on a regular basis? The boys' parents will complain; some girls' parents will complain about physicality/injury risk.

Our club does it from time to time, but not often, and usually it's a year younger boys team vs a year older girls' team.

A few parents at our last club pushed for this because their girls were very good and they weren't challenged on our mediocre team. However, there wasn't an older team for them to play on - which would be the standard approach. The club wouldn't even consider it because the boys team parents got wind of it and raised hell. We moved - for many reason and not because my D wanted to train with boys necessarily but because it demonstrated their narrow view and unwillingness to stretch players where appropriate. Playing with boys is great (my D has two older brothers :) ) but it isn't always a workable model on a large scale.

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Kinda defeats the club's message that they are producing a superior Boys product.

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Kinda defeats the club's message that they are producing a superior Boys product.

Which is why boys team parents don't want girls playing against their kids. Nothing worse than a girl smoking their kid. Ego crusher.

But really many girls aren't able to keep up playing boys, so is it fair to all the boys on a team to be matched up with weaker players? I think it's find once in awhile, especially if you do a younger boys team/older girls team. But only an occasional top flight girl should be doing it on a regular basis.

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That's relative though. Some girls literally might just have the better physical tools to be a better player than her. However if we are talking about the same girl there are few girls in the state let alone the whole southeast that play with her awareness and speed of play. And the way the boys team she was on played fits right into that development. I do know better players than her in the state and even better ones on her team but they also played against boys for a long period of time too. Either it can't hurt and there is reason to believe it would help.

And for people saying girls aren't really allowed by clubs to do this, this is where you have to find a club that will allow your kid to develop in the best environment and not be thrown into their top league or team just for acclaim. If you pay attention to top college and pro girls teams they practice with boys and play male opposition (albeit younger) frequently. The USWNT plays U16 DA teams and get killed. Maybe a girl can't get to that level of play (DA) but still clearly having them in that sort of boys environment will have them ahead of the game even at that high level.

There does come another dilemma however, finding coaches that won't treat a girl like a girl. That means making her own meaningful minutes and as I mentioned earlier not get any free passes for being a girl. That's really just down to discussion and finding the right fit.

One girl I'm currently scouting and becoming familiar with plays for her father (maybe brother?). She's 13 playing U15 boys fspl. To my knowledge she's already been through ID2, played ECNL for OC and is being looked at for both the US GNT and her native countries (carribean area I was told). Recently she went to Brazil and played with a full women's professional team in the first division and was offered the opportunity to stay there.

What that opportunity tells me and he way her guardian trains her is that being with the boys and not being held back by the girl stereotypes is that rapid and great growth is possible. So once again I encourage parents and coaches to stop treating girls like girls and you will be astonished by the level of play that can be achieved. I actually think girls could play a way better level of soccer than boys at the youth level based on the discipline and pass oriented nature of girls. Getting the speed of play to the boys level and skill is the key to this though.

On a side note, too many girls are wearing copas! Like my old college coach said to the freshman every year "every time I see a player in plain or old black cleats I think slow and unoriginal"
That was the last time I saw black cleats until alumni weekend years after . Lol

I believe most of what you typed, except a 13 year old playing with pro Brazilian women and being offered a spot? really? lol

those copas are just ugly

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I don't know about all of this. I think I'll just let my girls be girls and enjoy soccer their girl way. Whatever that means.

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Girls soccer is girls soccer. It is not about being able to play like a boy or on a men's team.

Yep....Agree

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This is actually a conversation I have frequently with coaches and parents (sometimes even players). In my experience of coaching girls at pretty much all levels the difference between the girls you are referring to and the ones that play fluid, real soccer is partially what a poster said previously. Girls need to play with boys for as long as possible, even if it means being a role player on a boys team. Playing in that state of training that's fast physicals and demanding is so important for girls to develop an extra edge that they often lose by playing with girls too often. One girl I am familiar with played on one of the top U13 boys teams for 5 years and when she made the transition to girls she was playing up ECNL and was one of the top players. She is now headed to a top SEC school on scholarship. Perhaps the greatest disparity comes from the girls need to be trained like girls ideology. There is some bs that girls are more fragile or physically incapable of doing what boys do. Running suicides, weightlifting and practicing footwork outside of the normal practice are almost nonexistent in girls soccer and the ones that do do this end up being high level collegiate players. It seems simple to train girls at the level of boys and not ever use the fact that they are girls as an excuse for mediocrity. If a girls step over lacks hip movement or a real deceptive faint then the coach must hold her accountable and make her understand that it's not the correct execution of the move and for it to be successful must be improved. Another thing is girl parents need to become more educated. To be honest most girls parents have no knowledge of the game, they don't watch men's soccer because it isn't pertinent to their child so they miss all of the little skills and tactics that make a difference when raising a player. They also never hold their child to the standard of men's soccer, a boy at the DA level plays an almost flawless game similar to professionals, low turnovers, clean touches and sensible decision making. ECNL is often a crap fest and there is little skill or knowledge across the field.

Moral of the message, train girls or your daughter like boys. Don't let them fall below that standard

I think the big point here, a good one, is not necessarily to "train with boys", although I see the benefits at some point. But instilling the mindset, that boys seem to have more than girls. As you mentioned "outside work". It cant be just 3 training sessions per week. Girls seem less inclined to put in the extra work. I think boy athletes are more focused on one thing at a time. Girls, especially high school age, have many "important" aspects going on at once.

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I believe most of what you typed, except a 13 year old playing with pro Brazilian women and being offered a spot? really? lol

those copas are just ugly

It was hard to believe but the guardian showed me legitimacy. You gotta remember that girls soccer is the opposite of boys soccer. Girls soccer in America is above and beyond almost every country in terms of results and pro player contribution. It's like if you looked at a top under 15 boy in Brazil playing for a team in Sweden. Also consider girls reach physical maturity at an early age (and this girl is reasonably big and athletic). And LOL if you think the Brazilian men's league is a joke, the women's league is something else. A few years back during the World Cup I took my daughter to see a women's team train (that was apparently 7th in the league) and she said she has seen teams in her age group more organized (U16 at the time). Between horrible defending and contract disputes it's not out of the world for young American girls to earn spots in those teams.

Still the gist is, playing with better opposition makes better players. When a girl reaches the ceiling of girls soccer she needs to move to boys. That should be the benefit of girls soccer, having a higher level they can achieve even after dominating the girls side.

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It was hard to believe but the guardian showed me legitimacy. You gotta remember that girls soccer is the opposite of boys soccer. Girls soccer in America is above and beyond almost every country in terms of results and pro player contribution. It's like if you looked at a top under 15 boy in Brazil playing for a team in Sweden. Also consider girls reach physical maturity at an early age (and this girl is reasonably big and athletic). And LOL if you think the Brazilian men's league is a joke, the women's league is something else. A few years back during the World Cup I took my daughter to see a women's team train (that was apparently 7th in the league) and she said she has seen teams in her age group more organized (U16 at the time). Between horrible defending and contract disputes it's not out of the world for young American girls to earn spots in those teams.

Still the gist is, playing with better opposition makes better players. When a girl reaches the ceiling of girls soccer she needs to move to boys. That should be the benefit of girls soccer, having a higher level they can achieve even after dominating the girls side.

Then move them to a higher level or older girls team, unless the girls is built like a guy and prefers practicing with boys.

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https://youtu.be/pPdP_1TVVtI
Take it from Geno and the players at UCONN, attitude and improvement is everything. Geno yells at his players like no tomorrow and is absolutely ruthless when it comes to body language or lack of effort. But look what he's done, created an absolute dynasty. He's revolutionizing girls coaching to be non negotiatble like the boys side. On the boys side of sports a single poor play can result in getting yanked for the entire game. But you bet any competitior is never gonna make that mistake again.

It's tough because girls and daughters are so near to the hearts of parents and it can be difficult seeing them take such abuse or struggle because they can't get things right, but this is the future of girls athletics. What's becoming more evident is that girls being coached like boys or girls being involved with boys activities are dominating their sports. Look at the olympics, not even trying to bash, but girls who win the events have the physiology of boys.

Girls are blessed with the ability to not have a peak like boys do. Boys can't train with another gender above them athletically to get better at a desired sport. Girls have this priveledge and should use it. That's the only way we could ever see co Ed professional sports leagues. And to be honest I don't see too much of a disparity or wait before the first girl enters a professional men's team in the US

[Unregistered]

https://youtu.be/pPdP_1TVVtI
Take it from Geno and the players at UCONN, attitude and improvement is everything. Geno yells at his players like no tomorrow and is absolutely ruthless when it comes to body language or lack of effort. But look what he's done, created an absolute dynasty. He's revolutionizing girls coaching to be non negotiatble like the boys side. On the boys side of sports a single poor play can result in getting yanked for the entire game. But you bet any competitior is never gonna make that mistake again.

It's tough because girls and daughters are so near to the hearts of parents and it can be difficult seeing them take such abuse or struggle because they can't get things right, but this is the future of girls athletics. What's becoming more evident is that girls being coached like boys or girls being involved with boys activities are dominating their sports. Look at the olympics, not even trying to bash, but girls who win the events have the physiology of boys.

Girls are blessed with the ability to not have a peak like boys do. Boys can't train with another gender above them athletically to get better at a desired sport. Girls have this priveledge and should use it. That's the only way we could ever see co Ed professional sports leagues. And to be honest I don't see too much of a disparity or wait before the first girl enters a professional men's team in the US

Not much of a disparity??? Are you serious?? Please name the sport where some of the most elite women can compete head to head with the most elite men??

Maybe, just maybe something like bowling, archery, shooting you know skill sports they might be able to compete but anything that is a contact sport or strength, speed, or endurance related......no chance.

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Not much of a disparity??? Are you serious?? Please name the sport where some of the most elite women can compete head to head with the most elite men??

Maybe, just maybe something like bowling, archery, shooting you know skill sports they might be able to compete but anything that is a contact sport or strength, speed, or endurance related......no chance.

Exactly. Is this what we want in our American soccer culture? For colleges to seek out and recruit the 8th grade girls who look and play like a boy, whatever that is?

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gold

Exactly. Is this what we want in our American soccer culture? For colleges to seek out and recruit the 8th grade girls who look and play like a boy, whatever that is?

I just have to agree with this. Girls would have to start having a different mix of hormones and everything to compete with boys in a sport where physicality and speed and muscle content and aggressiveness matter. But I do think they could be held to just as high a standard for playing smart and giving it their all, and putting in training time, and having a great attitude. But for the rare girl that can hang with the top boys (I have seen some) and is not challenged playing with girls, I hope she can find a spot somewhere to play with the other gender if she wants.

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Not much of a disparity??? Are you serious?? Please name the sport where some of the most elite women can compete head to head with the most elite men??

Maybe, just maybe something like bowling, archery, shooting you know skill sports they might be able to compete but anything that is a contact sport or strength, speed, or endurance related......no chance.

The galaxy were looking at Marta a few years back...