Club Jumping

Should club jumping be allowed between fall and spring? Is it fair to fellow teammates,coach and club? Should club jumping happen only during June tryouts?

It's not about fairness, it's more about choice and letting a player keep their optinos open. Whether it's "fair" or morally proper is up to the individual and their family.

Changing teams should happen in June. That is when people have a choice of tryouts or ect. People leave a team because they drop a division are not teaching the right thing to the players. It would be different if there is a problem with the coach.

[Cujo]

Re: Club Jumping

Should club jumping be allowed between fall and spring? Is it fair to fellow teammates,coach and club? Should club jumping happen only during June tryouts?

I think a player should always have the option of leaving if they are not satisfied. I believe the MAPLE by-laws are unambigous on this point. I only see it as a problem if the player wants to stay and the parent is initiating the move. The agreement though is between the parent and the club on behalf of the player. Minors are not allowed by law to enter into binding legal agreements.

If a club cannot produce what they say they offer then a player should have every right to move.

[Liverpool Coach]

There are many circumstances and many different answers so there can not be 1 right and 1 wrong answer. Many times clubs don't even announce who the coach is until after tryouts. And sometimes even then that changes. I firmly believe most parents stay with a particular coach rather than a certain club so long as they are getting what they want. What happens to that player who was very happy with his team and agreed to stay because he was convinced the new coach would be good and then it turns out this player did not get to play much because the new coach did not like him.

And yes I certainly understand changing teams mid - year can be a problem.

What about a club that holds tryouts and announces coaches and then in August tells the players selected that they will not field the team? I have seen that happen

The proper way to handle it is through approval. Right now there is no approval process...you can join any club. However, if the player leaving were required by the league to have reasonable proof as to why they were switching clubs that met league criteria established beforehand then that would make those changes less likely to happen. And the new club should also be alert to those club jumpers as well.

There are some good and valid reasons to switch. Too often though it is abused. By the way I do know parents of some players who are not happy but are finishing out their commitment.....so some people do honor their word.

How big of a problem is mid-season team jumping? Probably depends upon age but 5-10% of players, max?

Well said Liverpool coach. I too think there should be sometype of system in place for the winter months. There are too many jumpers in U-12 thru U-14. Dropping a division is not a reason to change clubs during the winter months.

How big of a problem is mid-season team jumping? Probably depends upon age but 5-10% of players, max?

It turns into an issue when two players leave. Let's face it when billy or sally leave then johnny and susie wants to follow. Then it effects the state cup games in the spring. Also, parents start thinking hey my kid is just as good as billy or sally, I'm going to contact whom ever and get a practice tryout. Then the snowball effect takes place. Just stay until June. Tough times build character. It's only D2 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Numbers aside, adding or subtracting a player mid season is always disruptive to either a receiving team or a losing team. It is not always a bad thing - especially if the player leaving is woefully unhappy. Although you have to ask yourself why a player would so unhappy that he can't finish out the spring season.

Receiving a player mid season is very disruptive to the team receiving - especially if accompanied by idiotic explanatory statements by the coach like "I only take a player mid season who is better than all the players I already have." Other players feel bad and the new player can get a wee bit full of himself. That one usually takes care of itself when the added player leaves in the summer for greener pastures.

I think that players should have an absolute right to change clubs.

No player is obligated to play out the season if all he or she wants to do is stop playing soccer. Accordingly, there is no loyalty to team notion so strong that leagues/youth associations should have rules against quitting a team. This implies that the only good reason to have a rule against changing teams is that the transfer of a player from one team to the other would somehow upset the competitive balance in the league.

I would accept the competitive balance argument if we were talking about professional sports, where it's perfectly fair for an adult to be paid for sitting on the bench or tolerating a coach he no longer gets along with. But we're talking instead about youth leagues where the interest in winning must be balanced against the benefits of allowing youths to play in the environment where they'll flourish best. Kids and their families pay to be members of soccer clubs. If they don't think they're getting what they bargained for, their primary remedy is leaving.

I recognize that the possibility of player movement gives clubs the incentive to recruit other teams' players. However, this can be dealt with by rules prohibiting tryouts, rules against contacting another teams' players, roster limits, and roster freezes. Such rules are obviously not 100% effective, but I'd rather live with them than a rule that ties a kid to a team when his coach won't play him.

If the player leaves mid-year, should they be obligated to pay the balance of enrollment ? Are they entitled to a refund if the have paid there enrollment in full ?

No, refund. Is the child unhappy or the parent?

No, refund. Is the child unhappy or the parent?

It was just a hypothetical. But who would you ask, the player or the parent ?

The child will agree with the parent since they write the check. I'm sure the child would be disappointed if they had a losing season but enough to leave friends? I think the parents will push the issue.