Club Teams in BAYS

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know of club teams that are playing in BAYS? or

Any town teams that have professional coaches (i.e. club coaches)?

Thanks

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know of club teams that are playing in BAYS? or

Any town teams that have professional coaches (i.e. club coaches)?

Thanks

BAYS is a town travel league. Maple and Super Y are club leagues. Think public school and private school. They have different leagues.

I am sure there are some town teams around that have support from a coach dad who is also involved with college or club.

[Unregistered]

Do any towns employ professional coaches for their top teams? Question is whether BAYS is strictly parent coached or do some teams have a club-like approach.

[Unregistered]

I think that AB was creating a team that was to be coached by 'professional' coaches. I do not know if they were going to play Saturday in BAYS or on Sunday.

Following on the last post, I can imagine there would be demand for a top town team to be coached by professional coaches. This would be supplement the development they get from club as well.

On a separate note, what is the optimum number of days kids should be in structured training for a u12 player.
BAYS - 2 practices, 1 game
Club - 2 practices, 1 game
goalie clinic another day

I am not looking for simple math of BAY + Club, but an optimal situation assuming excellent coaching.
Thanks

[Cujo]

BAYS is a town travel league. Maple and Super Y are club leagues. Think public school and private school. They have different leagues.

I am sure there are some town teams around that have support from a coach dad who is also involved with college or club.

It is a mix:

Parent coaches
Parent coaches who are also club coaches
Professional coaches
Professional coaches are also parents

I am constantly perplexed at the number of people who continue to think that soccer is somehow different from other sports and that parental involvement ruins the game. Without parental involvement most of these leagues would not exist. The occupy seats on the board, they fundraise, sell concessions, they organize teams, coach teams, mow the lawns on the field, line the fields, put the nets up. Do you think some lazy-ass 20 something is going to do all that work for free? First of all they need both hands to the work so the Blackberry will have to be turned off for a couple hours and they would have to get up at 6am to check the fields - prep them - and then return after to close them down.

Parents have been involved in youth sports for better or worse since organized leagues existed. I was coached by my Uncle in LL baseball (who played minor league ball) and a neighbor (who pitched Triple A ball in the Giants organization). The team I played on produced 3 D1 college players as well as Bill Swiacki (who pitched for the Albuquerque Dukes) and is currently a top official in the AD for UMassAmherst. Our basketball leagues were all parent coaches and parent referees. Pop Warner was the same. The hockey leagues were the same. Without parents these leagues would not have existed.

Without parents the soccer travel leagues today would not exist.

That is why I am so contemptous of the parents who show up only for the games and criticize the parent coaches and volunteers who run the league. The parents with the most complaints and biggest mouths are the ones who contribute ZERO to the effort. You can't even get them to sell a friggin candy bar to raise $25....

[Cujo]

Do any towns employ professional coaches for their top teams? Question is whether BAYS is strictly parent coached or do some teams have a club-like approach.

I have seen BAYS teams beat good club teams at tourneys. I.e. Winchester, Wellesley.

Some of the top towns have a half dozen or more teams at the U12 and u14 level. The top teams are select teams that have many club players and/or club quality players. A top BAYS, or ECYSA team (Danvers, Newburyport, Andover) will provide your kid with the same quality of coaching and competition as you get in many MAPLE clubs and levels.

In terms of bang for your buck you get more value in town travel especially at the U12 level.

[Unregistered]

If a town offered a BAYS team with professional coaching, would you take your kids out of club?

Assume 2 practice days and 1 game. High quality coach.

Is three days of soccer enough for development?

The alternative is to play BAYS and club and have 5-6 days of organized soccer.

[Unregistered]

If a town offered a BAYS team with professional coaching, would you take your kids out of club?

Assume 2 practice days and 1 game. High quality coach.

Is three days of soccer enough for development?

The alternative is to play BAYS and club and have 5-6 days of organized soccer.

The reason the best BAYS teams are the best is because they have club/college coaches and a bunch of club players. So it's a little misleading to say that the best BAYS are equal to the best club team. In other words, the best club teams do not depend on the training from BAYS, but the best BAYS teams do depend on the training from clubs. Most of the best HS teams do too. Club training is still the backbone of the best soccer training in MA. That said, if you live in a town stacked with club players and professional coaches participating in town travel, you can get good training for very little money because you've hit the jackpot. The vast majority of us are not this lucky.

[Unregistered]

If a town offered a BAYS team with professional coaching, would you take your kids out of club?

Assume 2 practice days and 1 game. High quality coach.

Is three days of soccer enough for development?

The alternative is to play BAYS and club and have 5-6 days of organized soccer.

The point is that playing with quality players is very important, but you also need to play against quality teams. What is the benefit of playing for a club team in BAYS? Are all BAYS teams going to follow suit? Is the BAYS team going to start traveling to National tournaments? What is the goal?

If your child is serious about soccer, then get out of town soccer altogether. More of a chance for injury playing with less skilled players and there is no benefit. If your child is doing club and town, then your child is doing a disservice to himself and his club team with overuse injuries and probably hanging onto bad habits. If there is a social reason, then do another community sport. Cross-training is important anyways.

Many clubs practice 3 days a week with an extra position clinic and lots of opportunities for additional training. If you feel like 3-4 days a week of soccer isn't enough, there are lots of ways to spend more money and get your child out on the field without town soccer.

[Unregistered]

when you talk of 'serious about soccer' what level of aspiration does that fall to?

High School varsity?

DIII college?

DI college?

[Unregistered]

The point is that playing with quality players is very important, but you also need to play against quality teams. What is the benefit of playing for a club team in BAYS? Are all BAYS teams going to follow suit? Is the BAYS team going to start traveling to National tournaments? What is the goal?

If your child is serious about soccer, then get out of town soccer altogether. More of a chance for injury playing with less skilled players and there is no benefit. If your child is doing club and town, then your child is doing a disservice to himself and his club team with overuse injuries and probably hanging onto bad habits. If there is a social reason, then do another community sport. Cross-training is important anyways.

Many clubs practice 3 days a week with an extra position clinic and lots of opportunities for additional training. If you feel like 3-4 days a week of soccer isn't enough, there are lots of ways to spend more money and get your child out on the field without town soccer.

BAYS D1 have good qulity teams, very much comparable to the club teams.

[Unregistered]

BAYS D1 have good qulity teams, very much comparable to the club teams.

Not at all trrue. Can some top BAYS teams beat low level Club teams? Yes. "Very comparable to the club teams?" Absolutely not in any way shape or form.

You need to define what you want out of your soccer experience. There is a place for every player in soccer in this state. Rec, travel, club, elite level club teams, etc.

If you are looking for an answer here, you won't find it. If you're happy with travel stay there. But staying there will get you playing time on a bad high school team and will not get you to playing in college. If you want more soccer, join a club. Go to try-outs this spring for a few local club options. Move forward and make a decision for yourself.

[Unregistered]

when you talk of 'serious about soccer' what level of aspiration does that fall to?

High School varsity?

DIII college?

DI college?

In some towns, all of the above. I look around and every kid is doing club soccer. So if your child doesn't, chances of even playing in HS are slim to none. It is crazy how competitive all sports (and life in general for our kids) have become.

[Cujo]

Not at all trrue. Can some top BAYS teams beat low level Club teams? Yes. "Very comparable to the club teams?" Absolutely not in any way shape or form.

You need to define what you want out of your soccer experience. There is a place for every player in soccer in this state. Rec, travel, club, elite level club teams, etc.

If you are looking for an answer here, you won't find it. If you're happy with travel stay there. But staying there will get you playing time on a bad high school team and will not get you to playing in college. If you want more soccer, join a club. Go to try-outs this spring for a few local club options. Move forward and make a decision for yourself.

You could not be more off-base with your assessment. Frequently for the best BAYS team in many towns you will get coaching that is equivalent to your average middle of the pack D2 club. At a whole lot less money.

But the bottom line is if my kid is playing for a top Bays team from Arlington and your kid is playing for even a D1 club team in MAPLE, more likely than not in 8 years they both will be graduating from college and looking for a job.

As for a bad HS team? Do you mean teams like Winchester or Belmont? They would beat many club teams. Handily.

[Unregistered]

You could not be more off-base with your assessment. Frequently for the best BAYS team in many towns you will get coaching that is equivalent to your average middle of the pack D2 club. At a whole lot less money.

But the bottom line is if my kid is playing for a top Bays team from Arlington and your kid is playing for even a D1 club team in MAPLE, more likely than not in 8 years they both will be graduating from college and looking for a job.

As for a bad HS team? Do you mean teams like Winchester or Belmont? They would beat many club teams. Handily.

I have to agree with this poster - my son has been involved in club soccer since U9. He's a U15 D1 player now, but says that the best team he ever played on was our local U14 team when he was a 7th grader playing with 7th/8th graders. The coaching was phenomenal, and the players were great too. And it cost under $100 a season!

I'd actually like to watch a good club team playing a HS team, but what club age group would you propose using? You're comparing apples and oranges, I'm afraid.