U13 Girls Spring Predictions Thread

[Unregistered]

Speaking of NEP defection, the Stars ECNL teams will will be playing there this spring to be able to enter the state cup. I was wondering if they will be there next fall when (from what i've been told) ECNL teams by USYSA rules won't be able to represent states in regionals. ???

Huh??? What rule is that? If a team meets USYSA qualification rules for the National Cup series, then they can play. Whether ECNL teams will want to qualify, that may be another issue.

[beentheredonethat]

How come the U14 parents aren't having this argument? They are closer to deciding ECNL or no ECNL. U13s have more than a year to think about it and see how things evolve.

After catching up on all that was written over the last day or so, this question seemed to stand out as the most relevant. Why is this notion of making choices so hot right now?

I would agree that the U13 environment really isn't as tenuous as it might feel to some and there isn't a huge calamity that is about to befall a large number of clubs but this is a normal time when an awful lot of families start to question not just their soccer affiliation but also where soccer fits in their family agenda as well. Part of this is set up organically and driven by children making choices about what activities they want to pursue and part is driven by a league policy to begin to divisionalize teams by ability and instituting a promotion / relegation process to manage the competitive balance. Talking about this is not some form of propaganda or hype, it is actually a byproduct of a natural decision making point. For those that see their child sticking with club soccer, the U13 year is really the starting point where things begin to get serious so it is natural for there to be a lot of questions.

I would be surprised if many families at this point actually have very concrete goals for a college athletic scholarship. I bet most are still in the "lets see where soccer takes us" mode and just trying to make some sense out of what at this point is a very confusing picture to them. I think the reason there is so much discussion about things like the ECNL and college recruiting is simply that parents are trying to understand how the competitive landscape evolves so they can evaluate the path their child and their team is on. I liken it to looking at a map when you are thinking about a trip so that you have a rough idea where you would have to go if you actually decided to take the trip. I think in this case what motivates a lot of parents is a fear that they might get down the road a little bit and find out that they made a wrong choice at the very beginning.

One of the things I think parents in this age group might benefit from doing is getting a little historical perspective on the way things have emerged over the last decade. It might calm them a little and help provide some clarity. I think many would be surprised at how the fortunes of clubs have waxed and waned of the period of time. While some of the records are not readily available you can see state cup results all the way back to 2004 on the MYSA website and MAPLE league records all the way back to the fall of 2004 on their website. While by no means complete it does give you the ability to track the soccer scene for the kids who are now college freshman from their U13 year to graduation and the entire career of the current U17 teams.

One of the things has always struck me was how narrowly focused the soccer power has traditionally been around here and how fleeting early success can be. Generally what you see when you do this sort of historical research is that there have been two regions (Metrowest and Southcoast) that have fairly consistently produced top teams and that pretty good teams disappear all of the time and that opens the doors for some interesting results. For example if you follow the history of the '92's (my oldest daughter’s group) you'll see that the strongest U11 team (Black Magic) from that group faded from the scene quickly and was gone from MAPLE after their U13 year, the Irwin Cup winner (Nova) disbanded after the U16 year and the U13 State Cup winner (Scorpions) disbanded after their U15 year and the MPS Renegades come out of nowhere to become a perennial state cup semi finalist during the college recruiting years and get into all of the tournaments. Less clear but you can still see it, is the impact that the '92 Stars decision in 2007 to leave MAPLE for regionalized competition had on the scene which I personally think had a lot to do with teams like Nova and the Scorps imploding because the families realized that they were not going to be able to follow them.

Having gone through all of this, I can emphatically tell everyone that the picture at the U13 year is cloudy at best and that while questioning the future certainly has its merits the answers are by no means definitive. The other thing that I can tell you is that player movement does have a huge role in what will eventually emerge. Teams like Nova started to fall from grace when their ace striker moved out of state and the Stars went from pretty good to awesome when half the disbanding Scorpions ended up there. With that in mind the one piece of advice I have to offer here is for parents to develope a pretty clear view of how satisfied the better players on the team are because that will dictate the future health of the team and likely have way more direct impact upon them than the ECNL or college recruiting.

[Unregistered]

For the sake of argument, let's say a star player has an overly involved parent. Let's also say that the star wants to move to Club X. Does it ever occur that Club X says "no thanks" because of the parent behavior or does the desire to win and the player's talent trump everything?

[Unregistered]

good points btdt. at u14 my daughetr was bored and quit her team because they didn't pass. she had more fun playing pickup at the park with her older brother and friends. she got identified playing town and hs and then joined a top team that proved to be a better fit. the good kids get identified. don't stress too much.

[Unregistered]

For the sake of argument, let's say a star player has an overly involved parent. Let's also say that the star wants to move to Club X. Does it ever occur that Club X says "no thanks" because of the parent behavior or does the desire to win and the player's talent trump everything?

No thanks is a typical response if the parent is known to be a problem. It's just not worth it. As Cujo used to point out, they just unsettle everyone and it never turns out well for the team.

[Unregistered]

No thanks is a typical response if the parent is known to be a problem. It's just not worth it. As Cujo used to point out, they just unsettle everyone and it never turns out well for the team.

In theory this is correct but does anyone know an instance where it actually happened?

[Unregistered]

In theory this is correct but does anyone know an instance where it actually happened?

This should have happened on my daughter's team this year, but the coaches were trying to not get caught up on the parent....

I'm sure they will not be returning come fall..all he's done is try and cause issues. To top it all off the daughter's talent hasn't turned out to be what it was suppose to be either....

[Unregistered]

In theory this is correct but does anyone know an instance where it actually happened?

Many.

[Unregistered]

In theory this is correct but does anyone know an instance where it actually happened?

Yes, and more than one, but you won't know these players because they tend to drop off the face of the earth as they have burned all bridges with the good clubs and can't bring themselves to play for what they consider a lesser club.

[Unregistered]

Yes, and more than one, but you won't know these players because they tend to drop off the face of the earth as they have burned all bridges with the good clubs and can't bring themselves to play for what they consider a lesser club.

Huh? Parents are problems, kids get blackballed from destination team and then they quit? Must have happened maybe once in the past decade?

[Unregistered]

Many.

Many, like in once every few years?

[Unregistered]

Huh? Parents are problems, kids get blackballed from destination team and then they quit? Must have happened maybe once in the past decade?

I can think of it happening 2 or 3 times in just one age group.

[Unregistered]

Huh? Parents are problems, kids get blackballed from destination team and then they quit? Must have happened maybe once in the past decade?

You U13 parents are just so naive!

[Unregistered]

Many, like in once every few years?

more than that!

[Unregistered]

more than that!

This is an interesting twist on this thread and probably every bit as important as destination clubs, ECNL, etc. Parents at the younger ages need to be aware that this absolutely does happen. I have seen so many over-involved parents destroy their kid's opportunities and happiness by unacceptable or meddling behavior. I've seen good players end up with nowhere good to play because of their mothers or fathers. In some instances the club will act directly but it is usually the regular parents that can't stand the miscreant and blow the whistle to the club. The people I do feel sorry for are those that the over-involved parent manages to drag into their circle and end up tarred with the same brush. Best advice is to avoid the sideline blowhard that claims to be all-knowing.