Kristie Mewis leaves for Australia

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Dude it is called debating and you suck at it.

LOL. Meet me behind the school tomorrow in the debating amphitheater and we'll see about that. You'll be tapping out in less than 30 seconds.

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Personally, I want to hear conflicting theories. If your take is better than mine, tell me. In my opinion, there is no one answer that fits all developing players. Although gifted players have common traits, what's good for one may not be right for another.

First off the great ones are born not made. The essential building block is good genetics not environment. Anyone who is expecting the environment to make their kid into a superstar is going to end up being disappointed. The environment can only magnify what is already there. If your kid is destined to be that superstar it is all on them.

For young athletes that show promise and seem to meet any and all challenges, what's the right approach as a parent? Should there be limits set for playing soccer? How much is enough, and when is it too much? I see players playing for multiple teams, club, town, ODP? At what point am I no longer helping my child? How does a parent manage this in the child's best interest?

The simple answer is everything should be done in moderation. If your child is going to be something special in soccer you need to know going in that the race you will end up running is more of a marathon than a sprint. If you set too aggressive pace you run the risk of burning the kid out but on the flip side if you set too passive a pace your kid will probably end up being bored and quitting. It really all comes down to the individual kid and how much they want. My advice is to never actually give them 100% of what they want so they are always hungry.

One of the real problems that is occurring in this environment is a lot of these kids are being overworked by too much soccer and are ending up getting hurt. The problem is pretty deep seated because very few kids are actually in good enough shape to play the amount of soccer they are all playing. The whole environment thinks nothing of playing the kids 5-6 times a week while in middle school and then once they all start hitting puberty they all start tearing things. Just keep in mind that there is only so many miles on the legs and you really need to focus on quality training and games over quantity.

Is coaching first or competition? It's great if you have the option for both, but what's the priority? Does that priority change at a certain age?

Good teaching is essential in the early days but once a player masters the basic skills it is really quite over rated. Most of the responsibility for being good has to be thrown back on the player themselves to take what they have learned and perfect it then take it to a new level. One of the real problems with this environment is no one really challenges these kids to push themselves and many confuse being nasty with being demanding. Having a ***** for a coach never helped any athlete improve.

Is there special diets for athletes? How do you manage that so you're child is in top physical condition?

I don't think the diet is as critical as the amount of sleep. I think most of the clubs are doing a pretty good job of disseminating information about what a healthy diet is for an athlete and most families are pretty good at taking that information in and adjusting accordingly. Where most families are not good is making sure their athletes are getting enough sleep and that is actually more damaging than a few extra donuts.

Any insight into the path that the Mewis's took, certain as a model of success, is appreciated.

If the conversation stays philosophical, it may be more beneficial because all of us just want to do the right thing for our children's interests and help them to achieve their goals in life, not ours.

If your child is a really good young soccer player, you are going to find that you are basically in this alone and you really can't follow anyone else's path because no one is going to have your kid's best interest at heart like you will. Listen to everyone and grab as much advice as you possibly can but in the end you are going to end up making all of your own decisions based upon what is right for your kid. Just know that what is right for your kid is not necessarily what is right for her teammates, for her coach, for her team or for her club.

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First off the great ones are born not made. The essential building block is good genetics not environment. Anyone who is expecting the environment to make their kid into a superstar is going to end up being disappointed. The environment can only magnify what is already there. If your kid is destined to be that superstar it is all on them.



The simple answer is everything should be done in moderation. If your child is going to be something special in soccer you need to know going in that the race you will end up running is more of a marathon than a sprint. If you set too aggressive pace you run the risk of burning the kid out but on the flip side if you set too passive a pace your kid will probably end up being bored and quitting. It really all comes down to the individual kid and how much they want. My advice is to never actually give them 100% of what they want so they are always hungry.

One of the real problems that is occurring in this environment is a lot of these kids are being overworked by too much soccer and are ending up getting hurt. The problem is pretty deep seated because very few kids are actually in good enough shape to play the amount of soccer they are all playing. The whole environment thinks nothing of playing the kids 5-6 times a week while in middle school and then once they all start hitting puberty they all start tearing things. Just keep in mind that there is only so many miles on the legs and you really need to focus on quality training and games over quantity.



Good teaching is essential in the early days but once a player masters the basic skills it is really quite over rated. Most of the responsibility for being good has to be thrown back on the player themselves to take what they have learned and perfect it then take it to a new level. One of the real problems with this environment is no one really challenges these kids to push themselves and many confuse being nasty with being demanding. Having a ***** for a coach never helped any athlete improve.



I don't think the diet is as critical as the amount of sleep. I think most of the clubs are doing a pretty good job of disseminating information about what a healthy diet is for an athlete and most families are pretty good at taking that information in and adjusting accordingly. Where most families are not good is making sure their athletes are getting enough sleep and that is actually more damaging than a few extra donuts.



If your child is a really good young soccer player, you are going to find that you are basically in this alone and you really can't follow anyone else's path because no one is going to have your kid's best interest at heart like you will. Listen to everyone and grab as much advice as you possibly can but in the end you are going to end up making all of your own decisions based upon what is right for your kid. Just know that what is right for your kid is not necessarily what is right for her teammates, for her coach, for her team or for her club.

Since we know BTDT isn't posting, does anyone have a guess of who is posting this very prescriptive advice? Must be a poster who believes very strongly in moderation.

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Great post

If there is a post hall-of-fame, then that wise post should be inducted today. I appreciate that advice. That's exactly what I was looking for.

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If there is a post hall-of-fame, then that wise post should be inducted today. I appreciate that advice. That's exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks, non-BTDT. Any time.

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The whole environment thinks nothing of playing the kids 5-6 times a week while in middle school and then once they all start hitting puberty they all start tearing things. Just keep in mind that there is only so many miles on the legs and you really need to focus on quality training and games over quantity.

$hhhh. Don't be $illy. You're cluele$$.

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I just re-read this thread from when it got suddenly re-ignited during the early morning "how are we gonna play things today" hour, and then worked it's way through to the set-up for the home run and the congratulatory confirmation. I'll be interested to see how many others can figure it out. Read closely and see what questions/themes are raised. Notice the initial question about where she played from U10-U18, and then a reference to some youth time with Scorps, and then the OP saying I guess from the above I can see she played with Scorps from U10 to U18 (not following the script). A very good effort, though. Took some thought and some patience, although the anxiety at the end to score was too much and we saw the patience collapse there at the end.

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How many copies of Catcher in the Rye do you own? Not enough I'm sure.

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Hey, at least he finally said something positive about KM, even it is was strategic. Only took him 6 years.

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If there is a post hall-of-fame, then that wise post should be inducted today. I appreciate that advice. That's exactly what I was looking for.

Good, I'm glad. You must have some follow-up questions so please feel free to ask.

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Perfect example of this with club soccer is how the Scorpions like to drop her name. As the post above made specific note, the person responsible for her success was her dad yet whenever you see her name the linkage to the Scorpions is not that far behind. Same goes with colleges, it often seems here as though every student who gets into Harvard is painted as somehow destined to be a president of the country or founder of some billion dollar company. The reality is great talents like a Mewis are extraordinarily unique and they make their own way to stardom regardless of their surroundings. That is what great people and great athlete's do. Just think of that next time you overhear some club soccer newbie boastfully talk about their club as the place Kristie Mewis played or some other parent carrying on how impressive the college they are sending their child to is.

This post is a cry for help. One damaged dude.

If I had to guess... cut by Scorpions, rejected by Harvard, failure in business. It's dripping off of this one. Somebody want to tell him? Worshiping greatness isn't the same as having it. Hangers on are usually despised by the object of their worship.

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Your club died, time to move on

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"First off the great ones are born not made."

Not according to Laureano Ruiz, but what does he know???

http://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Secrets...7241490&sr=1-3

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Would it be nice to know that my kid's club coach has trained some of the most successful players in the area? Or trained some kids who went to top 25 D1 programs, Top 50 D1's, Top 150, or Top D3's? Yes, it's helpful to know that the coach knows what he/she's looking at, talent and skill-wise.

When my kid is 15-16, I'd want the coach to be able to help us know what level is appropriate if she wants to play soccer at the next level. If the coach has trained a Mewis, Brock, Andrews, etc. he or she knows what the very top end looks like, as well as the next levels down. As long as he/she doesn't lie to me about how my kid compares to players like that (and I've never heard of anything like that happening), how could this experience not be a good thing?

And it bugs me when people say that a club or coach had absolutely no role in developing the player. Along with parents, private coaches, trainers, teammates, etc., they do play some kind of role, and it varies by individual. If they trained the kid for a bunch of years and put them in the right competitive environment with decent teammates around them, to say that the club was immaterial is completely disingenuous. Put another way: An incredible athlete with tremendous drive will be a terrific player no matter where he/she trains, but still might not reach the NT level. How many D1 studs might have had the talent for a shot at the NT had they simply been in a different program in college, club or wherever they dropped out of the pool?

First off the great ones are born not made. The essential building block is good genetics not environment. Anyone who is expecting the environment to make their kid into a superstar is going to end up being disappointed. The environment can only magnify what is already there. If your kid is destined to be that superstar it is all on them.



The simple answer is everything should be done in moderation. If your child is going to be something special in soccer you need to know going in that the race you will end up running is more of a marathon than a sprint. If you set too aggressive pace you run the risk of burning the kid out but on the flip side if you set too passive a pace your kid will probably end up being bored and quitting. It really all comes down to the individual kid and how much they want. My advice is to never actually give them 100% of what they want so they are always hungry.

One of the real problems that is occurring in this environment is a lot of these kids are being overworked by too much soccer and are ending up getting hurt. The problem is pretty deep seated because very few kids are actually in good enough shape to play the amount of soccer they are all playing. The whole environment thinks nothing of playing the kids 5-6 times a week while in middle school and then once they all start hitting puberty they all start tearing things. Just keep in mind that there is only so many miles on the legs and you really need to focus on quality training and games over quantity.



Good teaching is essential in the early days but once a player masters the basic skills it is really quite over rated. Most of the responsibility for being good has to be thrown back on the player themselves to take what they have learned and perfect it then take it to a new level. One of the real problems with this environment is no one really challenges these kids to push themselves and many confuse being nasty with being demanding. Having a ***** for a coach never helped any athlete improve.



I don't think the diet is as critical as the amount of sleep. I think most of the clubs are doing a pretty good job of disseminating information about what a healthy diet is for an athlete and most families are pretty good at taking that information in and adjusting accordingly. Where most families are not good is making sure their athletes are getting enough sleep and that is actually more damaging than a few extra donuts.



If your child is a really good young soccer player, you are going to find that you are basically in this alone and you really can't follow anyone else's path because no one is going to have your kid's best interest at heart like you will. Listen to everyone and grab as much advice as you possibly can but in the end you are going to end up making all of your own decisions based upon what is right for your kid. Just know that what is right for your kid is not necessarily what is right for her teammates, for her coach, for her team or for her club.

Questions were asked, answers were offered. No clubs were even remotely referenced in that answer but it is apparent that we can't even discuss the topic of development of true high end players without touching on the role of the club giving them full credit for it.

Couple of quick questions. Do most high end players now play on the same exact club team throughout their entire youth careers and do they only have one club coach during that tenure or do they train with multiple different teams and different coaches? Another big question is how much "faith" do you put in one coach's opinion? Are they always right and do top end players always follow their coaching regardless?

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"First off the great ones are born not made."

Not according to Laureano Ruiz, but what does he know???

http://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Secrets...7241490&sr=1-3

Just another ego maniac coach grabbing credit for what the players do out on the field. In a youth setting, this sort of thinking would be like a teacher from Bill Gates middle school claiming responsibility for making him what he is today.