Sticking with college soccer

[Guest]

You have this perspective now. It is great advice but how many are not as savvy? How many get taken by coaches and what they preach. Only to find out, full of crap.
coaches don't realize that the players network is as big ss the coaching network. Jerky coaches and/or those that undervalue, are punitive, outlandish as a behavior gets out there now. Club kids share experiences with each other (and not just their club). Parents do too.

Some coaches and their bad behavior is not held secret anymore.

Similarly, there are some coaches who are terrible soccer coaches but great at creating an environment that even the end-of-the-bench players want to stay on the team.

[Guest]

You have this perspective now. It is great advice but how many are not as savvy? How many get taken by coaches and what they preach. Only to find out, full of crap.
coaches don't realize that the players network is as big ss the coaching network. Jerky coaches and/or those that undervalue, are punitive, outlandish as a behavior gets out there now. Club kids share experiences with each other (and not just their club). Parents do too.

Some coaches and their bad behavior is not held secret anymore.

Agreed the really bad ones get exposed more often or booted more quickly. It's still a kind of a small soccer community so ask around, ask friends of friends etc. Also study roster turnover. If you meet current players, ask. If not, reach out privately on social media. While the jerks are definitely out there, it's not nearly as often as a few posters seem to trying make it out to be. Once a college coach reached the HC level they either want to keep their jobs or do well enough to move up to higher level programs. Not many will do that if teams are unhappy all the time/lots of turnover/trouble recruiting. Gut instinct also goes a long way. If your spidey sense is telling you something make sure to at least try and find out more before deciding.

Also investigate teammates, try to meet as many as you can. Often dik coaches bring in dik players, but some players are just diks. When you watch game footage (as you should) watch how players interact with each other and staff, and vice versa

[Guest]

Agreed the really bad ones get exposed more often or booted more quickly. It's still a kind of a small soccer community so ask around, ask friends of friends etc. Also study roster turnover. If you meet current players, ask. If not, reach out privately on social media. While the jerks are definitely out there, it's not nearly as often as a few posters seem to trying make it out to be. Once a college coach reached the HC level they either want to keep their jobs or do well enough to move up to higher level programs. Not many will do that if teams are unhappy all the time/lots of turnover/trouble recruiting. Gut instinct also goes a long way. If your spidey sense is telling you something make sure to at least try and find out more before deciding.

Also investigate teammates, try to meet as many as you can. Often dik coaches bring in dik players, but some players are just diks. When you watch game footage (as you should) watch how players interact with each other and staff, and vice versa

Agreed. Ask around. We ran into parents of players being recruited by my kid's old college team. Coach is a jerk and punitive. We let them know.