Town Soccer

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What defines ‘town’ soccer anymore? Most of these so called ‘town’ clubs hire and (add cost to tuition )trainers/companies to train the teams… so is that technically town soccer anymore? Thoughts?

[Unregistered]

What defines ‘town’ soccer anymore? Most of these so called ‘town’ clubs hire and (add cost to tuition )trainers/companies to train the teams… so is that technically town soccer anymore? Thoughts?

Parents have work these days.

In our case we have parent coaches for games. But majority of those parents are meh..

[Unregistered]

What defines ‘town’ soccer anymore? Most of these so called ‘town’ clubs hire and (add cost to tuition )trainers/companies to train the teams… so is that technically town soccer anymore? Thoughts?

If they play other towns it's town soccer. If they play premier clubs, even just crappy ones, it's "town premier"

Our town program added pro coaches several years ago in part because decent parent coaches were hard to find, but to also offer something more professional so families stopped leaving for over priced premier clubs. The board is still all volunteer and there's a parent manager that helps with scheduling etc Yes, some kids need to move up the ladder for sure and they should go to a premier team, hopefully one of the stronger ones. But there's a lot of families that waste thousand on so called premier teams that have garbage coaching - and more importantly their kid will be lucky to make varsity by junior year. It's worked for our town. The bleed slowed down a lot, some players even came back.

[Unregistered]

What defines ‘town’ soccer anymore? Most of these so called ‘town’ clubs hire and (add cost to tuition )trainers/companies to train the teams… so is that technically town soccer anymore? Thoughts?

Usually a "town team" is defined in its by-laws that a majority of players in the club need to be residents of that town.

[Unregistered]

Usually a "town team" is defined in its by-laws that a majority of players in the club need to be residents of that town.

...and often times it's a condition that the town's recreation department places on those clubs in order to use town fields. Town recreation departments don't want town resources to be used at the exclusion of town residents.

[Unregistered]

What defines ‘town’ soccer anymore? Most of these so called ‘town’ clubs hire and (add cost to tuition )trainers/companies to train the teams… so is that technically town soccer anymore? Thoughts?

Simple definition: Quality over Quantity. As opposed to academies which are Quantity over Quality. Does not get much easier than that.

[Unregistered]

Simple definition: Quality over Quantity. As opposed to academies which are Quantity over Quality. Does not get much easier than that.

More accurate definition: Fights with town for fields, lacks funds to hire experienced trainers, limited to talent-level living in the town, loses better players to more well-financed clubs, board of directors full of town politics.

[Unregistered]

More club teams are providing services to help keep kids local.. Trainers, paid coaches, competitive competition, etc.. Keep in mind that not all teams in the club are at the same levels either. Some teams within the club might only play in local leagues while some might play in EDP.

I think today the main difference between club teams and academy teams is cost and playing in regional and national leagues (ECNL, GA, MLS Next, etc..) as they hit U13

It really comes down to doing your homework

[Unregistered]

More club teams are providing services to help keep kids local.. Trainers, paid coaches, competitive competition, etc.. Keep in mind that not all teams in the club are at the same levels either. Some teams within the club might only play in local leagues while some might play in EDP.

I think today the main difference between club teams and academy teams is cost and playing in regional and national leagues (ECNL, GA, MLS Next, etc..) as they hit U13

It really comes down to doing your homework

Town teams are great when players are young. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels. Once the player gets accustomed to that and develops further it’s time for them to remove the training wheels and move on. The difference as the players get older is competition and competitiveness. Watch Town teams vs. ECNL teams at the same ages. If you think the main difference is cost and competition than you are in denial.

[Unregistered]

Town teams are great when players are young. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels. Once the player gets accustomed to that and develops further it’s time for them to remove the training wheels and move on. The difference as the players get older is competition and competitiveness. Watch Town teams vs. ECNL teams at the same ages. If you think the main difference is cost and competition than you are in denial.

Sorry but Wall, Real, Howell, Phi Copa (all town teams) beat GA clubs on a regular basis and some of the games are not even close. They must have forgotten to take the training wheels off. Speaking of training all these places have better training than the “pros”. And they are coached by volunteer coaches that probably are not even paid!

[Unregistered]

Sorry but Wall, Real, Howell, Phi Copa (all town teams) beat GA clubs on a regular basis and some of the games are not even close. They must have forgotten to take the training wheels off. Speaking of training all these places have better training than the “pros”. And they are coached by volunteer coaches that probably are not even paid!

Real and P.Copa are not really town programs, though. Its not like they are fielding teams where 90% of the players all live in the same town and attend the same school. They aggregate the same way other clubs do but push a narrative of being some david vs goliath town program.

If Real NJ is a just town program, then World Class and East Meadow are as well and this obviously is not true.

[Unregistered]

Town teams are great when players are young. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels. Once the player gets accustomed to that and develops further it’s time for them to remove the training wheels and move on. The difference as the players get older is competition and competitiveness. Watch Town teams vs. ECNL teams at the same ages. If you think the main difference is cost and competition than you are in denial.

Yes once you hit U13 you need to pay to play in these "Competitive Leagues". It is unfortunate the only way to do so is by joining an academy program.

[Unregistered]

Sorry but Wall, Real, Howell, Phi Copa (all town teams) beat GA clubs on a regular basis and some of the games are not even close. They must have forgotten to take the training wheels off. Speaking of training all these places have better training than the “pros”. And they are coached by volunteer coaches that probably are not even paid!

It’s all about the training folks, poor training (which is what you see at most academies) equals poor results. Some of the town clubs mentioned have better training and dad coaches that actually care not just go through the motions collecting a paycheck.

[Unregistered]

Yes once you hit U13 you need to pay to play in these "Competitive Leagues". It is unfortunate the only way to do so is by joining an academy program.

Even at U11 or 12 if the town program is really weak. Lots of town families also don't take the commitment seriously (skip practices and even games) which can frustrate the more dedicated players. However, the player should really want it and be willing to work hard at it to justify the time and cost. It's a discussion parents and kids should have before taking the plunge.

[Unregistered]

It’s all about the training folks, poor training (which is what you see at most academies) equals poor results. Some of the town clubs mentioned have better training and dad coaches that actually care not just go through the motions collecting a paycheck.

It all depends on your local options, as well what the player wants and is willing to work for.