RI Middle School preview

[Unregistered]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am guilty of the exact same emotions. However, Our premier programs are set up for you and me. They should not be. The US premier system should be set up for that U17 national team.

So what is happening is that the fast athletic teams and players move up the scale in the US, because that is what wins early on. By U17, that is all that is left and it isn't good enough.

We moved our kids out of the town system because the coaching is sub-par. Then we are satisfied with more of the same, just a a higher level. If our kids went to practice and were drilled nearly the entire time to improve their ball skills and then didn't play a single scored game our tournament until they were 15, they would be twice as good as they are today. But that is not what WE want. We want to watch our kids compete, win the trophy, win the series. I think we are both wrong and bad for US soccer.

HB

But, that begs the questions....what is it that your KIDS want? Do you think they would be satisfied not playing in a competitive, scored game until they were 15?

I can tell you this, my kids would have quit the game by then. No games? Boring!

And, I contend that the kids would NOT be twice as good players under your proposal. They'd be twice as good PRACTICE players. Competing and winning are learned skills, IMO.

JB

[Unregistered]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am guilty of the exact same emotions. However, Our premier programs are set up for you and me. They should not be. The US premier system should be set up for that U17 national team.

So what is happening is that the fast athletic teams and players move up the scale in the US, because that is what wins early on. By U17, that is all that is left and it isn't good enough.

We moved our kids out of the town system because the coaching is sub-par. Then we are satisfied with more of the same, just a a higher level. If our kids went to practice and were drilled nearly the entire time to improve their ball skills and then didn't play a single scored game our tournament until they were 15, they would be twice as good as they are today. But that is not what WE want. We want to watch our kids compete, win the trophy, win the series. I think we are both wrong and bad for US soccer.

HB

When US Soccer is paying $1,600 for each of my kids to play for a premier team, then the US premier system can be about the U17 National Team.

JB

[Unregistered]

a few thoughts

But, that begs the questions....what is it that your KIDS want? Do you think they would be satisfied not playing in a competitive, scored game until they were 15?

I can tell you this, my kids would have quit the game by then. No games? Boring!

And, I contend that the kids would NOT be twice as good players under your proposal. They'd be twice as good PRACTICE players. Competing and winning are learned skills, IMO.

JB

There are plenty of games and it's not boring. It's more like playing with your buddies.

I am a professional musician. I practiced 4-6 hours a day for many years. I did not need to perform in competitions every week to keep me or my parents interested. And I can tell you that my parents spent more than 1600 dollars a year.

You might get a little bored because you are obsessed with the series results. I'm willing to bet that you spend more time thinking about your kids soccer than they do!

Your and our short sightedness is why the US soccer though seemingly strong at the youth level suffers internationally.

If you eat bad food, are overweight and do not exercise when you are 40 then you are going to suffer when you are 60. Same thing JB. Same thing.

[Unregistered]

There are plenty of games and it's not boring. It's more like playing with your buddies.

I am a professional musician. I practiced 4-6 hours a day for many years. I did not need to perform in competitions every week to keep me or my parents interested. And I can tell you that my parents spent more than 1600 dollars a year.

You might get a little bored because you are obsessed with the series results. I'm willing to bet that you spend more time thinking about your kids soccer than they do!

Your and our short sightedness is why the US soccer though seemingly strong at the youth level suffers internationally.

If you eat bad food, are overweight and do not exercise when you are 40 then you are going to suffer when you are 60. Same thing JB. Same thing.

You make a good point and I totally understand what you're saying. But I think to sacrifice a generation's worth of fun for the 20 kids who make the U17 National Team is not worth it.

And, btw, I spend plenty of time thinking about their baseball, basketball and softball, too. But that doesn't make me a bad guy. To many, that makes me a good parent :)

All I know is that every Mom and Dad I know - including my own Mom and Dad - whose kids are grown and out of the house tell me "Enjoy it now...it's over fast...you'll miss it...." So, I'm enjoying it now.

JB

[Unregistered]

I was thinking about this whole US soccer thing and how our youth system doesn't give the National Teams what they want on my drive home from Billerica .....

I don't think our youth basketball, baseball, hockey, football, swimming, figure skating, gymnastics, (insert every other youth sport here) are perfect either. You can make a case that EVERY youth sport is too focused on winning on not enough on training.

But I rarely hear other sports top brass complaining about their youth systems the way the soccer folks do.

Maybe the top guys at US Soccer don't really know what they're doing? Maybe we're turning out plenty of talent, but they don't know how to create a tactical strategy using the talent we have to win? Maybe they are lousy assessors of our talent? Maybe they aren't creative enough strategists and can only fall back on what other countries do? Why can't we create an American style of soccer that best fits American soccer players?

I mean, there are more kids playing soccer today than any other sport. It's been that way for about 30 years.

Maybe Bob Bradley is a lousy coach. Why didn't he play Clint Dempsey at striker in the World Cup when it became obvious that Jozy Altidore was a stiff? Why did he stick with Onyewu at defender when it was obvious that the guy wasn't fully recovered from his knee injury? Why didn't he pick Brian Ching for the squad in hte first place?

IMO, we shouldn't lose to Ghana at ANYTHING! You can't tell me the USA didn't have enough talent to beat Ghana this summer.

Maybe Sunil Whatshsiname is a lousy USSF president, for that matter. This all happened under his watch.

I hear a lot of finger-pointing and blaming of our youth soccer system, but every other sport seems to do just fine with the flawed systems they have. You can make the case that AAU basketball, AAU/USSSA travel baseball, USHA travel hockey, ASA softball are too much about winning, too.

And by the way, when parents like me are shelling out thousands of dollars a year for their kids to play premier soccer, I think we have the right to obsess! :)

JB

[Unregistered]

And by the way, when parents like me are shelling out thousands of dollars a year for their kids to play premier soccer, I think we have the right to obsess! :)

JB

That's your choice to pay that kind of $. There are better values out there. It could be worse though, you could be a Ray's parent and expected to fund SM's vacations.