Lets have a healthy debate and observations about the current STATE of youth soccer in Rhode Island. Are we moving in the right direction in term of development players to compete at the regional and national level? If not, what must we do to address these barriers?
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Why is that the goal? This thread based on how you worded will go back to the same discussion this state has been having for years. To have 1 team in each age group that can win at the regionals - bet on it.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post -
Too many bad coaches and anemic town programs. There are so many kids that I see who have incredible athletic ability but their basic skills are terrible and it becomes so hard to fix after 10 yrs old.
Until the early years are focused on basic skills development and less game play - we won't have truly star soccer players. Games and teams are what parents are willing to pay for, so that is what we get.
I do like what Byside is doing with the development academy though.Comment
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As mentioned. One Premier club in RI with all the best players involved is only way we can compete regionaly and nationaly.Comment
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I agreed. There needs to be less focus on winning and more focus of teaching players how to control, pass, and in general on technical skills and allow the players to demo their creative side. But the reality is most coaches in the Town programs are not familiar with the game enough to pass on the knowlegde to their players. Winning will come when the players can put those skills learned into use in a competitive environment. I also think the current policies is overly protective in an effort to balance the level of competition in Rhode Island. Also, there is a conflicting message when we tell U8 and under to score as many goals as you can and when they get to U10 and above then you tell them you can not score more than 6 goals on your opponent or the league will penalize the team and the club. Alaso, there need to be better connectiveness between town program and premier clubs. Premier should not be seen as the evil club that is stealing our top players but rather the players need to be in a better environment in order to develop he/her skills.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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The one big club idea has been tossed around on TS for a while. And I totally agree that it work or at least help. But the chances of that ever happening is pretty slim. Most kids don't want to play for a "B" team and most parents don't want their kid being a "B" player. And once a kid is labeled as a "B" player it can be very difficult to change that label. In fact in our current system most "B" players (2nd string kids) that improve have to change teams to get a "new" fair shot at starting and more playing time.Comment
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Premier clubs in RI are about 15 years behind the times. Bayside especially. No full time coaches, limited qualifications, particularly in youth age groups.
The only difference between what maurice is doing now and what rays did is hayride has the players now.
What we need is new blood in the coaching ranks, and 21st century approaches.Comment
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You can find talent, harness talent, refine talent but you cannot create talent. based on our state size we have done fairly well. We have produced a national team player, MLS players, some overseas professional players, numerous D1, D2, D3 players over the years.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
The way I would phrase the question is have we had supremely talented kids that were lost in the process or have most of them made use of their talents and played through college? Soccer as with all youth sports should be enjoyed at the comfort level of the player.
Many have made it to college and simply stopped playing choosing instead to spend more time on their studies. You would be surprised how many kids value the sport less than their parents. Bottom line is unless you want your kid to get a D1 scholarship or be a pro what is available here in RI and Mass is plenty good enough for most. Investment in college savings accounts is a better investment than sports if it is college money you are seeking.Comment
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2 points.
A basic semantics question -- to assess something, you need the goals/objectives and how you measure accomplishing those goals. Player development (regional/national ODP? DA? College?) Team success (Regionals? Rankings?).
Also, how many of those RI success stories include players who went to MA clubs? Proportionally, RI has underperformed at regionals and ODP tournament.Comment
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Not sure you know what you are talking about. All the successful boys teams currently with Bayside FC Bolts are in-house players that they develop. In order for RI to be successful we need program like Bayside FC Bolts to step it up a notch and add more talents to the teams they already have. Bayside U15 and under teams are competitive but may need to add couple strong players to compete successfully with some of the top teams in the region. Here are the facts:Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Team Ranking N R S
U15 Boys 58 23 1
U14 Boys 77 32 1
U13 Boys 96 30 1
U13 Girls 281 81 1
U14 With the additions of Rays players they should be a strong team
U15 Girls 344 118 1
U16 Girls 129 47 1
On the girls side, for the younger teams they are fairly new so they will need 2-3 years to develop but look very promising. The U14 boys won Maple D1 consecutive seasons. The U13 are a top 5 teams in NE as well as the U15 boys. U14 and U15 girls should be strong.
Yes, I do agreed that premier clubs in RI need to have full time staff in order to compete with other states. But I also know most RI parents are not ready to commit upward of $8,000 in tuition and tournament fees. Like the other posters point it out. Many parents will never support have their kids on a B or C teams. Clubs like NEFC and Scorpions, and Star of Mass can support full time staff because they have over 40-60 teams in the club are various level and teams in each age brackets. These clubs are soo big they have the own fields. Here, a parent paid $1,600 and they think they run the club. So it is easy to say the club is backward when the truth is the entire state is backward starting with the State Association on down to the local clubs. We don't have a system in place to support and nurture the players. So to attack Bayside FC Bolts because they have shown that they are moving in the right direction doe not help.Comment
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There must be something in the RI water or the superior intellect of RI parents.because apparently parents in MA don't get that point that calling teams "elite" and "premier" in the same age group is code for A and B teams and are duped into putting their kids in "B" and "C" teams year after year.
PDA NJ costs $2.2K a year, excluding parent travel costs (which yes can be costly, but they have a full time staff, etc. and any team going to regionals/tournaments will have similar travel costs). The bottom line is these excellent programs in other states find ways through advertising, sponsors, fundraising, etc. to get it done at costs on par or only slightly higher (especially given the performance history) than RI clubs. They also find ways or have on the ball state associations that build fields, or lobby US soccer foundation or other sources to build facilities or help organizations build facilities.
Successful clubs in other states can have multiple age group teams..run top development programs at costs below 2.5K player..and yet in RI can't be done..Comment
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PDA is one of the elite club in the nation with affiliation with DAP and ECNL. These programs are in the upward of $15,000 per player. They hold very successful tournaments and they are a Nike sponsored club. Not sure how you get the $2.2K from but the DAP and ECNL program are not cheap. Their tournament bring in alot of $$$$.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
But your points are well taken.However DAP and ECNL entrance are not likely for RI because we are sandwished between Mass and CT which already have these programs. But I do believe we have enough talents to compete with other states if we use the PDA model of intergrating and urban initiative that are able to bring kids who are from the inner-city to our top program. I think there are already clubs doing that but they are not big enough to support an influx of talents from the inner-city kids. But let's start with ODP. ODP needs to do a better outreach to kids who are talented but may not have the means to pay for the program.Comment
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2.2K is from their basic premier team tryout information. However, Richmond Strikers, which is in ECNL and has a DA stated only 2.2K for ECNL and around 2K for DA.
But, you are right that tournaments, sponsorship, and fund raising help offset costs. Again, no reason it can't be done here.
ODP will have the problem of conflict of interest and competing priorities..too many ODP folks have club responsibilities that dominate, even with the best of intentions...and it strikes me stewardship in terms of fund raising, sponsorship, facilities, and tournaments at the state level is not a priority for SRI board.Comment
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Wow, I missed this a few days ago, but all I can say is wow. What a misguided post and full of propoganda. Good luck to you.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Who pays 8,000 in tuition and tournament fees? Name the club! NEFC rents their fields from Forekicks, Holliston Youth Soccer, and even have a couple of other local fields. Scorpions rent fields from Thayer Academy and use fields for games such as those at East Middle School in Braintree. Stars of Mass certainly does not own the Mass Youth Soccer fields that they rent to train on or play games on, and they don't own the local Acton and Boxborough fields they rent for games and other training events. Who told you they own their own fields?
You have a lot to learn about what club soccer is and isn't, or you simply work at Bayside and want to sell us that load.Comment
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