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**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

There is discussion going on that your child has to play Premier/Club soccer in order to make the Middle School or High school .
Is a good town program enough or do parents need to have their child play in a better league like NEP instead of NSL or Superliga. Any examples of player NOT playing club at an early age and having success?

Look at the middle or high school team your child will play for. Do the best players play club or town soccer? Then do the math.

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 08:34 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

There is discussion going on that your child has to play Premier/Club soccer in order to make the Middle School or High school .
Is a good town program enough or do parents need to have their child play in a better league like NEP instead of NSL or Superliga. Any examples of player NOT playing club at an early age and having success?

If your kid goes to a D3 high school SuperLiga is fine. If they play on a D1 or D2 high school team with a good coach, it is fair to say their high school soccer experience will be better if they have some exposure to premier soccer. However at U9 town or premier will do if the coach is decent. What I like about NEP is from U8-U10 all games are festival format. Meaning games every other weekend. Less travels.......

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 11:42 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

If your kid goes to a D3 high school SuperLiga is fine. If they play on a D1 or D2 high school team with a good coach, it is fair to say their high school soccer experience will be better if they have some exposure to premier soccer. However at U9 town or premier will do if the coach is decent. What I like about NEP is from U8-U10 all games are festival format. Meaning games every other weekend. Less travels.......

It is not about Town vs Club. It is about Development vs Business vs Politics.

Your son/daughter will develop if you put them in the proper environment with good coaching .

Example of good and poor development
1. You could play club and play in the 6th division of NEP and not develop and never make your middle school team.( Business)
2. You could play in the NSL top division vs good strong competition and play middle school and high school and College ( Development)
3. You could play Superliga under a good coach who plays his team up every year and barely wins but the kids learn to play stronger faster competition and do other sports, clinics etc( development)

4.You could could end up on a team where the coach only cares that his son/daughter is the leading scorer and everyone else is just there to fill the team up so his offspring can shine.( Politics)

5.Your coach always plays in a low division so he or she can fill their basement with trophies but no one on the team develops and when middle school tryouts come it is to late to figure out that all those trophies and medals were worthless.

Lot of kids in Pawtucket and Providence that never played club and are on D1 High school starting team roster.

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 01:23 PM

Forget about club vs town vs high school.

Get a coach who is intent on developing skills and good play.

If at practice at U9, your kid is touching the ball a ton of times and taking the time do some juggling, learn some basic turns, fakes, then that is a generally good practice.

If during a game, your coach emphasizes controlling the game, possession, building out of the back (not just GK punting every time), passing and not just kicking forward to the fast forward, then you're in a good spot.

The times of this coach only being in a good premier club, or ALWAYS at a good premier club are over. You are almost just as likely to find a good U9 coach at town level as you are at premier.

You are still MORE LIKELY to find the right coach at a premier club. You are still MORE LIKELY to see kids just standing around practicing "plays" and barely touching a ball at a local travel practice. But neither is always the case. There are better coaches now than ever at town level because they grew up playing. There are worse coaches at premier now than ever because there are just too many premier teams and not enough good coaches.

But once you find a good coach, the rest isn't important.

Anyone who tells you that isn't true doesn't understand. If you had to be in the highest level team at the younger ages, U9, U10, U11, U12, you would never see these big time clubs changing over their roster. They'd just always have the same kids because those kids were playing at the highest level all the time.

It can be difficult to tell the difference, so looking at past performance can be good. Like if you look at certain clubs, have never had good teams, maybe once in a generation have a good player who moves on to be a key player on one of the stronger clubs, then that coaching probably isn't that good. Even if most of the training looks good.

But if you have a coach who's always produced all sorts of good players, no matter what club they are at, find that coach and stick to him or her.

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 01:37 PM

IGNORE ALL PREVIOUS POSTS.

1. Go to store. Buy some cones. Have your child dribble thru them. Time them. Seek to get faster.

2. Go outside and toss and roll the ball to your child in various ways and speeds, training his touch on the ball and how quickly he can get control and pass the ball back.

3. Have him do sprints for speed and wind. Time him. Seek improvement.

Do this on a regular basis.

That was just better advice and training than you son or daughter will receive in years of town or club soccer. and it also trains them that sometimes hard work and dedication is all you need to improve at something. You can either follow it or spend thousands of dollars and time on inferior training. Decide wisely.

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 02:22 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

IGNORE ALL PREVIOUS POSTS.

1. Go to store. Buy some cones. Have your child dribble thru them. Time them. Seek to get faster.

2. Go outside and toss and roll the ball to your child in various ways and speeds, training his touch on the ball and how quickly he can get control and pass the ball back.

3. Have him do sprints for speed and wind. Time him. Seek improvement.

Do this on a regular basis.

That was just better advice and training than you son or daughter will receive in years of town or club soccer. and it also trains them that sometimes hard work and dedication is all you need to improve at something. You can either follow it or spend thousands of dollars and time on inferior training. Decide wisely.

And then you have a kid who has never played with a team or learned team tactics, or played against defenders. Just a fast kid who loses the ball and is lost on the field. Ignore the idiots here please.

**Unregistered** · 06-01-2018, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

And then you have a kid who has never played with a team or learned team tactics, or played against defenders. Just a fast kid who loses the ball and is lost on the field. Ignore the idiots here please.

At the younger ages, technical skill is key. At the older ages, 95% of their time is soent off the ball, so they better be in a team environment where they learn where to be and why when the ball isn't at their feet. All the technique is so in those few minutes per game the ball is at their feet, they don't mess up the touch, pass or shot.