WTH is going on with Soccer clubs in RI???

[Unregistered]

So this message isn’t helpful because this person never played club or has a kid playing club. It is true clubs are building teams but kids are cut every year from club teams. They don’t take everyone. I’ve watched kids tryout and not make it. It’s sad but they work harder and try again. Clubs are looking to win and parents want playing time so it’s rare to have large rosters, when they do, parents leave for clubs where kids get to play. I don’t think it’s greed. The clubs are providing what towns are lacking. Towns in RI lack competition and the coaches (most) are just showing up but not vested. They coach to put their child in or to relive glory days. So our town soccer is super weak. Look at the fields, our state with a good handle on COVID and where are the town players? Who knows? Town soccer is the problem.

I'm speaking from experience smart ass!

[Unregistered]

So this message isn’t helpful because this person never played club or has a kid playing club. It is true clubs are building teams but kids are cut every year from club teams. They don’t take everyone. I’ve watched kids tryout and not make it. It’s sad but they work harder and try again. Clubs are looking to win and parents want playing time so it’s rare to have large rosters, when they do, parents leave for clubs where kids get to play. I don’t think it’s greed. The clubs are providing what towns are lacking. Towns in RI lack competition and the coaches (most) are just showing up but not vested. They coach to put their child in or to relive glory days. So our town soccer is super weak. Look at the fields, our state with a good handle on COVID and where are the town players? Who knows? Town soccer is the problem.

Speaking from experience bonehead!

[Unregistered]

Wow the blow up on TS this past week regarding RI soccer is insane!
We have two serious problems that need to be fixed ASAP or we will lose what’s left of soccer.
1. Coaches from town and club need to stop screwing around and return the kids to the soccer fields for practices. Parents uninterested can stay home. Kids need soccer back, baseball is back.
2. Why was a big box club able to infiltrate RI? What did they offer? The small clubs are about to dissolve due to big company moving to town. Why would families and coaches support this? Most likely due to clubs not offering solid development, competition, and a clear path to colleges or pro. That’s why Surf is able to sell their club.

We need to take note in RI. Starting with towns get more competitive! Do better trainings more often. Build community and for goodness sake stop acting like snowflakes and get the kids who want to play on the field now.
Clubs in RI you need to step up or Surf will take everyone of your good players.

Thank SC for the big box club and blowing up NEFC SE. He is single handedly killing club soccer in RI. I finally just moved both my kids to MA clubs!!

[Unregistered]

"Our country for 30 years has encouraged youth soccer coaches to win games."

Starting with the model of pay to play and then tournaments = money = more tournaments = need to win = play more games = feed the ego of parents who then think it's all about wins and losses.

Try selling "hey let's do academy style, non-fixed roster, sprinkled with pick up games" - you get "hey, our U8 team is undefeated and needs to play in that tournament."

Years ago Sam Snow lost me when he came to town to preach development and ducked the question of why states would even have u10 'state cup' and regional u12 11 v 11 cup level tournaments if it's about "development".

US Soccer - heal thyself..

"What is wrong with RI Soccer. The towns."

Well, let's first start with Soccer RI, SRI, or whatever variant has existed for decades, run mostly by the same people and an nepotistic style arrangement that

put money for its insiders (hey it is RI),
protected marginal "premier" clubs for the longest time,
protected poor, no economy of scale town programs (there just isn't enough human capital talent for dozens of town programs) with the stupid 3 town rule,
encouraged with its monopoly league quantity over quality,
totally made ODP a pay for play instead of being creative about how to tap into the poor urban players,
totally missed the boat to create a true central soccer state facility,
totally missed the boat on coaching education and looked the other way a lot on it as well as made getting higher license (like a D) very hard -- I got mine out of state with a way better program, cheaper, and done over a 3 day weekend

Don't blame the towns - many are run by generally good people who did what the incentives and state drove them to do - create little fiefdoms, don't collaborate, and focus on quantity (which is fine and appropriate for rec - more power there) over quality.

and Mr. Payne - want to reorient away from "winning youth soccer games" -- umm, stop sanctioning tournaments until U13 unless they are free flowing, non-results oriented environments; tell state associations to stop keeping scores in all say u10 and below matches;

Not hard to do - just no will right when $$$ talks and your nice words walk...

want to open up soccer in RI now - put up two goals (or hell, pug nets) all over the fields - have an adult or two supervising for safety - and let groups of kids just figure out how to play - if it's lop sided, move a kid here or there -- period.

[Unregistered]

Feel better now?


Towns need to open up soccer AND do a better job like MA.

[Unregistered]

Surf uses a “curriculum” from US Soccer. “ Based on the US Soccer Curriculum, children are trained and evaluated based on age-appropriate skills and measures.”

This makes me run from SURF. As US soccer is very flawed.
I prefer Brazilian soccer or English soccer.

Town soccer also based on US soccer, so that sucks too.
So SURF sells town soccer training with fancy prices. Atleast if you go to Bayside you get more of the Portuguese/Brazilian style from the good coaches. Liverpool offers the English style. Either of these clubs are better for soccer than SURF. If you want to go to San Diego just go on vacation.

If SURF is selling US Soccer then I want nothing to do with them.
The Brazillians and the Brits that’s where good soccer comes from.

The “Brazilians and the Brits”???? One is a country that has won multiple World Cups and has a culture that develops “The Beautiful Game”. The only thing the Brits have is the Premier League. The reason it’s so good is that no Brits play in the league!!! It’s all the best players from other countries and a couple of token Brits. The worst part is that the Brit coaches over here are just unemployed guys who were spending all their time in the pubs. They are here to screw your wife, drink some beer and take your money!!! Morons.

[Unregistered]

Some of the rudest comments made so far on this thread. If you don’t want to give credit to England and Brazil for decades of developing “the beautiful game” then that is your ignorance. But calling coaches from England men who will steal wives and drink in pubs is very ugly. The US soccer curriculum and way of training has been wrong for a long time and is worse now than ever. I believe that’s what the point was. Pay to play in the US has many problems however I agree town soccer has gone down hill in the past 20 years. I don’t think it’s the clubs. I think parents have more money than the parents before us as well as more options for multi sports. This takes kids away from just meeting up in the park and kicking the ball until dark. Now they are shuffled to every activity each night with little down time and not enough focus on one sport. I’d say kids are stretched to thin by well meaning parents trying to give kids everything. The old jack of all trades, master of nothing. That’s the us overscheduled kid today.