Sometimes I Wonder....

[Unregistered]

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a coach or manager setting standards and/or expectations for their team when traveling. After all, your kid is representing a club that you chose to participate with. If you don't like the team rules or culture, find another team. Simple as that.

[Unregistered]

Your thoughts (and experiences) sound like a mirror to mine.
The enjoyment of watching my DD succeed (and learn how to handle not winning) and the confidence that it brings is great.
I'm even one of the parents that watches practice because I enjoy getting to see her play so much.
The only bad thing I see about it is that it will be over all too soon.

Yes, it seems like yesterday it was just starting and now it is getting close to the finish line. But I'm glad that she found something that is really a part of her life. I don't think she looks at herself as a kid who plays soccer. I think she considers herself a soccer player who happens to be a kid.

[Unregistered]

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a coach or manager setting standards and/or expectations for their team when traveling. After all, your kid is representing a club that you chose to participate with. If you don't like the team rules or culture, find another team. Simple as that.

The club standard should come from the club and there's a difference between a coach and a parent manager. The coach can set standards consistent with the club's but the manager should assist the coach in implementing them not set them.

The primary point from my original post is don't let yourself get bullied into doing every single thing the club/team is doing if it doesn't work for your family. Your family can take a vacation and your player can miss a game or a tournament and the neither the team nor the club will fold as a result. If the coach or manager takes it out on your kid, that says a lot more about them than it does about you.

That's my two cents worth from 3 kids, 3 clubs, and 12 years of youth soccer.

[Unregistered]

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a coach or manager setting standards and/or expectations for their team when traveling. After all, your kid is representing a club that you chose to participate with. If you don't like the team rules or culture, find another team. Simple as that.

"Personally I don't see anything wrong with a coach or manager setting standards and/or expectations for their team ...."

Personally, I think the manager needs to butt out on setting any standards. Those should come from the club through the coach.

[Unregistered]

Not sure what you mean.

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a coach or manager setting standards and/or expectations for their team when traveling. After all, your kid is representing a club that you chose to participate with. If you don't like the team rules or culture, find another team. Simple as that.

Manager setting standards? Not for me or my player. Coach and club, yes. Most team mangers my DD had, (she's now playing in college), were either busybodies or just trying to promote their kid. We didn't travel to an out of town tournament by plane on a Thursday to "acclimate" to the climate. Her first job is student, not youth soccer player. Maybe that's why some of her team had to go to community college to try to be NCAA eligible, even with those low standards. I don't pay money for a non-working mom with limited life experience to decide player standards. That's what clubs and coaches are for.

[Unregistered]

To the original poster, as you may have asertained, I think one thing you might look out for are over zealous managers. Apparently they are out there and should be avoided. We've never really had that problem so I feel blessed. However, apparently that isn't the case with everyone.

[Unregistered]

The parents who wonder if club soccer is a bit too much sometimes and regret some of the sacrifices made to "soccer" don't come on this site.