PCU Spartans

[Unregistered]

America is too large to have just one style of play. The effort to have a style of play dictated from the top down and taught to all will surely fail and fail miserably. Necessity is the mother of invention: It's very necessary for the US to up it's game if we want to compete internationally therefore we need as many people as possible trying as many different things as possible to find what combinations work best for the types of players that play soccer here. Top down never works.

Cults always go up in flames taking the most devoted along with them on the spaceship to nirvana.

L Ron Hubbard. Jim Jones. Hale Bopp. David Koresh

Village Soccer for our local Village idiots

[Unregistered]

Yet in this country - at least with respect to soccer - we continuously go back to the top down approach every time the federation pays a few million to this years' flavor of the month consultant.

At the state level, we have a number of folks who seem to be willing to give up there club identity and put full faith in the Timbers (and a state organization that has done the same) . . .

We need a system that allows a variety of styles and approaches to compete.

Even worse we have have parents willing to put their full faith and money in rogue con men as a reaction to the this environment they believe exists. Laws of Nature are always constant.

[Unregistered]

Even worse we have have parents willing to put their full faith and money in rogue con men as a reaction to the this environment they believe exists. Laws of Nature are always constant.

Great description of GW and the Timbers - "rogue con men". Perfect!

[Unregistered]

Great description of GW and the Timbers - "rogue con men". Perfect!

Thing is GW is footing the Bill in th DA so it's attractive

The low brow con men take your money and continue to sell

[Unregistered]

Tip -o- the hat

Cults always go up in flames taking the most devoted along with them on the spaceship to nirvana.

L Ron Hubbard. Jim Jones. Hale Bopp. David Koresh

Village Soccer for our local Village idiots

This is the best description of the Spartans program that I've ever heard!

[Unregistered]

Cults always go up in flames taking the most devoted along with them on the spaceship to nirvana.

L Ron Hubbard. Jim Jones. Hale Bopp. David Koresh

Village Soccer for our local Village idiots

This is by far the best description of the ADF program I've seen thanks

[Unregistered]

Don't know much about ADF + Spartans, but cracks me up when the borg attacks (them, ECNL, or anything else).

Long live the revolution!

[Unregistered]

Westside should mop up this age group but they are poorly coached. Westside needs to change their ways before they really fall behind. They have quality players coming through the pipleline but it's not because they are developing them. They build team to win and win only. The DA is getting tired of dealing with the poor attitudes of the Westside players.
The U15 team has a bunch of great players but they don't play soccer. It is painful to watch and they got nipped in the Semi's because they can't keep the ball. They are working on all of the wrong things.

My son did RTC with two of Westsides coaches. After 30 minutes of doing some lame buddy and ball thing they moved onto games. There was no real content involved. Coaches are outdated with no creativity.

You're saying coach John Bain is outdated?

He sure has done well for Westside to date.

[Unregistered]

You're saying coach John Bain is outdated?
He sure has done well for Westside to date.

Have no idea what tangent this fool was pursuing, with his RTC WST rant...so be it.

I did latch on to the idea of creativity they eluded to in their post of angst.

On that subject, I find some of the best music rappers to be very creative with lyrics and messaging...they've got a hook in the music that draws me in...But in the end, evn with this momentary hyper affinity with the artist and song, there still is no real content, structure or wisdom gained by listening.

Just blissful ignorance..ADF & Spartans...Creative melody.

[Unregistered]

my son (unlike your kids) is not going pro, but he sure feels like one at age 10 playing for ADF.

there are SISM freestylers at practices, his coaches play pro futsal, opportunities are presented continuously (international travel & training, surf cup, friendlies, etc.), 1/2 the training is indoors which he loves, creativity and 1v1 skills are promoted at every session, and nobody dogs it at practice...ever.

he feels like he's part of something very special, and he wears his jacket with pride and a huge smile. this is all i care about, and at the same cost as any other program out there it's a no-brainer for our family.

[Unregistered]

America is too large to have just one style of play. The effort to have a style of play dictated from the top down and taught to all will surely fail and fail miserably. Necessity is the mother of invention: It's very necessary for the US to up it's game if we want to compete internationally therefore we need as many people as possible trying as many different things as possible to find what combinations work best for the types of players that play soccer here. Top down never works.

obviously the way the US has been doing it is a failure. Everyone running amuck with their own styles has created chaos. I welcome the change. If you want to keep failing then keep doing what we've been doing for the last 75 years.

[Unregistered]

Yet in this country - at least with respect to soccer - we continuously go back to the top down approach every time the federation pays a few million to this years' flavor of the month consultant.

At the state level, we have a number of folks who seem to be willing to give up there club identity and put full faith in the Timbers (and a state organization that has done the same) . . .

We need a system that allows a variety of styles and approaches to compete.

there in lies the problem.... the word "compete"

you want to have 15 different styles of play so you can "compete"?

I would like youth soccer to be about education more than "competing"

competing begins at 19-20 years old.

[Unregistered]

You're saying coach John Bain is outdated?

He sure has done well for Westside to date.

runs the club very well. But I will agree with the OP. His style is outdated.

[Unregistered]

there in lies the problem.... the word "compete"

you want to have 15 different styles of play so you can "compete"?

I would like youth soccer to be about education more than "competing"

competing begins at 19-20 years old.

Compete plays on a few levels:

1. Development. Let contrasting approaches compete in the marketplace of ideas. So much of what is rolled out as gospel truth in youth development has little empirical support in the US context; although some general athletic and child principals embedded in some of the concepts do - such as periodization, appreciation of where a child is in their physical and mental development.

Simply put, niether the Federation, the Timbers, nor me know how to create a world class male player in the US context - otherwise we would have done so already. Let differing approaches battle it out and then draw conclusions as to what is the best "new" way.

2. Club as a Social Construct. Youth soccer is more than creating a world class player - it serves both a communal (folks coming together to build a club) and broader development purposes (teach all children in the club the thrill of athletics, character, being part of team).

Spartans, ADF, Salmon Creek, Pacific, FC + maybe another half dozen neighborhood clubs serve this purpose; yet they get hammered on here for being outliers.

Timbers seem to want the whole state to be part of the tribe; entering pay-to-play youth soccer may have single-handedly guaranteed that will never happen (because it actually has created its a kind of push back).

3. Compete for Trophies. Nothing more, nothing less than a physical manifestation of 1 and 2. Not the most important and can be damaging and shallow if that is all that it is about; but hard not to win some if you are doing 1 and 2 well.

[Unregistered]

my son (unlike your kids) is not going pro, but he sure feels like one at age 10 playing for ADF.

there are SISM freestylers at practices, his coaches play pro futsal, opportunities are presented continuously (international travel & training, surf cup, friendlies, etc.), 1/2 the training is indoors which he loves, creativity and 1v1 skills are promoted at every session, and nobody dogs it at practice...ever.

he feels like he's part of something very special, and he wears his jacket with pride and a huge smile. this is all i care about, and at the same cost as any other program out there it's a no-brainer for our family.

Back to the Con aspect:
Here is the link to the only Professional Futsal top tier league that Mark Cuban and investors plan to start in 2018 in the United States.

http://professionalfutsal.com/pfl-an...ship-timeline/

So unfortunately you are being fed an untruth about having coaches who play 'pro' futsal as the league doesn't start in the states until 2018. That doesn't mean the coach couldn't play on a amateur futsal team in an amateur league.

Freestylers and streetballers in soccer/futsal are a derivative of the basketball 'and 1' ilk, why that would be important to a 9 or 10 year old playing in a team sport is beyond me.

Electing individual training (which you illustrate very well) over being part of a team or a sporting club is a elective choice you have made.

Whoever the team coach they aretasked with developing the individual within the structure of the 'game' , 'the team' and more importantly the game of life, because nearly everyone is going 'pro' is something other than soccer.

If you value your kid thinking he feels like a pro at soccer at age 10 in Portland, that's your gig. It makes him feel special, full of pride and puts a smile on his face...

Most if not all youth coaches can do that for a kid without the facade or delusional crutch of saying they are a Pro.