Originally posted by Unregistered
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It's also not professional and no kid should be considered "replaceable" at this point- these 12 year old kids commit to clubs and parents pay a lot of money to keep these organizations in business. If that cavalier attitude is what you preach change the payment style to monthly without penalty for leaving then. What happened to teaching the players integrity and that you have to live with the decision you made at tryout dates when positions were offered? Feel free to make changes at year end. -
That's why there are "B" teams. No parent should be able to buy their way onto and stay on an "A" team if their child isn't developmentally there. If that's what your looking for call Timbers Academy and pull out your checkbook.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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I'm not aware of any club (snarking about Billups excepted) where parents can buy their way onto the A team (although rumors about personal-training conflicts of interest do abound).Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Depending on the club, one problem with a second team is the coaching might not be as good. If it's a team full of beginners, this isn't as big of a problem, as there are many coaches who are qualified to train beginners, but who might hold back more advanced players. OTOH, an "almost" player who lands on a B team may find himself falling further behind, as rather than training with the top coach and players who push him on a daily basis, he's training with a second-tier coach (who might still be good, depending on the club and team) and against players who he's better than.
"Pool" style systems, in which all levels of an age group spend some time training together, can counteract this problem, as can clubs where the DoC or head coach makes sure to spend time with all of the teams at training (not just the A teams), even if a different coach shows up for games. (The most important part of a coach's job is at practice, not at matches, after all).
One problem with the OYSA/DA split is that it aggravates the problem of walling off the DA players from the rest--the DA program limits the ability of non-DA players to play for DA teams (and generally prohibits a DA player from guest-playing on an OYSA squad during the DA season). Not sure if it impacts practice/training. A second problem with the DA/OYSA split as since the DA team requires A licensed coaches, and those are fairly rare, those clubs with such coaches on staff may not be able to have them work with the non-DA teams, if the lone A coach has to work with three or four different age groups in DA.Comment
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"Walled off" is just not true. The DA can have Developmrntal players.
According to US Soccer DA Guidelines "Development Players are players within the club's structure that are not quite ready to be rostered as full-time players on the Academy team. DPs must come from within your club
DPs can play in a maximum of six (6) Academy games".Comment
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Do know about Developmental players, but stand by what I said: compared to the "academy" system (or pool system, if you prefer) used by some clubs such as FC, it limits movement between the DA squads and the OYSA squads. One major limitation is you can't move struggling kids down temporarily (though whether or not that is helpful is an interesting question)--a DA player can only play DA unless he is cut; and I seem to recall that a player cut from DA cannot be re-rostered on DA until the next season.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
But one common problem that the current split DA/OYSA setup doesn't help with: What if a club has, say, 21 good prospects but only 18 DA slots (you can go up to 20 IIRC, but only 18 may play in a given match)? Either the extra players are cut outright, or sent to the B team--which, depending on the club and coach, may hinder their development. One thing that does NOT seem to happen would be for e.g. the DA coach at FC telling a prospect "you just missed the cut for our DA. You can play with our Navy team, and we might get you on as a Development player. Or--and I just spoke to the head coach at BSC--they have an opening on their DA squad; you can go try out there instead".
One question I have though--do DA rules prohibit or limit a DA squad from training with a non-DA squad? Do any of the DA clubs have their DAs teams train with the OYSA squads?Comment
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A key point of emphasis here:Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
No club I'm aware of gives the B kids more rigorous training, etc. to "catch them up" with the kids on the A team. Instead, it's the opposite--the best training (best coaches) are afforded to kids on the A team--causing, all else to be equal, the gap between A and B teamers to grow.
(Most clubs charge the same fees, however. A team families will generally pay more for travel expenses, flying to San Diego or Dallas instead of driving to Bend or Seattle)
Kids still move, of course--a kid may join a club midseason and have to work his way up; but chances are if this happened he was already A team talent, but had to demonstrate it for more than a 90-minute tryout. Injuries, departures, physical changes, and such will create opportunities. Some A kids will only play soccer at club activities, and find themselves beaten out by the B kid who plays streetball every day.
But many clubs are looking for superstars, for diamonds in the rough--and once a kid is sorted to the second team or lower, they aren't generally considered a potential candidate any longer. And many B and C teamers are kids who will never be elite, not possessing the inherent athletic ability, coordination, or other physical attributes necessary to be a high-level player, something no amount of training can fix.
Some clubs do seem to take the view that having B-teamers around the A-teamers is a liability for the latter; they are wasting their time if they train with or scrimmage against lesser players; that the whole point of separating into teams based on ability is to keep the top kids together. Which is good for the kids on the A team, but no so much for those on the B team who might have the talent to move up.
Once the train leaves the station, it's very hard to catch it if you're not already on board.Comment
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If DPs must come from within the same club, is Timbers DA not allowed DPs since it isn't a club and only has DA teams?Comment
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This.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
I'm find with clubs asking for a year commitment from a player--but clubs should have a reciprocal commitment. If a player is released from a club (other than possibly for disciplinary reasons), a pro-rated refund of club fees should be provided. If a player is demoted--they should have the option to resign (within 30 days or so) and likewise receive a partial refund. (Not sure how this would work with "pool" clubs though).
I'd almost go so far as to allow player to transfer, penalty-free (i.e with a pro-rated refund) at certain points--after summer season, perhaps, or after fall, or both. Sometimes a player and a coach have a bad relationship. Some clubs persist on employing terrible coaches, and wonders why entire teams disappear at next season's tryouts. (If a team disappeared after summer instead, the club might get the message, and fix their staffing issues). Nothing encourages a kid to quit the sport more than having to endure a horrible coach.
Too many clubs think that they are doing the player a favor, instead of the other way around.Comment
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Which team from westside is at surfcup? It says copa but does it really mean the da team with a few of last years copa players (guest players for tourney) that will be timbers da this upcoming year?Comment
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I guess anonymous updates are not going to happen either. Come on the group misses the great recaps....come out of hiding DA DADOriginally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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WT DA lost their second game, 2-1, to a SoCal team.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
About what I would expect from most Oregon teams at Surf. Last year's Copa team might have done better.Comment
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