Boys 05

[Unregistered]

As a group? Perhaps. But the top players have way, way more ability and potential than the top '05s.

I won't talk about any specific 06s in this thread, and I'm not that familiar with the 06 class as a whole (not having any 06s for children).

But, I'm detecting a theme of "look at this 06! He plays up on the 05 first team! He must be really freakin' awesome!"

Most of the DA clubs have at least one 06 on their 05 roster, after all.

But why do kids play up? Many reasons:

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.
* Because they are BIGGER/FASTER than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a physical challenge
* Because they (or their parents) want them to play for a specific coach, or to stay with a specific team.
* At this age group, we have many kids affected by the calendar year change, some 06s who were on 05 teams under the old system decided to stay with that team.
* And even if an age change "made sense" earlier in a kid's career, but is less advantageous now, it's often less disruptive to let him remain on the team he's used to than making him repeat a year.

Bottom line: Don't assume that the 06s who are playing up are either a) truly elite, or b) better than all their peers who are playing on age. Watch 'em play. In an 06 is the best player on a good 05 team--chances are that yeah, he's really good. If he's not dominating a year up, chances are he's playing up for a different reason.

[Unregistered]

I won't talk about any specific 06s in this thread, and I'm not that familiar with the 06 class as a whole (not having any 06s for children).

But, I'm detecting a theme of "look at this 06! He plays up on the 05 first team! He must be really freakin' awesome!"

Most of the DA clubs have at least one 06 on their 05 roster, after all.

But why do kids play up? Many reasons:

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.
* Because they are BIGGER/FASTER than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a physical challenge
* Because they (or their parents) want them to play for a specific coach, or to stay with a specific team.
* At this age group, we have many kids affected by the calendar year change, some 06s who were on 05 teams under the old system decided to stay with that team.
* And even if an age change "made sense" earlier in a kid's career, but is less advantageous now, it's often less disruptive to let him remain on the team he's used to than making him repeat a year.

Bottom line: Don't assume that the 06s who are playing up are either a) truly elite, or b) better than all their peers who are playing on age. Watch 'em play. In an 06 is the best player on a good 05 team--chances are that yeah, he's really good. If he's not dominating a year up, chances are he's playing up for a different reason.

Preach it brotha

[Unregistered]

I won't talk about any specific 06s in this thread, and I'm not that familiar with the 06 class as a whole (not having any 06s for children).

But, I'm detecting a theme of "look at this 06! He plays up on the 05 first team! He must be really freakin' awesome!"

Most of the DA clubs have at least one 06 on their 05 roster, after all.

But why do kids play up? Many reasons:

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.
* Because they are BIGGER/FASTER than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a physical challenge
* Because they (or their parents) want them to play for a specific coach, or to stay with a specific team.
* At this age group, we have many kids affected by the calendar year change, some 06s who were on 05 teams under the old system decided to stay with that team.
* And even if an age change "made sense" earlier in a kid's career, but is less advantageous now, it's often less disruptive to let him remain on the team he's used to than making him repeat a year.

Bottom line: Don't assume that the 06s who are playing up are either a) truly elite, or b) better than all their peers who are playing on age. Watch 'em play. In an 06 is the best player on a good 05 team--chances are that yeah, he's really good. If he's not dominating a year up, chances are he's playing up for a different reason.

Word.

[Unregistered]

I won't talk about any specific 06s in this thread, and I'm not that familiar with the 06 class as a whole (not having any 06s for children).

But, I'm detecting a theme of "look at this 06! He plays up on the 05 first team! He must be really freakin' awesome!"

Most of the DA clubs have at least one 06 on their 05 roster, after all.

But why do kids play up? Many reasons:

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.
* Because they are BIGGER/FASTER than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a physical challenge
* Because they (or their parents) want them to play for a specific coach, or to stay with a specific team.
* At this age group, we have many kids affected by the calendar year change, some 06s who were on 05 teams under the old system decided to stay with that team.
* And even if an age change "made sense" earlier in a kid's career, but is less advantageous now, it's often less disruptive to let him remain on the team he's used to than making him repeat a year.

Bottom line: Don't assume that the 06s who are playing up are either a) truly elite, or b) better than all their peers who are playing on age. Watch 'em play. In an 06 is the best player on a good 05 team--chances are that yeah, he's really good. If he's not dominating a year up, chances are he's playing up for a different reason.

Well said. Pretty sure the Wash Timbers parents on here who are constantly touting the 06 player believe that he makes the 06 class elite. Not true. They are a weak bunch and that's another reason why a handful play up with the 05's. The level of competition is simply too low in the 2006 group. It will be interesting to see how they do with a 2006 TA team. While the numbers are there in terms of interest, the talent is not. My observation is there are 6-7 2006 kids that are really good (most of those playing up) and the rest will just be fill in. Those 6-7 are spread across ADF, FC, WT, BSC, Bend and I guess there is a WA Timbers phenom that nobody is familiar with outside of their own club.

[Unregistered]

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.

If your club purports to be a Developmental Academy and has a player playing up for any reason other than this one, then you have a real problem on your hands.

In other words, this is all an exceedingly dumb conversation. Your coaches already know who the legit players are. The list is shockingly short. It also barely overlaps with any list parents could make.

And trust: there are more '06s on this list than '05s. Why? Because if kids at '05 aren't starting to take massive steps forward in their tactical awareness and technical proficiency by this point, then their ceiling starts to come down rapidly.

It's not that the '06s are better, it's that they've had less chance to reveal how truly bad they are.

[Unregistered]

If your club purports to be a Developmental Academy and has a player playing up for any reason other than this one, then you have a real problem on your hands.

In other words, this is all an exceedingly dumb conversation. Your coaches already know who the legit players are. The list is shockingly short. It also barely overlaps with any list parents could make.

And trust: there are more '06s on this list than '05s. Why? Because if kids at '05 aren't starting to take massive steps forward in their tactical awareness and technical proficiency by this point, then their ceiling starts to come down rapidly.

It's not that the '06s are better, it's that they've had less chance to reveal how truly bad they are.

I'd say "bigger and faster" is also a legit reason.

FC 05's big forward started the year playing up. Apparently it didn't work out for whatever reason, so although he's still rostered with FC's 04 team, he plays with the 05s almost exclusively. I think it would be better for his development, personally, were he to play with the 04s, but I'm neither his coach nor his parents.

And of course, no local youth club--not even TA--has eleven "legit" players, if by legit you mean "has a reasonable chance of a professional career". Most clubs are lucky if they have even one. But DA teams get fielded nonetheless, and OYSA Premier teams before that. For most kids, it's just fun, or possibly--if they are good--preparation for a college career.

There is probably one or two 05s who might make it out of this sausage factory. The trouble is, we don't know who it might be--and it may not be any of the alleged prodigies often touted here, who train in Spain and so forth. This is a mining operation--and you have to process mountains of dirt to find a few nuggets of gold.

[Unregistered]

I'd say "bigger and faster" is also a legit reason.

FC 05's big forward started the year playing up. Apparently it didn't work out for whatever reason, so although he's still rostered with FC's 04 team, he plays with the 05s almost exclusively. I think it would be better for his development, personally, were he to play with the 04s, but I'm neither his coach nor his parents.

And of course, no local youth club--not even TA--has eleven "legit" players, if by legit you mean "has a reasonable chance of a professional career". Most clubs are lucky if they have even one. But DA teams get fielded nonetheless, and OYSA Premier teams before that. For most kids, it's just fun, or possibly--if they are good--preparation for a college career.

There is probably one or two 05s who might make it out of this sausage factory. The trouble is, we don't know who it might be--and it may not be any of the alleged prodigies often touted here, who train in Spain and so forth. This is a mining operation--and you have to process mountains of dirt to find a few nuggets of gold.

Or piles of chit as it currently sits for HALF THE TA ROSTER

[Unregistered]

I won't talk about any specific 06s in this thread, and I'm not that familiar with the 06 class as a whole (not having any 06s for children).

But, I'm detecting a theme of "look at this 06! He plays up on the 05 first team! He must be really freakin' awesome!"

Most of the DA clubs have at least one 06 on their 05 roster, after all.

But why do kids play up? Many reasons:

* Because they are better than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a technical challenge.
* Because they are BIGGER/FASTER than their peers on age, and need to play up to find a physical challenge
* Because they (or their parents) want them to play for a specific coach, or to stay with a specific team.
* At this age group, we have many kids affected by the calendar year change, some 06s who were on 05 teams under the old system decided to stay with that team.
* And even if an age change "made sense" earlier in a kid's career, but is less advantageous now, it's often less disruptive to let him remain on the team he's used to than making him repeat a year.

Bottom line: Don't assume that the 06s who are playing up are either a) truly elite, or b) better than all their peers who are playing on age. Watch 'em play. In an 06 is the best player on a good 05 team--chances are that yeah, he's really good. If he's not dominating a year up, chances are he's playing up for a different reason.

My son is an 03 and when we first moved to Oregon in PDA he was playing one and two years up. And his club at the time, SS, allowed him to play with the U11s on scrimmages when he was a U9. Recently, he was playing one and two years up, against kids who were sophomores (as an aside, it's embarrassing to be a kid being dropped off for a game when the other players are driving to the game themselves). Now is he an elite player? No, not at all. He was able to hold his own when playing up, but he didn't start. He did get good playing time however. I am sure that there were/are a lot of 03s either playing up with 02s and 01s or could be if they had the opportunity. The reality is, it's not uncommon for kids to play up a year or two. Just because some 06 (or 06s) are playing with 05s, that's not a big deal at all (as you say). I would actually encourage good players to see if they can play up, especially when they are in 7th and 8th grade because it gets them ready for High School soccer and may give them a better chance to make varsity as a frosh. My son learned quickly that things he could get away with while playing on age didn't work with older kids who just poked the ball away or out muscled him to win a ball. And he also learned he couldn't run down some of the opposing players, they were just too fast. He had to rely on better positioning and better reaction. Even if it's just practicing with older kids, I highly encourage it.

[Unregistered]

I think that this is a a TA honk arguing with someone from BSC or Crossfire or WashT or even FC--the clubs that didn't lose lots of players to TA (FC excluded).

Westside doesn't have that much of a dog in this particular fight. None of the players we sent to TA got there due to a rich daddy, and while I'm somewhat amused by some of the flatulent boasting of a few WashT or Crossfire honks, I suspect an All-Star team of little DA kids could give TA a good battle. As others have noted above, 11v11 is different than 9v9 (TA's keeper is far less effective in an 8` x 24` goal). OTOH, the TA kids have been training four days a week for the past several months, and playing against far tougher competition, so any Green vs White results from last year's friendlies probably can be discarded.

And I've never uttered the word "donkey" as a substitute for "ass". While the website bleeps out several profanities, "ass" seems to be allowed. If I want to say ass, I'll say ass.

"None of the players WE sent to TA." So let me get this straight, YOU had something to do with the 4 kids who went to TA? I mean, they left Westside, tried out and YOU now want to include yourself in that process? You do realize that while there may be 4 players on TA only 2 of them are amounting to anything. Why on earth do you still cling to last year's under performing, choke filled seaso?? That team accomplished zero, except establishing itself as the most over rated, under performing team. But nonetheless, you should be congratulated for YOUR impact on those boy's soccer career! Well done, and I hope you can continue your run with the current group of lads. I know, I know....Cony is "quietly" reloading and YOU will unleash a fierce ass whooping on DA this spring. 🙄

[Unregistered]

U

"None of the players WE sent to TA." So let me get this straight, YOU had something to do with the 4 kids who went to TA? I mean, they left Westside, tried out and YOU now want to include yourself in that process?

"We were winning the match, but then they gave up two goals in the last ten minutes."

Of course I personally had nothing to do with any of these players. I'm a parent, not a coach, and none of them is my kid. But use of the pronoun "we" to refer to a team one supports is commonplace in the English language. Don't be an ass.

(Not a azz, or a donkey. An ass).

You do realize that while there may be 4 players on TA only 2 of them are amounting to anything.

Sounds reasonable. When players get promoted to the next level, not all succeed. Did I think all four would be superstars on what is essentially a regional All-Star team (even with a few deserving kids who chose not to participate)? Don't be silly.

Why on earth do you still cling to last year's under performing, choke filled seaso?? That team accomplished zero, except establishing itself as the most over rated, under performing team. But nonetheless, you should be congratulated for YOUR impact on those boy's soccer career! Well done, and I hope you can continue your run with the current group of lads. I know, I know....Cony is "quietly" reloading and YOU will unleash a fierce ass whooping on DA this spring. 🙄

Zzzzzz.

[Unregistered]

"We were winning the match, but then they gave up two goals in the last ten minutes."

Of course I personally had nothing to do with any of these players. I'm a parent, not a coach, and none of them is my kid. But use of the pronoun "we" to refer to a team one supports is commonplace in the English language. Don't be an ass.

(Not a azz, or a donkey. An ass).



Sounds reasonable. When players get promoted to the next level, not all succeed. Did I think all four would be superstars on what is essentially a regional All-Star team (even with a few deserving kids who chose not to participate)? Don't be silly.



Zzzzzz.

I am an ass. I am okay with that. I know who I am, and I am self aware. I also call out losers and call BS whenever it is needed.

Like right now. Promoted? That is almost as funny as your sideline sweatpants. They paid and play for a different team. In much the same way that Bend (who would kick your teams ass *ass, not azz* if they played you) was not relegated because they do not have DA. Regional All Star team. Sigh....My god, you are an insufferable person.

[Unregistered]

I am an ass. I am okay with that. I know who I am, and I am self aware. I also call out losers and call BS whenever it is needed.

Like right now. Promoted? That is almost as funny as your sideline sweatpants. They paid and play for a different team. In much the same way that Bend (who would kick your teams ass *ass, not azz* if they played you) was not relegated because they do not have DA. Regional All Star team. Sigh....My god, you are an insufferable person.

TA is effectively a step up the pyramid, so yes.

But no, I don't consider the OYSA clubs to be all inferior to the DA. The top 4 or 5 DA clubs would, I think, beat any of the OYSA clubs most of the time (upsets would be possible and expected, but in a series of games I'd expect the DA clubs to come out on top). Given that our B team gave Bend considerable trouble in Fall League (they lost, but it was a close match), I'm certain that Westside's DA team would handle them easily.

Just because Crossfire didn't place anyone on TA, doesn't mean you shouldn't be so bent out of shape about it.

[Unregistered]

TA is effectively a step up the pyramid, so yes.

But no, I don't consider the OYSA clubs to be all inferior to the DA. The top 4 or 5 DA clubs would, I think, beat any of the OYSA clubs most of the time (upsets would be possible and expected, but in a series of games I'd expect the DA clubs to come out on top). Given that our B team gave Bend considerable trouble in Fall League (they lost, but it was a close match), I'm certain that Westside's DA team would handle them easily.

Just because Crossfire didn't place anyone on TA, doesn't mean you shouldn't be so bent out of shape about it.

Curious why you assume I am from Crossfire? I am actually an FC parent. However, I do know for a fact that Crossfire has an 05 on TA. I also know that Crossfire has 3 kids right now, that would start on TA if they had chosen to play for them. Careful with your assumptions....you never know who is on here Westside Dad.

[Unregistered]

TA is effectively a step up the pyramid, so yes.

But no, I don't consider the OYSA clubs to be all inferior to the DA. The top 4 or 5 DA clubs would, I think, beat any of the OYSA clubs most of the time (upsets would be possible and expected, but in a series of games I'd expect the DA clubs to come out on top). Given that our B team gave Bend considerable trouble in Fall League (they lost, but it was a close match), I'm certain that Westside's DA team would handle them easily.

Just because Crossfire didn't place anyone on TA, doesn't mean you shouldn't be so bent out of shape about it.

Stop with the pyramid chit, in theory yes but based on current operating protocol it's more like a rectangle. Also, I'm NOT a crossfire parent but there actually is a crossfire from last year on TA, and I know of at least 3 others who I feel would be starters/significant players but chose not to be a part of that circus for whatever reason. Actually know at least 1 declined a roster spot as I saw and heard the conversation between Fernando and the parents and said player. Just curious why you have such a thing for crossfire? Is it because they like us and ADF beat you like you stole something all last year?

[Unregistered]

Stop with the pyramid chit, in theory yes but based on current operating protocol it's more like a rectangle. Also, I'm NOT a crossfire parent but there actually is a crossfire from last year on TA, and I know of at least 3 others who I feel would be starters/significant players but chose not to be a part of that circus for whatever reason. Actually know at least 1 declined a roster spot as I saw and heard the conversation between Fernando and the parents and said player. Just curious why you have such a thing for crossfire? Is it because they like us and ADF beat you like you stole something all last year?

There's at least on Crossfire honk on here with persistent delusions of grandeur, and some of the above sounded like said individual. I don't have any particular beef with any of the local clubs themselves, actually, Play for whatever club suits you and your kid the best, but accept the consequences of your choice, and understand that different families may make different choices, for perfectly legitimate reasons.

And if you surveyed all the parents in OYSA and Little DA, I'm sure there are about 60 kids who could start for Timbers' Academy.