Love of the game

[Guest]

There's so much talk about which club is the most competitive, but I'm curious which clubs are best at maintaining a kid's love of the game? At which club, will a U13 or younger be least likely to drop out of soccer?

[Guest]

That's pretty tough as it is going to change so much from kid to kid. One u-little might just want to hang out with there friends and burn off some energy while another might be very focused and dedicated from a young age. The ideal club/ coach for those two kids is not going to be the same.

[Guest]

I think it’s Coach dependent, not club dependent.

[Guest]

No club, 9 times out of 10, one thing, even more then their innate enjoyment, will impact a kids love of the game - parent behavior. It's supposed to be fun. If a parent is coaching them from the sideline, yelling at them to work harder, critiquing their performance after games/practices, it will cease to be fun, and they will quit. Games are to learn through trial and error, not to try to listen to and decipher and do what different people are yelling at them from the sidelines. I see this all the time, and you can actually see the kids frustration/despair with parents/fans yelling instructions to them. Let them play, make their own mistakes and learn from them. After the game or practice, ask them if they had fun, and leave it at that.

[Guest]

We played for a small club with great families. It was a great time. My kid still says that was the most fun she had playing soccer. It felt like a family. Once we know it was time to be seen by college coaches, we then moved to a ecnl club.

Thus before high school, try and find a small club with good kids and families. We did travel tournaments and the tournaments were welcome to us.

There will be plenty of time to involved in the craziness of big club soccer.

Enjoy you kid being a kid.

[Guest]

Celtic is a great club for younger kids. All around warm and positive environment where coaches know all the kids and parents’ names. You can see the joy when you watch their younger teams play. Highly motivated players move to ecnl/ga at u13/14.

[Guest]

Agree start with a small family club. Play soccer with your school friends. Be a kid.
rec soccer was the most fun to play and to be on the sidelines as an parent.

when they get old. No cheering allowed and everyone is always pissed off for some reason!

[Guest]

Celtic is a great club for younger kids. All around warm and positive environment where coaches know all the kids and parents’ names. You can see the joy when you watch their younger teams play. Highly motivated players move to ecnl/ga at u13/14.

You must be new to the boards. There’s no room for positivity here

[Guest]

Celtic is a great club for younger kids. All around warm and positive environment where coaches know all the kids and parents’ names. You can see the joy when you watch their younger teams play. Highly motivated players move to ecnl/ga at u13/14.

Thank you Celtic for getting some free advertising

[Guest]

Celtic is a great club for younger kids. All around warm and positive environment where coaches know all the kids and parents’ names. You can see the joy when you watch their younger teams play. Highly motivated players move to ecnl/ga at u13/14.

My son played them during tournaments. Yeah not even close.

[Guest]

The most fun team for U13. Just players with skill and having a good time. Los Rieleritos. They play in div 2 u13 pspl most of their players are u12. But they are very fun and do really well and don't have any pressure. My son is on the team we love it.

[Guest]

I'm the same poster from the Rieleritos post. I want to clarify.

I dont think the kid falling out of love with soccer has to do with club or coach.. I think there is a ton of factors.. sometimes other interests or sometimes mom and dad are more in love with the game than jr.. Sometime the level of play is too high and the kid has too much pressure. keep it fun. That's the secret imo.

[Guest]

I'm the same poster from the Rieleritos post. I want to clarify.

I dont think the kid falling out of love with soccer has to do with club or coach.. I think there is a ton of factors.. sometimes other interests or sometimes mom and dad are more in love with the game than jr.. Sometime the level of play is too high and the kid has too much pressure. keep it fun. That's the secret imo.

Great points!

[Guest]

We played for a small club with great families. It was a great time. My kid still says that was the most fun she had playing soccer. It felt like a family. Once we know it was time to be seen by college coaches, we then moved to a ecnl club.

Thus before high school, try and find a small club with good kids and families. We did travel tournaments and the tournaments were welcome to us.

There will be plenty of time to involved in the craziness of big club soccer.

Enjoy you kid being a kid.

Thank you for your perspectives. I am wondering what small clubs in the area are doing travel tournaments? I have heard only big clubs, like XF, SU, EFC are traveling with younger kids.

[Guest]

Rieleritos did well at mayors cup with 2012 boys. As for travel.. also South Tacoma United has a few very good teams that travel and do well. If you are trying to combine travel and less stress on the kid.

But the big clubs do travel. As for success washington doesn't do extremely well as a whole at national tournaments because there is no funneling system for good players.. all of the players in WA are well distributed. For that matter we don't bring as many guest players.

Looking at Dallas, denver atlanta and st. Louis there are only a 1 or 2 elite level clubs and all the talent will either end up there or guest. When they bring a team that are nationally ranked 10th, then drop their 3 worst players, add 3 of the best from another elite club and add a player from out of state, they are no long the same team. Our teams typically bring the team we have on roster, might add 1 or 2.

This equates to us having decent local play, but we are not as successful nationally, on the flip side those teams have crappy local play (winning 10-0 every game in league) and they do decent in national play.