Pre-k 2 practices plus games??? pre-k and they even have set teams????? that age it’s usually a show up and play games scenario. No set rosters. No keeping score. Just whoever shows up Saturday and you split the kids up and throw a ball out there. this sounds like a soccer version of the baseball insanity I posted earlier
I can only speak for soccer, but my son is 12 and there are definitely scouts out there already. It’s the whole purpose behind the ECNL program, and why they become eligible at age 12. It’s not an issue for us as my son will go pro in something other than sports, but the scouts for college, academies, and even European clubs come out all the time to find the young talent so they can develop them. It’s like the 0.1% of the 1% that they’re looking for. Hell, Man City just signed 14-year-old Cavan Sullivan from Pennsylvania to a pro contract and they have him out on loan until he turns 18 and is eligible for EPL play.
Cavan Sullivan was in the Philadelphia Union Academy. Man City didn't just stumble upon him by scouring suburban soccer fields
Man City didn’t, but Philly Union Academy sure did. And also, the point is they scout earlier than people would think is normal.
not really in this instance, but I understand what you're saying. kind of getting away from the original topic here. and we're talking about the absolute best of the best. these kids are going to catch people's eye no matter where they're playing.
No his older brothers were part of the Academy already, plus his dad and grandfather are college coaches in the area. 99% of pro team academy players apply and try out to join that academy. I'll also add that Sullivan was on lots of teams radars due to his performance for the USMNT U-15 team. I'll stop being "well actually" guy now because my argument is about the specifics of Cavan Sullivan and not necessarily your point
It sucks. In soccer you got about 7 "elite" platforms when kids are older and it is just dumb. Leading to watered down teams, drama, and nonsense.
Right. The only relevant part is that at least for soccer you actually can identify talent very young. Sullivan is just the most recent example, but Freddy Adu years ago was another one, and of course Messi.
My sister did not play volleyball or basketball until she was a freshman in HS. By her junior year she was getting offers for both sports at D1 programs. So yeah, she randomly emerged in HS.
As I said later, there are of course exceptions. Tim Duncan is the most obvious one. But your sister is in the minority.
More to unpack here. Exposure, and paying for it, is a huge variable here. It would not be the minority if more kids just had the same exposure in high school even if they show the talent. Alex Morgan is another immediate name and she became world class but didn’t play soccer until she was like 16 (might be off but off top of my head). someone in high school showing the skill to playing college athletics should be by far the norm but the industry makes you think it’s solved by 12. yes the GOATs like tiger woods were tour ready by 6. But skill development and exposure to opportunities are 2 different things.
It is run by a competition body of some kind, for the city we live in. It seemed like a lot to me at first too, but he has a lot of fun so I’m not too worried about it. It’s technically 6u so I think there are even some first graders in with them. Barely any of them know how to play, and kicking it down the field to a goal without getting distracted or losing control is an accomplishment. I’m mostly just mad that the coach had a complete lack of respect for the other parents time and efforts (and apparently women’s bodies in bars).
The pay to play/elite travel model isn’t for future stars or future pros, it’s for rich kids who need resume lines for elite colleges.
I’m 100% instructing the refs to throw El Tiburon out of at least 1 game this flag football season based on his posts in here
That very much depends on the size of the association. My daughter is in K and they have 8 teams at that level. Our pre-K and K structure is to have set teams based on their elementary school. It was great last year for her to meet future classmates and it is the easiest way for parents to meet other parents at the same school. The schedule is one day per week with 30 minutes practice (run by the association which has a few coaches and some hired HS kids) and then 30 minutes of game so the parent coaching element is literally just making sure the right number of players are on the field. All players are supposed to play about the same amount of time.
I'm going through some work shit right now so yesterday I applied to be an umpire. I'm now beginning to think I probably shouldn't have. Hopefully I can be stuck with younger kids.
Follow up on this for context as to why my son gets frustrated with his teammates. It’s largely the club’s fault for prioritizing the money they make off each player over the player’s actual ability to compete at their appropriate level: They scheduled a make-up game on less than 48 hours notice for last night. Unfortunately, my son had a school commitment for a presentation he had to make that is part of his overall grade and he couldn’t make it. He plays center back (kind of a left center back in our coach’s scheme). 2 of the other 3 starters were also unable to make it either, as one was sick and the other was injured. So the Regional (or B team) my son plays on had to borrow three defenders from the National (or A team) group. You would think this would result in a significant defensive upgrade, right? Final score was 0-11. Because, again, our team has 2 or maybe 3 kids combined at midfield or striker capable of being even serviceable and the entire game gets played in our defensive third. Glad we missed that shit show.
My only want out of youth sports is for my son to develop enough skill to make his middle school teams and go from there.
I just want him to develop a love for playing sports in general. The competition. Etc Bad coaching doesn't seem to be helping that
The only life skill that can’t be replicated through other activities (that I want my kids to get through youth sports) is the ability to throw and catch. As another parent stated, if someone throws something at my kids, they need to be able to catch it and throw it back.
yea this is honestly a pretty big one. One of my best friends is a work out warrior. Dude works out so much he does it on vacation. We went to the park with our kids and I brought a football to toss back and forth. That's when I learned that his achillies heel was the most basic function of sport. You'd have thought I was playing catch with a todler.
I took my 6 year old to a birthday at a trampoline park this weekend and he played some dodgeball with his friends. He looked like Billy Madison out there just nailing his friends in the face. He's not even that big of a kid, he just has a cannon. #blessed
My son’s (HS varsity team) game went into extras last night and the rec team was waiting for the field to play their game. We had lost 4-3 but there were 30 eight-year-olds waiting to give them a high five on their way off of the field.
Im coaching Lil Tuburon in flag football. He shows up to practice last week and I tell him remember this is flag football. We’re not tackling anyone like you did in your last tournament
He was very confused. He didn’t know how I knew the story of him tackling the kid. I didn’t want to tell him with his Fortnite situation he’s internet famous