As a sports parent myself who cares about the development of youth soccer, I’d like to talk about a problem we face in most of America. At a young age the system is practically forcing kids to “pay to play”. Meaning joining club/select at a young age (7-10 y/o). Don’t get me wrong, I think select leagues are important and give tremendous opportunity for those who can make it work. Although, there needs to also be more competitive rec associations. Keeping family cost lower, challenging everyone, yet not having it be a select league. This especially needs to be geared towards U6-U12, but all the way to U19. You wouldn’t believe how the overall level would increase! Learn more below.
Grassroots leadership
It’s foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly:
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
So leaders, if you’re serving on the board of a soccer association, you have the ability to change your community.
Be innovative. Change things up.
Together we can give young athletes more opportunity. At the same time growing your local organizations.
The goal:
- Keep more kids playing longer.
- Raising the overall level because kids will develop faster and better.
- Save families money and time, hence a lifestyle many want and need.
Which associations are doing it best
Some are doing it right, but to be fair the numbers have to be there.
Places like Virginia and Florida have programs that offer rec and club. The best area/culture I’ve seen so far is in Northern Virginia… The biggest program in VA is called Arlington Soccer. Their rec program has 6,500 players per year, plus select teams.
You have to remember each state/city is different in terms of how youth soccer is run. Some associations have both a rec and competitive club option. While other associations and clubs are completely separate.
Three things that are happening:
- Some associations offer a Fall and Spring league for all ages, partnering with the city for fields. Each year they randomly add new players to teams.
- Others have an additional option “competitive team” that represents the association and either plays other “all star” teams or signs up in lower select leagues. A hybrid of club and rec. Meant for kids with higher level or desire, but don’t want to commit to out of state year round travel.
- In other places they’ll have a rec option and club to choose from. The club has to be big for this to happen. In some states, clubs have put associations out of business.
There’s a better way than these 3 options above…
A soccer association fix is needed if we want to raise the over all level in America.
What’s needed for a soccer association fix
Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of great people working hard (for free) volunteering their time.
But, sometimes it just takes a new idea, which is filtering the players by level/desire.
A division 1, 2, 3 tier focus…
There needs to be enough kids for this to happen. Therefore, this method has to start early [age 7-9] so that by age 10 not all of the kids feel they have to play club to have opportunity for success.
Imagine having 5-10 tiers! The top 1-2 would be a good level. At the moment, North Texas has at least 12 different tiers for club soccer and 70% is not “club” level. Therefore, is just expensive rec with club jerseys, bags and all the extra fancy gear:)
Coaches wouldn’t select players. The league would do a good job placing players so they all thrive and grow.
Of course this would take more time for the volunteers. There could be compensation for the extra time spent to organize/filter. It’s awesome that people volunteer, but some of their valuable time should be rewarded.
2 options to filter players:
- A tryout in person to measure each players abilities.
- Or a digital questionnaire to determine desire.
A lower level player will thrive more playing against kids on their level. Vs thinking they are not good enough. With good training early on some of these kids will grow into higher level players. Everyone peaks at different times.
More advanced athletes will have more of a challenge.
The way it is not is frustrating to many, which is why high numbers leave rec to play club by age 8.
During a new season the league would Not place beginners in a higher division.
The biggest problem
As the kids get older the rosters grow. Therefore, each season the league adds 1-3 new players per team… This idea itself is perfectly fine. Although, when the kids turn 9-11 there begins to be a BIG gap.
Not only does the technical side widen between experienced and new players, but also desire.
When you have players who want to be there and who enjoy learning and improving it’s hard to be with players who don’t. Especially those that show up on time and work hard.
The main reason people want to move from rec to select is recreation associations blindly add players who have never played to a team that has a core group who’ve been together 2-3 years.
There needs to be at least 2 divisions that are filtered by the league, not coaches. This way it’s not coaches selecting players, but associations placing players by experience/desire.
Imagine a team starts at U7 and stays together for 2-3 years… If the training is good the players will build a solid foundation.
It’s not easy, but it would be worth it!
In America there are 2over 20 million registered soccer players! So many kids between 5-9 years old play, which requires more coaches. Therefore, the majority of coaches don’t know how to properly develop (emotionally or technically).
How Japan’s youth system works
In Japan they use what the US rec system looks like in terms of price. Each family only pays about $200 per year for soccer.
Both the women’s and men’s national teams do well in World Cup competitions.
Why are they so good?
The reason is because they train 5 days a week, focusing on technical skills.
Due to the high level of discipline, many of their youth teams win global tournaments.
In Japan the kids have amazing discipline to do the repetition drills each day.
Therefore, they build skill that sticks to the muscle memory. By the time they are 10 years old they dribble, trap and pass very well.
The coaches volunteer. It’s proof that development doesn’t come with paying $5000 per year or having a fancy uniform. Instead, it comes with consistent reps of quality and quantity.
What if there aren’t enough teams
One thing that I like that they do in North Texas is have associations play against each other.
This happens more as the kids get older (9-11)… By this time most are playing club, leaving only a small group in rec.
In the rec league my daughter’s U12 team is in, there are 1-4 teams from 5 different associations that make for 12 teams. There are 4-6 pretty good teams, then a few that are straight “rec level”.
Ages 7-11
Club soccer in America has taken over… Don’t get me wrong, for ages 12+ it’s the best way for most players in terms of opportunity.
The things is, at age 7-11 if the coach runs the right training the kids will grow regardless of the league. The goal should be to have kids technically equipped to play club by middle school – if they want to.
Yes, some kids need to start off in select leagues at a young age, but 90% don’t.
The problem is right now everyone is brainwashed to think it’s the only way. It’s not.
Coaching my daughters team
For the last 4 years I have been a volunteer coach for my daughters team. Of the original group of girls that started with me at age 7, all but 2 are still playing with us.
Currently at age 11 – 12 they are looking to move to more competitive options (club).
The competition isn’t too bad. About 30% of the teams are competitive and battle with us. Then you have about 25% of the teams who are way behind.
Solution to the soccer association fix
For some leagues they have a Division 1, 2, 3 and so on…
By no means should a beginner be added on to a division 1 team.
Instead, the league should put new players on lower division teams.
Focus on making D1 as competitive as possible without having it be select. Again, filter players with the purpose of keeping kids in rec soccer longer.
For some reason the league will give division 1 teams new players who have never played soccer before. Kids who are ages 8, 9, 10 who are getting good training are going to be way ahead technically and tactically.
If the kids were divided more equally there wouldn’t be the frustration of a technically sound player on the same team with a kid who doesn’t know how to dribble. Even worse with someone who doesn’t even care to be there.
If organized, there could be 5-10 divisions and everyone would be paying $300 per year vs $5,000.
Another good idea is to have tournaments in the Summer and Winter. That way the teams/kids who want to play more can. The way it’s done now is they play 10 weeks and then take off 12. That’s way too much time to not be playing.
Coaches need training
After talking with dozens of soccer moms and dad, one of the main things they bring up is the coaching received at ages 6-7. This particular age needs to learn the right skills.
All of the coaches in rec are volunteer. Half of them don’t want to do it, but are told by the league that without them the kids can’t play.
Some of the soccer associations are giving the coaches video resources, but is it the proper drills?
Every minute of practice matters… Whether it be a 60 or 90 min practice the content has to be quality.
Practical drills are key:
- Each player needs a ball (dribbling/footskills). Ages 6-10 need at least 20 minutes. Ages 11+can do 10 mins because they can afford to start doing more passing, first touch and pressure situation drills.
- Passing drills in groups of 2 so that they all get more reps.
- Rondos / monkey in the middle 3v1, 5v2, 7v3. Try to separate the more technical players from the less. This might mean your best athlete are on the less technical side. All of the player will improve faster by doing this.
- Scrimmage &/or possession the last 10-20 minutes. If you choose possession, have them compete to see which team (4v4 or 7v7) gets the most passes.
There’s no perfect way
I know it’s impossible to make everyone happy…
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Club soccer isn’t… That’s why you see top tier leagues with the score of 8-0. That means one team is WAY behind and that’s okay if it doesn’t happen every other week.
As long as most games are competitive and players are growing technically, tactically and emotionally.
Let’s get this soccer association fix moving. Share this blog post with the association in your area.
Most popular blog posts:
- How to strike the ball with more power
- Expert dribbling tips
- Strength exercises for soccer players
- First touch drills
- How to play more aggressive
Follow me on social media @GFTskills
