The ongoing debate of youth soccer is; "are we trying to develop great teams or great players". When we signed our children up to play that wasn't part of the equation, we just wanted to find a health activity to be a part of. The day that little Johnny or Suzy scored 4 times in a U7 or U8 game changed the thought process; not only for the player, but for parent, coach and club. All think, "We might have something here?"
I've been seeing this happen for 25years now, how that one game affects the future of those involve in the game. Heck it happened to me as well. Is this my meal ticket? How long can we afford to leave him (my child) with his current team? What team can I find so I can maximize his playing potential? Is this coach good enough to give us the proper training to allow him to reach his true potential? Been there and done that.
The problem is at an early age there are a lot of one game heroics that occur across our association. They happen elsewhere across the state and across the country. You are not the only one who thinks they may have the next great super player sleeping in the room down the hall. All the while, they are not the only players on their teams. There are other players of varying skills who form a team. Some who will always be a step behind our great player and some who will your player by at some point as a youth player?
This is where the development effects your local youth association (TPCJSA), the District (District III) and those at a higher level Washington Youth Soccer (WYS). How do we provide the opportunity for players and coaches to play at the appropriate level and keep everyone happy at the same time? Currently we are doing a bad job. Because everyone thinks they have the magic solution on how to create great players and build super teams, we are now at a cross roads in youth soccer.
What do we hear from the masses?
“I want to play in the top league in the state”
“I want the necessary competition for my team to grow”
“I want my players and teams to be challenged”
From this we now have a variety of levels of play, Premier, Select and Recreational (not my terms, but the ones that are widely used to describe the levels of play). What is consistent is this. All players start out at the Recreational level. They strive to play at the Premier level. No one wants to play at the select level. This is the crossroad that I’m referring to. Because we are preoccupied with titles, we are doing damage to the sport that we love. There are places for all of our players to play at, in each category. The problem is when we attempt to make the jump from a recreation player to a premier and don’t make it; instead of playing at the select level until we improve for another shot at the premier level players/families are walking away from our sport.
There is a reason why we keep saying that we have 125,000 players in our state. We have been giving that number for the 25years that I’ve been involved in youth soccer. Why hasn’t that number grown? People we need to have a realistic thought of our player’s ability and accept it. Players develop at a different rate. Players who are good now, may not be good forever. Players, who sit on the bench now, may become superstars as time goes by. Be patient we all cannot be the best or play for the best all of the time. Understand where you fit in this sport at the present time. With dedication one’s slot may change in positive way allowing for one to climb the ladder of success.
That not only goes for players, but for parents, coaches and for clubs also. We are all in this together. We must work with one another to make sure that we are doing right by our players and their families. There are plenty of opportunities out there. Let us not let one setback (not making a team or lack of playing time) have a player or a family walk away from the game. Let us work together to help TPCJSA down the proper road to success!
