Epic Rant From Robe

[Cajun90]

Youth soccer has started undergoing changes in the past couple of years. The system was better than other sports but it needed work and I'm pleased with where it is headed.

Almost every U.S. Youth soccer organization operates under the U.S. soccer umbrella. This includes everything from local rec ball to the Olympic Development Program.

We've never really had the problem in soccer like you hear about in baseball of watches, rings, jewelry, etc. You win a tournament you get a small team trophy and often times the players get these medallion medals that you can buy in bulk for a couple of bucks each. Runner up will often times get medallions as well.

A big change that I like is to put more stress on player development under the age of 12. The clubs moving forward should start focusing on individual player development and not on playing/winning games. After U12 kids will dropout, play local rec ball, or move on into various levels of competitive play.

Competitive youth soccer is highly regulated. You have designated times for tryouts and players must try out. You then have dead times where players can't be contacted prior to submitting an offer to them. Competitive is now moving to two levels. The first being an age specific team that plays state league play along with some independent tournaments. The second being "Academy" teams that usually combine a couple of age levels and are the cream of the crop from within a club. They will typically get an exemption from state league play but will play in the state tournament. They will participate in a regional league that travels more extensively across multiple states.

The Olympic development program is a national level program that kids can tryout for on the local level and if good enough progress up through regional pools/teams and national pool/team at various age groups. It's structured and typically run by college/pro coaches.

[CajunNation]

My experience with my nephews is that soccer is just as screwed up as baseball.

The insane, greedy and foolish adults I mentioned above....they are in EVERY youth sport.

[Cajun90]

My experience with my nephews is that soccer is just as screwed up as baseball.

The insane, greedy and foolish adults I mentioned above....they are in EVERY youth sport.

I didn't say it was perfect. You seem intent on demonizing anyone who says anything good about competitive youth sports. Feel free to continue to paint with a broad brush.

[MetryCajun]

Youth soccer has started undergoing changes in the past couple of years. The system was better than other sports but it needed work and I'm pleased with where it is headed.

Almost every U.S. Youth soccer organization operates under the U.S. soccer umbrella. This includes everything from local rec ball to the Olympic Development Program.

We've never really had the problem in soccer like you hear about in baseball of watches, rings, jewelry, etc. You win a tournament you get a small team trophy and often times the players get these medallion medals that you can buy in bulk for a couple of bucks each. Runner up will often times get medallions as well.

A big change that I like is to put more stress on player development under the age of 12. The clubs moving forward should start focusing on individual player development and not on playing/winning games. After U12 kids will dropout, play local rec ball, or move on into various levels of competitive play.

Competitive youth soccer is highly regulated. You have designated times for tryouts and players must try out. You then have dead times where players can't be contacted prior to submitting an offer to them. Competitive is now moving to two levels. The first being an age specific team that plays state league play along with some independent tournaments. The second being "Academy" teams that usually combine a couple of age levels and are the cream of the crop from within a club. They will typically get an exemption from state league play but will play in the state tournament. They will participate in a regional league that travels more extensively across multiple states.

The Olympic development program is a national level program that kids can tryout for on the local level and if good enough progress up through regional pools/teams and national pool/team at various age groups. It's structured and typically run by college/pro coaches.

All true. The biggest issue I see is cost. Right now it is extremely difficult for kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to get the access to the programs you mentioned. By the time they are identified as "natural talents" in HS they are already years behind in training. The Southshore area in NOLA is probably the worst when it comes to this. with the exception of football and baseball, It is not uncommon to see affluent private schools with over 90% travel players completely demolish a public school with only a few travel players.
This trend has not harmed the college game but it has definitely hindered professional development in both soccer and baseball. One needs to look no further than the near extinction of the African American MLB baseball player.

[Cajun90]

All true. The biggest issue I see is cost. Right now it is extremely difficult for kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to get the access to the programs you mentioned. By the time they are identified as "natural talents" in HS they are already years behind in training. The Southshore area in NOLA is probably the worst when it comes to this. with the exception of football and baseball, It is not uncommon to see affluent private schools with over 90% travel players completely demolish a public school with only a few travel players.
This trend has not harmed the college game but it has definitely hindered professional development in both soccer and baseball. One needs to look no further than the near extinction of the African American MLB baseball player.

Can't disagree with that. It also is a better explanation of the private vs. public school mentality. Private schools have better players because of socio-economics not because they recruit.

I know most soccer clubs have some economic based help available but it is often very limited.

[cajunhawk]

It's been decades since I played organized baseball. The cream will always rise to the top. Trying to create a batch of only cream will always skew the results. Going into it without delusions of grandeur is the key, and the crux for why travel ball has exploded. Chances are, your kid is not going to be the next Mike Trout (suck it Bryce Harper fans). No amount of money will make your kid great. Michael Jordan played basketball on a dirt court. Joe DiMaggio was an Italian immigrant that worked in fish yards before baseball. Johnny Unitas was raised by his mother. Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold in shoes he once found in the trash, because someone took his.

You cannot ham fist your kids to be sports stars. They either have it...or they don't. Throwing money at it won't help.

[fanof71]

It's been decades since I played organized baseball. The cream will always rise to the top. Trying to create a batch of only cream will always skew the results. Going into it without delusions of grandeur is the key, and the crux for why travel ball has exploded. Chances are, your kid is not going to be the next Mike Trout (suck it Bryce Harper fans). No amount of money will make your kid great. Michael Jordan played basketball on a dirt court. Joe DiMaggio was an Italian immigrant that worked in fish yards before baseball. Johnny Unitas was raised by his mother. Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold in shoes he once found in the trash, because someone took his.

You cannot ham fist your kids to be sports stars. They either have it...or they don't. Throwing money at it won't help.

Rack him!

[CajunJack55]

It's been decades since I played organized baseball. The cream will always rise to the top. Trying to create a batch of only cream will always skew the results. Going into it without delusions of grandeur is the key, and the crux for why travel ball has exploded. Chances are, your kid is not going to be the next Mike Trout (suck it Bryce Harper fans). No amount of money will make your kid great. Michael Jordan played basketball on a dirt court. Joe DiMaggio was an Italian immigrant that worked in fish yards before baseball. Johnny Unitas was raised by his mother. Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold in shoes he once found in the trash, because someone took his.

You cannot ham fist your kids to be sports stars. They either have it...or they don't. Throwing money at it won't help.

[RaisingCajun08]

Yes, select ball can be done right. Those programs that do it right are in the minority for sure. They are the 20% not the 80% maybe more like 10% to 90%.

[31Ragin97]

To Lawrence, it offers the latest chance to reflect how fortunate he was to have coached future phenoms Bryant and Harper, teammates for a season on the Southern Nevada Bulldogs. Bryant, the NL rookie of the year in 2015, was 14. Harper, nine months younger, was 13.

"The real question is how did I ever lose a game with both those guys?" said Lawrence, 47, now a health care executive in Los Angeles. "We had 12 kids on a travel team and Bryce and Kris were the elite of that group. I'm not into rankings, but we were third nationally."

The Bulldogs were so good, they competed in a high school fall league and finished above .500 despite not having a player older than 14. After beating one of the city's better high school teams, a game in which Bryant and Harper homered and Bryant pitched a shutout, the losers refused to shake hands. The kids asked their coach why.

"I said, 'You are going to walk out of the park, grab some ice cream and ride home with your parents (and) that team is going to drive themselves home and have to explain to friends, family and girlfriends how they got beat by a group of middle-school kids," Lawrence said.

[CajunNation]

I didn't say it was perfect. You seem intent on demonizing anyone who says anything good about competitive youth sports. Feel free to continue to paint with a broad brush.

Will do.

[31Ragin97]

maybe not just travel ball, looks like all you will need to do in nba is make .500 and you are in playoffs