Things You Should Know Before You Join a Select Team

Some of these are obvious, but whether it's your first Select team or your 21st, there are some things you should know before you give them the first check. At the end of the list will be some questions if your player is interested in playing soccer in college and wants to be seen by college coaches on their club team (one of the best ways to get seen from my perspective.) Maybe we'll discuss ways to get to a college team in a future posting.

1. How much does the season cost?

2. What's included in the cost? (Frequently things like uniforms, winter and summer training camps, and with some clubs even tournaments, are not included in the initial fees.)

3. What tournaments will the team be going to? This is important for a number of reasons. First, if the team doesn't know, you're dealing with a team that is not organized, or has not been together long enough to have a pattern of tournaments they usually go to. Second, the types of tournaments can tell you a lot about the type of team you're being asked to join. Top teams/clubs will do travel tournaments, as this gets the players exposed to teams outside their local area, and prepares them for college showcase tournaments when they are older. Teams that go to the same local tournaments year in and year out can be fun, but are generally not teams that will keep a high performer happy. The major clubs in town send teams to tournaments in Florida over Christmas, Chicago for regional tournaments, and even to the West Coast for the Development Academy tournaments.

4. Who is coaching? This is even more critical - is this a parent coach or a paid professional coach? If it's a parent coach, does he/she have a player on the team?

5. Is the coach licensed?

6. How long has the coach been coaching?

7. Will there be a trainer, or does the coach do the training?

8. Where will the team practice?

9. How often will the team practice, and for how long? At least twice a week, for at least 2 hours is typical for older (U10 and up) teams. Serious teams will practice at least three times a week.

10. If the club has multiple teams in this age group, can your player be advanced or moved to a lower team during the seasonal year? (Some clubs will bounce players between teams during the season - you could start on the "A" team and finish on the "C" team, with little recourse.

11. Does the team/club have parent information meeting before the first practice? (Clubs/teams that do generally are better organized then ones that don't.)

12. What league(s) will the team be playing in? At what level? (ie. Premier, Elite, C1, C12, etc.)

13. How did the team do last season?

14. How many new players are being offered positions on the team? (This tells you if the team is rebuilding - adding lot's of players - or fine tuning - adding players to key positions to strengthen an already strong team.)

15. How does the coach determine field time? If the coach tells you everyone plays about the same amount of time, you're playing on a rec team. The right answer (for a select/premier/elite team) is that everyone will get some playing time, but that the team will play to win, and players will have to earn field time.

16. Does the team participate in State Cup, and if so, how did they do last season?

OK - the next few questions are for players looking for a club that will help them get seen my college coaches.

17. What college showcase tournaments will the team be attending?

18. Where is the team usually bracketed in the showcase tournaments? (you're more likely to be seen in the top bracket than in the bottom one.)

19. How many of the club's players will be playing college soccer next season, and what is the division breakdown?

20. Does the club offer any assistance in college placement?

That's all I've got off the top of my head. If I missed any, let me know.