Cincinnati Soccer Parent Blog

Things You Should Know Before You Join a Select Team

2009-02-18T21:44:00.002-05:00

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.

Tips for new rec coaches (for players 7 years old and under)

2009-02-16T21:19:00.003-05:00

Back from a long hiatus, here's some more thoughts about Cincinnati youth soccer. This batch is directed directly towards any new coaches out there, drawn from around 14 seasons of coaching 4 - 7 year olds (boys and girls) for a local SAY soccer program. I know being a new parent coach can be daunting, but it can be a lot of fun too. If you're coaching kids older than 7, this probably won't be as useful - once you get past 7 the challenge shifts from primarily keeping them interested with some soccer thrown in to actually teaching them soccer full time. I'm much better at the former than the latter.

1. Remember you're coaching rec soccer, not World Cup. If losing a game doesn't bother you, it won't bother your players. They take their lead from you.

2. Whoever brings the snacks is the captain for that game. Makes it much easier to keep track of who has been a captain and who has not.

3. Snacks are frequently more important than the score, so make sure you get a snack list published, and it doesn't hurt to remind parents before the game that it's their turn. I always bring the first snacks/drinks, to give parents an idea of what types of stuff make good snacks.

4. More on snacks - it never hurts to ask about allergies. Usually a parent will tell you, but you want to be sure you have snacks that everyone can eat.

5. Kids need to play every position. That being said, it's perfectly OK to only take volunteers for goalie.

6. It's not about winning. If you have your best player on the field for 4 quarters a game, and no one else gets to touch the ball, you are a crappy coach. You fail, because at these ages, in a recreational program, it's not about winning or trophies - it's about the kids having fun, and EVERYONE touching the ball.

7. The referees are your friends - BE NICE! I have had referees thank me for not getting upset after one of my teams got creamed. Those refs had had a coach come on the field after them during one game, and had seen several coaches yelling at their teams following a loss. That's just not right.

Tangent alert!! After one of my team's more memorable drubbings, the players and parents were very upbeat after the game - the girls had completed a number of passes, were communicating well, and played a great game. The fact that we lost 11 - 0 was really secondary to the fact that the girls had fun and were playing better. The team that beat us had 2 players who were exceptional - and those two players beat us by playing most the game, while the rest of their team watched. Meanwhile, our girls made plays, touched the ball, and we had a crowd of smiling kids and parents on the sidelines after the game. It was great. We finished the season with 1 goal, and no wins or ties. But the girls were all coming back the next season, the parents were all thrilled with the way the season went, and it was all because the coach (me) and the parents set the correct tone. The score really didn't matter - it was about playing the game to the best of their abilities. And I cheered myself hoarse at every game, because I actually believe it. And every game they played their best was a great game.

8. When posting coaching tips, don't go on long-winded tangents.

9. Most drills suck. If you can't turn it into a game, don't do it with the little kids - they just get bored and distracted.

10. Loud and happy is good. Think drill sergeant on happy pills. Just a smidge of crazy doesn't hurt, if channeled properly. If you are loud and upbeat, you will keep the kids attention for the entire season. The trick is to mix happy with control - you can't just be a cheerleader. Example. I had a team that couldn't communicate. The tried, but they were so quiet, they couldn't hear themselves, much less be heard by another player on the team. So I put them on the endline, went to midfield, and at the top of my lungs told them "I KNOW YOU CAN YELL LOUD ENOUGH FOR ME TO HEAR YOU OVER HERE!" Then I threatened them with a lap if I couldn't hear them. And we went down the line, with each girl yelling "I'm OPEN" at the top of their lungs, like their insane coach. And for the rest of the season my team was the one you could hear from the other end of the soccer field with the girls yelling "I'm OPEN" when they wanted the ball. Kids love it when you give them a chance to be loud and obnoxious.

11. If your league offers you coaching lessons, or coaching tools, use them - they're generally really helpful!

12. Make sure you have correct change for your refs.

13. Did I mention snacks?

14. Don't park your defense on the "6 box" and force them to stand there and watch the game. While you may not want the other team to score goals, that's not how the game is played. My personal rule is you can play defense as far forward as you want, as long as you are between the ball and your own goal. And you have to be willing to run all the way back if the ball gets behind you. Teams score against my teams, but my players will understand how the game is really played when my season is over. In "real" soccer, the defense doesn't camp back by the goal. They don't trip over the midline if the ball is on the other end of the field. And your players shouldn't either.

15. If you have a great player, encourage them to move to Select soccer. Keeping great players in rec soccer really handicaps them when they finally make the jump to Select.

16. Pinneys are your friend, but make sure you have at least 2 colors, and at least enough for 2 teams. That way you don't have any arguments over who gets to wear the pinneys. Not washing the pinneys can have a similar effect, but then whoever has to wear them gets penalized by the smell.

17. You can never have too many cones.

18. Or whistles. I always lose mine, so I keep spares in the car.

19. Before the game it never hurts to ask the referees nicely to blow their whistles loudly on fouls. Many younger refs are timid on their whistles, and play can continue for minutes because the kids don't hear the whistles.

20. Make sure you have your game ball.

21. Make sure you have ice, bandages, and a simple first aid kit. Kids get hurt.

22. Throwing an extra pair of shin guards in your bag is never a bad idea, just in case. Kids and parents forget.

23. You cannot wear football or baseball cleats to play soccer. You can tell the difference because soccer cleats don't have a cleat at the toe of the boot.

24. Soccer cleats are supposed to be worn tight. If there is space at the toe, they are too big, and the kid could break a toe playing in them.

25. There are 12 billion coaching drills/games sites on the 'Net - that's why I'm not posting any here.

26. You can buy soccer medals online for about $2.50 a piece. I generally collected $5 per kid at the beginning of the season for names on shirts, and put the change towards medals. The kids liked them as much as trophies, because they were coming from the coach, in recognition of their hard work. And the end of season party is much more fun when it's also an awards ceremony. It gives you chance to say something nice about every player.

27. Be prepared for challenges. I have coached autistic kids, kids with brain damage, kids who cried when they came near the field, kids who wouldn't play because their shirt was too big, kids who caught bugs on the field instead of playing, and my personal favorite, a 4 year old who would only play on the white lines - he just kept going back and forth every quarter he was on the field. Feel free to be frustated in your car after the game (as long as there are no kids present) but stay happy when you're coaching.

28. Sometimes you have to be direct with your players. If someone is misbehaving constantly in practice, correct the behavior in private. If it continues, correct it in front of the team. If it still continues, get the parents involved. You don't need to yell, but you need to let them know they are wrong, and that there are consequences. Make them practice dribbling between two cones while the team plays a game. One of the best players I had was a problem child, but once we set some guidelines, he not only stopped acting out, he enjoyed playing the game more, and showed the greatest improvement by the end of the season. He was also the team high scorer - he could kick the ball a mile.

29. Practicing in the rain when you're playing Select is called getting your money's worth. Practicing in the rain when you're playing rec is called pissing off your parents. They REALLY don't want to be out there in the rain. It's rec soccer - feel free to give the kids a night off when it's raining.

30. If it's raining during a game, and you're hiding under an umbrella while your players are on the field getting soaked, they'll play like they're miserable. If you're crazy enough to leave your umbrella in the car and revel in the rain, your kids will realize that there is no better soccer playing weather than a rainy, muddy day. Plus, randomly shouting "I LOVE PLAYING SOCCER IN THE RAIN" during the game will drive your opposing coaches nuts. The kids will take their lead from you - love the rain, and they will love the rain too. And generally outplay the other team, who thinks they're supposed to be miserable.

Hope that's of some help - if you have any other good suggestions, post them - if I knew everything I'd be coaching the Crew, not spouting off on a blog.

Three Kinds of Select Soccer Players

2008-10-09T21:23:00.005-04:00

All right. Been a while since I've been able to add to this, but now that the season is winding down, I'll see if I can't add a little more tips, tricks and unsolicited opinions about youth soccer in Cincinnati.

In the beginning of the 21st century (2000 - 2001) Cincinnati was the second largest youth soccer market in the US, behind St. Louis. It probably remains in the top 5 - I just haven't seen the numbers in quite a few years. This results in a huge base of soccer players, and divisions in some Select leagues down to C6, if not "deeper."

So why so many kids, and so many levels of play at the Select level? My theory is that there are three types of players on Select teams in this area. Select, Rec and Check. I forget where I first heard that theory posited, but I have adopted it like a lost kitten, and made it my own. :-)

Select players (and Elite players) are skilled players who have the ability and interest to compete at the Select level. The more of these players you have on your team (and I'll go into the dilution of the talent pool in another post) the higher level soccer your team will compete at, and the more successful your team will be. Some of the top boys teams can manage 11 or 12 quality players. Many of the C4 and lower may have 1 or 2.

Rec players are players who either don't have the interest or the skill to be playing at the Select level, but are anyway. These players may be playing because the coach needed to fill out the roster, they want to play with their friends, they want to stay on the same team every season, or maybe they like the uniforms better. There are a lot of these players playing at the C3 - C6 level. These are players who would probably be better served by the many Rec programs in the area, but play Select instead. In a perfect world the Select organizations would work closely with the Rec organizations not only to identify talent that needs to be developed by a Select program, but also to send players back to Rec that really shouldn't be playing Select. Unfortunately, the name of the game for many clubs is to roster as many teams as you can find warm bodies for. Apparently whoever dies with the most teams wins.

Check players are those players that are on the team because their check cleared. There are still some teams/clubs out there that are more interested in the almighty buck than they are about developing players, and as a result you'll see teams that have players that probably shouldn't be on the team, but are because their parents were willing to fund their play.

More on the impact of this player mix on the quality of teams in the area in future posts - for the 4 people who stumbled across this site, stay tuned.

Where does all that money go?

2008-06-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

Today's post is about where all the money goes. On an unrelated note, it appears that the rumored three premier teams per age group for CUP was a bit overblown. Based on the website info, they are rostering one or two premier teams in each age group, with more boys teams than girls teams. Not really surprising given the quality of girls teams at clubs like Ohio Elite, Warren County and Classics Hammer. Those clubs have traditionally had very strong girls programs, and were less likely to lose players to CUP than the boys. Now back to finances. :-)

Fees for youth soccer in Cincinnati vary based on a number of factors. These include:

Club
Age
Level of Play
League(s)
Tournaments
Coach/Trainer
Travel

Fees in Cincinnati can range anywhere from $100.00 per season for a parent-coached U7 team to $2000.00+ per season for a professionally coached U17 team. This is due to a number of reasons (which I'll be happy to go through.) First, let's talk about clubs. Some clubs exist as non-profit organizations to provide kids a place to play competitive soccer, and they add up all the costs for a team and divide by the number of players. That's what you pay. They get their fields from a township or county at little to no cost, usually have parent coaches, who donate their time, and they get good prices on uniforms, etc. These would be the least expensive teams to play for, but generally these teams do not play at the highest level of play (Premier or Elite). At the other end of the spectrum are the clubs that are professionally run, and charge fees based on running the organization, not based on each team. They need to recoup costs for their officers, directors of coaching, coaches, affiliations, advertising and a number of other costs you would expect to find in a business. These are the clubs that are trying to attract the best players in Cincinnati, and will play at the highest levels, and will generally be the most expensive.

For the typical select team, you can expect to spend anywhere from $250 - $500 per season. There is a Fall season (August to November) and a Spring season (March to June). These fees typically include league fees, referee fees, field fees (if any) and club fees. As you approach the $500 level, you may also have trainer costs and tournaments included in the costs as well.

Premier/Elite teams will generally run between $500 - $1000 per season, at least through U14. In addition to the fees you would see with select teams, Premier programs have to pay for the professional coaches (including travel costs for away tournaments), costs to run their soccer complexes, fees for infrastructure (websites, online registrations, etc.) and in some cases they are paying for affiliations with other organizations (the Columbus Crew for example has an affiliation program for youth organizations.) Some of the top programs even have people dedicated to helping players get on college teams, coordinating showcases with college coaches, etc. These clubs also have professional directors of coaching, who can cost the club in the six figures for top coaches.

Once you reach U15, high school age, these costs jump, but the season runs from November to June, instead of a Fall and Spring season. Those fees can exceed $2000 per season for the top premier programs.

Many clubs have tournaments and other events to help raise money to offset the fees. A good tournament can pull 250 - 300 teams, which at $450 - $500 per team, can generate significant revenue for a club.

Some other costs you may encounter. Summer and Winter training. 3 v 3 or 6 v 6 summer tournaments. Winter Futsal or indoor soccer leagues. Uniform "extras" like training jerseys, bags, club soccer balls, warm-ups, etc. And don't underestimate travel costs for tournaments - an away tournament can easily set you back $500 - $1000 dollars if it's a long drive over a long weekend, once you add up gas, hotel, meals, etc.

The important part of this discussion is to make sure you are placing your player at the proper level of play, and make sure you're getting what you pay for. And keep in mind there is not a club in Cincinnati or anywhere else that can put your player on a college team with a scholarship - the only way that can happen is for the player to earn that privilege on the field. All a club can do is help put the player in the right place to show what they can do.

Dipping my toe in the blog pool.

2008-06-07T19:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first entry in the Cincinnati Soccer Parent Blog. If you have somehow stumbled across me, thanks very much for your time.

We just finished all the tryouts for the season. This was quite an adventure - the new Cincinnati United club, Warren County, Ohio Elite, the new Loveland/MTSC club and the Classics Hammer all had their tryouts in the same week. Thunder United got a jump on everyone by holding tryouts a week before everyone else, but rumor had it that the top players weren't making any commitments until this week was over.

I suspect we ran up the GDP of a small third world nation in gas money driving from Metalex to McClure to Four Seasons to Miami Meadows to the Ohio Elite fields this week.

U14 Boys Premier seems to be particularly exciting this season. In years past, all the CUSL (Cincinnati United Soccer League) clubs sent their best and brightest (in theory anyway) to Cincinnati United Premier (CUP) starting with the U14 age bracket, in the hopes of building a "superteam" that could compete beyond the Ohio South area. While a noble idea, they have had mixed success in years past. Now with the CUP / Lakota / Arsenal merger complete, the rest of the CUSL clubs seem to be working hard to develop their own programs, particularly on the boys side. Cincinnati clubs have a history of developing terrific girls teams, but have not had the same level of success with the boys. So clubs like Warren County, Classics Hammer, and others are now working hard to convince their premier players that staying with their organization is as good (if not better) an option than going to CUP. The fees are certainly quite a bit less. And I imagine some club bylaws are being amended to remove references to CUP support. It does make the continued support of CUP by CUSL an interesting question - should make for some interesting discussions at the next board meeting.

Another source of some acrimony with the other clubs is the rumored three premier teams that CUP is (possibly) fielding, at least in some of the age groups. Taking 45 - 50 of the (theoretically) top players in Cincinnati off the table makes a pretty big dent in the talent pool for the other clubs. Of course CUP will need to perform in the Fall if they want to keep all those players (and parents) happy. No one wants to spend a lot of money to be on a team that can't win, and you have to wonder how good the third teams will be.

All things considered, this should be an exciting year for Cincinnati soccer - change is always interesting.

Ciao!