Season opening weekend

[WTF]

For those who believe youth soccer is all about developing players, can I ask the question: developing for what?

That,s the general line to impress parents " developing players/player development " from the likes of BC Soccer , Dist leages , clubs and some coach,s but the fact is these organizations in BC give way more attention to the BCPL , Metro & Div 1 - anything below that level is virtually ignored.

 

[WTF]

For those who believe youth soccer is all about developing players, can I ask the question: developing for what?

That,s the general line to impress parents " developing players/player development " from the likes of BC Soccer , Dist leages , clubs and some coach,s but the fact is these organizations in BC give way more attention to the BCPL , Metro & Div 1 - anything below that level is virtually ignored. All Players are supposed to get at least half a game playing time or 30% etc but nobody enforces that or cares for the players who get barely 10mins of playing time

 

[easoccer]

That,s the general line to impress parents " developing players/player development " from the likes of BC Soccer , Dist leages , clubs and some coach,s but the fact is these organizations in BC give way more attention to the BCPL , Metro & Div 1 - anything below that level is virtually ignored. All Players are supposed to get at least half a game playing time or 30% etc but nobody enforces that or cares for the players who get barely 10mins of playing time

I agree with you 100%. I'm not perfect but I try my best to roll my lines. I see teams all the time with players that dont even touch the field. Win at all costs mentality. As someone with a son that bounced around from 4 teams, logging 9 minutes per game, in the first 3 years he played it is very tough to see that. (He's with an "all players play" coach now ,so all is good).

I'm not from North Delta and I'm not sure if it's implemeted, but I took my Soccer 4 Life course over at ND and the TD (Keith Kelly) told me that he wants all Divisions to be treated equally. I was completely impressed with his outlook.

 

[WTF]

I agree with you 100%. I'm not perfect but I try my best to roll my lines. I see teams all the time with players that dont even touch the field. Win at all costs mentality. As someone with a son that bounced around from 4 teams, logging 9 minutes per game, in the first 3 years he played it is very tough to see that. (He's with an "all players play" coach now ,so all is good).

I'm not from North Delta and I'm not sure if it's implemeted, but I took my Soccer 4 Life course over at ND and the TD (Keith Kelly) told me that he wants all Divisions to be treated equally. I was completely impressed with his outlook.

I know parents with young kids [ u8 to u11 ] at Surrey Youth Pegasus over the last 2 yrs -young players turning up on a muddy grass field and no coach to look after the teams , teams without coach,s being folded half way thru the season , parents not being refunded if the club didn,t find teams for these kids , club guys not answering these kids parents calls , equal playing time not being implemented by the clubs technical director or his coach,s etc.
That is not development

 

[easoccer]

Funny you mention that as it's exactly how I started with them (sfc) years ago. No coach at u11 so I stepped up. Still coaching them.

To be fair though I had to step up take over my sons u17 at ccb last year as the coach quit before December. Winless 9 players.

Good coaches are hard to come by. No excuses for the rest.

 

[rich]

For those who believe youth soccer is all about developing players, can I ask the question: developing for what?

My own interpretation of developing players is teaching them:
- the technical "tools" they need to be successful - the skills. At mini / micro ages this is dribbling with both feet, turning the ball, finding space. Moves into shoulder checking, passing, dribbling, shooting technique. Defensive skills
- Developing game intelligence. When to hold the ball. When to pass, dribble. Runs off the ball. Use of space. When to play to feet, when to play into space. When to slow play down, when to press.
- Ultimately, developing a player that can be successful at whatever level (s)he chooses to play at, and loves playing the game.

I don't want to win games sitting 4 players for all but 10 minutes, because those guys won't come back in a couple of years...and those kids are the ones that need sports of some sort.

Off the soap box now...and I'm sure Metro, HPL, and Academy coaches will have a different definition.

It's a reason my team got involved with the Play Better guys last year...and the switch in focus was brilliant.
(www.goplaybetter.com)

 

[rich]

@easoccer you mention losing players every year....yup, same boat here. I've lost 3 players to Div 1 each of the last two years. I agree completely that we should be putting players at levels that best suit them. Div 2 and Div 3 should be springboards to Div 1 and up, for those kids that want it. That's what we're there for right? If you and I are doing our jobs right, then the Div 1 coaches should be regularly looking at our players.

We regularly send our top players to train with the Div 1 kids, and take Div 4 kids (we have no Div 3 teams) to train with us.

 

[rich]

Hope to see you on the field soon, although it doesn't look it will happen in the regular season!

To bad Herv, I always enjoy playing against your lads. Who knows, the schedule appears to be written in pencil...anything could happen!
Did your club find more referees this year?

 

[easoccer]

@easoccer you mention losing players every year....yup, same boat here. I've lost 3 players to Div 1 each of the last two years. I agree completely that we should be putting players at levels that best suit them. Div 2 and Div 3 should be springboards to Div 1 and up, for those kids that want it. That's what we're there for right? If you and I are doing our jobs right, then the Div 1 coaches should be regularly looking at our players.

We regularly send our top players to train with the Div 1 kids, and take Div 4 kids (we have no Div 3 teams) to train with us.

In my time as coaching, I have tried my best to send players where they belong. If they do it the right way through evaluations/tryouts, I support them every step. I encouraged every player to go each year.

I usually worry that its going to be tough on the team, but my panic always dissapears when players, that I didnt think were strong initially, became leaders.

I agree that Div 4 and to some extent 3 should be a springboard, but where I dont agree is when a team with potential gets broken up for a Div 2 or above coach who cant develop and maintain a roster and loses multiple players over the years due to poor relationships.(Screaming at kids, win only mentality, no fair playing time) And this happens a lot.

One year (u11) I took a team that had zero wins made up of players no one wanted. The coach had this mentality that the kids would never win a game and would be blown out every game. That coach would swear and yell. Well, he quit, I took over as my son was on the team and no one else would. So first year, we won 1 game. Next year we won half our games. That summer we went 12-2. With only minor changes to the roster as we now played u12, 11 aside in summer. Well, I lost 11 players to my assistant coach going into u13 because he wanted his kid to move up, up ,up and didnt care about the development and talked the parents into going with him without my knowledge. So I am starting again with mostly new kids that no one wanted on their team. U13 we go into the season. Winning half our games. We lost 1-0 to my former team (yeh, the team played div 3 after promising div 2). This was strong showing. That summer, we beat them multiple times winning multiple tournaments. u14 we went 11-1. So this year in u15 I am in the same position again. Players moving up and new players coming in. I see in Div 2 there are several teams we play over the summer that we have beaten. I only hope we get a chance to tier up and play with what I see as our peers.


Herv...Every game we played is crazy. Big win (6-0) or Big loss (5-0) either way, with the exception of the mayors cup 1-0L. I think your team will do well as a lot of the top teams have moved up. You have a great group of kids who have been together a long time and its always fun playing you. Either way the game is usually lopsided one way or the other, but always fun. Just have to remember to mark the BIG guy. Good luck against Woelk this weekend.

 

[WTF]

In my time as coaching, I have tried my best to send players where they belong. If they do it the right way through evaluations/tryouts, I support them every step. I encouraged every player to go each year.

(Screaming at kids, win only mentality, no fair playing time) And this happens a lot.

That coach would swear and yell. Well, he quit, I took over as my son was on the team. Well, I lost 11 players to my assistant coach going into u13 because he wanted his kid to move up, up ,up and didnt care about the development and talked the parents into going with him without my knowledge.

Tryouts - Can,t speak for other clubs outside Newton but at NAP the tryouts are a farce as many coach,s don,t send their top players as they want to keep the same team. sfc don,t have tryouts for many age groups .

Screaming at NAP- Another regular event with coach,s / parents shouting screaming at their own players, opposing players , ref etc and nobody does anything about it.

Breaking up teams- Another regular practice at NAP and have heard many incidents of assistant coach,s/team managers /fellow coach,s going behind the coach,s back to grab the team for themselves. Parents are stupid enough to support so called coach,s like these who steal/poach players.

There should be stiff punishments and BC Soccer should step up - there is no development as above incidents cause many players to quit the game of soccer they love so much.

 

[easoccer]

Tryouts - Can,t speak for other clubs outside Newton but at NAP the tryouts are a farce as many coach,s don,t send their top players as they want to keep the same team. sfc don,t have tryouts for many age groups .

Screaming at NAP- Another regular event with coach,s / parents shouting screaming at their own players, opposing players , ref etc and nobody does anything about it.

Breaking up teams- Another regular practice at NAP and have heard many incidents of assistant coach,s/team managers /fellow coach,s going behind the coach,s back to grab the team for themselves. Parents are stupid enough to support so called coach,s like these who steal/poach players.

There should be stiff punishments and BC Soccer should step up - there is no development as above incidents cause many players to quit the game of soccer they love so much.

Can verify. This person speaks the truth. Regardless I sent my players.

I have been involved there (sfc then ccb) my who career as coach. This year I became so fed up I moved all of my own kids out of nap to get away from the politics.

Now I'm not sure how it will play out but this year I have 2 daughters in SurDel, a son in Coastal and another in Guilfdord. No special reason for separating them except finding teams was tougher for the older 2. So far my experience has been good. Knock on wood.

 

[rich]

We played a team with an angry screaming coach. That bleeds over to the players, and can't possibly make it fun for anybody. Some clubs are so desperate for coaches, that they turn a blind eye unless it gets extreme.

I am so lucky to be blessed with a quiet, happy, supportive parent group.

It's the screaming at refs that gets me, especially the younger ones. These are kids, learning. If they get driven away by crazy parents and coaches, we will have no referees at all, once the current crop of O-50 ref's finally stop.

BTW - if there are any older refs reading this - you are all wonderful.

 

[easoccer]

I used to hire Reza for training. (U15 Whitecaps coach). At games he is all business and maybe expects too much. Yes he does yell a lot.

As a former player he did field access at the last world Cup in Brazil. He brought every player and even my 3 younger kids shirts from Brazil. He is one of the kindest guys around.

It may not seem like it but he's is loved by many.

I sometimes yell as well, but I am trying to change that. I learned a lot at the soccer for life course.

 

[WTF]

Boys teams Ladner U17 & Langley U17 look too strong for Div 2 and should be looking to move up into Div 1 .

Score from boys U13 Div 1 - WTF !
CMF Impact 17 v SUS Tigers 1

U17 Div 2 - WTF !
LUS Langley Utd. Smith 12 v SFC 99ers 0

 

[easoccer]

99ers are a good team too. This is the type of score that will hopefully push a team up.

There's an 18-1 score in U15 div 4 as well.

 

[rich]

18 and 17 goals? Were they playing against Micronesia?

There's no excuse for running up a score like that...

 

[TKBC]

17-1!!! My word. I don't blame CMF. I blame the opponent who clearly put their team in the wrong division! CMF has BCSPL and Metro. So the kids at Div 1 are the kids not good enough for those top two teams (or truly can't afford it!).

Someone above asked "what are we developing for?"

1. To help kids reach their playing potential
2. To teach them to be responsible, positive, and productive people

In truth we are "developing" them to move up a level, or two, or three. Kids who reach the top level we're "developing" them to play university soccer. Every so often you'll help a kid reach their potential and the Whitecaps will pick them up. Or if the Whitecaps don't pick them up just maybe a foreign pro team will (it does happen folks!).

Getting kids into university soccer absolutely achieves #1 and #2, and possible is better than developing pro's. How many Canadian kids become pro and make a proper living wage? Now compare that to how many kids in Canada are developed to play university and make a proper living wage after.

Don't get me wrong, I teach the kids as best I can so they can be as good as possible and I absolutely want them to go pro....but considering the Canadian soccer landscape I do wonder if that is best.....maybe it's not until we get a proper nationwide semi-pro league that feeds directly into NASL or a nationwide NASL-equivalent, and of course then into MLS.

 

[soccer mom]

I agree with you 100%. I'm not perfect but I try my best to roll my lines. I see teams all the time with players that dont even touch the field. Win at all costs mentality. As someone with a son that bounced around from 4 teams, logging 9 minutes per game, in the first 3 years he played it is very tough to see that. (He's with an "all players play" coach now ,so all is good).

I'm not from North Delta and I'm not sure if it's implemeted, but I took my Soccer 4 Life course over at ND and the TD (Keith Kelly) told me that he wants all Divisions to be treated equally. I was completely impressed with his outlook.

North Delta fired Keith kelly this year as a matter of note. He is currently looking for work but his reputation that started in Port Moody where he was also let go has followed him around.

 

[easoccer]

I found this out in August when I went to take another course with him. My only experience was in the course last year but he seemed like a good guy.

 

[CanadianSpur]

I found this out in August when I went to take another course with him. My only experience was in the course last year but he seemed like a good guy.

I've coached against Keith when we was with PoCo I believe. He was real touch line bully and had a young assistant referee in tears. Completely uncalled for behaviour.