SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Question

My daughter has out grown rec-league soccer. She does not want to play " club " because of her other outside interest. Are there any other alternatives in the Greenville, Spartanburg area that may give her more challenge and better coaching.

2A,

Look for a classic level club team in your area. Expectation and commitment is not as big as a challenge or premier team.

How old is the daughter? And the 3 levels of club are different. Don't let her or you go by rumors and Urban Legend about time and commitment. Talk to people who have been involved where ever you look, people who have committed a long time.

My daughter is 11. She is pretty good (bigger, stronger, and more skilled than the girls she plays with). She wants to play soccer through high school but play other sports as well.

2A... I think it will depend which high school she will be going to. There are many schools where the competition level is such that if you have never played classic ball, you may not have much chance.

I would consider playing in the CESA academy as a U12 in order to get the technical training. Then as a U13 get her into a classic level team where the expectations are not as great but has good coaching (tough one). there are many Gville area clubs that field a classic team which are not the CESA's of the world...

Carolina FC in Sburg
USA
Anderson
CASC in Clemson
Foothills soccer assoc
Furman soccer club

I just don't know what they all have as afar as girls are concerned.

One other thing to consider... The only conflict with school would be in the fall which does not have many girl sports. Depending on which sports she wants to do, by the time she is U15 she will only have the fall season in club.

This is a pivotal time. Playing many sports is a different goal than being a quality player of one sport. It is a hard decision. She might seem to have plenty of time to make that decision, BUT elite athletes make commitments pretty early. Being pretty good at many sports may make her very happy and that is a fine decision. But her size advantage will disappear quickly—all things tend to even out at a point. Then if she hasn't focused her skills, she may be very frustrated when that happens (I have seen this happen to many many girls). My daughter committed at 10 to soccer only. It has been hard at times because that means sacrifice. But now that her club team has had real success at the premier level, at major tournaments, and at regionals along with her having college coaches recruit her seriously, we have seen the benefits of that sacrifice—primarily for her self-esteem! I do recommend that she give club a try; high caliber sports are wonderful for girls. Much research supports this.

It's going to depend on what "other" sports she is playing. Some sports can co-exist rather easily (basketball) with soccer while others (baseball,softball) can be more difficult. I am a huge believer of letting the child play as many sports as possible and not being a dedicated one sport athelete as long as it's possible. It is getting to the point now where some sports (soccer and baseball) are becoming year round sports at very young ages and are pushing the kids to do just one sport and nothing else.

With that being said, I will echo Futbols comment about playing on an Academy U12 team such as CESA. Yes, it is still "Club" ball and there will be some conflicts at times with other sports, but it will give your daughter to play in a more competetive league with more competetive players You also will be able get a feeling for the time commitment of a club soccer team and see how easy or hard it will be to do other sports and soccer.

I appreciate all the advice. Fortunately her other sports are primarily seasonal and do not overlap too much. Are the U12 Academy teams gender specific or are they mixed. She played on a mixed team last spring in Spartanburg where they all practiced together during the week and picked teams on Saturday to play. She did not like that at all. Neither did i. The skills training was good and she learned alot. Does the CESA academy teach team skills at that age or do they wait till they get into Classic?

The Academy does teach skills and is gender specific. In rare cases a girl can play on a boys team at a younger age, but for the purposes of this discussion the teams are separated by age and gender. Carolina FC in Spartanburg also has an Academy program and routinely play CESA in games. If you are in that area then you might want to look there first.