SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Clubs Earning Respect

Soccer16,

"By the club requiring a small fee to tryout they are recouping some of their risk exposure as it relates to the club as a whole."......What? The club would fold if what, they were overrun with players trying out? I don't get it.


Chapindad,

"It is really a very small fee, when you consider the cost of club soccer".......so that makes it right?

"to keep people from presigning up to 10 different clubs with the intention of only showing up for one or none at all, which happened a lot when we had free try-outs. The other clubs being a backup just in case little Salley or Johnny doesn't make the "A" team."....what about the shoe on the other foot? How about when coaches, DOC's and club officials demand a commitment from a player right there on the field, immediately after the tryout? Or the phone call you receive as soon as you get home, saying Sally or Johnny has until 10 PM to give a commitment or the spot is forfeited and they move down to the next person on the list.

Needless to say, I have little sympathy for clubs during tryout week. They make a ton of dough from the tryout and then they pressure kids and families so that they can "protect their resources".

(After tryouts.....clubs are cool )

Chapindad,
Excellent post, totally agree.
Hurst66,
I disagree, my child has never been asked or pressured to make a commitment after any tryout. (my child has played premier since the age of 8).

What Hurst refers to is an extremely common tactic in Charlotte, where the competition to roster "A" teams is intense. Offers are commonly made on night 1 of 2 or 3 day tryout processes and committments are expected on the spot, or the offer is withdrawn.

SC doesn't have this......yet. But as Clubs from parts of the state start to....ahem....recruit....from other parts of the state, I would expect this practice to start to rear its head here also, as a response to the increased competition.

Hurst,

Can't blame the Clubs as the parents are just as much to blame.

I find the whole concept of recruiting to be distasteful. Taken to its logical conclusion, SC would end up with one "super club" that fielded the only regionally competitive teams from our state. It seems to me that youth soccer is best served by having a number of clubs with competitive teams. While the dilution of the talent pool will necessarily mean that not every club will field excellent teams in every age-group, that is preferable to having one (or two) dominant clubs poaching the cream of the crop from every area of the state.

I don't think it possible to stop recruiting. I just wish the club leaders would display more concern for the vitality of youth soccer in general than for the "glory" of their club.

HappyDaddy,

Depends on your motivation. If you are a parent and you want your kid to get a full-ride to an SEC or ACC Division I university, you want ONE club in the state that will allow your kid the best training and the opportunity to succeed at the regional/national level.

If your motivation is less than what I have described above....then yes, you probably want to see competitive balance among clubs so at least your kid can get some competitive in-state games. (You also want your kid to receive decent training/coaching).

HappyDaddy,

Your post brings several different points, that when put together could be in conflict with each other.

Demographics of our state have been used numerous times to explain the lack of continual success when attempting to field "regionally competitive" teams. In short, my understanding is that in order for our state to produce regionally competitive teams, the boundaries for that team needs to extend beyond the geographic locality of that particular club, and gather players from around the state. I don't have the details for this, but there have been numerous threads about it.

It's these same demographics that cause the perceived problem of lack of competitive teams within the state. There is a small and finite number of players that have both the ability and desire to play on these regionally competitive teams. Ability here for me includes both the on the field ability, and the other factors, travel time, cost, etc. It is unfortunate that a player may have the technical ability and desire, but can't achieve that opportunity due to the other factors. So yes, there is the possibility that when clubs attempt to form these regionally competitive teams, and players migrate from their local clubs, then the local clubs and the statewide league may not seem as competitive. Again, there is a finite number of players that are in this group.

Without getting into a debate about the merits of and cost associated with the ODP system, it provides amplification of the demographics. Typically when ODP tryouts occur, SC considers is a big success to have 50 or so players. During the tryout process it becomes evident that not all 50 have the same ability level. So taking that in context with a team roster size of 16, out of this ODP group, you could theoretically field 3 teams, that "should" be regionally competitive, or at least the 3 top teams in the state. I believe the statistics prove that SC may produce 1 regionally competitive team out of that group. However, there are anomalies with that also. The NC ODP process has upwards of 200 players at tryouts. Using the same math, they theoretically could produce 12 regionally competitive teams, however typically they have 3 or 4 teams that in general are regionally competitive.

It can be said there are 4 levels of soccer within SC, although only 3 are defined. Recreation, Classic, Challenge, and RIII. Within this structure, opportunities exist for a player to find the right fit where ability and desire are a match for the requirements of that division.

So while you view recruiting as distasteful, and often times it may be, alternatively there can be some good in it. For example, if there is a player playing on a Classic team, but others see that player as having the ability to play on a Challenge team, if they are not informed of having the ability to move to the different level, then they may not reach their individual potential. There are some very good coaches/club directors out there that would point that out to the player, however, in the competitive environment that clubs are in, many will not. That notification then has to come from external to that players current team/club.

As for the "glory" of the club. That's a result of the competitive environment. No different than in the business world. Each organization strives to provide services for a sector of the market, but not all are going to have that capability, and some will do it better than others.

To limit the ability of clubs to service all sectors of the market, in my opinion, limits the vitality of youth soccer in general. When a sanctioning body takes steps to achieve parity, then, the benefits to the individual player is lost. Individual players are members of clubs, then placed on teams, and clubs are members of a sanctioning body. Teams are not members of clubs. To artificially attempt to keep SC clubs from forming regionally competitive teams, holds back a segment of the population, and severely limits individual choice and opportunity.

HappyDaddy,

Sorry for the long reply, which was directed more at your general comment, and being prepared while your post was put in. However, within the long reply is a nugget about the "recruiting".

HappyDaddy:

One premier club/team per age group will be the only way for SC to win regional and national titles—and thus the best of the best for individual players—

It is about what the goals are for SC—but to find the best team and players—one dominant club/team is the way to go—

I think the Super Club idea is best for everyone—players, teams, SC, soccer overall—