Every soccer season there is a waiting line for soccer families to pay to play for a pre academy club/team. Why do these families rush to pay to play for a soccer pre academy team for their 7, 8, 9 year or even 10 olds? Facts show that a majority of these players will stop playing by the time they are 13 or 14 or just get faded out of the pre academy team because other better players are coming into the team getting more playing time and causing the original play to lose confidence and possibly eventually get cut. WHat happens to the financial investment the family has made till then? They will most likely move to another pre academy system and start the  process all over again. They will claim they can not go back into a club enviroment because their player is used to playing at a higher level with better structure or coaches. While that maybe true, there are also a lot of club teams that have just as good structured enviroment and just as good qualified coaches.
So, why can they not be happy with playing for their local club teams or other inexpensive soccer clubs like #SOCCERSKILLZ?

As we go through the soccer fields on any given day in any given youth soccer team training or game we will notice youth soccer coaches making mistakes that affect their coaching and their team's play as well as soccer life. Youth soccer coaches in America are volunteers for the most part and for the majority their soccer education is maxed out after they receive their basic certification. Keep in mind that not every club/organization mandates their coaches to receive the basic US Soccer certification, and the ones that do remember that the basic certification only covers up to a certain age. So if a volunteer coaches keeps coaching his/her team past that age additional certification is required. Besides the certifications to help coaching with the different age groups other certifications are recommended as the game of soccer is continually evolving and the coaching techniques are constantly changing. 

For example a coach may take workshops and certifications that are relevant to his/her style of play. If a coach is teaching a possession style of play he/she may want to attend a small sided game work shop and earn a small sided game certification. If a coach has his/her team train in a futsal enviroment he/she should attend a futsal workshop and earn a futsal training certificate.

These are some examples of how youth soccer coaches can help themselves as well as their teams to have a more positive soccer experience eliminating some mistakes.  Please watch video to see more common mistakes.  

​Here is a new way to look at youth soccer tryouts, for all players, parents and coaches. Every year spring soccer tryouts are a painful experience for a lot of players, parents and coaches. In our effort to give as much information as possible to assist with the process we would like to offer a totally unique way of looking at the youth soccer tryouts. The title maybe funny and it may raise some eyebrows but it definitely has similarities on both sides  with a lot of good points to consider. Remember, no matter what the parents and coaches want, at the end of the day it's the players'  ultimate decision and we should respect that no matter if we agree or disagree with it. It's the players that will have to live with their decision and off course the consequences. All we can do is provide them with as much of information as possible to aid them in making that decision and off course support them in their decision. Youth players are pretty resourceful and understand things better than we grown ups do. If we trust them in their decision they will surprise us. Please see the following video and have a great tryout season.

​Pre Academies, College Showcase Tournaments or College ID Camps – Not only path to a college program.
Every paid organization that has teams playing in the college showcase tournaments or have an affiliation with certain college ID camps will tell you how important it is to participate in those events in order to get scouted by college coaches. They will use their ability to participate in those events a leverage to get you to sign into their organization and compete with their teams. But what about if you can not afford to have your player play for those paid organizations commonly known as "pre-academies". Does it mean that you are out of luck?

Getting scouted does not have to break your pocketbook. There are other alternatives to getting scouted and in fact if you do your own due diligence you will realize that it can be done at much lower cost. There are a lot of players that do not play club or pre academy ball, just for their high school teams and those players, if they are good enough, find themselves being recruited. 

Urban community soccer players – GOLD finds for college coaches. Some college coaches make a point to reach into the urban schools and look for players that may not have the money to participate in paid organizations. They are lot of layers that can be found that have the talent and the academics to secure roster spots.

Please watch the following video for more information.