A First Experience with Soccer Clubs
My son is now five and has two years of recreational league soccer under his belt. During his first season, at the age of three, my son played AYSO. Despite his smaller stature and speed, compared to the four-year-olds on his team, it was obvious he had talent and passion for the game. This past fall season, he played CYO (Catholic Charities Athletic Program) with his school team and he shined. I saw a competitive and more aggressive side of him that surprised me. It was obvious he needed something more structured and disciplined than rec league. I started to consider putting him on a soccer club team.
A Higher Level
My wife and I agreed that our son should join a competitive soccer club for the upcoming fall season. We found a soccer club, only 10 minutes from our house, that has a junior academy team, which will provide a more rigorous and focused training experience than rec league. I spoke with the director of the club and was impressed with his all-around philosophy of the club and soccer. The price tag is $400, plus $100 for the team backpack and uniform. I thought we were set.
About a month ago, while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw an advertisement for a competitive soccer club here in Northern California – it is about 20 minutes from our house. The advertisement boasted the club was one of the most competitive and successful clubs in Northern California – from what I have heard and seen, it is. The club advertised tryouts for this coming fall season for children born in 2018. The club’s website bragged that over 500 kids – from ages 5 to 18 – tried out last year for the fall season. My initial thought was that tryouts for five-year-olds was insane.
Voices In My Head
Then I saw the advertisement pop up again and again. And then it started… the voices in my head. “Is this club better for my son?” “Should I have him try out for the club?” “Can he make the club’s in-house competitive training program?” A week went by, and on a whim, while eating dinner, I asked my son, “Are you interested in trying out for a soccer team?” He said yes. I explained to him that he would get to play soccer with some new boys, follow a coach’s instructions, and play as hard as he could. He liked it. My wife liked it.
Tryouts
I accompanied my son to tryouts for the in-house competitive training program. There were four days of tryouts, and children were encouraged to attend as many as possible. We planned for and attended two days of tryouts, back to back. Here are my observations:
- Before the first day of tryouts, I was nervous. Deep down, I hoped my son would be able to compete with the other kids. Despite him being only five, I was selfishly worried about how he would perform. I should have been thinking, “I hope he has fun,” but I did not.
- After arriving at tryouts, the first thing that blew my mind was the practice field and equipment. It was impressive. And this explained the price tag – I will get to this a bit later.
- The tryouts were organized extremely well.
- Each day, there were about 50-plus kids trying out in the 2018 age group. There were many new faces on the second day.
- The sizes of the children born in 2018 varied. This makes sense since someone born in January is not going to be as big as a child born in December 2018 – generally speaking.
- About 60% – 70% of the children appeared to be of equal skill and talent – they could easily dribble, shoot, and play defense – and the other 20% – 30% were not yet ready. Some children could barely dribble the ball, nor could they follow the most basic instructions. However, from personal experience, I knew that in a few years some of those kids would be more developed and end up being really good.
- The kids I saw on that soccer field looked nothing like a team of professional players in Europe or the US. This club is geared towards families from certain neighborhoods where there is plenty of expendable income. The kids trying out did not reflect the diverse reality of a professional soccer team.
- Within the first 10 minutes of tryouts, my worries were put at ease. My son jumped right in and started playing like it was just another day of practice. I knew things were going well because the coaches were all referring to him by his name, by the end of the second day.
- When I started to realize my son would be called back, I took a closer look at the fees and costs. The fees and costs for the fall season alone – July 29 (essentially August) through December – will be around $1600, and possibly higher. This is when the internal debate started. Will I be shortchanging my son if I put him in a club training program that costs $400 instead of $1600?
Truly Elite or Just a Racket?
While we waited to hear back about tryout results, I started asking friends and coworkers about their experience with competitive club team sports. Wow… very strong opinions. Some parents were absolute in their opinion that you have to start kids in the best club as soon as possible and cost was not an option. Others took the approach that club teams for very young children, and club teams in general, are in fact a racket. I heard too many stories of frustrated parents who spent a lot of money on club sports only to find out their child was not that good or lost interest in a sport.
I also called the director of the local club near our house and discussed my thoughts about everything we had been through. He acknowledged the more expensive club is very competitive, but assured me his club competes well against them. He assured me that the pre-academy training my son will receive at his club will be just as good as the training at the more expensive club. The director also encouraged me to not take my son out of other sports or activities and find out if soccer is something my son is good at or really wants to pursue, before I make a huge investment.
Decision to Make
I did get an email from the more expensive club inviting my son to play on the in-house competitive training program – the email stated the deadline to accept or decline the invitation was by the end of the day. I did not respond. I did not the like fact I felt pressured to respond so quickly. The next day, I received a reminder email asking for my response. I again did not respond. Finally, on day three, I felt I had properly thought things through. I declined the invitation from the more expensive club. It felt right.
Moving Forward
Right now, I am happy with our choice. The plan remains to put our son in the local club pre-academy training program. The soccer club is more flexible and will allow my son to continue developing in other sports and activities. I want him to try different things and discover what he likes and what he is good at. I am sure I will continue to reassess and question my decisions when it comes to my kids and whether I am doing enough for them. But, I think that means I am doing things the right way.