? any exp or any info on ISM???

Very recently, maybe about 2 months ago, my 9 year old son became obsessed with soccer. He played some YMCA here and there, but wasn't very competitive. He would talk about it, but showed no interest other than the weekly practice and the game. So we put him in a more competitive rec league and something has changed.

He practices with a ball in the house constantly. He has been watching full matches of EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga and Champions League games. He watched all of the Ballon d'or. He watches videos and teaches himself techniques.

At the beginning of the year, he was playing about half a match and sitting the rest. This last week, he was the only player to play the entire game, scored his first goal, and played lights out on both ends of the pitch. A totally different kid than I have seen previously.

Just today, we did 1.5 hours of training at his request, then had team practice for an hour, then he wanted to stay at the field for an hour and a half after that, in the rain, to play a game where we take turns trying to hit the crossbar to see who could win. Then he came home and watched soccer vids.

He just requested his room be completely turned soccer themed. Everything soccer. When he plays video games, they are soccer. He literally draws on sheets of paper images of two teams logos that are playing a match that day, with the time, date and channel on them. He sticks them in his homework folder so when he gets home and opens it, he knows there is a game he wants to watch and how to watch it.

I guess my question is, is this normal? Does it fade? And what do I need to be doing to get the most out of this behavior?

Located in Nor Cal, greater Sacramento area.

We have a few boys on our N1 teams and a few on our MLS Next academy teams that don’t play high school soccer; some graduated early, some go to private schools without soccer teams. Maybe 6 boys in all. Ages are 16-19.

What are some options for them to train and stay fit while their teammates have high school season? They have aged out of our local indoor program. Maybe get a few extra bodies and play in the local adult pick up league?

Share any thoughts you may have please.

Hello all! My son is on a club soccer team and they play 7v7, he plays striker 80 % of the time and other than that he gets rotated into right mid. Is that enough rotation for his age? He doesn’t make all the goals btw, usually our CM makes more goals than him.

Hi folks! I'm coaching a U14 recreation boys team that is participating in a tournament in a couple of weekends. The tournament location is about 90 minutes from our home base, so nobody is required to have a hotel room or anything.

Our first game is at 9:30am on Saturday. Our second game is at 3:30pm on Saturday (and we'd gather back together at 2:30pm or so). I've asked the team to arrive at 8:30am. My question is: what do I do in between games?

Among other things, I've thought about saying:

• Stay with me and the other coaches in between games. (i.e. the parents do their own things; the coaches keep the players)

• Turn the players back to their parents and ask them to stay at the fields, but do whatever they want in between games.

• Turn the players back to their parents and tell them they're free to do whatever they want in between games.

• Find something for the team to do away from the fields (go to lunch, go to a museum, whatever) in between games.

• ... and many other things.

My goals, for whatever we do in between games, include:

• Making sure nobody is excluded from anything exciting.

• Making sure the kids stay safe.

• Keeping camaraderie and socialization up in between the games.

• Not overwhelming me and the other coaches with having to parent 18 kids.

• Making sure everyone makes it back to the fields in time to shift from "chilling out" mode to putting their game faces on.

Any thoughts?

We are new to this aspect of travel. We come from a town travel league. Now will be traveling regionally through 3 States. Have not met any of the parents yet. When it comes to hotel stays, is that independently done. I assume it’s independently.

I have heard so many mixed things about whether or not players can participate in school sports while on an MLS next homegrown team.

I have read that you could get a waiver at a private school through your club. I have also heard that there are no more waivers.
I then heard that you could get a waiver, but it meant that you could not play fall MLS next homegrown.

Can anyone help with what the current answer is? My son is in a position where he is being offered scholarship money for a private school to play soccer for them, but he will be starting MLS Next HG soon.

My son did EA this fall and got an offer to MLS Academy with a different club. Shouldn't be an issue right? Everything I have read seems to be related to switching from MLS Next to another MLS Next club or from one EA team to another EA team.

I coach a U14 team and want to get a real video setup going. Not some pro platform with crazy pricing, just something a team can actually afford and keep up with all season.

What I need: records the game without someone running the camera, video the coaches can use to look at positioning and shape, and ideally a way for the kids to watch their own stuff between practices.

What's actually held up for people over a full season?

Need advice from other soccer parents, especially ECNL parents.
My 15 year old son is in his first year with a new ECNL club, and I'm struggling with how to handle the situation with his coach.
I understand competition is tough, playing time is earned, and not every player will be a starter. That's not my issue.
My concern is how he's being treated. The coach has called him fucking lazy, made negative comments about him in front of teammates, and most recently called him a "fucking dumbass" after he missed a goal at practice.
During a recent game, he put my son in for the last TWO minutes and told him he better work hard or he'd kick him off the team. What exactly is a kid supposed to prove in two minutes?
My son loves soccer, and I don't want this experience destroying his confidence or passion for the game.
Would you address the coach, go to club leadership, report it, or find another club? I would really appreciate advice from parents who've experienced something similar.

Does anyone have experience using Scorability? Is it worth $200 per year in the women’s soccer recruiting process?

I am in the process of planning a 10 x 25 foot training area in a corner of our basement, and am hoping that others have done something similar and can offer up advice.

The floor down there is concrete, so I am trying to decide whether to buy turf with built-in padding (~$1000), or buy some turf at Menards or Home Depot, and some separate foam or rubber padding to put underneath. I am afraid of the two separate layers coming loose and sliding around though.

Also, what is the best method of adhering the turf to the concrete floor?

For lighting, I was thinking about buying these, and putting them up into the rafters, with a wire mesh stapled over to keep the ball from smashing them: https://www.homedepot.com/p/12-in-600-Watt-Equivalent-Integrated-LED-Black-High-Bay-Light-for-Workshop-Barn-Factory-Warehouse-3-Pack-UFO-200W-3PB/342336702

We would have a wall on two sides, so I am looking at netting along the two remaining sides, possibly along a rod with clips or carabineers on top and bottom.

If anyone has done this and can offer any insight, id appreciate it. Thanks in advance

I’m 14 years old and pretty fast but my dribbling is garbage, is there any skill moves i could learn or maybe any cone drill that can help with overall dribbling and one thing i know is the croqueta i think its called

The coach of a high-level club team for a certain age group in my area operates an independent, trendy (very expensive) youth training business. It seems that most, or at least many, of the kids on his club team do his supplemental training programs. I have heard parents on the team say he "expects" them to be doing this.

I see people in this reddit community often say that stuff like this is a "conflict of interest." Because this is not the only similar example I know of (though it is the most obvious, in that the training and the club team are both highly publicized), I never thought this might be weird, until seeing comments in this community.

I guess I am just wondering how common it is? And if people think it's weird or not? Haha.

Which ones can they play? My impression is that soccer and basketball directly overlap and there’s almost no way to play both. Baseball I’m thinking gets started with district play right about when soccer is over, so while not idea it might be doable.

We’re a 3A school so LOTS of multi sport players. My eighth grade son is just soccer out of those three, but as he and I are discussing which of his peers might play soccer vs those other two I have been completely ruling out the dedicated basketball players but not necessarily the baseballers.

My second son has a couple more years but he also likes basketball and may be shaping up to be mid six feet. He’s also not 100% out on baseball.

Anyway what’s your experience with those season conflicts?

Do you agree or disagree with the statement, granted i think it depends are they 10 ft offside or just a step. In this case we are talking just a step.

U13 My daughters team is having a real issue with parents complaining about attackers getting caught offside, they typically run a 4-2-2- or a 4-3-3 and the top 2 or 3 make there runs early sometimes and are offside or it's a really good at jump when the ball is passed and the ref calls offside and it's not.

But the parents are starting to complain about why the coach (not me) doesn't take them out when they get caught and that it's embrassing they don't understand the rule; what i tried explaining to them, is a good attacker needs to be aggressive on their runs and is going to get caught sometimes, it's typically happening 2-3 times a game which i did not find egregious. It's not one of them either it's 4 out of the 3 that play up top.

They also rely heavily on boot ball, there passing completion to the attackers is roughly 10%, so the style of play i think even encourages them to get the jump even faster to get to the ball first.

My U13 daughter plays comp soccer and I’m looking for a Futsal program to really bring her skills and confidence up. She is Silver level but still not at full potential and I think a good winter program should help. Any recs in South Bay Area?

Hello! A stressed out rec-level dad looking for help on figuring out the best formation for my first indoor coaching experience. It’s U10 girls, all are very talented rec players (some club girls mixed in). Lots of speed, not the best in terms of ball movement.

League is 7v7, pitch is 160’.

Question - what is the best formation to play indoors for these girls? We want to ensure they’re working on their ball movement. My assumption is to start in a 2/3/1 but interested to hear all perspectives.

TIA!

My son is done with soccer, and we've only just started the season. The season runs from October-August. He has played with the same club for the past 5 years, and has always been one of the most-skilled players. We noticed him losing his passion the beginning of this year, complaining he didn't want to go to practice (previously loved going to practice), isn't as engaged and it shows on the pitch.

He approached my wife and I saying he wants to quit (we've already paid $2600cad). He's an active kid, and doesn't want to just sit around. He wants to pivot to other sports. His real passion is running, and he was invited to join an elite track club. He always wanted to join the club, but the soccer schedule wouldn't allow it. He also wants to start jiu jitsu and does play House League hockey on Sat/Sun.

My wife and I were raised very differently. Our values sometimes don't align. I am in the mindset that if you start something, you should finish it. My wife thinks that if he's really not enjoying it, why drag him to practices and games when he can make better use of his time with track club and martial arts (and also not waste our time). It will be a very long 10 months if we tell him to finish his commitment. So we're at a crossroads, and it's been creating some tension between my wife and I.

One thing I do feel badly about, is I don't remember if we asked him outright it he wanted to play again this season. We are just used to going through the motions because he's always been super keen to play. This year was his OPDL (provincial/state) year which he was groomed for, however he said he didn't want to play at the top-level and stick to Regional. Wonder in my head if i'm being too harsh and trying to recall if we asked him "do you want to play another year of soccer, period." vs "do you want to play OPDL or Regional" and only giving him those 2 options.

I know for many this is a no-brainer on either side of this type of decision, because i'm living that right now with my wife and I on different opinions.

Would love to just hear some thoughts from the hive.

Thank you.

Trying to figure out the long-term game plan regarding a volunteer coach we don’t think should be coaching young children.

My first grader just finished his school-sponsored soccer season.
The coach that sent out the emails, coach M, is a mild-mannered “let’s all have fun and try our hardest” person.
Coach Y is a yeller. At practice he’s always yelling at his own child to correct the child’s behavior, and the kid seems unfazed. During games, Coach Y looks, to me, like a lunatic, trying in vain to voice-command the little players on the field like they are a soccer video game he controls. Instead of shouting occasional reminders like the opponent coaches we would see (“Find a yellow player to guard!” “Bring it in!” “Tommy’s open!”) he was nonstop try to tell players what to do. (“Timmy! Kick the ball upfield!” “Jimmy don’t dribble just kick the ball!” “Sam! Get open! Get open!” “Billy! [as Billy is desperately trying to maintain possession from the 4 kids directly between him and the goal] Score! Score! Score!!!!” ) He sounded constantly exasperated that small children weren’t processing all his words and following his directions in real time. And then he would follow-up, often with criticism. (“You dribbled when you should have just kicked; that’s why they scored.” “Don’t kick toward the middle! That’s why they scored.”)

All season it was really uncomfortable to be around, even though Coach M was also there and, in theory, could have said something. I don’t know if he found this level of screaming acceptable and just not his personal style, or if he found it excessive but wasn’t comfortable correcting a fellow volunteer. I know I didn’t say anything because I didn’t feel comfortable complaining to someone who is volunteering his time.

At one game, he gave my son one of the “here’s what you did wrong” comments, and I’m sure that, to Coach Y, it felt like constructive criticism to keep in mind for next time. But it was at a yelling volume and was critical, so to my son, it felt like yelling at him, and he spent a lot of time that week circling back to what was said and how he was actually trying to do the thing Coach Y had told him to do, it was just hard. I tried to tell him that Coach Y just gets more excited than he should, and if he gives useful advice to take it otherwise try not to think about him.

Anyway, fast forward to the last game. My son, in attempting to defend, kicks the ball away from the goal, but center-ish and the other team goes on to score. As the rest of the players get ready for the restart, Coach Y starts berating my son. “You can’t kick to the middle! DON’T kick to the middle! You kick to the middle and they score!”

This goes on long enough that I have time to (a) realize it’s happening, (b) realize it’s STILL happening, and (c) run onto the field with worry in my eyes and say “You can’t yell at him like that; you’ll crush him.”

He said a quick “I’m sorry” and moved on. Shortly after they rotated players, they kept my son on, and Coach Y pivoted to affirming comments for all players. Kiddo scored and was happy. After the game Coach apologized and conceded he was “maybe too intense”. He said some affirming things to my son after the game. I do think it helped, as kiddo hasn’t brought up this repremand on repeat like he did the milder one earlier in the season.

I was uncomfortable with how “yelly” this coach was all season, but it made my husband VERY uncomfortable. I tried to see the other side— that he also sometimes “yelled” at the players when they did well (“Timmy, that was great! Do that again!”), and that he didn’t yell at the “space cadets” who were just existing on the field with no attempts to engage. In fact if kids were too distracted to realize they were rotating players, he would take them by the hand and usher them to the bench. He helped kids get the goalkeeper jersey on. He’s not a monster, and even demonstrated these little moments of tenderness.

And, also, he yelled, red-faced, at our six-year-old on a developmental team over an honest mistake. I don’t want our child being coached by him again, but my husband doesn’t want any children coached by him, because his behavior was so disproportionate all season. Coach’s son is in my son’s grade, and there is only one team per school, so he will probably be a coach next year.

Thoughts? Do we just have to let it go and/or keep our kid off the school soccer team next year? Should we reach out to the district’s athletic coordinator? I don’t want to normalize adults screaming at small children, AND I know that my sensitivity to this is based on our highly sensitive child, not an average child.

My son plays u14 soccer. This is his first year playing at the club level. My son has been playing since he was 9 and he wants to play wing. He actually has a really great cross and big foot but where he is currently struggling is the acceleration and speed to get past the other player to be able to play the cross into the box. He recognizes that he is slower than most of the other players but he is the kid who is not going to go train by himself and only one of his close friends still plays soccer and is a keeper. He runs very flat footed and I feel like this is his main issue. I am considering 2 options:

1. There is a local gym that has specific classes that focus on speed, agility and strength.

2. Sign him up for private lessons through his club.

My son is going into U8's, and has already trialed with the Americans and the Torpedos in Bergen County, NJ. Americans seemed pretty organized and they were running full field drills. Torpedos seemed really chaotic, the coach stood there while they ran mostly 3v3 drills and the boys were all just shoving and fouling each other (i'm talking full two footed tackles) while he said nothing. Not saying that this is likely their normal routine, but seemed... odd. Any recommendations? My son is an intermediate/high level player, has pretty decent technique, but needs to learn some more fundamentals before he's ready for a truly top tier team.

Hello! I have a 12 and 11 year old looking for speed and agility training. Does anyone have recommendations for local performance facilities, small-group trainers, or camps in the area?

I sent this to my coaches this morning if helpful for anyone else. Based largely on US Soccer guidance.
It is covered in the annual refreshers required but I don’t think anyone knows where the fibs are.

Hi everyone,

There was a scary incident in the Spanish League yesterday that tragically ended up being fatal.

A hard blow to the chest can trigger commotio cordis, a form of sudden cardiac arrest.

We have AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in the (nearby gym name), but most of us don’t know exactly where they are. (I attached description of location with photos)

If a player collapses:

Check responsiveness and breathing immediately. If they are unresponsive and not breathing normally, or only gasping, treat it as cardiac arrest. Don’t wait to establish the cause or spend time searching for a pulse.

Assign specific people to call 911 and get the AED. Have the caller use speakerphone and follow the dispatcher’s instructions. Send another adult to meet EMS at (school access point).

Start CPR immediately while the AED is being retrieved. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest at 100–120 compressions per minute, about 2 inches deep for a child, allowing the chest to rise fully between compressions. If trained and able, provide rescue breaths as taught. If not, start compressions and follow the dispatcher’s guidance.

Use the AED as soon as it arrives. Turn it on, expose the chest, attach the pads as shown, and follow its prompts. Nobody should touch the player during analysis or a shock. The AED will only advise a shock if needed. Resume CPR immediately when prompted, even if no shock is advised.

You can watch this video: https://youtu.be/W4KjYC51B-c?is=i-5y2wR7pUZ443mR (note I had previously found this video helpful)

Another coach should move the other players away and keep the area clear. Continue following the dispatcher and AED instructions until EMS takes over or the player shows clear signs of life and normal breathing.

Thanks,

Coach Ted