Playing on different teams

Would it be okay to play on two different teams for short term to get more touches and get more game time. DD is trying to catch up from rec to academy, as she is starting late in academy.

Obviously both coaches need to know.
In case of conflicts, you got to have priority for one team.
Be upfront about it, and truthful with both teams etc.
Watch out for burnout.
Financial implications - do it if you can.

What else am I missing? Is this allowed based on NTSoccer guidelines? Thoughts?

If anyone has done this before.

brekshea2 wrote:Would it be okay to play on two different teams for short term to get more touches and get more game time. DD is trying to catch up from rec to academy, as she is starting late in academy.

Obviously both coaches need to know.
In case of conflicts, you got to have priority for one team.
Be upfront about it, and truthful with both teams etc.
Watch out for burnout.
Financial implications - do it if you can.

What else am I missing? Is this allowed based on NTSoccer guidelines? Thoughts?

If anyone has done this before.

It is not uncommon. Ntssa says you can play for as many academy teams as you wish but they do say you can only play one ntssa sanctioned game in a day and only on one ntssa sanctioned team in a tourney. But that doesn't keep one player from playing one ntssa league game and one us club league game in the same day.

Last at some point it gets to be a tough juggling act and one of those teams will eventually want to know they are the priority when conflicts arise.

And last a preferred scenario is when a coach has 2 teams that your daugher can play on both.

FriscoSoccer05 wrote:

brekshea2 wrote:Would it be okay to play on two different teams for short term to get more touches and get more game time. DD is trying to catch up from rec to academy, as she is starting late in academy.

Obviously both coaches need to know.
In case of conflicts, you got to have priority for one team.
Be upfront about it, and truthful with both teams etc.
Watch out for burnout.
Financial implications - do it if you can.

What else am I missing? Is this allowed based on NTSoccer guidelines? Thoughts?

If anyone has done this before.

It is not uncommon. Ntssa says you can play for as many academy teams as you wish but they do say you can only play one ntssa sanctioned game in a day and only on one ntssa sanctioned team in a tourney. But that doesn't keep one player from playing one ntssa league game and one us club league game in the same day.

Last at some point it gets to be a tough juggling act and one of those teams will eventually want to know they are the priority when conflicts arise.

And last a preferred scenario is when a coach has 2 teams that your daugher can play on both.

agree, multiple teams with same coach or organization would be very nice.

agree, multiple teams with same coach or organization would be very nice.

I think this is definitely the way to go.

I can give you the example of the D'Feeters '03 teams. They have one team in DIAL Gold playing 11v11 and another team playing in DIAL Silver playing 9v9. Other academies will have a team play in one league on Saturday and another on Sunday. I know not every girl is playing in both games, but that option is likely there if your dd is really looking to play more.

Also, when we get to the May-June tournament season there will probably be an '03 D'Feeters team in a tournament each weekend for 6 straight weekends. My daughter will probably play ever other weekend and be in 3 tournaments, but again, if you are looking for your daughter to get soccer intensive that option is there.

Thank you infinitydad. good suggestion.

brekshea2 wrote:Would it be okay to play on two different teams for short term to get more touches and get more game time. DD is trying to catch up from rec to academy, as she is starting late in academy.

Obviously both coaches need to know.
In case of conflicts, you got to have priority for one team.
Be upfront about it, and truthful with both teams etc.
Watch out for burnout.
Financial implications - do it if you can.

What else am I missing? Is this allowed based on NTSoccer guidelines? Thoughts?

If anyone has done this before.

First off, you can ignore any of the NTSSA guidelines as the are never enforced. I'm sure the acency would like to police the actions of parents who have their child competing in way too many sports, but this is better left to CPS.

To your question of "what else am I missing?", there are some issues:

(1) Soccer is not like volleyball, baseball, or even basketball. The strain of playing two games in a day is significant on a young player's body, especially if she is doing it routinely. Three to four games in a weekend is parental lunacy. Do a bit of research and you'll find that even US Soccer has come out against youth soccer tournaments for the physical strain it put on these children.

(2) A player coming from rec to academy should make up her deficiencies gradually. This would center primarily around the practices and working at home; in other words, a controlled start/stop environment. Game situations are not the most condusive situations to player development... especially if the girl is dead tired from two matches in a row.

(3) What is the deductible on your health care policy? You'll want to factor this in for the overuse injuries that will require X-rays, MRI's, and boat payments on behalf of your osteo through regular office visits.

(4) Does your daughter really care about catching up in a short time frame? Does the idea of giving up most of her weekends for a single sport appeal to her? Does she even know (or care about) the difference between D1 and D2 soccer... or is the parent worried about "catching up"? A reasonably athletic rec soccer player can find a spot on a lower level academy team without the extra games and all that comes with it.

I've been there before and have encouraged my daughter to split times on separate teams. It was my mistake. An extra practice in any given week seems to be fine for a young player. Multiple games on the weekend is the recipe for a trainwreck more often than not. Many don't find this out until much later when their daughter abruptly quits soccer in high school. Burnout usually builds over many, many years and is almost always driven by the parents and coaches.

We considered this too when we first made the move from rec. It was hard to see our dd seem so far behind. However, we ended up just doing extra skills sessions (independently) and also attending clinics, camps, etc, whenever we could. We have found this to be more valuable than play time for what she needed anyway. If your dd is like ours was, it is really the basic skills they need work on, not so much getting play time. I figured in one hour of a skills session she would get tons of touches and instruction versus one hour in a game situation where she would get far fewer. To me there would be more value (initially) in PRACTICING with two different teams for the same reason. But I did not want to feel forced to so many practices a week and did not want to feel bad about giving either team less than 100%. With the independent skills stuff we could pick and choose our own schedule and, since we were paying, did not feel bad not making sessions and such.

Now if the issue is more needing "game time" work then this makes more sense. But another option is that many Academy players continue playing on their rec team--then they get games where they are the "not as good" player (club) and then the rec team where they are almost always one of the top players so can work on their confidence.

USA203 wrote:We considered this too when we first made the move from rec. It was hard to see our dd seem so far behind. However, we ended up just doing extra skills sessions (independently) and also attending clinics, camps, etc, whenever we could. We have found this to be more valuable than play time for what she needed anyway. If your dd is like ours was, it is really the basic skills they need work on, not so much getting play time. I figured in one hour of a skills session she would get tons of touches and instruction versus one hour in a game situation where she would get far fewer. To me there would be more value (initially) in PRACTICING with two different teams for the same reason. But I did not want to feel forced to so many practices a week and did not want to feel bad about giving either team less than 100%. With the independent skills stuff we could pick and choose our own schedule and, since we were paying, did not feel bad not making sessions and such.

Now if the issue is more needing "game time" work then this makes more sense. But another option is that many Academy players continue playing on their rec team--then they get games where they are the "not as good" player (club) and then the rec team where they are almost always one of the top players so can work on their confidence.

Like.

brekshea2:

I think every response you got has a valid point.

Tournaments: In your initial post you mentioned burn out: I assume you meant your dd would get sick of soccer. Xara brings up a great point about the physical side. While 2-3 day tournaments are a lot of fun because of the bonding time between the girls and the families they are draining. I know this is coming from the guy that said his daughter will play in 3 tournaments this spring, but sometimes we do let our dds play more than is good for them (especially when they are loving soccer so much- but that can be found in a different recent thread).

Skills Sessions: We feel fortunate to have found Street Soccer Academy. Shannon Orr and his coaches make learning and playing soccer a lot of fun. From other threads there have been many suggestions for skills coaches so I am sure you can find one nearby that you are happy with.

Rec Soccer: My dd still plays rec, but her team doesn't practice anymore. 11 of the 13 girls on the rec team play academy with one team or another so they just play rec for fun.

I guess the real message is that there are always more opportunities to play MORE soccer in NTX. Do what you think is best for your dd and your family.

Also, I probably should have added that it may make a difference what age group your dd is in. We are a couple years away from select so we feel like we have lots of "runway" time to get her up to speed while making sure she does not burn out. If you have an 02, for example, what you want to do may change.

infinity, usa203 and xara, great points.

This is exactly the feedback, I was hoping to seek. In the end, do what is right for our DDs. Parents and DDs are the best judge of what is right for their own situation. No canned solution will work. Definitely helps to get feedback from folks who have seen it before.

DD is in 03. With our DD's situation we already do some skills outside practice. Lucky to have coaches, who makes her keep coming back to skills.

I am trying to complement practice time with game time. Will keep looking for the fine line, of not doing too much, or too less.

My dd plays as GK for academy. 1 game a week and 2/3 days a week some combo of keeper training and practice. She also is playing rec - as a field player, with one practice a week (not strenuous at all) and 1 game a week if not a conflict with Academy, and she is also doing futsal training on Sundays. It is kind of hard on us, we have to travel quite a bit for the academy practice and games and we are doing soccer 5/6 days a week with this schedule but she seems to be having fun. No complaints of not wanting to go. It is pretty much all the exercise she gets so I figured it is better for her than sitting on the couch watching tv. Since it is all different, I don't think she will get burned out...maybe just my wallet from the gas

XARA wrote:
(3) What is the deductible on your health care policy? You'll want to factor this in for the overuse injuries that will require X-rays, MRI's, and boat payments on behalf of your osteo through regular office visits.

Boat payments part has to be funny. ... My 03 DD, did cause me a big scare, when she said, her shin is hurting. She later said April fool. LOL

MOMMABEAR
My dd plays as GK for academy. 1 game a week and 2/3 days a week some combo of keeper training and practice. She also is playing rec - as a field player, with one practice a week (not strenuous at all) and 1 game a week if not a conflict with Academy, and she is also doing futsal training on Sundays. It is kind of hard on us, we have to travel quite a bit for the academy practice and games and we are doing soccer 5/6 days a week with this schedule but she seems to be having fun. No complaints of not wanting to go. It is pretty much all the exercise she gets so I figured it is better for her than sitting on the couch watching tv. Since it is all different, I don't think she will get burned out...maybe just my wallet from the gas


Where does your DD train in futsol on Sundays? What age group is your DD?

USA203 wrote:Also, I probably should have added that it may make a difference what age group your dd is in. We are a couple years away from select so we feel like we have lots of "runway" time to get her up to speed while making sure she does not burn out. If you have an 02, for example, what you want to do may change.

Agree 100%.

My DD is in 03. I as a parent feel pressured of the short runway. At the same time, we are happy with her progress. DD does not care any of that, she is just happy she can do moves and score goals, and play soccer.

USA203 wrote:We considered this too when we first made the move from rec. It was hard to see our dd seem so far behind.

Agree. I can relate to that a lot. Personally, it is hard for me to watch my DD so far behind from some of the top girls in the team.

However I am very happy that:
DD is making progress, and already not in the bottom of the roster.
Displays heart and hustles most of the time, she is in the game and practice. Every coach she is with, loves this part of her.
Goes to every skill sessions she can and enjoys it versus thinking it is a chore. May change in future.
Looks forward to every game, even though she does not do everything she learns in practice. That comes gradually.
She is happy every time, she is incorporating things she has learned in practice in a game.

As a parent, you are trying to help your DD get better. Fine line between, being patient, helping the kid, versus pushing the kid too much.