Do club teams transition to other coaches?

SocDad wrote:1st Off.....this is going to show how "green on the vine" I am by me asking this questions.

In the bigger clubs.....ie Solar, DT, sting etc etc..

1.  "Do coaches pass off thier teams when the girls go into select"?
As I look at the bigger clubs, none or very few Academy (U5-U10's) coaches have teams that are in the Select ages.  So it makes me wonder.....
Clueless: Very often, this is the case, some coaches specialize in age groups. Some kids respond well to new coaches, some don't. Keep in mind, kids get attached to their coaches and want to keep them often. My kids have never been in that boat - nor have we contemplated switching as a single coach was working for them well. I do think the model of switching coaches is preferable on a big picture level, however.

2.  "Do they not keep training a select girls teams?"
I realize that on Select...the DD's have to try out and they will get split up (potentially)....but
Clueless: No idea what you mean, the team is their team. The club can change the coach at ANY time, but it's rare when it happens (mutiny, new coach comes in, coach moves out of town...). Who is getting split up? The try-outs are to place the girls, if you are talking about an established team - the coach is the one who would 'split them up' in academy or select.

3.  "Are the bigger clubs designed to have better coaches for select?"

Take for instance Liverpool RASE '04 team (which is designed to be the top players).  They are Coached by Lee Weddall.  Now he is listed as a coach for another '04 team....but nothing else....coaching only 2 teams.....So

Clueless: No, the bigger clubs aren't 'designed' to have better coaches, although they will tell you that (and, chances are, you will buy that). They are designed to make money for the club. Lee is a fantastic coach and has a great history - he is definitely one of the top coaches for academy.  It's easier to state that the better players migrate to the bigger clubs, but the coaching is a totally different thing. I would say your chances of getting a better coach increases with club size. At the pre-select years - the bigger clubs do not have a huge advantage in coaching, but, when recruiting for select starts - they are in the driver's seat for certain. There are very few champion teams/Coach of the Year that are from smaller clubs - so, harder to truly judge which coaching is better as so much is driven on Wins/Losses - 'training' is too subjective to measure. The best part of this, the younger kids are pretty much learning the same thing by most coaches - if the entire team is proficient in drills, it will exponentially affect the outcome (favoring the bigger clubs).

4.  Does he only coach 'U9's? RASE teams and does not move up when they get to a Select age?
Clueless: No idea what the future of those teams is and it really shouldn't matter to anyone. Go for the best coach/teammates/parents at any given time. If it lasts, all the better, if not, it's beyond your control anyway.

5.  How many teams can 1 person coach?
Clueless: No maximum, but, from a logistics standpoint 3 to 4. Practices can be handled fairly easily, but gameday is a disaster if a coach has multiple teams.  More teams give you more comparison points as to the coaching prowess.

So my last question is this:

6.  Does it matter who the coach is year to year, if in fact teams do get "Passed off" to the next years coach?
Clueless: Again, it doesn't matter, some kids do well with new coaching, some like the stability. No easy answer. My son had the same coach for 7 years, my daughter is on year 7 with her current coach - both coaches were fantastic and I had no reason (coaching-wise) to leave either situation. My kids are pretty decent players and I owe that to their coach and, of course, my kid's interest in the sport.  

Inquiring minds want to know...


PS...please excuse me if this has already been talked about...but this website is really large and I don't have 2 years to read everything.  Just point me to the thread if you can.

go99 wrote:I will say that select and academy coaching can be two different things.  So a good academy coach could find himself struggling in select but also a very good select coach could have trouble teaching the little ones.  I knew a coach from the boys side who really wanted to coach in the AL but the club told him they needed him with the little ones.  He was very good at bringing up highly skilled players and that it was much easier to find a coach that could do the older one but very difficult to find a coach to replace him in the little ones.  But LW has 3 teams 2 04's and 1 03 and as far as how many teams he could coach. A better question would be how many would his wife let him coach.  The tough part for any coach for the little ones is all of the really hard work is there.  Every national champion, state cup, fancy pants select team had it really work done in academy but gets all of its glory in select.  Sucks to do all the work and another coach take all the glory

bigtex75081 wrote:

go99 wrote:I will say that select and academy coaching can be two different things.  So a good academy coach could find himself struggling in select but also a very good select coach could have trouble teaching the little ones.  I knew a coach from the boys side who really wanted to coach in the AL but the club told him they needed him with the little ones.  He was very good at bringing up highly skilled players and that it was much easier to find a coach that could do the older one but very difficult to find a coach to replace him in the little ones.  But LW has 3 teams 2 04's and 1 03 and as far as how many teams he could coach. A better question would be how many would his wife let him coach.  The tough part for any coach for the little ones is all of the really hard work is there.  Every national champion, state cup, fancy pants select team had it really work done in academy but gets all of its glory in select.  Sucks to do all the work and another coach take all the glory

The statement I've highlighted above is the reason experienced Rec coaches generally hate seeing Academy coaches walking around Rec fields.

A Rec coach spends 2-3 years teaching your kid the very basics.  They were there BEFORE your DD knew how to dribble, shoot, stop the ball, not to be afraid, to have fun, etc...  After those first few years though, an Academy coach with an embroidered polo shirt and a business card comes and sweeps all that effort away.

It isn't that the Rec coach doesn't want your DD to keep advancing and improving… It isn’t that he doesn’t want her to be exceptional…  He just doesn't want you to come back at him 6 months later talking about how much better this new Academy coach is because Suzy can now kinda do a step-over.  The Rec coach should be able to ask, "Oh really, where was this Academy coach when Suzy wouldn't get out of the car for the first 30 minutes of our first practice?"  "Where was this new coach when Suzy would miss the ball, fall down, and then wander off the field to go find a juice?"

If your DD is enjoying soccer now, you should go back and thank her first-ever coach.

PDub wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:

go99 wrote:I will say that select and academy coaching can be two different things.  So a good academy coach could find himself struggling in select but also a very good select coach could have trouble teaching the little ones.  I knew a coach from the boys side who really wanted to coach in the AL but the club told him they needed him with the little ones.  He was very good at bringing up highly skilled players and that it was much easier to find a coach that could do the older one but very difficult to find a coach to replace him in the little ones.  But LW has 3 teams 2 04's and 1 03 and as far as how many teams he could coach. A better question would be how many would his wife let him coach.  The tough part for any coach for the little ones is all of the really hard work is there.  Every national champion, state cup, fancy pants select team had it really work done in academy but gets all of its glory in select.  Sucks to do all the work and another coach take all the glory

The statement I've highlighted above is the reason experienced Rec coaches generally hate seeing Academy coaches walking around Rec fields.

A Rec coach spends 2-3 years teaching your kid the very basics.  They were there BEFORE your DD knew how to dribble, shoot, stop the ball, not to be afraid, to have fun, etc...  After those first few years though, an Academy coach with an embroidered polo shirt and a business card comes and sweeps all that effort away.

It isn't that the Rec coach doesn't want your DD to keep advancing and improving… It isn’t that he doesn’t want her to be exceptional…  He just doesn't want you to come back at him 6 months later talking about how much better this new Academy coach is because Suzy can now kinda do a step-over.  The Rec coach should be able to ask, "Oh really, where was this Academy coach when Suzy wouldn't get out of the car for the first 30 minutes of our first practice?"  "Where was this new coach when Suzy would miss the ball, fall down, and then wander off the field to go find a juice?"

If your DD is enjoying soccer now, you should go back and thank her first-ever coach.

That's the nature of the beast!  You have to crawl then learn to walk somewhere.  I think it comes down too - that Rec Coach can only take your DD so far with the team that he may have.  Not all skill levels will be the same and this alone may push the parent to look elsewhere (like talent skill set).  Yeah it fun to watch your DD progress, but don't be blind that your DD doesn't know Suzy and others can't trap or hold on to a pass when she passes it to them . Just my opinion..

-- Just for conversation, I'm referring to bit older rec girls. --

travelin light wrote:Big Tex - could not be said more accurately! Kudos to all the volunteers that get our kids started in the great game.

One more thing to add to that - the parent coaches might not know how to juggle or perform all the fancy footwork, but they are instrumental in building kids desire to play; these weekend warriors usually make practices and games fun!