Question about possible move to North Dallas

Many apologies for asking a question everyone already knows the answer to. I have to get that out of the way to ensure the flamers hold off before throwing turds and rocks at me (Ive been conditioned on the SoCal Soccer forums). My family and I are likely moving to the Dallas area (Southlake area) in the next 8-12 months and are starting to look into potential teams for our kids. My older daughter plays on a U8 SoCal Tier 1 team (often plays on our U9B team) and my youngest is playing in our upcoming U7 Academy team. We are really looking for a great team that is competitive, really works on developing the girls and has a great sense of community/family. Given all that:

Anyone have thoughts on the differences between SoCal soccer and Dallas soccer for girls, especially in the younger ages?

Recommendations on teams in the area where they really work to develop players (we have some teams in our area that have almost complete turnovers year to year after tryouts, even at U9) and grow a team?

Thanks!

SoCalSoccerDad wrote:Many apologies for asking a question everyone already knows the answer to.  I have to get that out of the way to ensure the flamers hold off before throwing turds and rocks at me (Ive been conditioned on the SoCal Soccer forums).  My family and I are likely moving to the Dallas area (Southlake area) in the next 8-12 months and are starting to look into potential teams for our kids.  My older daughter plays on a U8 SoCal Tier 1 team (often plays on our U9B team) and my youngest is playing in our upcoming U7 Academy team.  We are really looking for a great team that is competitive, really works on developing the girls and has a great sense of community/family.  Given all that:

Anyone have thoughts on the differences between SoCal soccer and Dallas soccer for girls, especially in the younger ages?

Recommendations on teams in the area where they really work to develop players (we have some teams in our area that have almost complete turnovers year to year after tryouts, even at U9) and grow a team?

Thanks!

Get ready, every club in this city thinks they develop young players and just because we turn over half our team each year we have a strong core. Good Luck! My 2 cents would be to get with your SoCal club and see who they suggest and could they make some calls that might help.

U8?, don't even worry about it right now..find a team near your home, start there and then as you get acclamated to the the town and soccer clubs then make your decision. You wont miss out much between now and u13, trust me. Settle down and don't over analyze this...

flippinA wrote:U8?, don't even worry about it right now..find a team near your home, start there and then as you get acclamated to the the town and soccer clubs then make your decision.  You wont miss out much between now and u13, trust me.  Settle down and don't over analyze this...

Good advice.  However, if you and your DDs are the type who tend to dislike change and develop strong loyalty with the team (coach and teammates), and have preferences to certain coaching style, not doing your homework could result in a miserable situation for a long time.  If you're pretty easy going, your DDs react well to most coaching styles, don't care much about winning/losing/level of play at this age, could tune out obnoxious parents, plan to get private lessons while getting "acclimated", and have no concerns about changing club/team/coach/teammates later, you could relax and go with the flow.

You should do as little or as much research you would normally do for any $3K (plus uniform costs, driving, and 3-5 hours of your and your DDs' time every week) purchase or investment.

If your daughter is an 06 and you're looking for development focus and family environment you should take a look at Dallas Kicks with coach Juan Martinez. His 01s are currently one of the top teams in the area and 12 of the current 15 on the roster started select with kicks, and I believe 10 of the 15 spent the majority of their academy aged development years at kicks. Very few top teams in this area have a similar record of player retention.

Juan (known as JM around the forum) is one of the best skills coaches in the area, which is evidenced by his teams style of play typically featuring a ton of 1v1 confidence from defenders up to forwards.

His 06s, if they keep on their current pace, will end up better than the 01s, and I know there are south lake parents that have kids on kicks 06 and 01 that might could help you carpool. Lots of options around, but based on your two criteria, I don't think you'll find better than JM.

Well, you did not have to wait long! The best advice given by flipping A " schedule visits with multiple teams, choose a team close to your home, allow your family time to acclimate to Dallas living, and most of all give yourself and your DD time to choose her best situation."

Thanks so much for all the advice. Certainly lots of good responses and some great messages representing all perspectives. One thing I can tell for sure is that soccer in SoCal is very different than Texas. Its all marketing and packaging!

Thanks.