Question of the moment

OK, while the great who takes D2 continues, here is a question I would really like to get feedback on. Which of the following do you think is more important for a player to succeed? (You can choose more than one.)  

A. Skills
B. Speed
C. Size
D. Passion/heart
E. Game knowledge

Yes.

A,B,D,E are must haves C, helps if you've got it, but not a deal breaker. If you had 15, fast, smart, skilled, girls with guts, you'd run roughshod through LH.

A,B,E

If you take soccer as a sprint...then speed is best at U11, then size etc.

If you look at it longer term, I will take D as the #1 by far...if a kid has heart, then the other stuff (that the kid can control) will fall in line...

A kid with heart will work on skill and knowledge in time because she will recognize those as essential components...as well, she will work on speed to try to maximize what she has. Size is only a detriment if you let it be. Smaller, slower kids won't win at U11, but when they grow and things even out somewhat, they will win with heart and knowledge...

That said, a fast kid can cover a lot of the errors in other areas. But I would rather coach a team with heart than anything else. The reward for grinding through tough times together is the most important lesson most kids take from the pitch.

As far as a team goes...I would like to have a mixture of all of it...but a heartless team will lose and be miserable against an equal team of similar talent...

Good thoughts everyone. However, Pack it might be better if you could condense your answers more!   My personal thoughts are that heart/passion have to really be there by the time a player reaches 13-14. A passion for the game pushes a player to go the distance and be better - with it you have a player who cares about what they do and how the interact with their team mates. Just my six cents.   

If you have enough of D, you will build A and E, and in the end that is all you need. IMO the others are great if you have them, but not required.

As a parent of a child that lacks C, I'm finding as they get older size becomes less and less of factor. But I also think you have to have all of the above to be a starter/player in ECNL, at his age group, If you have everything but size, most of those girls find themselves in D1. But if your daughter lacks D, she will probably be quitting soccer by high school. I think most of us can pick out the girls on our teams that are there because mom or dad wants them to be there, rather than because they really love the game.

DALLAS TEXANS 00 NORTH and STING CENTRAL 00G (PARKER) played today and Sting won TWO zip Texans played very well and the goalie played outstanding or it would have been four zip.

Wrong thread, 00T

Let's move that discussion to the other one so we can keep this thread on track.

THATS LIFE

A.  Skill: is important at all levels of play.  
B.  Speed: is important depending on the division you're going to play regardless of Lake Highland or College.       If you don't have speed then you can't keep with the pace of play in the Top divisions. Not only is speed important as a striker/forward but as a defender in order to keep up with attackers.

C.  Size: Again had to do with the division. If you're going to play in the top divisions then you'll need Size because soccer is a contact sport and you have to be strong on the ball.  
D.  Passion/Heart: This is only important as to loving the game and wanting to be in the game.
E:  Game Knowledge: Soccer IQ is important in all levels of play.

My opinions as to order for Div I (Select/College)
- Skill
- Game Knowledge
- Speed
- Size
- Passion

"Soccer is basically a struggle between the ones who want it and the ones who don’t. Every single duel is a statement of who wants it more."

Anson Dorrance

With all things being equal, I a pretty sure he was talking about elite players and what sets the great ones apart from the others

Anson Dorrance, probably rarely coached a player that did not have speed, skill, and game knowledge.

I just used Anson to make the point about passion/heart being the most important.

UNC game plan is to be relentless and unyielding...outwork your opponent...waves of aggressive, fearless players kept fresh with tons of substitions. You could have all the speed in the world, but without heart you can't play for UNC. Skill isn't really a showstopper for them either from what I've seen. Only about half their players seem to have top class skill in recent years.

Anson wants the competitors...the kids who get pissed off if they lose at tiddlywinks.

Back in the day Anson got all the best talent, trained them harder than everyone else, and they were extraordinarily dominant.

The last 5 to 8 years the playing field has leveled and UNC doesn't have the most speed anymore (UCLA), nor anywhere close to the most skill (V.Tech), and the days of Anson out athleting everyone else are gone bye bye. Yet they're still near the top year in - year out, won 2012 college cup, and UCLA needed overtime and an injured crystal dunn to get past them in last year's final four.

Anson's players are still highly sought after at the next level because any coach getting them knows they will bring the passion (i.e. Waldrum took more UNC players than Notre Dame players), and there are still a ton of college coaches that look up to & emulate Anson Dorrance.