Confused 02 Parent with questions

Hi folks
I've been a lurker on this site for a while and now I have some questions.
My kid is an 02 playing up on an 01 team, for a club that I'm sure many of you are familiar with. The club prides itself on focusing on dribbling/ball control skills, and not so much on passing/tactics. And for the period from my kid being 8 years old to now almost 12 it was great. She has superb dribbling/ball handling skills, indeed her whole team excels in it. The problem is that I've come to the conclusion that dribbling/ball control is pretty much where it stops on our current team/club. For my kid to learn the whole team game I think its time to move on.

That being said, I've talked to other parents on our current team who left but came right back. Why? A lot of the big name teams frown on dribbling. Almost totally. Trying to beat your man one on one lands you on the bench. Just passing passing passing, or the other extreme, to the point that their kids ball handling skills started to deteriorate due to non usage. I grew up playing and waching soccer overseas, so I know that both the passing and dribbling are needed. Yet the bulk of the good teams go almost exclusively with passing and size. Good Lord do they love their size. My kid is 4'10, routinely going up against 13 year olds taller than my wife who is 5'6, plus they typically outweigh my kid by anywhere from 20 to 40 lbs. It's pretty obvious most teams around here play what I like to call "the growth spurt game". Great in the short term but disastrous down the road when those small skilled players catch up in size, but I digress.

So what would your suggestions be in terms of clubs that offer a good balance between skills and tactics? My kid played PPL div 3 for the 01s...do y'all think the transition to 02s would be ok in say Lake Highlands? Thanks in advance.

DallasBiafra wrote:Hi folks
I've been a lurker on this site for a while and now I have some questions.
My kid is an 02 playing up on an 01 team, for a club that I'm sure many of you are familiar with. The club prides itself on focusing on dribbling/ball control skills, and not so much on passing/tactics. And for the period from my kid being 8 years old to now almost 12 it was great. She has superb dribbling/ball handling skills, indeed her whole team excels in it. The problem is that I've come to the conclusion that dribbling/ball control is pretty much where it stops on our current team/club. For my kid to learn the whole team game I think its time to move on.

That being said, I've talked to other parents on our current team who left but came right back. Why? A lot of the big name teams frown on dribbling. Almost totally. Trying to beat your man one on one lands you on the bench. Just passing passing passing, or the other extreme, to the point that their kids ball handling skills started to deteriorate due to non usage. I grew up playing and waching soccer overseas, so I know that both the passing and dribbling are needed. Yet the bulk of the good teams go almost exclusively with passing and size. Good Lord do they love their size. My kid is 4'10, routinely going up against 13 year olds taller than my wife who is 5'6, plus they typically outweigh my kid by anywhere from 20 to 40 lbs. It's pretty obvious most teams around here play what I like to call "the growth spurt game". Great in the short term but disastrous down the road when those small skilled players catch up in size, but I digress.

So what would your suggestions be in terms of clubs that offer a good balance between skills and tactics? My kid played PPL div 3 for the 01s...do y'all think the transition to 02s would be ok in say Lake Highlands? Thanks in advance.

Here is my opinion. Take it for what it is worth....

FIRST TOUCH IS EVERYTHING!

If a kid doesn't have a good first touch, then it is over. By the time they are born until right now is called the "Golden Age of Learning." Their touch should be increasing at it greatest rate throughout these years. Some coaches will vary on the age that it slows WAY down, but a lot agree that it is around 11-12yo. If they don't have a great first touch by then, it is a LOT harder to get it.

If a kid is being taught foot skills up to this point, then that is great. Tactics will come later as their soccer IQ begins to skyrocket at the same time as the declination of quick motor skill learning they had the chance to develop before now. Think of it as a scale with tactics and first touch. Imagine it increasing and decreasing with age.

Speaking of age, I wouldn't worry about the size difference right now. As girls hit their "growth peak" in a few years, all the size, strength and speed will not be enough to overshadow technical abilities.

As far as dribbling is concerned; I think it is great, but there is a time and place to do it. Having dribbling skills not only gives kids the touch, but more importantly, the CONFIDENCE. Great 1v1 skills open up a LOT more options for a player.

Take the pitch and divide it into 3rds; A defensive third, middle third and an attacking third. Now take these initials: Ss and Rr

S=Safety
R=Risk

In your defensive third, you want it to look like this: Sr (high safety, low risk)
In the middle third, it should be even: SR
In the attacking third, you want it to look like this: Rs (high risk, low safety)

I hope you can see where dribbling and 1v1s should come into play most often.

I hope this helps.  

Good response ... Cool not agree more...wish the SR related to the position on the field was taught sooner and more often.

When your daughter has first touch and dribbling, she is ahead of the game. Tactics come after they have those with confidence. Are you close to Southlake, I know a club. Coach&Ref, has many valid points, so now you need a team with the next step for your daughter's soccer development. I know a club.

Coach&Ref wrote:

DallasBiafra wrote:Hi folks
I've been a lurker on this site for a while and now I have some questions.
My kid is an 02 playing up on an 01 team, for a club that I'm sure many of you are familiar with. The club prides itself on focusing on dribbling/ball control skills, and not so much on passing/tactics. And for the period from my kid being 8 years old to now almost 12 it was great. She has superb dribbling/ball handling skills, indeed her whole team excels in it. The problem is that I've come to the conclusion that dribbling/ball control is pretty much where it stops on our current team/club. For my kid to learn the whole team game I think its time to move on.

That being said, I've talked to other parents on our current team who left but came right back. Why? A lot of the big name teams frown on dribbling. Almost totally. Trying to beat your man one on one lands you on the bench. Just passing passing passing, or the other extreme, to the point that their kids ball handling skills started to deteriorate due to non usage. I grew up playing and waching soccer overseas, so I know that both the passing and dribbling are needed. Yet the bulk of the good teams go almost exclusively with passing and size. Good Lord do they love their size. My kid is 4'10, routinely going up against 13 year olds taller than my wife who is 5'6, plus they typically outweigh my kid by anywhere from 20 to 40 lbs. It's pretty obvious most teams around here play what I like to call "the growth spurt game". Great in the short term but disastrous down the road when those small skilled players catch up in size, but I digress.

So what would your suggestions be in terms of clubs that offer a good balance between skills and tactics? My kid played PPL div 3 for the 01s...do y'all think the transition to 02s would be ok in say Lake Highlands? Thanks in advance.

Here is my opinion. Take it for what it is worth....

FIRST TOUCH IS EVERYTHING!

If a kid doesn't have a good first touch, then it is over. By the time they are born until right now is called the "Golden Age of Learning." Their touch should be increasing at it greatest rate throughout these years. Some coaches will vary on the age that it slows WAY down, but a lot agree that it is around 11-12yo. If they don't have a great first touch by then, it is a LOT harder to get it.

If a kid is being taught foot skills up to this point, then that is great. Tactics will come later as their soccer IQ begins to skyrocket at the same time as the declination of quick motor skill learning they had the chance to develop before now. Think of it as a scale with tactics and first touch. Imagine it increasing and decreasing with age.

Speaking of age, I wouldn't worry about the size difference right now. As girls hit their "growth peak" in a few years, all the size, strength and speed will not be enough to overshadow technical abilities.

As far as dribbling is concerned; I think it is great, but there is a time and place to do it. Having dribbling skills not only gives kids the touch, but more importantly, the CONFIDENCE. Great 1v1 skills open up a LOT more options for a player.

Take the pitch and divide it into 3rds; A defensive third, middle third and an attacking third. Now take these initials: Ss and Rr

S=Safety
R=Risk

In your defensive third, you want it to look like this: Sr (high safety, low risk)
In the middle third, it should be even: SR
In the attacking third, you want it to look like this: Rs (high risk, low safety)

I hope you can see where dribbling and 1v1s should come into play most often.

I hope this helps.  

Great points.

To the original poster.  If the club/coach is who I think it is you may want to ask the coach a question:
. When should my DD not dribble?

and then ask yourself a question:
. Have I ever seen him teach anything other than dribbling and shooting to any of his teams at any age?

He is great, probably the best at teaching ball skills and 1v1 moves but that is all he teaches and at some point you will need to move on to get your DD some education on other facets of the game and how to play as part of a team.  You will need to make the call when that time is.

When it is time, have a discussion with the coach your DD is considering and lay it out and see what they say.  Many coaches will be happy to get a player will great ball skills and attacking capability and will work with them on other parts of the game as one of the hardest parts is already done.  It will be up to your DD to focus on developing the other parts of her game.

If it is the coach I think you are referencing, he currently has former academy or u11-u12 players on Sting, Feet and Texans ECNL teams so it can work if your DD is willing to learn the rest of the game.

I could not agree more with Coach&Ref.  First touch is huge and individual skills are so important.  It seems like more and more teams at younger stages are focusing on game tactics and strategy.  That is the easy stuff to learn.  If you want to win now it works but it gets in the way of true development... IMHO.

Stick it out with your current team but ask the questions suggested.  There are players who use their 1v1 skills too much or at the wrong time.  Your coach should be able to help with that.

I think there are many valid points here that are important and should be developed. One that I think is the most important point and is usually not mentioned much is speed. IMHO, I think speed is what wins games individually and the team. 9 times our 10 the team that is faster usually wins and that starts from academy to professional level. I think individual ball skills and dribbling, first touch, etc. all have inherent agility and quickness to them. The players that can do this the fastest will ultimately win out. I've seen teams over and over win due to speed that were less skilled in the ball handling skill-sets. Therefore, fundamentals and speed is most important for the longevity of any player.

I would say that perhaps your DD should take up track and learn to increase her speed since she already has the ball handling skills.

Lastly, I think you should leave this team because you obviously feel that she has gone as far as she can go with this coach. Being able to move the ball to the open player is essential. A controlled pass is better than 1v1 ability. The only reason to be good at 1v1 is too get space to pass to an open player on offense or steal the ball on defense and pass to a middie. Nobody can run faster than a pass.

Thank you all for your responses. Well it appears all of this is moot. After trying out with other teams, DD told me that she wasnt interested in moving, and would rather drop soccer altogether than start over at a new team. It's disappointing as I think she had potential if exposed to better coaching and more competitive teams, but well I guess those teen hormones have taken over. So at this point I think she will play the last few games the team has and be done with it. Thanks again to all for your thoughts.