Choosing the Right Soccer Team for your Child

You've decided your child is ready to play organized soccer. You may have few choices in choosing a soccer team, but the constant growth of youth soccer means you probably have MANY options, such as...

Recreation or travel soccer? This community soccer or that community? What about YMCA organized soccer? What about select traveling teams?

When choosing a soccer team for your young (under 6 years old) child you probably will have few choices - possibly a YMCA or several different recreation or community leagues. All of these should provide a good introduction to the sport.

Travel soccer is geared toward the more serious player as there are usually several practices and a game outside the local community every week. There may be teams in the area that play a more challenging schedule (including out of state tournaments) and has an even higher level of player drawn from many different communities.

With all things being equal - almost everyone will have similar fields, equipment and uniforms - the MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR is the... coach.

You want a coach with experience and training. The parent coach can be a wonderful volunteer - but how does the youth in the United States differ from that of coaches in other, more advanced soccer countries? In the level of expertise. It shows the best way to have youth who love the game and play it well need to be coached by the best coaches, not untrained volunteers.

Ideally, they should be experts in training youth soccer players. They should know the techniques and how to be positive.

I'm tired of seeing soccer players "retire" by the age of eleven. They've had enough of screaming coaches and being talked down to. It's just not fun anymore.

It's a great idea to observe a coach's behavior during a game. Are they yelling at the referee? Telling players to "hustle" or telling them what they did wrong? This is often the tip of the iceberg and not what you want for your coach. (see the article on unruly parents for more ways a COACH shouldn't act!)

There should be almost no coaching DURING a game... let the players enjoy the game! If you have a choice look for a coach who has experience, understands the game, and enjoys the company of children. Our children are probably not going to be the next Beckham, so let's let them have fun and keep improving at the same time.