planoaggie123 said:

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So one of the FC Dallas teams invited my son to join. The team is 15 kids with 1 coach. Wife went to one practice and said it seemed very informal with limited instruction. Is that ratio normal? Are Sting and Solar and Renegades smaller ratios? Leaning towards passing on the offer and just doing Vedral and his rec team until July and then maybe look at other clubs.

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All depends on the coach

planoaggie123 said:

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So one of the FC Dallas teams invited my son to join. The team is 15 kids with 1 coach. Wife went to one practice and said it seemed very informal with limited instruction. Is that ratio normal? Are Sting and Solar and Renegades smaller ratios? Leaning towards passing on the offer and just doing Vedral and his rec team until July and then maybe look at other clubs.

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What age for your child?

15 for U11-U13 seems reasonable.

For U9 and U10, feels pushing it slightly but could still see it.

If they're U6-U8, that's too many.

Son is birth year 2015....U9.....

at that age they're either playing 7v7 or maybe 9v9. 15 is a lot.

That is the feeling we get. Basically 2 squads and then will he even get much / any playing time on the games? I might just stick w/ Vedral Academy and his rec team for the next few months and try and spend more time looking at smaller clubs....

Do you know if it's 7v7 or 9v9? Based on our experience expect a couple of kids to not show for practices or games a given week.

9v9, I wouldn't have a problem with 15. 7v7 if ask if they are going to run two teams for league or keep single team. If single I'd probably look elsewhere.

Yes, 9v9 with 15 on the roster might be ok. 7v7 is definitely too much.
I would ask:

• What league(s) are you playing in
• How many on the field for that league (7v7 or 9v9)
• How do you sub
• Do you blend with other teams (have some of your teams players play on another team, or have guest players join your team).

For question 1, some clubs may be playing in multiple leagues. Like maybe an outdoor game on saturdays and a indoor or futsal game on sundays.

For question 4, this would be the one I would be concerned about. If they shuffle players around, that is a mess and would be a no-go for me. You don't get that team cohesiveness and a host of other problems. Alphaforms does that and its horrible. As far as other clubs doing that, its not really a club thing as much as two coaches getting together and doing that.... or a coach having multiple teams.

Curious, who is the coach?

That should be 7v7, so I wouldnt be surprised if they have two different outdoor leagues lined up for the Spring.

Either way, if you arent getting a good feeling from the training I would hesitate to commit before checking out other clubs. There are no contracts at this age, but once you sign up there is an investment in uniforms, registrations, etc.

Redzic would be the coach.

I'm in Colleyville with kids currently playing rec league U7 and U5. I take them to free clinics every week with Evolution Soccer. I've seen some of you reference them and just wondered what your thoughts were.

And I guess I'm looking for broader help with getting kids going, Rec vs Club and when to consider switching.

My daughter is almost 7 and has played about 5 seasons now. She will dribble around the yard with ease, using both feet like it's nothing. Even at 4 she was the only kid out there that would NEVER run around a ball to get to her dominant foot. She'll chip a ball in any direction from any angle. Dribbles really well and has always had soft feet. It drives me insane because in a game she basically refuses to engage. Just runs around the blob watching everyone else play.

Very frustrating because I don't know if it's something she'll grow out of, or something I can help with. Like most kids she doesn't want to hear it from me. the Evo clinics seem really good and she learns a lot, but as soon as they start doing more 1 on 1, or drills to promote competition she completely shrinks and sometimes gets really upset.

She seems to have fun and want to be on the team, so I've just been letting it play out and don't want to be "that guy."