The Parent’s Role In The Soccer Recruiting Process
Darryl was a walking SportsCenter anchor for his son. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of every highlight, skill, award, or attribute at the ready to share with anyone interested or even not interested. He had never really been a big ‘volunteer’ for club team activities, but one frigid March showcase, an opportunity arose he couldn’t […]
Closing the Coach-Parent Divide
Ahh, coaches and parents. At times, it’s beautifully symbiotic, gives kids optimal sports experiences and builds terrific young adults. “Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!” (If you know the quote, we can be friends.) This experience, however, is uncommon and at times conflict-ridden. More frequently, the relationship is full of unsaid assumptions about what […]
Getting Your Kid Ready for College Soccer
As a parent, what if I told you getting your kid ready to succeed as a college soccer student athlete had almost nothing to do with soccer? Because that’s what I’m about to do. Meet Jason Jason was a strong holding midfielder with an elusive and rare full D1 scholarship. He was terrific at being […]
Olivia’s Story: Helping Your Kids Let The Game Go
“We’re all told when we can no longer play the game. For some, it’s 18. Others at 40. But we’re all told.” – Paraphrased from Moneyball About Liv & The Perils of Being Half-Right After 90 minutes playing hard fought soccer in a monsoon and standing on her head making save after save against a […]
The Sport of Sports Parent Bashing
Parents are the root of everything that’s wrong in sports, right? After all, most of us are exchanging blows with officials in the parking lot, screaming at coaches about not playing our D1 or bust superstars, and telling the club/team how stupid they are. We’re all complete morons, you know. In fact, with every social […]
And You Thought Fundraising Was Over LOL!
“Think of all the money we’ll save once our kid is playing in college and we leave club soccer behind!” Hahaha. Ok, my bad. Maybe their kid is playing at Duke or UCLA or Michigan or a football-tv-revenue-driven P5 program. If so, they’re probably right, but competition for scholarship dough is a little more intense […]
Player Profile Template
How do you help your college soccer interested kid create a player profile (soccer resume) that doesn’t look like…well…crap? Maybe we can help. This Template offers: PowerPoint-Based Really easy to edit–no graphic design skills needed. Attention-Getting Color, Images, League, Club, and HS logos – Stand out from the pack! Easily Scannable Hits the high points […]
They Can’t Pee On the Field: 7 Little Kid Rec Soccer Parenting Fundamentals
“You can’t pee on the soccer field.” Yep, actually happened when a young man, unusually free to drop trou and urinate whenever he felt the urge, opened the faucet at the edge of the practice field while the rest of the team was deep in the waters of the sharks and minnows game. The coach […]
“GOALS GET GIRLS”. Yikes. 7 Things Kiddos Should Get From First Soccer Experiences
When asked what ‘Jonny’ the 5-year-old first-time soccer player liked about his first game he said, “Goals get girls!” Without even looking at her husband, Jonny’s Mom closed-first punched him in the arm, grabbed Jonny’s hand, and marched him to the car where better life lessons were about to be taught. Dad was tried and […]
Five Reasons to Stop ‘Hating On’ High School Soccer
The soccer elites are often not fond of high school soccer. They’ve built year-round club leagues that take top players out of the experience because they’re more concerned with player development. They believe high school soccer is a lower standard and at minimum doesn’t help kids and at maximum hurts kids. They think playing club […]