People tend to take the process of selecting a soccer club as a minuscule thing. However, this is far from true. Many players actually have to switch from club to club. In this guide I will go over the factors that you most think about when choosing a club listed from highest priority to lowest.
First, I will quickly inform you on the difference between rec and select level. A rec player should still consider the aspects in this guide, but for a select player it is much more important.
Rec and Select
Rec
All players start at the recreational level, and some stay there their entire soccer career.
- Cheaper than academy because the coaches are not paid.
- Rec is mainly about fun; skills are not developed much.
- Practices are usually laid back and games are less competitive.
- Teams are put together randomly.
- The level of play in rec drops significantly when players can join select.
Select
When players get around the age of 10, they usually can try out for a select team (sometimes it is referred to as Academy for the younger age groups).
- Competes at a much higher level than rec.
- Costs much more, usually around 2000 dollars for a year. T
- he coach(s) in select are professional.
- Select is more intense than rec.
- The level of play depends on what division you are in
I could go much farther into select, but it is not really needed. You will learn more about select when you consider joining. I have just provided a brief overview of it.
Factors in Choosing a Club
These are the most common factors that you should consider when choosing a soccer club. Think about all of these before making a decision.
Location
Though I wish as a player that I could leave this out, location is in reality the most important aspect to consider when choosing a club. Most parents can't drive two hours every time there is a practice.
By all means, choose a club that is reasonably close; however, choosing a club based on location will set you up for failure.
Skill Level
A top-class player should play for a top class team(otherwise he will get bored); a beginning player will never make a top-class team. These are the two main factors that largely determine where players play.
It is also important to know how important playing time is. If you are border line between a Division one team and a Division two team you will probably not get much playing time on the Division one team. However, you would probably get a great amount of playing time on a Division two team.
Coaching
Coaching is a huge part of choosing a club. Coaches can demoralize kids or they can motivate them to be much better soccer players; coaches can make practices relatively fun while improving players or they make boring useless practices.
It is important to analyze your coach before joining a team. Ask players that have played under him, ask the league director, ask other coaches, and talk to him. You need to make sure that you are dealing with a good coach.
Teammates
Good teammates can make playing soccer fun while bad teammates can make playing miserable.
Try looking at your teammates during a tryout and asking yourself if you would be willing to play with them. Determining this is hard considering players often perform differently at tryouts. If you want to learn about dealing with teammates, visit the soccer teammates guide.
