new players

After looking at the different age groups, it's kind of shocking how many teams there are.
The 04's have around 20 academy teams in SDL.
The 03's have 32 teams in SDL.
The 01's have over 60.

As an 04 parent, I thought all of the good rec players had already joined an academy, but I guess I am very wrong.
My question for you seasoned academy parents is "Do that many rec players really join academy between the ages of 8 and 10?" or is it mostly teams from PSA and other leagues deciding to join SDL.

Having more than 60 girls teams in the 01 age group really blows my mind. Where are all these girls coming from?

My older dd started academy at 7 and I see no reason for my second dd to start earlier. I would even vote to start later. Just do rec and then get a really good skills coach.

i would bet a few teams share players and I will bet 01 will not have 60 teams going into QT.

My 04 just joined a academy team this season. A lot of girls are still out there that will go to skills, or just practice at home in a year or 2 will be good players.

LoneStar wrote:i would bet a few teams share players and I will bet 01 will not have 60 teams going into QT.

My 04 just joined a academy team this season. A lot of girls are still out there that will go to skills, or just practice at home in a year or 2 will be good players.

If you are practicing at home I have techniques to build famous players like my daughter will be.

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imabee wrote:I'm not on facebook. But I want to let u know, I like u!!!

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LoneStar wrote:i would bet a few teams share players and I will bet 01 will not have 60 teams going into QT.

My 04 just joined a academy team this season. A lot of girls are still out there that will go to skills, or just practice at home in a year or 2 will be good players.

I bet there are 60 01 teams - at least, maybe not in QT, but playing select. The top 30 will be LH, and I bet Plano and Arlington each get 15 teams. There are 61 00 teams in just LH and Plano alone, without even counting Arlington.

BallBuster wrote:After looking at the different age groups, it's kind of shocking how many teams there are.
The 04's have around 20 academy teams in SDL.
The 03's have 32 teams in SDL.
The 01's have over 60.

As an 04 parent, I thought all of the good rec players had already joined an academy, but I guess I am very wrong.
My question for you seasoned academy parents is "Do that many rec players really join academy between the ages of 8 and 10?" or is it mostly teams from PSA and other leagues deciding to join SDL.

Having more than 60 girls teams in the 01 age group really blows my mind. Where are all these girls coming from?

You need to consider that rec options start drying up as they get older as well. The number of rec teams at your age group now in the area is probably astronomical, in 3 or 4 years, there will probably be less than 10 rec teams per city for 04's.

Also, at your age, so much ability is related to maturity - that starts leveling off as they get older and girls that can't quite do it physically or mentally, will be solid players as they grow and the field and game gets more space.

The number of players I see at 01 that don't have skill or touch, but can simply kick the ball and beat you to it is on the rise. Girls that are a liability on the small field because they can't kick and lack control, become gold in 3 or 4 years as teams need the speed and a good coaches see the possibility of potential. If you are real big and fast, it doesn't take much to teach them enough to start contributing on the 11v11 field.

the difference (usually) between rec and academy is the level of competition. playing against better opponents makes your kid better than playing against the daisy pickers and ball whiffers. the hard thing at first for rec kids is that most academy kids were the stars of the rec team and now little susy has to play against a whole team of kids as good as she is but they usually do fine

My DD switched from Rec to Academy three months prior to turning 9. I should have started her at least a year earlier IMO.

My 6 year old is currently in Academy and while I am generally of the opinion that it is a waste of money at that age (at least for her), she does get much better coaching and it isn't that expensive, so we just roll with it.

Unfortunately, I personally got it completely ass backwards as my 10 year old is completely into the game and committed and the jury is still out on my 6 year old. Oh well. What can you do.

Blank77 wrote:

LoneStar wrote:i would bet a few teams share players and I will bet 01 will not have 60 teams going into QT.

My 04 just joined a academy team this season. A lot of girls are still out there that will go to skills, or just practice at home in a year or 2 will be good players.

I bet there are 60 01 teams - at least, maybe not in QT, but playing select. The top 30 will be LH, and I bet Plano and Arlington each get 15 teams. There are 61 00 teams in just LH and Plano alone, without even counting Arlington.

LS didn't say that there weren't more than 60 select teams, he said that there wouldn't be 60 teams going into QT. Some of those "select" teams won't even bother because they know they will get the @$$ whipping of a lifetime if they try to qualify. And then those parents will realize that their "select" team isn't that select. They will question paying money for glorified rec. kick ball and that coach may lose some business.

So they will try and qualify for Arlington or Plano only.