What to Look For When Selecting a Soccer Club

One of the hardest things to do in youth soccer is determine which club is going to provide the best development opportunities for your son or daughter. Lots of clubs might claim that they can give your athlete access to high-level competition, or maximum exposure to college scouts. So, how are you supposed to identify the best choice?

The key is figuring out what’s truly important for your athlete’s development. Once you have your athlete’s top priorities lined up, you can clearly see which club checks these boxes most effectively.

On that note, here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a soccer club for your athlete:

When to Focus on Now, And When to Focus on the Future

As soccer parents, it’s natural to want your athlete to be positioned for a successful future. This is why clubs tend to emphasize college recruitment when speaking with parents. Some clubs might spend these conversations talking about the college careers of recent alumni, or why they’re better at facilitating college recruitment than other clubs.

But let’s be honest – none of that matters before your child is 11 or so. Before an athlete is 11 or 12, the focus ought to be on whether the team encourages having fun and if it’s a good group of teammates/parents. Most kids are not going to continue through the times that will be tough in the future if that foundation is not set.

Around the age of 11 or 12 is the time to start looking at longer term goals. At these ages, assuming you want to play past high school, you want to look at clubs that offer top leagues (ECNL/GA/MLS Next specifically) for when your athlete is going to be 14. The reasoning: a lot of those competitive teams are built when kids are 12-13.

Ask About Individual Development

At the same time you are looking at the future, it’s wise to focus on what each club will do right now to improve your athlete’s development. So, when speaking with clubs, you might consider asking how each club fosters improvement in athletes on an individual level.

Many clubs approach individual development as an individual task for players, and their focus is on team development. That is ok, as long as you understand that any individual development is your family’s responsibility.

And when the club approaches individual development as not their responsibility, that doesn’t necessarily mean the club is the wrong fit. If they say they will coach players on where they need to improve – and then provide guidance on how they can do so on their own – the club is still helping in individual development. The truth of the matter is players will need to practice outside of team practice if they want to go far.

Questions on individual development are important to ask because it is a common miscommunication clubs have – they don’t want to spend the precious time the team is together to work on an individual technique. Doing so is not helping every player get closer to their goals in the game, but it is important for the club to offer that guidance to the player.

What are the Coaches Like?

A great coach can change your life. This person not only has a huge impact on your athlete’s day-to-day experience, but also their relationship with soccer and how they view it.

Truthfully, coaching youth sports requires two individual skill sets – first, they need to be able to analyze players and teams on their ability and understand what will help them to improve. Second, they need to be educators and be able to effectively communicate to a kid so that their players can understand, process, and apply the learning. 

Lots of clubs have experienced and knowledgeable coaches. To find the right one for your athlete, think of how they learn best. While you won’t be able to pick a specific coach for your child, you can see if the club leans towards strict and demanding coaches or more easygoing and conversational ones.

Don’t Base Your Decision on Reputation Alone

Though a certain club in your region may have a good (or bad) reputation, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right club for your athlete. After speaking with the club directors, you may discover the club has a very particular culture or coaching style, and some athletes just don’t mesh well with it. Or they may be strong in their girls program but are still building their boys teams. This goes down to the micro level – a club with a great reputation can have trouble with a specific age group which means your athlete would be on a team that struggles or the inverse – their age group is strong and they’ll be fighting for minutes every week.

Throughout the selection process, it’s important to always remember that your athlete is an individual with their own path. You shouldn’t assume that what works for most of the other players in your region will yield the same result for your athlete.

For any more advice on selecting a soccer club, contact the team at Beyond Goals Mentoring. As retired pros, we’re proud to harness our own experience to help young athletes navigate the endless twist and turns that come with high-level sports.