An email message sent to all families with players on SAYSO spring teams
Competitive Spring Soccer - Too Much of a Good Thing?

Spring soccer for our youngest players should be a no-rush, no-pressure, no-standings, no-trophies, no-protests opportunity to grow up

Dear SAYSO Team Parents -

Now that we're almost into the spring soccer season, I'd like to share a bit of historical perspective with you.

Up until about 10-15 years ago, most young children on the San Francisco peninsula [corresponding to CYSA's District 2] played recreational AYSO soccer during the fall, basketball during the winter, and then, baseball or softball and its variations in spring. Most didn't start playing competitive soccer until fall on U11-U12 teams. Newly-formed competitive fall soccer teams, composed of players from a variety of recreational teams, weren't very polished in the first few fall games. The teams used up at least half of their 10 competitive fall games just figuring out who could do what. That bothered some parents and coaches who wanted to win games from the beginning of the fall season.

So, the teams played practice games ("scrimmages", "friendlies") during August. In fact, CYSA classified each weekend in August as a tournament weekend for U11 and older teams. A newly-formed U11 team would play 3-4 games in each tournament. So, by the time a team started playing its fall games, the team could already have played 9-12 tournament games - the equivalent of an entire fall season - during August! The "good" teams who had gone to a tournament every weekend were now polished by their first fall game. But, they were unpolished for the August tournaments.

Enter spring soccer. Initially, only the "serious" teams played soccer during the spring. However, nowadays, almost all competitive fall teams play during the spring. And, which the huge increase in soccer's popularity, that's a lot of teams. The spring season has traditionally been used by many coaches to tryout and integrate talented recreational (AYSO and CYSA class-4) players in preparation for the following season's fall teams. Understandably, the first few spring games were unpolished. New players were largely unfamiliar with their teams, and coaches were still learning about them--their strengths and how to best integrate the new and old players into the team. But, the lack of polish didn't matter much back then, because spring was a casual affair, without standings, without trophies, and without protests.

Prior spring seasons allowed "paper teams" in which registered CYSA players could fill in for other CYSA teams within a club that were short players due to other sports or commitments -- skiing, First Communions, birthdays, spring breaks, etc.  And, registered CYSA players could "shop" themselves around in order to figure out which was best for them merely by carrying their player passes to different teams. (That may or may not have been an officially-sanctioned process, but that's the way it worked.) Unless a team was going to a sanctioned tournament or other event outside of the district, regular CYSA transfer forms were not used. Players didn't have to miss games while their transfer paperwork was being processed or waiting for their first-eligible game date.

There were many advantages for players and coaches of a spring no-standing league. Without pressure to "win," coaches could give plenty of game time to new players. Coaches could experiment with different formations. Coaches could let players out of their boxes and let them try different positions, even if playing in new positions weakened the team.

Regrettably, losing spring league games bothered some adults who wanted to win games from the beginning of the spring season. So, young spring teams went (and still go) on a player feeding frenzy, holding tryouts in December, starting training during January, and arranging  practice games in February so that their spring teams (which become their fall teams) are in top form for the early spring games. 

CYSA's District 2 added to the frenzy when it succumbed to pressure from coaches who didn't like losing no-standing spring games and who wanted the bragging rights to the spring season. It made the 2005 spring season even more competitive by restricting the free movement of registered CYSA players between teams during the season. Coaches have to essentially finalize their spring teams by March 1 - the deadline for rostering a District 2 spring team online. Interestingly, free movement is still permitted (unless the team is attending a tournament) without burdensome transfer paperwork before March 1, but not afterward. Spring teams are still "paper" teams, but their roster is fixed. For this spring, a team that is short players on a particular weekend cannot borrow registered players from another team. Players cannot move between teams in order to find what's best for themselves. The emphasis [from the coach's standpoint] has shifted to winning and standings away from using spring season to integrate new players, or [from the player's standpoint] away from finding an appropriate team.

Since registration for the subsequent fall season occurs during the spring season, fall competitive teams are largely the spring teams. And, since spring teams are essentially fixed by March 1, fall teams are largely formed before the first spring game! It appears that, now, in order to have a polished team for the first spring games, a coach either needs to be clairvoyant in regards to predicting which players will be impact players, or the team needs to have played together in the previous fall season. 

The expectation that coaches can assemble their fall teams by March 1 is unreasonable. The expectation that parents and children new to competitive soccer will be able to select the right club or team by March 1 creates an unhealthy, rush-to-judgment environment. The expectation that children will never play on unpolished teams is an impossibility.

The fallacy is obvious: There is no longer any season when your child is permitted to develop his/her skills, experiment with playing different positions, or experience a non-pressure season. This puts [us] coaches in an impossible situation: We are supposed to win everything, always. Unfortunately, development and winning are conflicting goals up until at least U12. The teams that "win" as U9-U11 are often the teams with the tallest, fastest, toughest, oldest, most mature players. They can boom the ball and run fast after it. The teams that are successful as U12s and older (when size has become less of an issue) are those that are composed of the smartest, most skilled players who can accurately pass the ball to well-positioned teammates. We coaches can either choose U8, U9, U10, and even U11 teams based on date of birth and current player size, or we can choose players based on trainability and future potential. There is some overlap between current size and future potential, but not enough to assemble an entire league's worth of teams.

Because of the increased emphasis on winning spring games, players on many competitive spring teams are pressured not to miss spring practices and games, to give up or relegate in importance other sports, to forego family vacations and events, and so on. But, not SAYSO. With a multi-year curriculum, SAYSO sees spring in perspective and still adheres to a policy that lets parents set their own priorities during the spring....and lets coaches continue to develop smart, skilled players, regardless of the outcome of spring games. Sure, SAYSO teams would like to win all their games. Sure, having all players at all practices helps that occur. But, we know (and, want you to know) that it is a 2-3 year process to turn smart players into a team of skilled players. While SAYSO coaches encourage players to always play their best, it is important for growing bodies and healthy families to have a break from soccer training, to take time for family winter sports, or to just enjoy time together. SAYSO applauds each player's desire to perform at his/her individual best. However, when your child is U8, U9, U10, or even U11, it isn't reasonable for SAYSO to expect your family to make soccer a #1 priority year-round. SAYSO simple won't pass on unreasonable competitive pressure to your child or family.

Similarly, the goal [set by coaches, parents, or players] to field a polished, winning team at every game during the spring isn't reasonable. A reasonable goal will have something to do with improvement of athletic and soccer abilities along with development of friendships, sportsmanship, and respect towards one's teammates and opponents, as well as a growing love of  "the beautiful game."  We expect that all SAYSO teams [families, parents, player, coaches] will keep the spring season in perspective. We expect that the SAYSO spring players will have fun, make new friends, learn something about themselves, and end up playing the season stronger and more unified than when they started. And, in so doing, SAYSO players will continue playing the game long after they outgrow youth soccer.

I join with all the SAYSO coaches and trainers in being excited about the upcoming spring season and the growth that our players will experience.

Coach Michael