Should youth soccer season move away from the winter months?

[TKBC]

Fields are an issue, and probably the major one. Just for chuckles, I asked the municipality what field allotments we could expect to get if we moved to a Spring season. The answer was somewhere around 60%. In South Delta, we lose Winskill Turf all spring - we get zero allotments there due to lacrosse and baseball. I guess there may be a way to do it, but I don't know what that is.

When we've all retired from this, we can sit in the pub over a pint and tell "remember that one year when the snow...." stories.

Baseball uses turf? (I know they don't - just bugging ya).

Lacrosse is that popular in Delta that they take all the field space from after school until 10pm?

 

[rich]

Baseball uses turf? (I know they don't - just bugging ya).

Lacrosse is that popular in Delta that they take all the field space from after school until 10pm?

Most of Winskill's spring allotment goes to field hockey and slo-pitch. Surprising the amount of turf baseball uses.
While Dugald has the slo pitch lines and dugouts, it's rarely used for that. THat's where most of our spring turf time is.

 

[jmoulins]

Of course the municipalities won't want to deal with this, and that's the explanation I always get.

But improvement only comes through change, and there's strength in numbers. Soccer parents probably outnumber all other sport parents combined. Spend five minutes talking about this with the parent of any 7 year old soccer player to see how popular the idea is. Even better, talk to the parents at the gravel fields the next Saturday morning when the weather has improved enough so that games can be played.

In fact, I'd suggest that any meetings with BC soccer, VYSA, the various municipalities who'd have to buy in, should be held at 9am on a January morning on one of those gravel fields. I'd love to see someone make the argument against the changes in that setting.

 

[4_the_kids]

given that most of the winter some 60-80% of the grass fields are unusable ( whether closed or rotations) , in theory wouldn't there be more total fields to use in spring/ summer?

 

[jmoulins]

given that most of the winter some 60-80% of the grass fields are unusable ( whether closed or rotations) , in theory wouldn't there be more total fields to use in spring/ summer?

Very good point.

 

[TKBC]

Most of Winskill's spring allotment goes to field hockey and slo-pitch. Surprising the amount of turf baseball uses.
While Dugald has the slo pitch lines and dugouts, it's rarely used for that. THat's where most of our spring turf time is.

they better not be wearing those sharp baseball cleats on the turf!!!

 

[TKBC]

given that most of the winter some 60-80% of the grass fields are unusable ( whether closed or rotations) , in theory wouldn't there be more total fields to use in spring/ summer?

and that they then close the grass fields for "maintenance" (BS IMO).

 

[Soccer_dude]

I think this will be a one off year with the snow. But who really knows ...

 

[rich]

and that they then close the grass fields for "maintenance" (BS IMO).

They can't re-seed, or re-sand, or repair drainage issues in the winter, when the fields are either flooded or frozen. Our grass gets heavy use in the winter, and needs recovery time.

 

[TKBC]

I think this will be a one off year with the snow. But who really knows ...

It's not a one-off - we get this every 8-12 years

 

[TKBC]

They can't re-seed, or re-sand, or repair drainage issues in the winter, when the fields are either flooded or frozen. Our grass gets heavy use in the winter, and needs recovery time.

I know - but they also sit empty even after they've been fully recovered. And not every grass field needs this level of maintenance.

 

[jmoulins]

It's not a one-off - we get this every 8-12 years

We've missed games and practices to bad weather every year that I've coached, going back 8 years.

 

[TKBC]

We've missed games and practices to bad weather every year that I've coached, going back 8 years.

Well aware.

We're talking about this length and amount of snow.

 

[Soccer_dude]

This year aside, the last 2 seasons, missed only 2 games. One was for a flooded turf field & last year was frost on the field for a 8.30 am sf cup gm.

 

[mattieuk]

We've missed games and practices to bad weather every year that I've coached, going back 8 years.

I think the quantity of practices/games is only one side of the issue. The quality is another thing (and is perhaps overlooked by many). Even my most dedicated players will (understandably) perform at a lower level and learn less new skills during a good chunk of the winter sessions when it is cold, rainy and wet.

For the first time this year I've coached a more "competitive" team and as part of that offered optional training sessions on a grass field we managed to book for the whole of last summer. Turnout for those sessions (despite summer holidays etc.) never dropped below 70% of the squad, allowed us to extend sessions into "popsicle socials" after training and I think in part helped the team who is almost identical to last year's squad go from a middle of the table team to having only dropped 2 points this entire season playing in the same division.

It is great to see kids fighting adversity and coming out to training week in, week out regardless of the poor weather, however I think you need to look at whether the conditions are doing a disservice to their dedication to the sport by hampering their ability to progress as much as they could.

 

[jmoulins]

I agree with everything you say here. I'm mightily impressed by the dedication my players show in coming out in the cold and the rain. They're 14 years old now, so they're in love with the game, and it shows. The real tragedy is in all those 5 and 6 year olds we chase away before they have a chance to love the game. Whether it's the parents' choice or the players, those kids aren't coming back. Not to mention the fact that as it is now we pretty much force young athletes to choose between soccer and hockey.

 

[LFC]

I think the quantity of practices/games is only one side of the issue. The quality is another thing (and is perhaps overlooked by many). Even my most dedicated players will (understandably) perform at a lower level and learn less new skills during a good chunk of the winter sessions when it is cold, rainy and wet.

For the first time this year I've coached a more "competitive" team and as part of that offered optional training sessions on a grass field we managed to book for the whole of last summer. Turnout for those sessions (despite summer holidays etc.) never dropped below 70% of the squad, allowed us to extend sessions into "popsicle socials" after training and I think in part helped the team who is almost identical to last year's squad go from a middle of the table team to having only dropped 2 points this entire season playing in the same division.

It is great to see kids fighting adversity and coming out to training week in, week out regardless of the poor weather, however I think you need to look at whether the conditions are doing a disservice to their dedication to the sport by hampering their ability to progress as much as they could.

Totally agree with you mate , we always have almost 100% turnout for training during the spring/summer season. In the winter we have trained just once since the end of Nov

 

[LFC]

I agree with everything you say here. I'm mightily impressed by the dedication my players show in coming out in the cold and the rain. They're 14 years old now, so they're in love with the game, and it shows. The real tragedy is in all those 5 and 6 year olds we chase away before they have a chance to love the game. Whether it's the parents' choice or the players, those kids aren't coming back. Not to mention the fact that as it is now we pretty much force young athletes to choose between soccer and hockey.

jmoulins , good post and i've been involved in very competitive & fun spring/summer soccer for the last 10 yrs. The mini kids games are like a carnival atmosphere with grandparents,parents & siblings all attending to watch the games in beautiful warm weather.

 

[easoccer]

Totally agree with you mate , we always have almost 100% turnout for training during the spring/summer season. In the winter we have trained just once since the end of Nov

Ive coached many summers and find abscences to be even accross the board no matter the time of year. 75% of the team is always there and the rest always seem to have some other distraction.

Vacations are split in winter and summer. Then there are weddings, etc.

In the winter we complain about losing a day or three to rain and snow, but we also lost games in the summer due to heat and even smog one year.

I personally prefer march/april and sept/oct. Most balanced with sun/temp

But those months are polar opposites so what can you do.

 

[Total -Base]

Simple thing one should look at. Rest of the Canada plays soccer from April till November. I see no reason why BC does not do the same. We no longer fight for grass fields with Baseball. Only kids with soccer mind would be out to play. Number might be smaller but net result would be way better. Soccer here is washed out due to far many Kids Leagues. HPL I do agree with if that is what BC Soccer wants. Level of soccer is OK. In my opinion Select or Metro soccer should be part of each club or not if their player pull is small.
One thing that must be done is to stop players from hopping club to club each year. Limit it to two player movement. It would help out club soccer development. House soccer should be with in district with two tournaments a year to see how the progress has done.
HPL starts as district soccer ends up with nothing more than able to pay to play.
Use of under age players in my opinion hurts development over all. Kids in a proper age get shafted. Yearly try outs should be stopped.
Coaches must be given time to develop the kids,TD must stop poaching of the players with in a club. Club TD selects fifteen players and no more per U13 team and up team. Kids would get more playing time and better development Each age group coach gets the kids for three years to develop. Coach B takes them for next three years, kids will get better development over all. TD must work on club fitness and strength and coaching sheets. TD"s must stop splitting teams with their BS trying to prove coaches wrong.
Better set coach will do better development. TD selects A1 team and A2 team.Coach selects S1 and B1 team.
BC Soccer or club TD must stop father coaches from playing bronze kids in a gold team, in my opinion a biggest down fall of our kids development. Soccer needs new kick in some districts to move forward. Pushing paper is fine but it does zero for development of soccer in BC. We have a new Canadian soccer president I truly hope he pays way more attention on club development in fact it would do way more for National Program. Pro clubs do very little when it come of development of Canadian kids. Grass root clubs must be leaned on more to develop kids to a high stand needed. We all wish Mr Steve Reed nothing but the best.
I used to coach against him I do know that he has high standard. A total must is to stop TD'S from working for two Clubs. Poaching of players and pushing kids from out of district to make Metro soccer in Burnaby in my opinion is very unfair play by a TD. It is happening in Burnaby BC now. A change is a must.
Good thing MBI is closed or many coaches would be on XXX program due to some Cosmo x players. Go figure it out where soccer is going here. I will go and see Mt Reed to let him know what goes on.
Soccer will never grow here till we form six Pro clubs in BC. Players must get paid after youth to develop Canadian talent. Cheers to all have a good summer. Cheers to South Burnaby by sending three four teams to Provice finals this year. Cheers to Zeco for good development of the youth in Burnaby. Go out to Vernon Bc and support our kids during the cup play. It will be posted on BC soccer page as far as dates of the Cup play.