what happen after a good player is released

imasoccerfreak wrote:

go99 wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:It surprises me that no one has brought this up...what about the players obligation to the other players? When my DD and I signed a contract, we weren't just agreeing to play for x club and x coach...we were agreeing to play with that roster. We had a girl defect this year, too, and it could seriously affect our spring league results. So if the rest of us get screwed in standings because we lost a key player, I'm going to take it personally. Yeah, that's probably not how it should be...I should understand that everybody's DD comes first. But I feel like TEAM should mean something. I don't think our coach should have given her a release at all (I'm not sure what she got). If everybody is allowed to jump ship and the water gets rough, the few who believe in sticking to their promises are the ones who pay the price.

Well, if that player was MY kid, I would be lecturing her ear off about accountability to your teammates. I would show her what happens when the MOMMY stops doing things her family expects (and needs) to really drive that lesson home. And there would be consequences for her blowing off her obligation to do her best because that's what is expected of her. I would hug her when she cried about hating it, and I would work with the coach to make it better for her, and I would help her count down the days to her contract end. But I would NOT let her quit the team OR quit giving 100%. And yes, I kind of expect that from the other players - and their parents - on my team.

Freak: It's all about you huh? You must be a person that the world revolves around. A player left, so poor you. That player had probably, at this point, already paid their dues...something must have been pretty serious to not continue.

You're saying nothing would cause your dd to leave? What about a coach that touches your daughter(yes that kind of touching)? Probably would pull her huh? What about physical abuse? Pull her then? Probably. Those lines are pretty clear, any reasonable parent would run. What if coach made aggresive advances to you? You say no and DD doesn't play? Now what about a curse filled screaming including F-Bombs(02 forum so assuming dd is 11 or so)? pull her? What if screaming was limited to 'you played like $h*t'? Where you draw the line with what is best for your daughter may not be where another parent would draw the line. There are a million what ifs/situations and who knows what happened to cause this. So poor you, for that parent doing what they think best for their dd, and the nerve of you for objecting to it. A pathetic life you must lead.

yea..yea..whatever wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:

go99 wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:It surprises me that no one has brought this up...what about the players obligation to the other players? When my DD and I signed a contract, we weren't just agreeing to play for x club and x coach...we were agreeing to play with that roster. We had a girl defect this year, too, and it could seriously affect our spring league results. So if the rest of us get screwed in standings because we lost a key player, I'm going to take it personally. Yeah, that's probably not how it should be...I should understand that everybody's DD comes first. But I feel like TEAM should mean something. I don't think our coach should have given her a release at all (I'm not sure what she got). If everybody is allowed to jump ship and the water gets rough, the few who believe in sticking to their promises are the ones who pay the price.

Well, if that player was MY kid, I would be lecturing her ear off about accountability to your teammates. I would show her what happens when the MOMMY stops doing things her family expects (and needs) to really drive that lesson home. And there would be consequences for her blowing off her obligation to do her best because that's what is expected of her. I would hug her when she cried about hating it, and I would work with the coach to make it better for her, and I would help her count down the days to her contract end. But I would NOT let her quit the team OR quit giving 100%. And yes, I kind of expect that from the other players - and their parents - on my team.

Freak: It's all about you huh? You must be a person that the world revolves around. A player left, so poor you. That player had probably, at this point, already paid their dues...something must have been pretty serious to not continue.

You're saying nothing would cause your dd to leave? What about a coach that touches your daughter(yes that kind of touching)? Probably would pull her huh? What about physical abuse? Pull her then? Probably. Those lines are pretty clear, any reasonable parent would run. What if coach made aggresive advances to you? You say no and DD doesn't play? Now what about a curse filled screaming including F-Bombs(02 forum so assuming dd is 11 or so)? pull her? What if screaming was limited to 'you played like $h*t'? Where you draw the line with what is best for your daughter may not be where another parent would draw the line. There are a million what ifs/situations and who knows what happened to cause this. So poor you, for that parent doing what they think best for their dd, and the nerve of you for objecting to it. A pathetic life you must lead.

Been around girls select sports in NTX for about 5 years now and seen many player comings and goings. From my observation, 100% of the parents leaving the team felt they were doing what was in the best interest of their DD, and >95% of the parents being left behind thought that the player/parents who were leaving were making a bad decision (even the ones that were happy to see said player/parents leave).

Go figure...

I would leave with my dd if I felt like it. I don't feel obligated to any other parent, coach, club or the other players. She comes first. As stated before only the parent and the kid know the real reason. This is a game, a serious one sometimes, but I compare it to a job. We leave if we feel lke its not working out anymore. Sure it is hard for her and the parents because we're humans and humans are social creatures. We develop friendships and maybe sometimes that keeps us from leaving. Leaving friends that went to war with you is hard. If you ever played this hot game then you know that it is very bonding and emotional. But again, nobody should question anybody leaving. They have a strong enough reason to turn their back and go. Why keep them there when they don't want to anymore?

Freak: I have a friend who was a hard nosed Soccer driven kind of guy. I played with him many years ago. He has a son and was determined to make him a good player. He pushed and drove him hard. The kid developed into a good solid forward. But dad wanted him to be the star. He always threatened him and said what you're saying. "There will be consequences" I'd tell him to just let him develop at his pace and give him some space. The kid tried but would say that he didn't want to do it anymore. He wanted to try other sports and maybe other clubs. One day after one of his tirades in front of everyone, the kid just sat on the field, midfield , and refused to play anymore. He said " I hate this @#&^^! sport dad, you can't make me" Dad threatened to beat him up and went ballistic. It was the most embarrassing thing for the kid. Dad wanted to play through him. Is that what you want from your player?

yea..yea..whatever wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:

go99 wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:It surprises me that no one has brought this up...what about the players obligation to the other players? When my DD and I signed a contract, we weren't just agreeing to play for x club and x coach...we were agreeing to play with that roster. We had a girl defect this year, too, and it could seriously affect our spring league results. So if the rest of us get screwed in standings because we lost a key player, I'm going to take it personally. Yeah, that's probably not how it should be...I should understand that everybody's DD comes first. But I feel like TEAM should mean something. I don't think our coach should have given her a release at all (I'm not sure what she got). If everybody is allowed to jump ship and the water gets rough, the few who believe in sticking to their promises are the ones who pay the price.

Well, if that player was MY kid, I would be lecturing her ear off about accountability to your teammates. I would show her what happens when the MOMMY stops doing things her family expects (and needs) to really drive that lesson home. And there would be consequences for her blowing off her obligation to do her best because that's what is expected of her. I would hug her when she cried about hating it, and I would work with the coach to make it better for her, and I would help her count down the days to her contract end. But I would NOT let her quit the team OR quit giving 100%. And yes, I kind of expect that from the other players - and their parents - on my team.

Freak: It's all about you huh? You must be a person that the world revolves around. A player left, so poor you. That player had probably, at this point, already paid their dues...something must have been pretty serious to not continue.

You're saying nothing would cause your dd to leave? What about a coach that touches your daughter(yes that kind of touching)? Probably would pull her huh? What about physical abuse? Pull her then? Probably. Those lines are pretty clear, any reasonable parent would run. What if coach made aggresive advances to you? You say no and DD doesn't play? Now what about a curse filled screaming including F-Bombs(02 forum so assuming dd is 11 or so)? pull her? What if screaming was limited to 'you played like $h*t'? Where you draw the line with what is best for your daughter may not be where another parent would draw the line. There are a million what ifs/situations and who knows what happened to cause this. So poor you, for that parent doing what they think best for their dd, and the nerve of you for objecting to it. A pathetic life you must lead.

I had a few emails/pm asking if this was me posting this- it is not me and I have no idea who yea yea whatever is. That said Imasoccerfreak is talking about my DD. I have noted your posts and have chosen to leave it alone imasoccerfreak, but given people from our old team and new team think I made this post I now have to respond. You know why we left and you are entitled to your opinions. I will not get into the reasons we had to leave the team on this forum.

The facts are:
1). that my dd played near 100% of the time and gave a 100% effort (at least what she had that day) all the time.
2). My dd and her family choose to leave a D1 LHGCL team and move to a PPL team.
3). We paid all of the dues and never tried to get a dime back (even if that where possible- do not even know). Our decision to leave will cost us more $ and it is more than worth it.
4). We have never had an issue with any of the parents and my dd got along with all of the dds on the team (although maybe not best friends with them)
5) it was a very hard decision to leave such a great group of parents and dds
6). My dd did not want to play for the coach anymore and had consistently told us that over the course of several months. In fact my dd got to the point she wanted to quite soccer all together. But only because of a few encouraging conversations with other coaches in the soccer community did we convince her to continue to play.
7). We tried to work to resolve the issues with the coach since right after QT. We forced our daughter to stick out the situation for several months, because of her commitment to the coach and team.
Last- The coach was good enough to give us a release

We have no ill will to any of the parents, the dds or even the coach. The decision to leave had nothing to do with the parents, the dds or really even soccer. We hate that our decision to leave could impact the team results this year, but the issues go well beyond winning a few games in U11 Spring play. I think the talent on the team is deep enough to overcome the loss of my dd. We wish the Coach and the team the very best and will continue to cheer for you this year.

bigtex wrote:I had a few emails/pm asking if this was me posting this- it is not me

I apologize if relaying my DD's experience earlier in this thread caused you any problems, although they do sound somewhat similar. If people bothered to check my past posts (hover over username and use the drop down menu) it would be very clear that my DD isn't an '02. I was just trying to share our personal experience.

Just a random sidenote -- when a kid is released to rec by NTX Soccer, they are placed on what I call a phantom team. They do this so a NTX administrator can sign all guest player releases as opposed to chasing someone down with the home soccer association. When I went to get my DD's release the first week of December, I was told at that time by Ronda that over 300 kids were allocated to this phantom team. That's a lot of kids. Twenty teams worth as a matter of fact. It's sad to think this number of kids, probably way more than 300 by now, are finding themselves in such a position.

sticking it out with a team that is a bad fit is not a life lesson, its a mistake that your kid pays for. It also tells the coach that his behavior is acceptable, and he/she keeps repeating it. That's why you see so many ntx coaches who are terrible with children coaching youth soccer, the parents allow them to treat their children poorly so their kid can learn a 'life lesson', I guess its like scared straght or something. At some point the parents cant stomach it anymore and leave- then the coach recycles to another club and finds another group of parents

Referee wrote: Freak: I have a friend who was a hard nosed Soccer driven kind of guy. I played with him many years ago. He has a son and was determined to make him a good player. He pushed and drove him hard. The kid developed into a good solid forward. But dad wanted him to be the star. He always threatened him and said what you're saying. "There will be consequences" I'd tell him to just let him develop at his pace and give him some space. The kid tried but would say that he didn't want to do it anymore. He wanted to try other sports and maybe other clubs. One day after one of his tirades in front of everyone, the kid just sat on the field, midfield , and refused to play anymore. He said " I hate this @#&^^! sport dad, you can't make me" Dad threatened to beat him up and went ballistic. It was the most embarrassing thing for the kid. Dad wanted to play through him. Is that what you want from your player?

I can’t help it… Did this really happen? I've seen some badly behaved soccer parents but this guy sounds like a CPS award winner.

Most over-involved loudmouths have at least some semblance of understanding that what they’re doing is too much but they just can’t stop themselves. Did this guy start out bad and get progressively worse or was he always that over-the-top? I assume others besides you (coach, other parents, etc.) tried to stop this from happening as well?

bigtex wrote:I had a few emails/pm asking if this was me posting this- it is not me

I'm not bigtex, don't know who anyone is, don't care who anyone is or isn't, most likely don't have a dd involved in anyway.

Certainly didn't mean to put bigtex dd in tight spot.

Just calls um as I see's um(referring to Freak's narcissistic post who probably still today wonders why no one else posted what he/she did).

This is a comment on the comment about curse words on the sidelines from coaches. from what i have heard this is very very common. I have heard allot myself. It should not be tolerated but it is. In addition a couple of weekends ago one of the goalies from a playoff game was talking "smack" to the other team. It included curse words and threats. Threats were so bad that the girls were talking about it afterthe game that she actually scared a few of them--talking about finding them after the game etc. This needs to be controlled. Ref had to have heard it but did nothing. What are we teaching the children?

bigtex wrote:

yea..yea..whatever wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:

go99 wrote:

imasoccerfreak wrote:It surprises me that no one has brought this up...what about the players obligation to the other players? When my DD and I signed a contract, we weren't just agreeing to play for x club and x coach...we were agreeing to play with that roster. We had a girl defect this year, too, and it could seriously affect our spring league results. So if the rest of us get screwed in standings because we lost a key player, I'm going to take it personally. Yeah, that's probably not how it should be...I should understand that everybody's DD comes first. But I feel like TEAM should mean something. I don't think our coach should have given her a release at all (I'm not sure what she got). If everybody is allowed to jump ship and the water gets rough, the few who believe in sticking to their promises are the ones who pay the price.

Well, if that player was MY kid, I would be lecturing her ear off about accountability to your teammates. I would show her what happens when the MOMMY stops doing things her family expects (and needs) to really drive that lesson home. And there would be consequences for her blowing off her obligation to do her best because that's what is expected of her. I would hug her when she cried about hating it, and I would work with the coach to make it better for her, and I would help her count down the days to her contract end. But I would NOT let her quit the team OR quit giving 100%. And yes, I kind of expect that from the other players - and their parents - on my team.

Freak: It's all about you huh? You must be a person that the world revolves around. A player left, so poor you. That player had probably, at this point, already paid their dues...something must have been pretty serious to not continue.

You're saying nothing would cause your dd to leave? What about a coach that touches your daughter(yes that kind of touching)? Probably would pull her huh? What about physical abuse? Pull her then? Probably. Those lines are pretty clear, any reasonable parent would run. What if coach made aggresive advances to you? You say no and DD doesn't play? Now what about a curse filled screaming including F-Bombs(02 forum so assuming dd is 11 or so)? pull her? What if screaming was limited to 'you played like $h*t'? Where you draw the line with what is best for your daughter may not be where another parent would draw the line. There are a million what ifs/situations and who knows what happened to cause this. So poor you, for that parent doing what they think best for their dd, and the nerve of you for objecting to it. A pathetic life you must lead.

I had a few emails/pm asking if this was me posting this- it is not me and I have no idea who yea yea whatever is. That said Imasoccerfreak is talking about my DD. I have noted your posts and have chosen to leave it alone imasoccerfreak, but given people from our old team and new team think I made this post I now have to respond. You know why we left and you are entitled to your opinions. I will not get into the reasons we had to leave the team on this forum.

The facts are:
1). that my dd played near 100% of the time and gave a 100% effort (at least what she had that day) all the time.
2). My dd and her family choose to leave a D1 LHGCL team and move to a PPL team.
3). We paid all of the dues and never tried to get a dime back (even if that where possible- do not even know). Our decision to leave will cost us more $ and it is more than worth it.
4). We have never had an issue with any of the parents and my dd got along with all of the dds on the team (although maybe not best friends with them)
5) it was a very hard decision to leave such a great group of parents and dds
6). My dd did not want to play for the coach anymore and had consistently told us that over the course of several months. In fact my dd got to the point she wanted to quite soccer all together. But only because of a few encouraging conversations with other coaches in the soccer community did we convince her to continue to play.
7). We tried to work to resolve the issues with the coach since right after QT. We forced our daughter to stick out the situation for several months, because of her commitment to the coach and team.
Last- The coach was good enough to give us a release

We have no ill will to any of the parents, the dds or even the coach. The decision to leave had nothing to do with the parents, the dds or really even soccer. We hate that our decision to leave could impact the team results this year, but the issues go well beyond winning a few games in U11 Spring play. I think the talent on the team is deep enough to overcome the loss of my dd. We wish the Coach and the team the very best and will continue to cheer for you this year.

Sounds like the best way you could hope for it to go. Glad the coach was willing to release. Hope your DD is able to continue enjoying soccer.

Well on the bright side for the original headcoach, a D1 team releasing a player to the Plano league is effectively like many select teams releasing the player to a rec league team. At least she will not be on a team that has the ability to beat the D1 team. I just hope BigTex's daughter can continue to improve playing with her new team in Plano. The skill level must be noticeably less.

txsoccerfan68 wrote:Well on the bright side for the original headcoach, a D1 team releasing a player to the Plano league is effectively like many select teams releasing the player to a rec league team. At least she will not be on a team that has the ability to beat the D1 team. I just hope BigTex's daughter can continue to improve playing with her new team in Plano. The skill level must be noticeably less.

First I want to say when we left our last concerns was what league /divisions we were in. We were most concerned about the environment and the coach. I understand why you may think that on the skill level- I may have thought the same. Hard to say we have very little experience in ppl yet (one tournament) but from an overall competive level of the league I would say you are correct, but as far as the team we moved to- I would say the opposite is true. My daughter has a long way to go from a skills perspective to catch up to many of the girls on her new team and frankly I do not even know if she will start. This is really not a comparison between her old or new team- just a very different style of play- my daughter has never been very skilled- more relying on speed, power and aggressiveness. Also in my opinnion I do not think the gap between the top PPL teams and several teams in the LHGCL are that substantial (at least at U11). I do not know for a fact, but I would think qt and other tournament results might prove that out- again just my thoughts no science here. But again that had nothing to do with our move.

Ugh. Five pages of diatribe by parents who just don't get it (with the exception of BigTex and a few others). Holding a player hostage? Talk about hyperbole. Everyone wants to speak in terms of fairness and doing what's best for the child. About how evil these coaches are for not granting full releases in the middle of a soccer season. Let's make this really simple:

It's called a contract for a reason. If you don't like the terms of the agreement, don't sign it to begin with! Duh. It's all layed out in the fact sheet. If a coach says he doesn't grant full releases, then quit pissing and moaning when your daughter (i.e. you - the parent) decides she wants to move elsewhere. Pay the dues, get the rec release, and take the little queen whereever she wants to practice and guest play. We're only talking about a handful of league games that she'll miss. But I suppose it's so much easier to villify a coach for doing exactly what he put in writing that he would do because you don't think it's fair. READ THE CONTRACT before you sign it and quit whining when someone won't make a special exception for your poor little girl who is not 100% happy. This is so cut-and-dry in all but a very few instances... and even those are addressed by North Texas Soccer.

Xara wrote:Ugh. Five pages of diatribe by parents who just don't get it (with the exception of BigTex and a few others). Holding a player hostage? Talk about hyperbole. Everyone wants to speak in terms of fairness and doing what's best for the child. About how evil these coaches are for not granting full releases in the middle of a soccer season. Let's make this really simple:

It's called a contract for a reason. If you don't like the terms of the agreement, don't sign it to begin with! Duh. It's all layed out in the fact sheet. If a coach says he doesn't grant full releases, then quit pissing and moaning when your daughter (i.e. you - the parent) decides she wants to move elsewhere. Pay the dues, get the rec release, and take the little queen whereever she wants to practice and guest play. We're only talking about a handful of league games that she'll miss. But I suppose it's so much easier to villify a coach for doing exactly what he put in writing that he would do because you don't think it's fair. READ THE CONTRACT before you sign it and quit whining when someone won't make a special exception for your poor little girl who is not 100% happy. This is so cut-and-dry in all but a very few instances... and even those are addressed by North Texas Soccer.

what nonsense. the contract is completely biased to the club and this is for children. this whole system is built to promote youth soccer NOT to make money. I am not naive but this is an AMATEUR system not the pros. any club that is so chicken crap as to not sign a full release for a fully paid up kid is NOT promoting soccer. PERIOD.

Xara wrote:...stuff...

It's called a contract for a reason.

...more stuff....

Do you know whether any other area has amateur youth soccer contracts binding participants for anything beyond a financial obligation?

3-4-3 wrote:

Xara wrote:...stuff...

It's called a contract for a reason.

...more stuff....

Do you know whether any other area has amateur youth soccer contracts binding participants for anything beyond a financial obligation?

But it doesn't matter what people like you and Silent Parent think AFTER you've signed on the dotted line. You can use buzz words like amateur, non-professional, binding, and children until you're blue in the face.

YOU

SIGNED

THE

CONTRACT.

If you all thought it was unfair in the beginning, the easy choice was to find a coach who would include in the fact sheet the words: I will grant competitive releases at any time. Anything else is your fault for agreeing to it. Why complain about something you agreed to so willingly at the time that you went so far as to sign your daughter's life away for a year? Make better decisions.

3-4-3 wrote:

Xara wrote:...stuff...

It's called a contract for a reason.

...more stuff....

Do you know whether any other area has amateur youth soccer contracts binding participants for anything beyond a financial obligation?

I think it's reasonable to expect a player to be committed to one competitive team for one contract period after signing. If you aren't happy with the situation, then quit the team and bide your time in an alternative situation (rec, skills, futsal, etc) until the beginning of the next contract period. Maybe a partial solution to this would be to decrease the length of a contract? Give people a little more time to shop around between seasons.

I'm familiar with competitive youth volleyball. The National organization expects you to be committed to the team you sign with for one full term as well. I've never heard of anyone getting to switch clubs after committing to one. Here is a link to the USAV youth volleyball offer agreement. I like the line at the bottom where it says, "If you feel that you were pressured into signing this form and were not given the opportunity to tryout at another club (if you so wished), please contact the North Texas Region office immediately". Parents need a little time to look around, but if you sign the contract I agree you are committed for the set length of time unless violations have been made. There should be a written set of "Codes of Conduct" that players and parents should sign and Coaches should sign a "Code of Ethics". Volleyball does this and has all parties sign each form.

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/NTR_Tryout_Offer_and_Acceptance_Form_2012-2013.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013JCP_Signature.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013COC.pdf

Ahhhh... Thank you Weatherbug for a second dose of common sense. It's so few and far between on here when the majority would like to blame everyone but themselves on what they willingly agreed to as (presumably) literate adults.

weatherbug wrote:

3-4-3 wrote:

Xara wrote:...stuff...

It's called a contract for a reason.

...more stuff....

Do you know whether any other area has amateur youth soccer contracts binding participants for anything beyond a financial obligation?

I think it's reasonable to expect a player to be committed to one competitive team for one contract period after signing. If you aren't happy with the situation, then quit the team and bide your time in an alternative situation (rec, skills, futsal, etc) until the beginning of the next contract period. Maybe a partial solution to this would be to decrease the length of a contract? Give people a little more time to shop around between seasons.

I'm familiar with competitive youth volleyball. The National organization expects you to be committed to the team you sign with for one full term as well. I've never heard of anyone getting to switch clubs after committing to one. Here is a link to the USAV youth volleyball offer agreement. I like the line at the bottom where it says, "If you feel that you were pressured into signing this form and were not given the opportunity to tryout at another club (if you so wished), please contact the North Texas Region office immediately". Parents need a little time to look around, but if you sign the contract I agree you are committed for the set length of time unless violations have been made. There should be a written set of "Codes of Conduct" that players and parents should sign and Coaches should sign a "Code of Ethics". Volleyball does this and has all parties sign each form.

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/NTR_Tryout_Offer_and_Acceptance_Form_2012-2013.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013JCP_Signature.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013COC.pdf

This is North Texas Volleyball. I'm genuinely curious as to whether any other area of the country has very young children signing contracts which amount to non-compete agreements. I can see high school aged kids committing to clubs, academies or colleges, but we're talking about 10-year-olds.

Xara wrote:Ahhhh... Thank you Weatherbug for a second dose of common sense. It's so few and far between on here when the majority would like to blame everyone but themselves on what they willingly agreed to as (presumably) literate adults.

Typical xara...go personal rather than deal with the question at hand.

For the record every team decision we've made with regards to select soccer has worked out very well. Every team we left, we left at the right time and our daughter was better off for it. Every team we've joined, she has enjoyed the experience more than the prior. If we ever did have an issue that was so pressing we needed to leave, I'd have no problem waiting until the end of the season or getting a rec release because from what I can tell my daughter enjoys the sport and improves more when league is not in session anyway.

That has no bearing on the macro question of whether it's ridiculous that one region's sports culture has elementary school aged kids signing contracts to play a sport.

You can label this "reasonable" and "common sense", but all I've ever gotten is strange looks and unrestrained laughter anytime I explain it to someone not from NTX (or from NTX and not aware of the select soccer bubble).

3-4-3 wrote:

weatherbug wrote:

3-4-3 wrote:

Xara wrote:...stuff...

It's called a contract for a reason.

...more stuff....

Do you know whether any other area has amateur youth soccer contracts binding participants for anything beyond a financial obligation?

I think it's reasonable to expect a player to be committed to one competitive team for one contract period after signing. If you aren't happy with the situation, then quit the team and bide your time in an alternative situation (rec, skills, futsal, etc) until the beginning of the next contract period. Maybe a partial solution to this would be to decrease the length of a contract? Give people a little more time to shop around between seasons.

I'm familiar with competitive youth volleyball. The National organization expects you to be committed to the team you sign with for one full term as well. I've never heard of anyone getting to switch clubs after committing to one. Here is a link to the USAV youth volleyball offer agreement. I like the line at the bottom where it says, "If you feel that you were pressured into signing this form and were not given the opportunity to tryout at another club (if you so wished), please contact the North Texas Region office immediately". Parents need a little time to look around, but if you sign the contract I agree you are committed for the set length of time unless violations have been made. There should be a written set of "Codes of Conduct" that players and parents should sign and Coaches should sign a "Code of Ethics". Volleyball does this and has all parties sign each form.

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/NTR_Tryout_Offer_and_Acceptance_Form_2012-2013.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013JCP_Signature.pdf

http://ntrvolleyball.org/forms/1213/2013COC.pdf

This is North Texas Volleyball. I'm genuinely curious as to whether any other area of the country has very young children signing contracts which amount to non-compete agreements. I can see high school aged kids committing to clubs, academies or colleges, but we're talking about 10-year-olds.

You're right- it's probably not the best example to show another North Texas contract, but USAV organizes junior club volleyball on a national scale. Here is the Puget Sound region's agreement information. Every volleyball region has something similar.
http://psrvb.org/admin/modules/page_editor/uploads/file/Tryout%20Membership%20Signing%20Process%20Email.pdf

They commit to the club for the full contract term unless violations have been made. I should add that you can transfer to another team within the club if your current team isn't a good fit.

I was just curious and looked up AAU basketball. I found another youth contract for it as well from Pennsylvania this time. I think you have to have players committed to one team for the entire duration of the season for any number of reasons, but I bet one of the main reasons is to maintain team integrity at the upper levels of competition. If players could come and go as they pleased, recruiting would never take a break and teams headed to Nationals as an example would try to further stack their rosters as they moved toward regionals and nationals. It would be like the Academy "guess" player days all the time.

I think one key thing to note from the AAU basketball contract is that the commitment is just from March through June. That's a lot less time for something to go wrong than the year we commit to!
http://www.courttimesportscenter.com/Player-Parent-Contract.html

weatherbug wrote:I was just curious and looked up AAU basketball. I found another youth contract for it as well from Pennsylvania this time. I think you have to have players committed to one team for the entire duration of the season for any number of reasons, but I bet one of the main reasons is to maintain team integrity at the upper levels of competition. If players could come and go as they pleased, recruiting would never take a break and teams headed to Nationals as an example would try to further stack their rosters as they moved toward regionals and nationals. It would be like the Academy "guess" player days all the time.

I think one key thing to note from the AAU basketball contract is that the commitment is just from March through June. That's a lot less time for something to go wrong than the year we commit to!
http://www.courttimesportscenter.com/Player-Parent-Contract.html

March through June is the heart of AAU season. Much like the LH season.
And this contract is the exception not the rule. Players switch teams from week to week in some cases. The best players are most times just hired guns. playing for a team in Ca. one week, Tx team next week. But even locally, kids switch teams depending on the level of a tourney that is being played. Most times with the blessing from their 'home' coach. I used players from other teams and vice versa 'lent' all the time. Because for most coaches, it was about getting the kids better exposure, and experience.
I was completely shocked when I learned about year long contracts in soccer where players are essentially held hostage for lack of a better term. I thought it was the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. But as many have said countless times, 'select soccer' is a business. Whereas AAU basketball, while also a business, most are truly select.

weatherbug wrote:I was just curious and looked up AAU basketball. I found another youth contract for it as well from Pennsylvania this time. I think you have to have players committed to one team for the entire duration of the season for any number of reasons, but I bet one of the main reasons is to maintain team integrity at the upper levels of competition. If players could come and go as they pleased, recruiting would never take a break and teams headed to Nationals as an example would try to further stack their rosters as they moved toward regionals and nationals. It would be like the Academy "guess" player days all the time.

I think one key thing to note from the AAU basketball contract is that the commitment is just from March through June. That's a lot less time for something to go wrong than the year we commit to!
http://www.courttimesportscenter.com/Player-Parent-Contract.html

AAU Basketball is a whole different animal. At the top levels there are agents and a ton of money involved. The real players aren't paying AAU teams big money for the privilege of signing some 1 yr binding contract, it's the other way around. The AAU coaches and apparel sponsors are hooking the players up with hopes their investments will pay off (with interest) after 1 year of college. AAU has evolved to the point where it is now misnamed, but in practice it operates more like international soccer clubs. It's a business and the prize is the athlete not the parent's wallet. It's not pay to play.

From your volleyball stuff it appears USAV is a far more dominant and controlling governing body than USSF. The recruiting restrictions are coming down from a national organization. I'm also guessing that compared to high school, club volleyball is the pathway to college, which explains the leverage for the clubs. However, I did read the handbook from the puget sound link you posted, and it states the following with regards to player transfers:

"Players who have committed to a club and then wish to transfer to another club must follow the PSR Procedure of Player Transfer. This is irrespective of the length of a player’s membership with that club and can be done at any time during the official USAV sanctioned season."

Reading between the lines it looks like as long as you're in "good standing", i.e. paid your financial obligation, the onus is on the club to provide a reason why you shouldn't be released.

3-4-3 wrote:

Xara wrote:Ahhhh... Thank you Weatherbug for a second dose of common sense. It's so few and far between on here when the majority would like to blame everyone but themselves on what they willingly agreed to as (presumably) literate adults.

Typical xara...go personal rather than deal with the question at hand.

For the record every team decision we've made with regards to select soccer has worked out very well. Every team we left, we left at the right time and our daughter was better off for it. Every team we've joined, she has enjoyed the experience more than the prior. If we ever did have an issue that was so pressing we needed to leave, I'd have no problem waiting until the end of the season or getting a rec release because from what I can tell my daughter enjoys the sport and improves more when league is not in session anyway.

That has no bearing on the macro question of whether it's ridiculous that one region's sports culture has elementary school aged kids signing contracts to play a sport.

You can label this "reasonable" and "common sense", but all I've ever gotten is strange looks and unrestrained laughter anytime I explain it to someone not from NTX (or from NTX and not aware of the select soccer bubble).

One region? The USYSA rules (which LHGCL is a part of) for rosters are uniform throughout the country. Every select soccer player in the country signs a contract for a year.

Also, while I'm not nearly as familiar with ECNL rules, I believe their rules for releases are much more stringent than USYSA/LHCGL.

Not often I find myself adamantly agreeing with Xara, but certainly do here. IMO, he gets it and the rest of you are probably new to the process or just contrarians.