Portland Soccer Club Board Members recently discussed potential changes to the Rec and early Travel divisions (
Jan 3, 2024)
Idea: Ensure all Rec and Travel players have opportunity to maximize their development - especially as they transition from Rec to Travel.
Opportunities to Improve / Objectives:- Increase girls' engagement, especially in U7-U8 Kickers age range
- Increase Overall Player Retention by not marginalizing those with less athleticism so early in their soccer experience
- Ease the transition from Rec U8 to Travel U9 for players, coaches, parents, and referrees
- Lessen the impacts of negative adult behavior at Travel U9 and U10 soccer games
- Challenge the fast and strong childen to continue to grow in a wider variety of soccer skills, especially in U7-U8 Kickers age range.
- Less Reliance on Speed, Strength, Assertiveness - continue to nourish those traits but not put a priority on them
- Reward Soccer-specific Intelligence and In-Game Decision making
- Emphasize Foot Skills, Touch, and Pace
- Build Players' Confidence in 1v1, 50/50 Ball, and Close Quarter scenarios
Ideas discussed include: - Modifying Rec age divisions
- Small sided games on some or all Saturdays for Kickers U7 or U8
- Host small-sided invitational games for Travel U9/U10
- See below for examples of small-sided games, including Glastonbury 4v4
- See below for Wethersfield's Bridge program, which we could consider for our U9 and U10 program: fewer games and less traveling, but more touch on the ball
Benefits:
- Rec age restructuring may prevent older, faster players from dominating the game play
- Small-sided games may allow Rec players to be paired with teammates and/or opponents of similar skills
- Rec girls may find more opportunities to play with each other and against each other
- Small-sided games lead to more touch and more development across players of all skill levels
- Less dominance from Rec players who run fast and kick hard, leading to increased development of other soccer skills
- A bridge-like program for U9 eases transition from Rec U8 to Travel U9
- Reducing the number of U9 travel soccer 7v7 games to 1 a week will reduce travel, which is a deterrent to some Rec parents and coaches
- Hosting small-sided invitation games for Travel U9 / U10 will increase development of young players similarly
- This will lessen the impact of negative adult behaviors
Details below
:Travel U9-U10 Program
Weekday Training:
Each team will train no more than 2 weekdays per week, max 1.5 hours per training session
7v7 Matches:
Boys and girls teams will play no more than 10 matches per season in the 7v7 format with certified referees. This is consistent with US Youth Soccer and CJSA recommendations for optimal age-based player development. Teams can add up to one tournament in addition to the schedule of matches.
Saturdays:
Each team will be allotted field time every Saturday for a variety of experiences throughout the season.
Small-sided games, invitational:
On designated weeks for small-sided games, determined by the club in advance, each team will be afforded an opportunity to invite other teams to play a round-robin series of short, small-sided games. If no opponent is invited then the team’s players will be divided up to play the games with and against their own teammates in the small-sided format. See below for details of an example of how the small-sided games will work.
Teams must attend these small-sided games, which is consistent with US Youth Soccer and CJSA recommendations for optimal player development.
On these designated weeks, the U9 and U10 teams shall not play another match on the same day, either away or home, without approval of the club’s Travel director, President, or Vice President
7v7 Friendlies or league makeups:
On other weeks, a 7v7 field will be available to invite opponents for friendly 7v7 matches or league makeups with a CJSA-certified referee assigned by the club’s referee assignor.
During these non-designated weeks, Teams can also elect to play away at another location if desired, remembering not to exceed 10 matches per season in the 7v7 format.
Sundays:
Teams will play a CNC League-assigned schedule of 7v7 matches with CJSA certified referees against other opponents in the area, with roughly half the games being home and half the games being away. Sundays can also be used to play friendlies, but do not schedule more than one match per day without approval of the club’s Travel director, President, or Vice President.
Weekday matches can be scheduled but must have at least one-week’s advanced approval by both the club’s Field Manager and Referee Assignor, in addition to at least one approval from the club’s Travel director, President, or Vice President.
Example of a Travel Small-Sided Game invitational format:
Four fields are established, each with different rules and objectives. Players of each team are grouped in small sub-teams of 4-6 players on each sub-team. Gameplay consists of 4-6 rounds. Each round is approximately 15 minutes. A Portland club representative explains the rules of each game, and directs the players to the fields at the beginning of each round. Gameplay across all four fields begins and ends simultaneously. The Portland club representative keeps time to announce the conclusion of each round. In the next round, each sub-team is shifted to a different field to play a different opponent. No official scores are kept or reported. There are no referees. Parents may watch from one side of the field but not to intrude into the playing area, where only players and coaches are allowed.
Recreational Soccer Adjustments
Pre-K U4:
Increase fee from $60 to $75, to be consistent with what we charge Dribblers (U5-U6) and Kickers (U7-U8). Reminder that Pre-K U4 also gets a jersey and soccer ball, and access to Coach Vagell.
Dribblers U5-U6:
No change
Kickers:
Modified Kicker Age Groups U7-U8:
The club is restricting Kicker play to only U7-U8. In the past, allowing U9-U10 players to play in the Kickers division has created too wide a skill gap between the youngest and oldest players. U9-U10 players are welcome to participate in the recently-modified Travel program fo U9-U10, which we think is more appropriate for their developmental needs and the overall club needs to field age-based teams.
Modified Kicker Game Play:
Saturday morning game play will incorporate small-sided games in designated weeks, combined with traditional 5v5 games in other weeks. See below for an example of how the small sided games would work and how the season might progress.
Example of Kicker Small-Sided Games:
Four fields are established, each with different rules and objectives. Players of each team are grouped in small sub-teams of 3-4 players on each sub-team. Gameplay consists of 2 rounds. Each round is approximately 30 minutes. A Portland club representative explains the rules of each game, and directs the players to the fields at the beginning of each round. Gameplay across all four fields begins and ends simultaneously. The Portland club representative keeps time to announce the conclusion of each round. In the next round, each sub-team is shifted to a different field to play a different opponent. No official scores are kept or reported. We will pay Portland Travel players (U12+) a small fee ($10-$20) to referee the games. Parents may watch from one side of the field but not to intrude into the playing area, where only players and coaches are allowed.
Example of a Kicker Season Progression:
As the players become more familiar with the rules of each game, and become more familiar with rotating to new fields, we can shorten the gameplay of each round from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, and play 4 rounds instead of 2. In later weeks, instead of rounds of small-sided games, the teams can play the entire hour in a 5v5 traditional format, alternating opponents each week, similar to how we have done in the past.
Next Steps:
Board to discuss in meeting on Thu, Feb 22