Help!! We're moving to Plano TX

We're moving to Dallas area from LA next week, and my B04 son is looking for a team to tryout. Anyone know a coach or a club that emphasizes on lots of rondos while training, and encourages quick passing and possession during games? I understand most of the teams are full for the coming season, but if team still needs a player out there please let me know. Thanks in advance!

I would look into Solar if your looking for that style of play. At this stage of the year a lot of the top team are already full. If your Bb is a stud I'm sure the DA team will find a spot for him. If not get onto a lower level team. Play a lot of minutes and then you can guest play up within the club.

Thanks Soccer27, I'll try contacting them.

Where will you be living? I have an independent 04 team that could take on 1 more player. We practice in the Plano/Carrollton area. Text me if interested.

Charles
214-675-3696

I would suggest emailing Jay Dane at jdane@fcdallas.com

He's the age group coordinator for the 04s at FCD. He also coaches the FCD 04 Premiere team, which is the best 04 select team at FCD. And he would probably know which other 04 FCD teams have vacancies.

As a general rule FCD focuses on individual play and I'd stay away unless you want to be frustrated from players dribbling into opponents with constant open options.

"As a general rule," I would take parent blanket statements about clubs with a grain of salt. Do your own diligence.

Winning is far from everything, but teams don't consistently win in 11v11 at this age by playing hero 1v1 ball.

Your timing is tough, but the best way to see for yourself is to go to games and practices. Look online for academy and premier game film. And decide for yourself what style clubs play.

Here are last year's Results:

http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=53839&Gender=Boys&Age=13

Wasn't FC Dallas South the best FC Dallas 04 select team? Anyways, they are right about it being a tough time to find a team. Since both Solar and FC Dallas have been plugged, I will mention that the Dallas Texans also have good options at the 04 age group as well. I believe that the FC Dallas South team is now Dallas Texans South and there is Dallas Texans Dallas as well. Good luck!!

Coming in now at least affords you some advantages, there is no rush to sign. I would take a careful look around and look for the best situation. With Labor Day coming up there may be opportunities to guest play in tournaments before committing.

B04dad wrote:We're moving to Dallas area from LA next week, and my B04 son is looking for a team to tryout. Anyone know a coach or a club that emphasizes on lots of rondos while training, and encourages quick passing and possession during games? I understand most of the teams are full for the coming season, but if team still needs a player out there please let me know. Thanks in advance!

We have open practice tonight
Call me at 972-618-8951
We might have one open spot.

Thanks very much to everyone that posted response. This has been really helpful in learning about options to consider for my son. I'm going to begin contacting few coaches to see if we can find a decent fit for him. Most teams in LA also focus on individual play style, so I'm not surprised to learn about that. But there are few coaches that focus more on one/two touch passes and keeping the ball on the ground. It took us few years to meet the current coach, so I guess it may take another few for my son to meet a coach with similar style. Again, greatly appreciate everyone's help!!

Blanket statement based on blanket knowledge. 3 kids over multiple years. One left and it's been an eye opening experience. Think others should get out of the reality distortion of FC Dallas and explore options.

Plus the practice on 1/2 to full pitch has been amazing. (FCD has 6 TEAMS to a field). Kids are cramped into playing into 1/6 a field.

OP05 wrote:"As a general rule," I would take parent blanket statements about clubs with a grain of salt.  Do your own diligence.

Winning is far from everything, but teams don't consistently win in 11v11 at this age by playing hero 1v1 ball.  

Your timing is tough, but the best way to see for yourself is to go to games and practices.  Look online for academy and premier game film.  And decide for yourself what style clubs play.  

Here are last year's Results:

http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=53839&Gender=Boys&Age=13

Where will you be living? We have an strong independent 04 team with an open roster spot that focuses on ball possession, passing and team work. We practice in McKinney (just north of Plano). Text Coach Bryan at 469-878-2761 if interested!

Stay out of FC Dallas!! They only want your money! They take your money and your son gets minimal training & playing time - You want a full time committed coaching experience and proper training please send me a private message me

Yes, all FCD teams are EXACTLY the SAME as ALL other FCD teams!! By all means, if you don't want your Bb to have access to a clear line from youth soccer to Academy to Olympic Development that could lead to a potential NCAA scholarship and/or home grown pro player system, STAY AWAY FROM FC DALLAS! Otherwise, if your bb IS skilled and extremely talented, as long as it's cheap , it's all the matters when it comes to getting noticed amongst the thousands of other youth players.... good luck!

They have hundreds of teams charging approx 2,600/yr+ per boy. they have 1 team for each age group they care about! Everyone else is a pay check. I had 2 boys (An 01 & 04) play for them! Would'a been nice except I ended up coaching 1/2 their games each because the coach didn't show up as they had too many teams with conflicts. They are referred to as the local puppy mill by "ALL" other Non-FCD" coaches. What does this tell you??

Impact05 wrote:They have hundreds of teams charging approx 2,600/yr+ per boy. they have 1 team for each age group they care about!  Everyone else is a pay check. I had 2 boys (An 01 & 04) play for them!  Would'a been nice except I ended up coaching 1/2 their games each because the coach didn't show up as they had too many teams with conflicts.  They are referred to as the local puppy mill by "ALL" other Non-FCD" coaches.  What does this tell you??

How long ago was this? Your pricing is way off! Just because you had a bad experience with a club does not mean the whole club is bad. It is the same with all clubs. You have good teams and bad teams, good coaches and bad coaches. I've been through several of the clubs and each one is pretty much the same.

Find what works for you are your son. It's not a one size fits all. If it doesn't work out, then move on to the next team or club. Also, if you think each club doesn't look at a player as a paycheck, then you are only kidding yourself.

As for the OP, I think you will just have to find what works for you this year and realize this is not going to be the best year for your son unless you get lucky. I recently went through the same thing with my oldest. We're on a crappy team but the training is good. At least we're playing right now and will use this time to scout out other teams. That's the hard part about moving to a whole new area.

Don't waste your time with the Dallas Texans 04 Dallas team. Curtis Partain is a joke of a coach, if you are looking to improve your player this is the last place you should go. He shows up to a 6 pm practice at 5:40 but sits in his car until 6pm (when practice starts) & then proceeds to begin to set up the field. After wasting the first 15 minutes of practice setting up the field and setting the goals out he then proceeds to have the boys pair up and throw the ball to each other while they practice the same skills drill that is usually prevalent at a 9 year olds practice. During this drill Curtis uses this time to socialize with the parents on the sideline. The remaining 45 minutes are dedicated to scrimmaging & the only actual instruction from the coach is when he yells "give it" with no actual instruction on where to "give it." Being a Texans D1 team he will always have some good players but no one ever improves on his teams. Last season he missed 3 out of 18 classic league games due to going to watch his son play in college. In January he didn't coach the Michael Brown tournament because he was on his way to Cancun. Curtis does the bare minimum when it comes to coaching but enough to collect a check. He looks for reasons to cancel practices and has no access to fields when Farmers Branch park/Lewisville is closed. Aside from the weak practices with zero thought put into them he doesn't understand the game; if you watch him coach games he makes zero in game adjustments and will cost you games based upon poor team planning and lack of preparation. If you are actually looking to develop your player than I would suggest you look outside the Texans organization unless you are fortunate enough to go DA because that is where there best coaching assets are.

I won't get into the semantics of what one pays and what their return is, because there are too many variables. As for the validity of FC Dallas' youth soccer program, check it out:

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2017/04/15/dallas-right

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2717634-a-soccer-factory-in-footballs-heartland-its-like-its-europe-or-something

http://www.ussoccertalent.com/2014/02/05/fc-dallas-youth-player-development-system-mls/

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/23/how-fc-dallas-became-home-best-academy-united-states