How to Choose a Soccer Club

Start with your player, not the badge

Most parents begin by asking which club is the best. A better first question is which club is the best fit for this child, this year. A ten-year-old who loves the game but still stares at butterflies during drills needs something very different from a thirteen-year-old who asks for extra touches after practice.

Be honest about where your player sits. If they're one of the stronger kids on a good rec team, a mid-level travel team is usually the right step up. If they're clearly ahead of every team they've played on, a club in a higher league may be worth the extra load. If they're still figuring out whether they like it, stay in rec or a developmental travel team and let them enjoy it. Our guide to how the leagues fit together shows what each level actually means.

One thing coaches see all the time: families jump to the top league at 10 or 11 because it feels like falling behind otherwise. Kids at that age mostly need lots of touches, lots of games and a coach who teaches. A strong club in a middle tier often does that better than a weak team in a famous league.

Level fit

Look at where your child would land in the group, and not only whether they make the team. The sweet spot is a squad where your player is solid but still pushed. If they're the best by a mile, they stop learning. If they're the weakest on the roster, they can spend a season on the bench or doing nothing with the ball, and confidence goes fast.

Ask the club how many teams it runs at your child's age. A club with an A team, a B team and a C team gives players room to move up or down without leaving. A club with one team per age group is all or nothing. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you're getting.

Also check the league the team plays in this season, not the one on the website banner. League structures have been shifting, so ask the coach which league and which division the team will be in, and look it up yourself.

Coaching matters more than anything else

If you only have the energy to check one thing, check the coach. A good coach makes a modest club worth joining. A poor one can ruin a famous club.

Start with licenses. US Soccer's pathway begins with Grassroots courses for coaches working with younger players, then moves up through the C, B and A licenses, with state associations running the lower levels and US Soccer running the higher ones. Course requirements and prices change, so check the current rules at the US Soccer site rather than trusting an old web page. A C or B license tells you the coach has put in real hours and studied how to teach the game. It doesn't tell you whether they're any good with eleven-year-olds.

Here's my opinion, and plenty of coaches disagree: a license is a floor, not a ceiling. I'd take a coach with a Grassroots certificate who runs lively sessions, speaks to kids with respect and has played at a decent level over a licensed coach who lectures in a circle for twenty minutes. Watch a session. If you can't tell, watch how the players move. Are they busy? Are they smiling? Are they making decisions or waiting to be told?

Playing time philosophy

Ask directly how the club handles minutes. Some clubs promise equal time through a certain age. Others say playing time is earned. Both are fine, as long as they say it out loud and apply it the same way to every family. The problem is the club that promises balance in the tryout meeting and then plays its top eleven the whole game in October.

At younger ages, I think development should come first. Under about U12, I'd look for a club that rotates players through positions and gives everyone real minutes, even in tournaments. After that, it's reasonable for minutes to follow performance, provided the coach explains what a player needs to do to get more.

Travel and total time

Don't judge the commute by the drive to the field. Count practices, games, tournaments and the time you'll spend waiting in the car. Two practices a week and a game on Saturday sounds small until the practice field is 40 minutes away in traffic.

A reasonable test is to map the route at the actual practice hour, on a weekday, in the actual season. If you and your child will be tired and resentful by November, a closer club that's slightly lower on paper may keep you playing longer. Many of the best-known clubs draw from a wide area, so ask where the team's practices are held and whether they move between fields.

Weekend travel is its own question. Some teams play almost everything within an hour. Others fly to showcases several times a year. Ask for last season's schedule and read it. You'll learn more from that one page than from the website.

Cost, and what it should cover

Fees differ enormously from club to club, and the price tag isn't always connected to quality. Ask for a written fee breakdown before you commit, and ask what's separate. Our club soccer costs page walks through the typical items.

• What does the base fee include: training, league fees, referee costs, a kit, a tournament or two?
• What are the payment terms, and what happens if you leave mid-season?
• Are there fundraising or volunteer requirements?
• What's the typical extra spending on tournaments, hotels and travel for this team?

Be wary of a club that won't give you numbers until after your child accepts a spot. Good clubs publish their fees, or send them within a day of asking.

Culture and retention

A club's culture shows up in how it treats kids who aren't stars, how parents behave on the sideline, and how many players come back. Retention is the best number you can get. Ask how many players from last year's team returned. If it's most of them, that's a good sign. If half the roster turned over, ask why.

Stand on the sideline for a game. Do parents yell at the referee? Does the coach yell at kids for mistakes? Are the players happy to see each other after the whistle? Teams reflect their adults. Also look at how the club handles conflict. A clear process for parent questions, such as a 24-hour rule before talking to the coach about a game, tells you somebody has thought about it.

Finally, find a few families who've left. Ask them, politely, what made them go. Their answers are often more useful than the testimonials on the website.

Questions to ask at tryouts

Tryouts go both ways. Most parents sit quietly and let the club do the evaluating, but you should be evaluating too. If you haven't seen how the day works, read our tryouts guide first. Then bring these questions.

• Who will coach my child's team, and what is their experience and license?
• How many practices a week, where, and for how long?
• What league and division will the team play in this season?
• How do you handle playing time, and does it change by age?
• What's the total cost, including the things that aren't in the base fee?
• How many players did you keep from last season?
• What happens if my child isn't a fit midseason?
• Is there financial aid, and how do I apply?

Pay attention to how the answers come. A confident, specific reply is what you want. Vague promises and pressure to sign today are not.

Red flags

• The club guarantees college scholarships or a pro pathway. Nobody can.
• A short, hard deadline to accept an offer, with no time to visit another club.
• No written fee schedule, or fees that keep appearing during the season.
• A coach who can't say what they teach or how they choose the lineup.
• Constant turnover of coaches, or a team that loses half its players each year.
• Parents who say they were afraid to ask a question.
• Pressure to quit other sports or to skip family obligations at the youngest ages.

One or two of these in a club that's otherwise strong is something to raise with the director. Several together, walk away.

Putting it together

Make a short list of two or three clubs, go to a session at each, and ask the same questions. Compare notes with your child, and not only your spouse. In the end, the best club is the one where your player is playing, learning and wants to go back next season. To see clubs in your area, start with our clubs by state page.