Has anyone tried MCAA for soccer? My son is 8 and had one season at GCAA and was wondering how MCAA is compared to it.
strictly my .02 worth.... Our child likes soccer but is not & never will be a 'super star'. He is just not Mr. Sports. We all knew this from day one & were not shocked that he was not the star of any team. That being said MCAA was a good fit for our child after YMCA 3-4 y/o Spring & Fall soccer. He played 3 years with MCAA and was happy. We had full teams (say 8-10 kids) and usually there were 4 teams in his age group. Again we knew he was not going the route of Travel Soccer & would not be on the team in Middle or High School. I think 2 years ago we got more Team Gear for about $20.00 less money overall. Also we did not have any Parent or Coach issues and no on field drama. It was a good fit for us.
I wanted to chime in and say how happy we have been with MCAA. We have had no experience with GCAA, so I can't compare, but MCAA is a very efficiently run organization, head people are easy to talk to and my kids have always been happy. My kids love sports and play everything MCAA has. We've been there 3-4 years now. We aren't interested at the moment in travel teams but if we ever are, maybe MCAA will have expanded by then. If not then maybe then we'll try GCAA. Or just stick with school teams as the kids get older as I've heard travel teams take up a lot of time and kids need time to be kids, no matter how much they love a sport or how good they are at it. Just my opinion.
no contest I have coached in both places, as well as with the YMCA before it stopped offering soccer in our area. It's no contest, GCAA wins hands down. I am SO happy I switched. If you didn't know any better, MCAA MIGHT seem ok. I didn't think so, but reasonable minds disagree. But as an MCAA coach, I found myself constantly trying to put out fires that the league heads couldn't or wouldn't take care of. There were communication issues, organizational issues, safety issues, and ethical problems. But let's assume you can ignore those issues, since some of them may be subjective, and you might not agree with my opinion. Let's look at facts. The fact of the matter is the coaches in the GCAA are better trained, and it is reflected in the skills of the children. I was amazed at the difference in skills (not athletic ability) between MCAA and GCAA kids. Night and day differences that could only be the result of better coaching. Many of the GCAA coaches have licenses from the NCYSA or NCSAA; when I coached in the MCAA, many of the coaches didn't even know the basic rules of soccer, much less having received advanced training in coaching. On top of that, the GCAA has a director of coaching who is a further resource for GCAA coaches. Oh, I now have my Youth 1 and 2 licenses from the NCYSA, and after going through those classes, I realize how clueless those in charge of the MCAA really are. So the question is, do you want your child educated by somebody with knowledge and training, or somebody just winging it? Don't get me wrong, the GCAA is not perfect (who is?), and there are some good people in the MCAA that mean well. I still have friends there (although I'm always trying to recruit them to leave, sometimes successfully). But comparing the MCAA with the GCAA is like comparing the Durham Bulls with the New York Yankees. It's minor league v. major league.
Since I like to beat a dead horse: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10593569/ When I coached at the MCAA, we used unsecured soccer goals for practices. At the time, I didn't know any better. I do not know if the goals were secured for games, I never thought to look. :beathorse:
I don't want to debate but since you keep wanting to throw digs at MCAA . . . I don't know how long ago you coached there - last year, five years ago, ? - but my husband has coached at MCAA. He had no problems with getting information he needed from the head guys or getting questions answered. As for soccer, the soccer goals are always secured for practices and games. I have seen the head guy out there securing goals for games and coaches doing it for practices. So playing with MCAA is as safe as anywhere. I wouldn't let my kids play there otherwise. As for coaches being qualified, coaches at MCAA are volunteers. My husband is very qualified to coach - he worked at various parks & rec. departments in high school and college and afterwards. He ran coaching clinics, he organized and ran sports programs, camps, etc. so he is very (in my opinion) qualified. Other parents are qualified as well and MCAA does all it can to offering them training. No program is perfect but from his experience, my husband is pleased with how MCAA runs theirs. They are volunteers who, for the most part, do their best. As the program has grown, they have worked on areas that needed improvement, have learned from their mistakes, and have done all they can to make MCAA the best. Everyone has to find a program that they feel comfortable with. I know many who have left GCAA for MCAA and vice versa. So what? Leave well enough alone and try and make the program you choose the best you can for your kids.
response 1. I coached in the MCAA for 3 seasons, as recently as Spring 2011. My info is therefore fairly up to date, but does not account for any changes taking place in Fall 2011 to present. 2. For every practice, my assistant coach and I had to move goals into place. We were never directed to or given any instruction on securing goals. I was not aware of the danger until after I left the MCAA. I will take your word that goals were secured for games. But they were NOT for practices. 3. I know on multiple occasions I faced coaches with no or minimal training or knowledge, or teenagers acting as coaches and lacking the maturity to handle the responsibility of coaching, which led to no-shows and other issues. Does that mean every coach in GCAA is better than every coach in MCAA. Of course, not, but, 4. GCAA coaches are volunteers as well. Nevertheless, as I stated previously, the number of coaches in GCAA with licenses FAR outnumbers, both in gross and by %, the number of coaches in MCAA with licenses. So comparing GCAA coaches with MCAA coaches, the GCAA coaches are better trained as a whole. I'll stop there. Sorry if I came off as taking potshots, but the question was asked, which was the better program, and I gave my opinion. I've coached in both places, so I think that gives me the experience to offer an opinion in the matter. And I support that belief with just some of the facts listed above. I've been completely won over by the GCAA in my one season there, so I will not pretend to be unbiased. You're free to disagree, reasonable minds will do that. Some of the problems, coaching training for one, are not necessarily the fault of the MCAA leadership. You can provide all the training opportunities you want, but as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water. . . Now mind you, I don't wish the MCAA ill. I hope it is successful. It serves a need. I just wish it were better, because again, in my opinion, it often performed a disservice to the children in the program due to the safety issues, and lack of coach's training. But again, in answer to the original question, in my opinion, GCAA wins by knockout.
