My 9 year old daughter has decided she wants to play soccer this Spring. She has never played on a team and has only played in the yard with her dad. I see that GCAA is holding registration now and she would be in the U10 league because of her age. It seems that these kids are going to be much more advanced since they have to audition and be drafted. For those of you familiar with the area soccer programs, where is the best fit for a beginner who is 9? Are there other soccer leagues around here? I do plan on contacting Jeff at GCAA but wanted some input from parents who have seen how this whole soccer thing works. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. Faye
Hey Frugal! Actually, DS just played soccer for the first time this past fall as a 9 year old, but he played JUSA soccer. They were very patient with his inexperience and wasn't made to feel bad about it, and he made huge strides from the begining of the season (I'm telling you, we knew less than nothing about soccer ). It was an extremely positive experience, and he will be playing again in the spring. There were others from your area playing JUSA as well. I have nothing against GCAA, we happened to have friends whose kids played in JUSA league and it's closer for me since I don't live at 4042. It wouldn't be far for you either. 8) http://www.jusasoccer.org/index.php
Hi Faye, Your daughter would be fine at GCAA. Our Rec league is more about having fun and teaching individual soccer skills at all levels and less about competition. Also, our U10 and U12 teams are broken up into all boys and all girls teams. This sometimes helps with new players at this age. The only reason we have a draft is to try to keep the teams more balanced. We don't want one team to have a bunch of "superstars" and another team to have all first-time players. Balanced teams gives all of the players better challenges during games. I can almost promise you that your daughter will not be the only first time U10 player this Spring. Every season we get new players at every age group. Last season we had 3 U10 girls teams... they each played each of the other teams in our association a couple of times and also played some games against teams from East Wake. Our teams did great and from what I saw and was told, they all had a great time. Sign her up and bring her out... I bet she will have a blast!!! Let me know if you have any further questions or need to discuss it any more. You can reach me at info@gcaasoccer.com Thanks, Jeff
Hey to you too! Thanks for the reply. I'll look into it. Have a great Thanksgiving if I don't see you before then!
