If you read my previous post (What is the difference between a rec team and travel team) I mentioned how a given age group for a town travel team can have multiple teams with varying degrees of skilled players.
The same goes for a club team. Most club teams have two distinctions:
- Elite – “A” level players
- Select – “B” level players
Questions I have heard from parents is given a choice between making the town’s “A” travel team or “B” level club team, which one would I choose?
Obviously, there are many factors that goes into making such decision (i.e. coach’s ability to teach and lead young players, which teams will they play against, etc.) but in general, I lean more towards playing in a township “A” team over club “B” or select team.
I would go further and say that if there was a township “B” travel team with good players, I would even choose that over a club “B” team because after all, kids get better by constantly playing, not sitting on a bench.
Why?
Over the years, I have met a number of club team owners and their managers.
What I found is that club owners expand a lot of energy ensuring that their “A” teams got the best visibility, played against best teams and were staffed with high quality coaches and managers.
In contrast, I felt that their Select or “B” teams got left-overs.
For example, I have known few club “B” team coaches who were just waiting for an opportunity to coach an elite team so their efforts weren’t committed to managing Select teams.
Conclusion
Again, your circumstances will be unique so get to know as many coaches and owners as you can so that you can make the best decision for your child.
TJ