A Youth Called Soccer advisor explains how to pick the right club team and coach for developing college soccer players. Look for coaches who teach passing and respect athletes, and join MLS Next or ECNL clubs like Real SoCal or Eagles in Southern California. Start early, ages 4-12, so college coaches notice you by 13-14.
How do you know when to switch club teams, or how do you know if the coach you're with is the right one to develop you to become a college soccer player one day? I'm the Youth Called Soccer guy, and I help you play MLS Next and ECNL. So the first step is if the coach is talking about how to pass and connect passes and is not a screamer and is not a complete, like, a way he— if he's talking to your child that you would never want anyone to talk to them, then that's a bad coach. If they're being reasonable and an adult and they're teaching life lessons, great coach. But you also have to keep in mind, like, you do need to look out for the right club. So Like if you're in Southern California, you know, uh, so, uh, Real SoCal, which is the club I played for growing up, is now LAFC SoCal. This is a really good place to begin with if you're in SoCal because they are an ECNL team. So if you're living in Malibu or Thousand Oaks or Camarillo, this is a good place to start. Eagles for the girls is a really good place to start because it's local and it's really good for the girls' side. Playing in Coast Soccer League though, for example, in Southern California is not as good because it just doesn't have as much exposure. But at your age, that's where you begin. You begin with the team that you know at the older levels have MLS Next or ECNL, and you start that at 4, 7, 8, 10, 12 years old. So when you hit 13, 14 and you message me as the college soccer guy and say, we want to play college soccer, and I ask you what club team you're playing for, you have a much better chance of frankly playing college soccer. You're better, your team gets more exposure, the coaches will respond to more emails from you. So it does start at that point. If you want more help, give me a DM. Talk soon.
