Dear WUSC board of directors,
We appreciate the many hours you volunteer to run our soccer club. We realize that it is a large task, and that you spend a lot of your personal time for the benefit of the club’s players and coaches.
Some policies recently instituted by WUSC do not, in our opinion, serve the best interests of the WUSC child members, and we’d like to take this opportunity to communicate those concerns. Specifically, we ask that the trend to stratify (i.e. hold tryouts and form “elite” teams) kids at younger and younger ages, and the disproportionate emphasis the club puts on stratified teams, be reconsidered.
(1) We should delay stratification of child athletes until approximately 7th grade/age 13. While at any given age we likely can select a top 5% and bottom 5%, the differences among the vast majority of prepubescent players are very slight and fluid. Stratifying them at 8-9 years old has very negative athletic, social, and health consequences. The current tryout and team selection process is an often inaccurate and arbitrary method of evaluating players and tends to erode parents’ and kids’ confidence in the club. By observing children’s play and body development for a few more years, club coaches and officers will have a much more informed basis from which to place children in appropriate divisions. By doing so, we also will minimize the dreaded “political” element of youth sports.
(2) If and when we do stratify children, the teams should be realigned frequently in order to maximize development opportunities and recognize the changes in ability that occur among kids of that age. If we fail to realign often, the integrity of the system can be called into question.
(3) Because we should stratify less, not more, there should not be a third stratified team in fall 2013. Adding more stratified teams exacerbates a problem we’ve already brought on ourselves – tracking players too early and selecting among little kids who aren’t much different from one another. Furthermore, we don’t want to deplete balanced teams of lead players who help make the game fun for their teammates. Having mixed ability levels on balanced teams is a healthy dynamic for all participants – less skilled players try to emulate more skilled players, and more skilled players learn a sense of peer leadership.
(4) If families are under the impression that their children would be better served by outside soccer clubs, there are many options available to them.
(5) Winning and losing, succeeding and failing, teamwork and sportsmanship should all remain critical elements of the program. Changing our approach to stratification doesn’t make those elements any less important.
We respectfully request that you review the club’s practices to ensure that the stated mission - “to teach the youth of Wellesley the game of soccer through the development of individual skill, fitness, teamwork and fair play.”- is applied to all participants. Thank you for your consideration.