Competitive Soccer Takes Players to the Next Level

Soccer is a way of life for Serafina Islam, an 8-year-old Concord resident who plays on the Walnut Creek Soccer Club’s Team Edge, a "competitive" team. 

This is Serafina's second year on a competitive team. “For us, it has been almost a year-round thing,” says Serafina's mom, Sumaiya. “The season is about nine months long but during the off season Serafina is enrolled in extra training to brush up on her existing skills and to learn new ones.”

That's a lot of time for a youngster to devote to one activity, but more and more kids are giving it a try.

The popularity of youth soccer  cntinues to grow, with the United States Youth Soccer Association registering more than 3 million children ages 5 to 19 in its soccer programs last year. For hundreds of local players, however, recreational soccer just isn’t enough. These players vie for coveted spots in U9-U19 (under age 9 to under age 19) competitive soccer clubs throughout the East Bay.

The California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) has 15 competitive clubs in the Greater East Bay Area, including Diablo FC (Futbol Club) in Concord, which has approximately 50 boys and girls U9-U21 competitive teams, and Walnut Creek Soccer Club (WCSC) which has 43 competitive teams.

Unlike many recreational programs that place everyone, competitive team players are evaluated for their tactical and technical skill and must try out for openings on local teams. Tryouts for many of the younger competitive teams wrapped up in February. Announcements of team placements happen for many this week. And the pressure is intense.

“I told my daughter to just be herself and to focus on doing her best,” said one Walnut Creek mom, whose daughter finished tryouts last month. “I could tell she was intimidated by the group of girls she was competing against, and her mental outlook was affecting how she performed.” It was her daughter’s first year of tryouts; last year she had been recruited by a coach. “She told me, ‘I liked last year much better’,” the mom said.

As one player noted on the CYSA website, “Competitive soccer is not for every player (or every parent).”

Competitive teams typically practice two to three days a week, with games played on Saturdays and/or Sundays during both tournament and league seasons. Typically, teams will take some time off for Spring Break, one to two weeks in the summer, Thanksgiving Week and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, says WCSC Director of Coaching Tom Ginocchio.

“Sometimes there are at least two and at the most four games scheduled per day during the weekend tournaments,” Islam said. In the beginning of her first year, Serafina had to learn to play her position well with a bigger goal post and also quickly learn to play other positions.

“That was a lot of changes in a short period of time,” Islam said. But the young player’s commitment was unwavering.

And it’s not just the players who are committed to the sport. Parents spend hours at parent meetings, practices, driving to tournaments, and on the sidelines cheering for players on weekends – sometimes at multiple games in one day. Traveling to out-of-town games is part of the program. While long-distance travel is often limited to teams with older players, some younger players have games as far away as Sacramento or Modesto.

The tournaments can be grueling for parents to watch. “All through the first year, we knew it was a struggle for Serafina but she loved the game enough to do what it takes,” Islam said. Last year, the team didn’t win any games the entire season – until their very last game. “Then they won a tournament!” Islam said. “It was the biggest accomplishment for those girls, the parents and the coach!”

Serafina says she’s learned that improving her skills is more important than winning. “We need to always practice to get better,” she said. But winning isn’t bad either. “I love scoring goals and trying to get the ball from the other team. The biggest challenge is playing positions, being a defender and (of course) stopping goals.”