There is often confusion about the difference between the “soccer season” and the “Club Year” and the following should help clear it up.  Simply put the Club Year is that contract you sign with the club that for younger players typically runs from March 1 to the end of February (in  Southern California).  The “Season” can  mean all sorts of different things, but in Southern California, when referring to the season, it is typically the fall soccer season.  Further there are two different years, one for the “youngers” and one for the “olders” with the break between the two being high school age.   Other states have a similar schedule, but the “Season” may  be different months, so the  cycle  is the same, but where these pieces fall during  the  calendar year could be different.

Youngers

For the youngers, generally the “Club Year” looks like this: an initial team forming phase, during this phase rosters are put together and  there is time for the team to gel (teams may enter a league, do a number of friendlies, enter tournaments, or just train), typically after the forming phase teams move into the tournament season, followed by the main season for the sport, followed by an alternate season like an indoor or small sided or into a  state level tournament.  Tryouts are sprinkled in there as well, usually  right before the forming stage.

By way of a specific example, in Southern California the club year for “youngers” runs from March 1 to the last day of February of the next year.

During the “Club Year” the months are broken down into typically identifiable phases as follows:

Phase 1 of the Club Year is the “Pre-Season”

March – June is the “pre-season” where teams have a bit of a free hand to decide what is best for them depending on where they are in their individual development.  Some teams will play in competitive leagues, others may decide to play in a rec league, and still others may decide that they need to train and just do friendlies to develop the team.  There are a lot of factors that go into this decision and there is no right or wrong answer, it just depends on the team.

Phase 2 of the Club Year is “Tournament Season” 

June to August is when most club teams engage in multiple tournaments. Depending on the level of the team, the number and quality of tournaments will vary.  Many clubs take a “club break” at some point during the tournament season as well.  Trying to align summer schedules is tough, so guest players are frequently used (you can see the article on guests here) to ensure that rosters have enough players on them to compete  in these tournaments.   

Phase 3 of the Club Year is “The Season”  

September – December more specifically the weekend after labor day until Thanksgiving.  When thinking of the soccer season, this is the main or prime “season” for soccer. It is at this time when multi-sport athletes need to be focused on soccer and where leagues have official standings, playoffs, etc.   

Phase 4 of the Club Year is the “Post Season” 

December to February is marked by the most stressful portion of youth soccer, the tryout (yes I know the games are tough, but this is the worst).  We will have a post on tryouts in the future, please subscribe so you don’t miss it.  During  this window, many teams will focus on building their teams for the next year, so the players get an opportunity to focus on their individual skills, by continuing to train, but perhaps also entering in Futsal leagues or small sided leagues. 

Many multisport athletes are practicing other sports, so the small-sided games are a great way to focus on skills and keep the core of the team together.  For the younger teams, this is also when you see end of the season parties to put some closure on the season for everyone. End of the season parties are good for everyone and are often mixed in with holiday parties.  It is customary to get the coach a little something for the season and we will have a post in the near future on that as well.

During this post season phase, many states run their “State Cup” which is the culminating year end tournament for all teams in your state or region.  It  is a tough time though as many rosters are in flux during this period and many of the two sport athletes are training multiple sports.  So at events like the State Cup there are often a mix and match of the types of teams that you see.  Some teams are newly formed and trying to figure out where they should play, some have their core together and others are filled with dedicated single sport athletes hitting on all cylinders.

Conclusion

Having an understanding of the club year is important to making decisions about  your player.   We hope that you found this informative as to the club year and that the information can help  you plan your year!  You  can see that  there are important windows in the process and if  you miss them, it could cost your player a year of development.  The Olders are similar, but they have to fit in a High School season somewhere in those four phases.  That is a post for another day.

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All Photos Courtesy Heather Paris of asingleshotphotography at https://www.asingleshotphotography.com

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