“What about the B team?” parents ask. What if your child isn’t skilled/passionate/committed/big/strong enough (choose your adjective) to make the A team?

 

You’ve dealt with the disappointment. Now what? Well, there is a lot that comes from being a part of the B team, and the rewards are many, as our family has found. Yes, there is that stigma that your child wasn’t “good” enough, but once you move beyond that, there is much to experience and look forward to.

 

Being B has its challenges. There may not be as many training opportunities or tournaments or travel. The players may not be as committed as A team players and may desire to participate in other sports. You might find each year, as B players develop, the team loses their top players to the A team or even to teams outside of ATSC. When a team continues to lose their top players over the years, they tend to have difficulty progressing beyond the lower divisions of WAGs and NCSL. You might have to work harder to find players or even a coach willing to develop a team with players who may be less skilled.

 

The Arlington Alliance continually competed in Division 4 or 5 of NCSL. They would have a good season in Division 4 – move up to Division 3, but then lose top players, and drop back down. The Alliance supported promotion of their better players to the A team, even though it often came at great cost to the team and at the most inconvenient times. These were the character building years, and sometimes I think the team survived on pure moxie and determination.

 

One season the team dropped to Division 5, however, by the time the fall season rolled around so many teams in the upper divisions had folded or merged, the team was placed back into Div. 3. The Alliance kept plugging away, worked together and competed in NCSL Division Two Spring 2006 and earned the right to stay in there for Fall 2006. This is quite an accomplishment on the part of the coach who refused to give up on those scrappy players and the scrappy players who continued to believe in themselves and gosh darn’ it, they had fun while doin’ it! The parents remained optimistic (although it wasn’t always pretty soccer), continued to go to the games, cheer the players on, and yes, pay the dues each season.

 

Well – patience will be rewarded. As players mature and move away from soccer to other activities, the travel soccer competition decreases, with fewer teams competing in WAGs and NCSL. The kids that stick with soccer, play in middle school and on their high school teams, will be rewarded with opportunities to play travel soccer in division one or two. Many B team players don’t suffer from “soccer burn out” like their A team counterparts who trained extensively during the younger years. Be patient, continue to support and encourage your coach, team and players, and stick with it. The relationships built on and off the field over these last seven years between our “B” team players are so strong, that few of the core players have any desire to change to another team. 

 

There is nothing wrong with Being B. The rewards & glory may not come as early or frequently as you hope, but be patient and stay committed. Your players will continue to gain skills and hopefully, become lifelong lovers of fitness, and after all, isn’t that the ultimate goal?