For the goalie, definitely session 3.
For the field player, I think playing less with better players would help their development more than playing more at a lower level.
Definitly play in the Dallas session 3 tournaments.
I remember one year I went to San Jose for the California JOs and didn’t play much. It was fun and a good experience playing against the best teams in the country, but also really boring and unmotivating sitting on the bench for a while. And, overall just an expensive trip to only play under 5 mins a game.
I went to Dallas JOs, and played almost the whole game, in all the games. Great experience. Yes, the competition is not the same as California, but it’s still worth it. The games are still competitive, and for my experience, allowed me to play against some teams that were still better than us and have a chance.
I suggest going to whatever session will let you play the most.
What are their goals?
IMO at 14, play as much as possible in Session 3 especially if you've never played with the California club before. Depending on the experience, next season I'd recommend seeing if you can join the California or other team for additional tournaments like Futures or Club Championships (or ideally even earlier) so you can get a better idea of coaching style and the other players and how you might fit in. You could also look at non-California clubs that pull players in regionally and nationally.
I would also double check with USAWP if a club transfer is allowed for this session - might be difficult if they were rostered for a JO qualification tournament with their home club.
I'd get the kid to the Texas JOs and get the experience and play time. at 16/17, if college is the goal, have them jump in with another team mid or late season to play futures and JOs. My son is heading to a D1 program this fall and was greatly helped by joining a higher level team at that point. Goalie is tough though as clubs usually work hard to develop the backup and or the one that fills in when the #1 goalie bumps up to the next age group.
For a goalie, go with Texas. You're not going to get much out of the tournament if you're not facing shots at all other than warm-ups.
For a field player, it depends. Is there an opportunity to train with this club for most of the summer? Or would it be a situation where the player is playing with their home club outside of CA for the entire summer, and then just going out and meeting up with the CA club a few days before the tournament?
If it's the first one, I would say go to CA and train all summer. Regardless of how much you play in the actual tournament, you're going to be playing against higher level players in practice every day.
If it's the second one, it's not worth it to go to CA. You're going to get more out of training with your home club and playing the majority of the time in TX.
You'll still get a number of competitive games, especially if this athlete isn't quite at the level where they can hang against good CA teams. IMO it would benefit them more to play a lot of minutes against teams that they're on par with/slightly better than versus playing 4-5 minutes per game against competition that's a lot better than this specific player. Yes, you get better against better players, but ~20 minutes over the entirety of the tournament isn't going to do that for you.
I would disagree take the opportunity to play for
The better team in california. If your aim is to play in college at least. Being in california exposes you to more coaches and more players so you know what to expect more in college. If you want to play in college you will be playing against California’s not Texans. I am from Colorado and took the opportunity to play in california jos and had the time of my life being out there. a lot of the guys I met there I ended playing with of against in college and everyone I met in california helped me achieve the next level of waterpooo
For the goalie, definitely session 3. For the field player, I think playing less with better players would help their development more than playing more at a lower level.
Definitly play in the Dallas session 3 tournaments. I remember one year I went to San Jose for the California JOs and didn’t play much. It was fun and a good experience playing against the best teams in the country, but also really boring and unmotivating sitting on the bench for a while. And, overall just an expensive trip to only play under 5 mins a game. I went to Dallas JOs, and played almost the whole game, in all the games. Great experience. Yes, the competition is not the same as California, but it’s still worth it. The games are still competitive, and for my experience, allowed me to play against some teams that were still better than us and have a chance. I suggest going to whatever session will let you play the most.
What are their goals? IMO at 14, play as much as possible in Session 3 especially if you've never played with the California club before. Depending on the experience, next season I'd recommend seeing if you can join the California or other team for additional tournaments like Futures or Club Championships (or ideally even earlier) so you can get a better idea of coaching style and the other players and how you might fit in. You could also look at non-California clubs that pull players in regionally and nationally. I would also double check with USAWP if a club transfer is allowed for this session - might be difficult if they were rostered for a JO qualification tournament with their home club.
Vegas is a very good option for this
yeah, JO quals and JOs have to be the same club.
I'd get the kid to the Texas JOs and get the experience and play time. at 16/17, if college is the goal, have them jump in with another team mid or late season to play futures and JOs. My son is heading to a D1 program this fall and was greatly helped by joining a higher level team at that point. Goalie is tough though as clubs usually work hard to develop the backup and or the one that fills in when the #1 goalie bumps up to the next age group.
For a goalie, go with Texas. You're not going to get much out of the tournament if you're not facing shots at all other than warm-ups. For a field player, it depends. Is there an opportunity to train with this club for most of the summer? Or would it be a situation where the player is playing with their home club outside of CA for the entire summer, and then just going out and meeting up with the CA club a few days before the tournament? If it's the first one, I would say go to CA and train all summer. Regardless of how much you play in the actual tournament, you're going to be playing against higher level players in practice every day. If it's the second one, it's not worth it to go to CA. You're going to get more out of training with your home club and playing the majority of the time in TX. You'll still get a number of competitive games, especially if this athlete isn't quite at the level where they can hang against good CA teams. IMO it would benefit them more to play a lot of minutes against teams that they're on par with/slightly better than versus playing 4-5 minutes per game against competition that's a lot better than this specific player. Yes, you get better against better players, but ~20 minutes over the entirety of the tournament isn't going to do that for you.
I would disagree take the opportunity to play for The better team in california. If your aim is to play in college at least. Being in california exposes you to more coaches and more players so you know what to expect more in college. If you want to play in college you will be playing against California’s not Texans. I am from Colorado and took the opportunity to play in california jos and had the time of my life being out there. a lot of the guys I met there I ended playing with of against in college and everyone I met in california helped me achieve the next level of waterpooo