Hi all,

Looking for a good soccer club for my 6-year-old daughter to try. She has played two seasons. She is really into it and the team wins a lot, but the coach (me) isn't so great at teaching basic soccer skills which are more important as she gets older.

I've heard that the club N of Hefner (on Portland, I think) is pretty good, and that there is another near Olverholser that I don't know about. We are looking for something with coaches who are good with kids and focus more on skill-bulding and having fun than winning. We've tried the one on 50th (Dolese?), but they don't seem to have anything like that (coaches are parent volunteers, and they don't offer training to them, at least in my limited experience). I'm encouraging her and her younger brother in this for as long as they are interested (better than X-Box all the time!), and so trying to keep the "fun" aspect high.

Any thoughts? Of course, I am probably a little late with this for this year (hoops is just around the corner), but it might help for the spring.

thx - boy

My experience with NOKC is with U8 Boys so this may or may not relate to your situation. They are very well coached and a premium is placed on winning.

We are affiliated with the Edmond Soccer Complex and honestly are quite the same. We teach ball skill, passing and game fundamentals (kick-off, set plays, etc.) We have had some external family issues arise this season with a couple of players on our team and have attempted to make it more fun for the kids. They have enough pressure from school and home, they should have soccer for a release.

It's an interesting point you bring up...A) you would like a coach to train your child B) you would prefer it be fun and not competitive. Unfortunately I do not know if the 2 desires coexist in the metro area.

I had a coach who told me once "who cares about winning and losing in the club leagues, those games are just practice for winning tournaments".

Give NWOKC a shot, if it is too competitive, bear with it a season and look elsewhere.

Not sure if they have it for kids that young, but I play indoor at Hat Trick just north of Lake Hefner also. It may be good if she can play indoor with the winter weather approaching.

Thanks for the suggestions! We may give NOKC a try in the spring. She is pretty decent (holds her own against the boys in the coed league she is in) and starts up small games with neighborhood kids just for fun. I'm trying to be "sneaky dad" to trick her into liking participating in sports, but she pretty much likes it without any suggestions from me (aside from playing with them a lot).

Re: Hat Trick -- thanks, I didn't know about that one. Will check it out.

I think you oughtta get your kid in this:

http://www.okctalk.com/nose-bleed-section/7816-gay-clubs-high-school-4.html#post71537