Shea Drefs
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 5, 2007 11:49 AM

Soccer once was a game played by kids in alleys and rock-strewn fields.

Today, youth soccer teams fly to expensive tournaments in matching sweat suits to be noticed by college recruiters.

Competitive club soccer has taken the field.

This isn't your local recreational league, where every kid gets playing time and a pat on the back. This is a competitive world claiming more than 8,000 Arizona kids, according to the Arizona Youth Soccer Association.

With multiple teams divided by gender and age (some starting as young as 6), competitive clubs differ from recreational groups because they generally employ professional coaches and require players to try out.

The gap between recreational and competitive soccer is growing even wider. Competitive Valley teams practice up to four nights a week, some year-round. Team registration fees can top more than $1,000 per year, plus extra for tournaments, which are often out of state. Many players ditch their high school teams for clubs, because of an Arizona Interscholastic Association rule that prohibits playing for both at once.

All this has fueled a heated debate about the appropriateness of such a fiercely competitive spirit in youth soccer - one not unlike the familiar debates about Little League baseball or Pop Warner football.

It's worth it, says Carly "CJ" Sandstedt, 10, who plays for San Tan Legacy.

"If you win a game, that's really good. It makes me feel happy," CJ said. "When we go in a game and we win it, we know it's because we work really hard."

A fifth-grader at Chandler Traditional Academy, CJ practices with her team three nights a week. She also takes speed-training classes at a Mesa gym once a week and has games or tournaments many weekends.

CJ said she chooses to play because the teammates are all "great friends."

"One of our games in San Diego, (my coach) braided everybody's hair French braid," she said. "It was really fun."   Some in the soccer industry worry that this element of fun is too hard to find in many competitive clubs.

Petar Draksin is president of the Arizona Youth Soccer Association, an organization of competitive and recreational teams. Draksin said less emphasis should be placed on win-loss records.

"Unfortunately, in Arizona and all around the country, it's about winning trophies at a very early age," Draksin said. "A lot of kids get burned out."

This thought was echoed by Rick Davis, national executive director of the American Youth Soccer Organization, which advertises itself as a place where any child can get on a team and play in every game. This approach combats the burnout he sees in other organizations, he said.

"We're finding kids that are getting burned out . . . to the point where they stop playing sports altogether," Davis said. "There's just too much pressure and too much emphasis on winning, to the point where they're not enjoying themselves."

The burnout problem is something Gilbert Soccer Club officials say they're constantly monitoring.

"As long as the coach is communicating and there's no burnout, I don't think (dedication to soccer) is a negative thing at all," said Tim Barmettler, director of coaching.

Barmettler said that Gilbert's competitive teams, called the Arsenal, avoid burnout by keeping practices fun and said teams with high school-aged players break in the winter. Plus, he added, many Arsenal coaches coach high school teams in the winter, so they understand the pressures players face.