Arlington to McLean

[Anonymous]

They are very similar. The biggest difference-maker will be the coach and coaches will come and go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a big proponent for MYS for the girls teams, but this past year has been very rough for MYS.

MYS Lost their ECNL team. This may not seem like much, but down the road, it will be important if you are serious about soccer. Your daughter could try out for FVU once ECNL comes around, but it is not the same as having a proprietary MYS ECNL team.

Arlington has a built in ECNL team and a system that will place your daughter on the Arlington ECNL team if she is good enough.

Arlington gets the great majority of its ECNL players from other clubs as the kids age up. The organization has zero invest in developing its own players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weighing our options. Would you or have you switched clubs from Arlington to McLean and would you recommend and why? Mostly interested in girls side.

Kid's been with MYS for a few years. The girls side is better than the boys, but at that age it depends on the coach. Some coaches only want to win games and don't develop kids. Some coaches develop kids to win games. I know several Arlington kids who are in McLean, but most live near the border. The other poster is correct. Only the top two teams from Arlington would even come close to green team. The rest would be white or gold.

If you're in Arlington now I'd consider the travel time for practices. You'll be driving with rush hour traffic at 5-7pm. I know from McLean to where Arlington practices it's almost 50 minutes to an hour some days because Arlington practices next to 395/14 Street Bridge in Crystal City. Take that into consideration also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are very similar. The biggest difference-maker will be the coach and coaches will come and go.

This is the bottom line. Which coach will your kid get? My kid and two other kids in my neighborhood play for MYS from 2011 to 2013. One of the coaches is horrible. Zero development. All they want is to win games so they will pull guest players and use them for 40 minutes a game while leaving their kids on the bench. Then there's the opposite coach who trains the kids ball possession, passing, formation, fakes, etc. It's amazing how different a team is based on their coach. One team at the start of last fall couldn't even juggle past 3. Now, the entire team can juggle past 20. Several kids can juggle 50+. This was all pushed by the coach.

[Anonymous]

We’ve been on the white team at MYS for years. Very little development but it’s the devil we know. Our DD has had many friends on Arlington black/blue and they seem to move up more frequently which seems like development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been on the white team at MYS for years. Very little development but it’s the devil we know. Our DD has had many friends on Arlington black/blue and they seem to move up more frequently which seems like development.

Have you considered moving to Arlington? We have but the commute to Long Park field in the late afternoon is not possible for us. If Arlington trained closed to North Arlington we would seriously consider it.

[Anonymous]

Lol "proprietary MYS ECNL team"

[Anonymous]

Arlington has a built in ECNL team and a system that will place your daughter on the Arlington ECNL team if she is good enough.



I can tell you 100% this is wrong. If your end goal is playing ECNL for Arlington you have a much better chance making it from another team. They are not looking to promote kids from RL when they can bring a similar skilled player from outside. They already got the RL kids money. I would like to know if any of the ecnl clubs in the area do favor the kid on the second team over a new kid if all things are equal. I doubt any of them do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been on the white team at MYS for years. Very little development but it’s the devil we know. Our DD has had many friends on Arlington black/blue and they seem to move up more frequently which seems like development.

Have you considered moving to Arlington? We have but the commute to Long Park field in the late afternoon is not possible for us. If Arlington trained closed to North Arlington we would seriously consider it.

Commute is an issue for us too. We’re on the N arl border.

[Anonymous]

We’re seriously considering the move from MYS to Arlington. The coaching departures and drama with ECNL/Union at MYS notwithstanding, the boy MYS teams have not been competitive and coaching has been sub-par.

Our only concern is commuting to Long Bridge. Agree with others that more families from northern Fairfax County would consider Arlington more seriously if they practiced at more convenient locations given current traffic patterns during rush hour. We’ll probably still do it, but not looking forward to sitting on 66 for 40 minutes.

Still, if the coaching is as good as we have heard and if their teams actually win games (our MYS team has never beaten an Arlington team), it will be worth it. This puts aside being able to avoid the FVU drama, which is another plus.

[Anonymous]

If you are U13 or older there is no Guarantee the practice will be at Long Bridge. The coach picks the fields and practice times. It could be Quincy TJ Gunston Fields park Bluemont, Kenmore VA Highlands or many other fields. My older kids havent had a practice at LB in years In the winter it may even be WL or Yorktown.

[Anonymous]

Where and when does traffic back up coming from northern Fairfax? I’ve been checking map apps last couple weeks and it hasn’t seemed so bad (45 minutes) compared to any big club alternatives with the exception of McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are U13 or older there is no Guarantee the practice will be at Long Bridge. The coach picks the fields and practice times. It could be Quincy TJ Gunston Fields park Bluemont, Kenmore VA Highlands or many other fields. My older kids havent had a practice at LB in years In the winter it may even be WL or Yorktown.

This is right. NP. Neither of our Spring practices are in Long Bridge. One isn't far from there but the other is Bluemont and if I were living closer to McLean I would hate both commutes.

All Arl 2011 teams are loaded with talent on the girls side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Arlington has a built in ECNL team and a system that will place your daughter on the Arlington ECNL team if she is good enough.



I can tell you 100% this is wrong. If your end goal is playing ECNL for Arlington you have a much better chance making it from another team. They are not looking to promote kids from RL when they can bring a similar skilled player from outside. They already got the RL kids money. I would like to know if any of the ecnl clubs in the area do favor the kid on the second team over a new kid if all things are equal. I doubt any of them do.

Absolutely. Arlington coaches are fairly weak overall. They rely on incoming players from other ECNL programs. The shiny new toy is often preferred, even if most of these players are looking to move teams because they’re not playing at their current club. Makes little sense until you consider that Arlington Soccer is mostly interested in making money, not development of soccer or players. Unless you’re a crazy sports parent, stay away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Arlington has a built in ECNL team and a system that will place your daughter on the Arlington ECNL team if she is good enough.



I can tell you 100% this is wrong. If your end goal is playing ECNL for Arlington you have a much better chance making it from another team. They are not looking to promote kids from RL when they can bring a similar skilled player from outside. They already got the RL kids money. I would like to know if any of the ecnl clubs in the area do favor the kid on the second team over a new kid if all things are equal. I doubt any of them do.

Absolutely. Arlington coaches are fairly weak overall. They rely on incoming players from other ECNL programs. The shiny new toy is often preferred, even if most of these players are looking to move teams because they’re not playing at their current club. Makes little sense until you consider that Arlington Soccer is mostly interested in making money, not development of soccer or players. Unless you’re a crazy sports parent, stay away.

Are you talking about a certain age group/gender, or just in general? As for a private soccer club out for $$ and not development, is Arlington any worse than any other large club? Aren’t they all like that?