Which is better - MSI Academy vs MD Rush vs Bethesda Soccer

[Anonymous]

DS is planning to try out for travel this spring. He will play U9. I'm looking for information on MSI Academy, MD Rush Montgomery and Bethesda Soccer for this age group. Have you had good/bad experiences at this age? Do all of them offer multiple teams?

[Anonymous]

Bethesda has the highest level of play and rec the lowest. Bethesda takes soccer very very seriously and their coaches are not for the faint of heart. Have you considered Potomac or PPA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda has the highest level of play and rec the lowest. Bethesda takes soccer very very seriously and their coaches are not for the faint of heart. Have you considered Potomac or PPA?

MSI Academy is not rec. We've been told it's travel. We heard mixed things about Potomac at this age. We're not familiar with PPA.

[Anonymous]

Oh right. Sorry, I was reading too fast. Academy is definitely not as well regarded as the other clubs, but is fine for kids who want something other than rec but don't want to have the grind of the other travel teams. And WRT Bethesda, at that age, we've heard nothing but negative things for all but the most focused and intense players.

[Anonymous]

PPA is Player Progression Academy. It has absolutely exploded in popularity in lower MoCo upper NW DC the past three years. Good skills development with nice coaches. Not as "serious" as Potomac or Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh right. Sorry, I was reading too fast. Academy is definitely not as well regarded as the other clubs, but is fine for kids who want something other than rec but don't want to have the grind of the other travel teams. And WRT Bethesda, at that age, we've heard nothing but negative things for all but the most focused and intense players.

Have the negative comments on Bethesda come from parents of girls or boys? Our friends with girls in the program have expressed some dissatisfaction, though we know a couple of u9 girls who love it. We've had an extremely positive experience at Bethesda for our u8 son, who is no superstar. There are some annoying last minute changes to the practice schedule occasionally, but we think the coaching has been tremendous.

We've done a couple of clinics with PPA and think they do a great job. MSI at the travel level is called MSC ANC it's hit or miss. Not the best place for a serious kid generally.

[Anonymous]

Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

The classic case of a club getting too big.

The same thing is happening at our NoVA club too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

It's such a big club it has to get more more more money (otherwise known as your kids) to sustain itself. Why do you think they started 'BS' --- Bethesda South. They have exhausted MoCo coffers and now are going after NoVa pockets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

It has always struck me as strange that the boys' and girls' programs at Bethesda don't seem to be coordinated at all. I know that people thought the girls' program was not terribly well managed under the old girls' technical director, though he was reputed to be a very good coach and knowledgeable about soccer. I think people hoped that the new TD for the girls would bring about positive changes. Perhaps that just takes time, but it does seem bizarre that there would be a team without a dedicated coach.

Have you raised these issues with the coach, age group coordinator, or anyone up the chain like the technical director or executive director? I have recommended in other threads that unhappy parents take this approach before bailing. Sometimes you can actually bring about change, and at least you'll feel like you tried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

It has always struck me as strange that the boys' and girls' programs at Bethesda don't seem to be coordinated at all. I know that people thought the girls' program was not terribly well managed under the old girls' technical director, though he was reputed to be a very good coach and knowledgeable about soccer. I think people hoped that the new TD for the girls would bring about positive changes. Perhaps that just takes time, but it does seem bizarre that there would be a team without a dedicated coach.

Have you raised these issues with the coach, age group coordinator, or anyone up the chain like the technical director or executive director? I have recommended in other threads that unhappy parents take this approach before bailing. Sometimes you can actually bring about change, and at least you'll feel like you tried.

Tryouts are coming up in May. Does anyone have an estimates on numbers of kids at each age level? I'm particularly interested in 1st graders. How many kids are "a lot"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

It has always struck me as strange that the boys' and girls' programs at Bethesda don't seem to be coordinated at all. I know that people thought the girls' program was not terribly well managed under the old girls' technical director, though he was reputed to be a very good coach and knowledgeable about soccer. I think people hoped that the new TD for the girls would bring about positive changes. Perhaps that just takes time, but it does seem bizarre that there would be a team without a dedicated coach.

Have you raised these issues with the coach, age group coordinator, or anyone up the chain like the technical director or executive director? I have recommended in other threads that unhappy parents take this approach before bailing. Sometimes you can actually bring about change, and at least you'll feel like you tried.

Re Bethesda Girls at U9: A lot of players are trying out for new teams for next year. If I were at the Bethesda Club management level, and I heard the parents' discussions, I would conclude that this past U9 year was essentially an unmitigated disaster. The kids who love soccer won't notice this stuff, but the parents do, and many are at the point of the "my head is going to explode if I have to deal with this sh** any more" level of frustration. Observations about this past U9 year at Bethesda: (1) I personally question whether Bethesda values its girls program. From all appearances, the girls get 2nd tier coaches, fields, scheduling, etc. at the lower ages of youth play. You will see a Bethesda U-8 boys team (single team) happily practicing on the turf at WJ in the fall while the girls (all 50 of them) have to languish on the baseball outfield; (2) This year's head coach from U9 Michelle R, is moving up to the high school age group for next year, which is good, because she seems better suited for older players who don't need any sort of "good job" type of comments and don't have a lot of parents who ask annoying questions; (3) I think the new Admin staff on the girls side has good intentions, but that said, they don't seem to have the ability to plan and execute very well - they need an executive who is an organizational pro. Re: the empty U9 coaching slot, that went on for MONTHS - this is a great example. They wanted an excellent coach (good intention, not just any coach, an excellent one), but then had trouble finding one and most importantly did not communicate to the parents about what the heck was going on. And then, through no fault of their own, another coach got traded to Boston. The DOC, Shannon C., played on the national team, has tremendous coaching experience. However, she seemed to get herself involved in the large planning task of a scholarship fundraising gala and (4) Parents raise issues with the coaches, director of youth Emily J., ALL THE TIME. Emily seems to blame the team managers for every miscommunication, although having someone to proofread her emails would help everyone out, and nobody on staff seems to understand that one should bother to respond to an email from a parent. Not every parent is a raving soccer lunatic. Some try to provide constructive advice. --CRICKETS-- either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting to see that BSC boys coaching is "tremendous" since it has been a miserable experience for our young girl. We chose BSC looking for a highly competitive level of play for our motivated and skilled player. But BSC took on way too many girls and the skill level is all over the place. Before they tiered the kids for the spring, it was basically expensive rec level play. One of the teams didn't even have a dedicated coach. Can you imagine paying $3000 and not having a coach? There is almost no feedback (except the constant requests for time and money). Our child was "evaluated" via an online form by a coach that had never seen her play in a game. Practices are largely just scrimmages on tiny, inconvenient, overcrowded fields with little active coaching.
I do not doubt that BSC is the top club for older children at the top levels, and it sounds like the boys program has a lot to offer, but the youngest girls program is unimpressive.

It has always struck me as strange that the boys' and girls' programs at Bethesda don't seem to be coordinated at all. I know that people thought the girls' program was not terribly well managed under the old girls' technical director, though he was reputed to be a very good coach and knowledgeable about soccer. I think people hoped that the new TD for the girls would bring about positive changes. Perhaps that just takes time, but it does seem bizarre that there would be a team without a dedicated coach.

Have you raised these issues with the coach, age group coordinator, or anyone up the chain like the technical director or executive director? I have recommended in other threads that unhappy parents take this approach before bailing. Sometimes you can actually bring about change, and at least you'll feel like you tried.

Re Bethesda Girls at U9: A lot of players are trying out for new teams for next year. If I were at the Bethesda Club management level, and I heard the parents' discussions, I would conclude that this past U9 year was essentially an unmitigated disaster. The kids who love soccer won't notice this stuff, but the parents do, and many are at the point of the "my head is going to explode if I have to deal with this sh** any more" level of frustration. Observations about this past U9 year at Bethesda: (1) I personally question whether Bethesda values its girls program. From all appearances, the girls get 2nd tier coaches, fields, scheduling, etc. at the lower ages of youth play. You will see a Bethesda U-8 boys team (single team) happily practicing on the turf at WJ in the fall while the girls (all 50 of them) have to languish on the baseball outfield; (2) This year's head coach from U9 Michelle R, is moving up to the high school age group for next year, which is good, because she seems better suited for older players who don't need any sort of "good job" type of comments and don't have a lot of parents who ask annoying questions; (3) I think the new Admin staff on the girls side has good intentions, but that said, they don't seem to have the ability to plan and execute very well - they need an executive who is an organizational pro. Re: the empty U9 coaching slot, that went on for MONTHS - this is a great example. They wanted an excellent coach (good intention, not just any coach, an excellent one), but then had trouble finding one and most importantly did not communicate to the parents about what the heck was going on. And then, through no fault of their own, another coach got traded to Boston. The DOC, Shannon C., played on the national team, has tremendous coaching experience. However, she seemed to get herself involved in the large planning task of a scholarship fundraising gala and (4) Parents raise issues with the coaches, director of youth Emily J., ALL THE TIME. Emily seems to blame the team managers for every miscommunication, although having someone to proofread her emails would help everyone out, and nobody on staff seems to understand that one should bother to respond to an email from a parent. Not every parent is a raving soccer lunatic. Some try to provide constructive advice. --CRICKETS-- either way.

All of this is happening because these damn clubs are getting waaaaayyyy too big!!

Our club in VA said they were going to announce coaching staff by May 2nd. They still don't have it up on their website.

Piss poor. If the same idiot is running out kid's age group, we are out. We are now looking at other options because we can't stick around with deadlines of offers we are fielding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Re Bethesda Girls at U9: A lot of players are trying out for new teams for next year. If I were at the Bethesda Club management level, and I heard the parents' discussions, I would conclude that this past U9 year was essentially an unmitigated disaster. The kids who love soccer won't notice this stuff, but the parents do, and many are at the point of the "my head is going to explode if I have to deal with this sh** any more" level of frustration. Observations about this past U9 year at Bethesda: (1) I personally question whether Bethesda values its girls program. From all appearances, the girls get 2nd tier coaches, fields, scheduling, etc. at the lower ages of youth play. You will see a Bethesda U-8 boys team (single team) happily practicing on the turf at WJ in the fall while the girls (all 50 of them) have to languish on the baseball outfield; (2) This year's head coach from U9 Michelle R, is moving up to the high school age group for next year, which is good, because she seems better suited for older players who don't need any sort of "good job" type of comments and don't have a lot of parents who ask annoying questions; (3) I think the new Admin staff on the girls side has good intentions, but that said, they don't seem to have the ability to plan and execute very well - they need an executive who is an organizational pro. Re: the empty U9 coaching slot, that went on for MONTHS - this is a great example. They wanted an excellent coach (good intention, not just any coach, an excellent one), but then had trouble finding one and most importantly did not communicate to the parents about what the heck was going on. And then, through no fault of their own, another coach got traded to Boston. The DOC, Shannon C., played on the national team, has tremendous coaching experience. However, she seemed to get herself involved in the large planning task of a scholarship fundraising gala and (4) Parents raise issues with the coaches, director of youth Emily J., ALL THE TIME. Emily seems to blame the team managers for every miscommunication, although having someone to proofread her emails would help everyone out, and nobody on staff seems to understand that one should bother to respond to an email from a parent. Not every parent is a raving soccer lunatic. Some try to provide constructive advice. --CRICKETS-- either way.

That does sound very frustrating. I'll offer a few comments on your points that may or may not be helpful.

I think Bethesda actually does value their girls program quite a bit; in fact, once upon a time it was known more for its girls' program. I have a son in the younger age groups at Bethesda, and I don't at all think the younger boys have better practice spots than the younger girls. We often practice at Tilden MS with about 10 other teams, many of which are girls (granted that's a giant space, but still). The times are mostly done by age. I have the impression Bethesda tries to get the little kid practices in earlier, regardless if means using some questionable fields. The DA teams practice on nice fields, but sometimes aren't done until 9:30 pm. Some of the issues you mention are logistical ones that all big clubs with lots of teams face.

I do think there are a lot more good coaches on the boys' side than the girls' side, including some really exceptional ones. For the girls program, I have heard raves about Haroot Hakopian (who is the Churchill girls coach) and know that Dave Green (the Whitman boys coach) is supposed to know what he is doing. Perhaps the new TD will be able to attract some more qualified people once she settles in, though it does seem like the reviews have been mixed at best for the initial crew she brought on board. I haven't heard anything about Michelle R, but your comment made me laugh. There are coaches who are very dedicated to soccer and good at training kids but have no interest in dealing with what they see as silly soccer newbie parent issues. This sort of person can drive your typical high achieving Bethesda dwelling parent insane. Not suggesting that is your issue, but I've seen good coaches get trashed by groups of parents who don't know a lot about soccer and have unrealistic expectations about how much time the coach should spend communicating with them, and what issues (like playing time) the coach is going to be willing to discuss.

I think there may be one or more board members who have young daughters in the program. Since it doesn't sound like your efforts to communicate about the problems so far have been very successful, you may want to try that route as well if you are sticking around.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP for providing constructive advice.