Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:VDA doesn’t need to save face. Stuff happens and they’re a good new program with great players and coaches. I was there and I heard VDA coach laughingly tell somebody he was retiring after dropping that one. I bet Spirit coach was happy to get a win against a good team. I think parents get way more consumed by this than the staff and players. The perpetual attacking of WSVA makes them think everyone is out to get them when they’re just another club trying to carve out a place in NOVA soccer.
WSVA gets "attacked" because they come on here and say things like they have the top talent or the best development in the area. Those things are simply not true at this point. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. But it is not anywhere close to true at the moment. Results from one game are meaningless as well. It is funny how results are indicative of something when WSVA gets the positive results but meaningless (its all about development) when WSVA sits at the bottom of the standing in every single age group except one.
NP here. Previously a lurker, but this one made me want to step into the fray. Hopefully only once. I've followed this thread since the beginning as in full disclosure, my daughter does play at WS. She is a good player. She had offers at other clubs mentioned on this thread. We chose Spirit because of logistics, and we actually kind of liked the idea of a new club that didn't have a political history with its players. And they did make a case for development. Some has been as we had hoped, some less so. It's organizational and growing pains and we know now and knew when we started that there would be issues with a new club, the talent would be mixed, etc.
I don't think anywhere in this thread that people have said that WS has the "top talent" though. It doesn't. We are there and we know it doesn't. Not across the board anyway. There are some very good players though and if I"m trying to be unbiased, I think this forum goes a little crazy with the extremes. Saying WS has some good players doesn't mean saying they have the best players among all area clubs in every position. It also doesn't mean there aren't some players that might be better off in less competitive environments. Saying they have good keepers who could start sometimes at other clubs doesn't mean the other clubs don't also have great keepers. And saying they are about development when they lose doesn't mean it's still not about development when they win. It doesn't need to be so black and white. Having read the past 60+ pages, I'd love for it to stop being so personal, but I know that's likely too much to ask. But seriously, let the girls play -- if they are at Spirit and happy, good for them. If they are unhappy and talented, you'll see them (or already have been seeing them) at your club's ID sessions and they'll prove their value. Or they won't. If they are unhappy and not talented, they'll figure it out.
Also, drawing any conclusions about showcase game results in the preseason in the cold when no teams have really had many outdoor practices, etc. is silly. Whether your club was amazing or terrible. But on the flip side, it's not delusional to acknowledge throughout the season that there are a few powerhouse area teams in each age group (like BRYC's 16s) but that the rest of the teams could potentially play each other pretty evenly ON ANY GIVEN DAY depending on injuries, positions, who is on the field, what the coach's objective for the game is (e.g., my team is one of the best around and I'm going to play my striker at CB to teach her and accept the consequences). Good job to the teams that played tight games this past weekend. Pretty or not. Possession or not. No excuses needed for losing, no accolades needed for winning. It doesn't mean anything. That IS development -- getting out there and doing what you need to do to keep your team in the game regardless of the opponent or the talent or the PK shooting or any of the rest of it.
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That's hilarious!!