MLS Next Schedules - 23/24
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Anonymous
I’m assuming parents are doing that already. But also what can parents do now? Pull their kids out of soccer until something changes? Spend all their time and resources to find alternatives? I like to give parents the benefit of the doubt that they are working with what is available now bc they don’t have the luxury of time to wait arnd for better options. And I’m also going to assume parents are taking charge of their kids development. We are. My kid will play MLSNext and if they don’t get into a youth academy by U15, we have a backup plan. But no matter how good your kid is, it’s still a lot of work to research opportunities for your child and advocate for them especially when you do not have connections to the soccer community. At the end of the day, the kids that are going to be the most successful are those who are born into the soccer world and to parents who know what to do from the get go. |
Anonymous
Philly union works completely different than this area in training and recruiting the best of the best kids to pipeline into their system. This is not how the dmv works in regards to a club having a monopoly on great talent. Dc united comes nowhere close to the level if Philly's local engagement. Enjoy the wins and move on, but it's apples and oranges to compare them. |
Anonymous
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The top half of EDP, ECNL and the lower performing MLS Next Affiliate teams in the DMV can play each other and provide enough competition that none of them need to rack up thousands in travel expenses and hours on the road belonging to a bunch of different leagues.
Coaching, training, Individual Development is more important than games. What's the value in time, energy and money spent to go be dominated in NYC, NJ, PA, DE for a game or play against competition three states away the same level as in your area? |
Anonymous
For little kids, yes. By the time you hit U17/18/19, travel is necessary and the amount of college coaches coming out to MLSNext events is great. I really do think the travel is an utter and complete waste of time for the young kids. I kept my kids out of places that would have had them getting on planes and crossing multiple state lines until they were at a minimum Sophomores-Jrs in HS. I have boys though and for girls they recruit earlier so I'd shift down for them. |
Anonymous
I can only speak for EDP but there is a lot of kickball even at the top most levels of competition. Likely bc there is a wide range of technical skill levels even on top teams and possession play can’t be executed consistently. My DS was on a top EDP team and is now on MLSNext and the quality of play is better for him to the point that he doesn’t care about winning, but just having the experience of playing with and against more technical players and teams. |
Anonymous
Do you really not know? The value is in the admissions boost a recruited athlete will get to an academically elite college. In our son’s case it came with significant athletic scholarship as well. Also, no one is paying close to $10k for a local MLSNext team unless the whole family travels to all showcases and stays someplace fancy. |
Anonymous
The U14 match was 2-1 through 77 minutes with the Union keeper making two excellent second half saves to keep it from evening up. The Union scored with 2 minutes left to make it 3-1 on a counter after Bethesda pushed to score. |
Anonymous
There is not a lot of scholarship money floating around for soccer. The colleges now prioritize International recruits, followed by MLS Club Academy players. Then MLS Next and ECNL. The rosters don't lie. $3,500 - $4,000 club fee for year Have to purchase training and game gear Several weekends travel to NY, NJ, PA, DE Travel to national tournaments May not all be at $10K per family per player, but it's up there, no? |
Anonymous
BA folks can talk. They at least won a game and scored a few goals. |
Anonymous
How many 2009 players are on the Bethesda 2010 MLS Next team? |
Anonymous
Three. |
Anonymous
I’m assuming they’ve been biobanded though. What’s the big deal? Don’t other clubs take advantage of this? Or is someone insinuating that the 2009 kids should have not been biobanded bc they don’t seem to be physically behind? |
Anonymous
Bio-banding isn't supposed to be used to give clubs a competitive "advantage". It's supposed to be for the kids development. |
Anonymous
no. My son's club fee is $3,100. There will be one trip to a showcase requiring flights and hotels. There are, I think, maybe two weekend travel trips that require a hotel because there are back-to-back games in NJ or PA. I assume you're not comparing MLS Next to ECNL in this value conversation, since they're about the same. For us, the value gained playing for an MLS Next squad, far exceeds an EDP or NCSL team in the same age group. He plays around 28 league games, friendlies, 4 tournaments, and practices 4X a week for 1.5 hours on a team with a well-qualified, excellent coach and assistant coach. The club provides buses to the games more than 3 hours away. All of his teammates are high level players, as are all of his opponents. Compare that to the average EDP team which costs $2,500, provides 2 or 3 practices, plays between 16-20 games plus tournaments, and has a wide variance in the quality of coaches and players. Some of the parents of good players in this situation supplement with ODP to have the chance to play with and against higher quality players. That makes their costs higher than ours. Travelling to Baltimore for an EDP game from Northern VA, for instance, isn't all that different than travelling to Lancaster or Philly. And anyone on any team has to purchase "training and game gear." The "value" is not really very close. |
Anonymous
They are not physically behind. While they may be average 2009s they are among the largest players on the 2010 team. Not the point of bio-banding. |