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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

This is all kinds of incorrect (well, except for Muldoons), but trolls gonna troll I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

This is all kinds of incorrect (well, except for Muldoons), but trolls gonna troll I guess.

NP here.

You can defend BSC all you want, but if you think for a moment that the administration of the club this season was anything to be proud of, you've got your head up your ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

This is all kinds of incorrect (well, except for Muldoons), but trolls gonna troll I guess.

NP here.

You can defend BSC all you want, but if you think for a moment that the administration of the club this season was anything to be proud of, you've got your head up your ass.

They just replaced pretty much their entire administration. Give them a bit of time to get things turned around.
Yes, there are kids leaving Bethesda...the handful that I know of are leaving because they think their kids' are better than they really are.
If you can sight anything to show the the DAs are slipping, I'd be really impressed. Looks like they're still doing really well. Good showing in state cup too.

I've got kids in Bethesda, and there's good and bad in this club, just like any other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

Got some evidence for Bethesda DA "slipping"? In all three Boys DA age groups for which standings are kept, Bethesda's teams have finished the year in the top 4 in the highly competitive Atlantic division. U16/17 and U18/19 teams have qualified for the playoffs. U15s have not in spite of having an even better record than the older teams because DA this year decided to have only the top team in each division qualify for the playoffs (plus one wildcard for all divisions combined). For every age group, the Bethesda DA team has finished ahead of every other local DA team in the area, with the exceptions of Baltimore Armour (finshed ahead of Bethesda in U18/19) and DC United (U16/17). You can guess how much of a "slippage" that has been from previous years (not). There are not many non-MLS DAs in the country who have all their three higher age groups finishing in the top 4 of their DA divisions in a single year. In this region, PDA might be the only other one.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTA3Ng%3D%3D

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

Got some evidence for Bethesda DA "slipping"? In all three Boys DA age groups for which standings are kept, Bethesda's teams have finished the year in the top 4 in the highly competitive Atlantic division. U16/17 and U18/19 teams have qualified for the playoffs. U15s have not in spite of having an even better record than the older teams because DA this year decided to have only the top team in each division qualify for the playoffs (plus one wildcard for all divisions combined). For every age group, the Bethesda DA team has finished ahead of every other local DA team in the area, with the exceptions of Baltimore Armour (finshed ahead of Bethesda in U18/19) and DC United (U16/17). You can guess how much of a "slippage" that has been from previous years (not). There are not many non-MLS DAs in the country who have all their three higher age groups finishing in the top 4 of their DA divisions in a single year. In this region, PDA might be the only other one.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTA3Ng%3D%3D

And the U14s have sent 3 players to the national team camp.

Bethesda is a developing club more than a recruiting club. Should be proud of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

Got some evidence for Bethesda DA "slipping"? In all three Boys DA age groups for which standings are kept, Bethesda's teams have finished the year in the top 4 in the highly competitive Atlantic division. U16/17 and U18/19 teams have qualified for the playoffs. U15s have not in spite of having an even better record than the older teams because DA this year decided to have only the top team in each division qualify for the playoffs (plus one wildcard for all divisions combined). For every age group, the Bethesda DA team has finished ahead of every other local DA team in the area, with the exceptions of Baltimore Armour (finshed ahead of Bethesda in U18/19) and DC United (U16/17). You can guess how much of a "slippage" that has been from previous years (not). There are not many non-MLS DAs in the country who have all their three higher age groups finishing in the top 4 of their DA divisions in a single year. In this region, PDA might be the only other one.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTA3Ng%3D%3D

And the U14s have sent 3 players to the national team camp.

Bethesda is a developing club more than a recruiting club. Should be proud of that.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Bethesda attracts some of the top talent but they aren't bringing kids up and making them better, rather taking good kids and letting them play with other good kids. Many of the DAs have more external imports than they do internal promotions every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

Got some evidence for Bethesda DA "slipping"? In all three Boys DA age groups for which standings are kept, Bethesda's teams have finished the year in the top 4 in the highly competitive Atlantic division. U16/17 and U18/19 teams have qualified for the playoffs. U15s have not in spite of having an even better record than the older teams because DA this year decided to have only the top team in each division qualify for the playoffs (plus one wildcard for all divisions combined). For every age group, the Bethesda DA team has finished ahead of every other local DA team in the area, with the exceptions of Baltimore Armour (finshed ahead of Bethesda in U18/19) and DC United (U16/17). You can guess how much of a "slippage" that has been from previous years (not). There are not many non-MLS DAs in the country who have all their three higher age groups finishing in the top 4 of their DA divisions in a single year. In this region, PDA might be the only other one.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTA3Ng%3D%3D

And the U14s have sent 3 players to the national team camp.

Bethesda is a developing club more than a recruiting club. Should be proud of that.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Bethesda attracts some of the top talent but they aren't bringing kids up and making them better, rather taking good kids and letting them play with other good kids. Many of the DAs have more external imports than they do internal promotions every year.

All top clubs attract top talent, you’re saying that none of the kids on Bethesda DA developed out of lower teams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are leaving Bethesda this spring/summer for other clubs due to dissatisfaction with subpar coaching and the power of pushy parents to get undeserved advantages for their kids, including playing time and team placements. Top teams in many age groups, including DA, are slipping in quality. Bethesda’s reputation is way out of step with its actual quality. The administration of the club is a mess and the club badly needs its own practice and game facilities. Muldoons, in particular, is a disgrace. Send your kid to this club at your peril!

Got some evidence for Bethesda DA "slipping"? In all three Boys DA age groups for which standings are kept, Bethesda's teams have finished the year in the top 4 in the highly competitive Atlantic division. U16/17 and U18/19 teams have qualified for the playoffs. U15s have not in spite of having an even better record than the older teams because DA this year decided to have only the top team in each division qualify for the playoffs (plus one wildcard for all divisions combined). For every age group, the Bethesda DA team has finished ahead of every other local DA team in the area, with the exceptions of Baltimore Armour (finshed ahead of Bethesda in U18/19) and DC United (U16/17). You can guess how much of a "slippage" that has been from previous years (not). There are not many non-MLS DAs in the country who have all their three higher age groups finishing in the top 4 of their DA divisions in a single year. In this region, PDA might be the only other one.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTA3Ng%3D%3D

And the U14s have sent 3 players to the national team camp.

Bethesda is a developing club more than a recruiting club. Should be proud of that.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Bethesda attracts some of the top talent but they aren't bringing kids up and making them better, rather taking good kids and letting them play with other good kids. Many of the DAs have more external imports than they do internal promotions every year.

Bethesda's DA program has a significant number of kids who have been at Bethesda since their elementary years. If you were a DA insider, you'd be more likely to fault them for their lack of recruiting than almost anything else.

[Anonymous]

The paragraph about players leaving might reflect the girls side and non-DA boy's teams. The girl's side might have one team has one team that qualified for regional or national playoffs. I personally think the coaching is strong but they are not developing enough players to compete at the highest level, hence, the club recruiting MRM Rush at u14 to take over the top team. The OP is right that parents are too involved.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a BSC parent so I have no skin in the game.

But why is there a need to bash BSC? Players will stay or leave a club/team for a multitude of various reasons.

If you are a current BSC parent and hate it there, then just leave. Why bother complaining?

If you’re not a BSC parent, then why would you care how BSC is or why parents want to remain at BSC?

There’s no such thing as a perfect club or team particularly at every age group.

As for player development, it requires good coaches and very committed and coachable players. But being a committed and coachable player is even more important. I’ve seem kids develop tremendously over the summer purely based upon practicing on their own and learning skills and soccer IQ from YouTube videos.

A school teacher can be a great teacher but if the student doesn’t listen, study on his/her own and do all of their homework, you can’t say that the teacher is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a BSC parent so I have no skin in the game.

But why is there a need to bash BSC? Players will stay or leave a club/team for a multitude of various reasons.

If you are a current BSC parent and hate it there, then just leave. Why bother complaining?

If you’re not a BSC parent, then why would you care how BSC is or why parents want to remain at BSC?

There’s no such thing as a perfect club or team particularly at every age group.

As for player development, it requires good coaches and very committed and coachable players. But being a committed and coachable player is even more important. I’ve seem kids develop tremendously over the summer purely based upon practicing on their own and learning skills and soccer IQ from YouTube videos.

A school teacher can be a great teacher but if the student doesn’t listen, study on his/her own and do all of their homework, you can’t say that the teacher is bad.

Ha, you do realize this is DCUM? If you want only happy talk, turn on the children's hour of PBS and watch the Wiggles or something.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda's DA program has a significant number of kids who have been at Bethesda since their elementary years. If you were a DA insider, you'd be more likely to fault them for their lack of recruiting than almost anything else.

I know it is uncool to say nice things, but my kids (not Bethesda players) have done winter and supplemental training programs with some of the Bethesda DA boys, and they are incredible players - skilled, motivated, and hard working. They have been with Bethesda all long. Of course they, like all top players, are always working to improve their skills outside of team practice.

One other general observation I have as a parent of a U14 is that Bethesda tends to have players of various sizes, including smaller players. Pipeline is another club that comes to mind, and perhaps Celtic as well. While the majority of top teams rely on big, strong man-children in these early teen years, I've seen the Bethesda and a few other clubs feature smaller, highly skilled players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a BSC parent so I have no skin in the game.

But why is there a need to bash BSC? Players will stay or leave a club/team for a multitude of various reasons.

If you are a current BSC parent and hate it there, then just leave. Why bother complaining?

If you’re not a BSC parent, then why would you care how BSC is or why parents want to remain at BSC?

There’s no such thing as a perfect club or team, particularly at every age group.

As for player development, it requires good coaches and very committed and coachable players. But being a committed and coachable player is even more important. I’ve seem kids develop tremendously over the summer purely based upon practicing on their own and learning skills and soccer IQ from YouTube videos.

A school teacher can be a great teacher but if the student doesn’t listen, study on his/her own and do all of their homework, you can’t say that the teacher is bad.

It is not bashing to share insight. Too many unknowing parents treat Bethesda like the Mecca of soccer. My DC started out at Bethesda, left and then returned. If your DC is u13 and younger and not on the A team, I would think twice about joing Bethesda. There are a half dozen clubs within a 30-minute drive that are better at developing young players. BSC's girls TD is impressive but the clubs struggles in ECNL and State Cup demonstrates that given the talent showing up to Bethesda, the development is underperforming expectations.

[Anonymous]

Just don't expect that your DC will improve drastically playing at BSC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just don't expect that your DC will improve drastically playing at BSC.

Perhaps this is true at the most novice/weaker of the teams, but for the high- and mid-level teams, a big part of kids' improvement is not just coaching but also the day-to-day competition spurred by the other players on the teams, in drills and scrimmages. Bethesda attracts a lot of higher skilled players across all age groups, and those higher skilled players will help elevate the skills of your DC (and vice versa). In other words, when evaluating potential for improvement, the existing talent base is an important (and often overlooked) factor.