College scholarship would be just a bonus but like I said... I don't want to sit in the car for over 40min. 3-4 per week. Yes, I would like him to enjoy really competitive soccer but without too much time in commutes. Is there such a thing? I'm in Fairfax close to Burke. |
Well you will know that BRYC is a good option if college is a potential objective but that could involve a lot of travel for games. SYA, SYC. |
I don’t know where you live or where your 05 son plays, but there are some very good teams in Fairfax County like Doradus (SDor) and SYC (Franconia and Springfield). Those 2 have been stronger than any other 05 teams in NOVA with the possible/probable exception of VDA. |
*Meant to say VDA and Arlington. |
I think Herndon play good soccer and have good coaching in general too - although I don't know anything specifically about the 05 team. If you live on the East side of Fairfax and your son is really good, Arlington has the best coaching and level of play in the area - in my opinion by a significant margin - but I totally understand your point of view re driving. VDA is second best to Arlington for talent, and I am not particuarly impressed with the coaching + it's just as long a drive from Fairfax (Howison actually further and Long Park a little closer). |
If close to Burke you might be able to look at VDA then. Most of the practices will probably be at Howison which is in Woodbridge. You'll end up in Haymarket probably once a week - but the traffic usually works out OK for that trip. |
Good teams, among tops. Alexandria won the state in the fall and is top ranked in this age group but probably a little too far out given what you said. |
Vda is 35-40 mins from burke without traffic and that’s to their Woodbridge location and Haymarket is a solid 1 hr drive. The Closest clubs to the burke area that are competitive are Sya, syc, Doradus and Bryc even though Bryc 05 boys might be the weakest team out of the 4. |
Didn’t that Doradus team send 3 or 4 kids to DCU? |
U15 (2005) boys: SYC, Doradus, Alexandria, Villarreal, Herndon, VYS, FcV McLean, Loudoun are ALL ranked higher than Arlington. |
According to what? |
Gotsoccer. Arlington is much lower in state rankings for 2005B. I’m not sure who is pimping them out on this board. In many boy age groups, they are not one of the top teams in the state. Many local teams are higher. 2007 and 2008 boys, they are ranked lower than 8 other local dmv teams. DA in the older years is a separate thing with mostly non-Arlington players. |
| I know many 06 that left because of a coach. The coaching is not great either. It’s just...big. |
Arlington has (or had) an 05 DA team. That is the team I was referring to. Maybe non-Arlington players leave, but maybe they don’t. And no I don’t have a kid at Arlington. As far as the 05 boys teams are concerned, if rosters stay more or less the same, the 4 ECNL teams (Loudoun, McLean, BRYC and VDA) are all good but there are a number of teams locally that are on par or better. |
Youth soccer rankings can be better (they don't just give points for trophy hunters who sandbag in lower divisions for gotsoccer points, etc) and it includes DAs. Here's U15 for VA: 1 SOCA ELITE [109] 37.95 2 ALEXANDRIA SA RED [133] 37.74 3 ARLINGTON SA [159] 37.63 4 VIRGINIA LEGACY SC CCL [169] 37.59 5 RICHMOND KICKERS YOUTH SC ELITE RED [205] 37.38 6 RICHMOND UNITED [294] 37.00 7 RICHMOND STRIKERS ELITE [369] 36.76 8 LEE MOUNT VERNON SC SPRINGFIELD SOUTH COUNTY YOUTH CLUB LIONS BLUE [375] 36.74 9 LOUDOUN SC SOCCER RED [427] 36.60 10 LOUDOUN SC SOCCER ECNL [447] 36.52 11 DORADUS SDOR ELITE [485] 36.39 12 ANNANDALE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB VILLARREAL VIRGINIA ACADEMY [511] 36.33 13 HYS CICLONES BLACK [520] 36.32 14 ARLINGTON SA RED [526] 36.30 15 COMMONWEALTH FC BLACK [571] 36.15 16 VA RUSH SC [590] 36.12 17 MCLEAN YS ECNL [674] 35.92 18 FREDERICKSBURG FC BLACK [868] 35.47 19 VIENNA YS EAGLES [929] 35.35 20 FC VIRGINIA UNITED ELITE [990] 35.23 |