VYS house or travel in middle and HS

[Anonymous]

My daughter has played VYS house for years and as they have become older, more and more girls have left for travel. Some stayed with house but it was their secondary sport or they don’t take it seriously enough to come to every game. This has resulted in many weekends where they didn’t have enough players for games or just enough with no subs.

My daughter loves soccer but hasn’t wanted to try out for travel because of the extra time commitment. She’s about to enter middle school and is worried this is going to get worse over the next few years. For those who have btdt, do rec teams in middle and high school have enough serious players to field a team for games?

[Anonymous]

VYS NCSL teams will practice 2x per week, play 4 tournaments per year, and about 18 games per year (9 fall, 9 spring). I don’t think it’s a huge commitment, and players do miss both practices and games sometimes.

Your bigger issue will be making a team coming from house. If she’s a late 2010, it will be tough (that is VYS’ strongest year on the girls’ side). 2011 may be easier.

[Anonymous]

Once high school starts, kids start to leave travel for house as there are many competing interests.

[Anonymous]

Also note, once they reach high school, the teams are 9-12 and play other area house teams so the #s get better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VYS NCSL teams will practice 2x per week, play 4 tournaments per year, and about 18 games per year (9 fall, 9 spring). I don’t think it’s a huge commitment, and players do miss both practices and games sometimes.

Your bigger issue will be making a team coming from house. If she’s a late 2010, it will be tough (that is VYS’ strongest year on the girls’ side). 2011 may be easier.

Thanks. She’s a 2010 and it’s too late for this year anyway. I didn’t think of that since we constantly get emails about travel tryouts and you hear about kids dropping off as they get older. Admittedly I haven’t followed closely. House it is and we will hope for the best.

[Anonymous]

I have one that plays House and one that plays Travel, if she likes just occasional soccer, House is the best. If she really does want to play Travel, there are often spots even at this point - just contact the Travel admin / Coach if you decide to go that route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VYS NCSL teams will practice 2x per week, play 4 tournaments per year, and about 18 games per year (9 fall, 9 spring). I don’t think it’s a huge commitment, and players do miss both practices and games sometimes.

Your bigger issue will be making a team coming from house. If she’s a late 2010, it will be tough (that is VYS’ strongest year on the girls’ side). 2011 may be easier.

Thanks. She’s a 2010 and it’s too late for this year anyway. I didn’t think of that since we constantly get emails about travel tryouts and you hear about kids dropping off as they get older. Admittedly I haven’t followed closely. House it is and we will hope for the best.

As the poster below you mentions, it’s not too late. Email VYS and ask to join some travel practices next month, it is very common. I usually tell people the best time to join is either August or January.

It is possible they will tell you the age group is full, but if they will let you practice a few times, it will give your DD a taste of the coaches, structure, and other players. As other posters have mentioned, spots do open up.

I can also tell you if your daughter is tall and willing to train as a goalkeeper, the 2010s need GKs. I don’t believe any of the 2010 VYS girls teams (including Brave) have a backup GK.

Lastly, the 2009s are a small group at VYS, and they have a number of 2010s playing up in the fall. Depending on your daughter’s size and athleticism, that could be an option.