Girls DA/ECNL in VA: who will survive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a forum. A place to shoot the shit. To speculate. To just have a conversation. While you can disagree with people’s theories, stating things like “why do you care?” and getting all defensive about your kid’s club is a waste of time. If you don’t want to hear this stuff then stop reading this forum. If you’re going to read this forum, then don’t be a puss about it. Counter argue, but quit the little bitchy comments.

Ha! So, you got nothing then? Except some rules for how we should approach the forum. Got it. We all know what this place is. A place for you to vent your frustrations endlessly about FCV. But we’re the wusses? Ok. Whatever happened, let it go.

Ummm he was staring in general about how forums work and he is right. Whatever you said makes no point and certainly doesn’t counter that fact.

“Ha!” Is not a counter argument.

The forum is a place to speculate about these things and that is all people are doing. There is nothing wrong about predicting how this sale will work out down the road. Your defensiveness on the matter will neither stop the speculation nor affect the possible outcomes. Is it better to plan for the future based on a range of scenarios or to just wait for things to happen and plan after the fact?

How many practices at the St James are to many? One? Two? It doesn’t matter? How much of a price hike or how much extra “encouraged” extras can you afford or are comfortable saying no to? Knowing your own limitations and a healthy dose of speculative prediction can make you better prepared.

Last year you signed on at FCV and it was a simple soccer decision, certainly nobody was anticipating the club would sell. But now this year after a out of the blue sale and the near certainty of change you think the best idea is to wait until next spring to plan? You don’t think the higher ups at the St James don’t have their own buddies who they would like to work with? Change is coming, how much is hard to tell but to deny that change is coming is a bad approach.

Here is why these posts are so stupid. Everyone can do the same thing about every club with the speculation and snark. Watch...

Are you tired of playing at Loudoun and realizing that those U10 tournament victories don't help your resume and those GotSoccer points expire? By U13 all that has been developed is one-footed kickballers. But, hey, those GKs can punt the crap out of the ball.

Anyone worried that VDA is made up of 3 average clubs (PWSI, VSA and VYS) and that within 3 years that partnership will collapse and you all will be playing for PWSI in ECNL regional? Where will all the BRYC players go when the Scots pack up and leave for greener pastures when they realize that BRYC doesn't have a big enough club to pay their salaries and ECNL is just glorified CCL?

And so on and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

I call BS too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

Call it whatever you want. For us, the commute from Loudoun to TSJ is an hour or more. Will you put your daughter in the car for 8+ hours a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

Call it whatever you want. For us, the commute from Loudoun to TSJ is an hour or more. Will you put your daughter in the car for 8+ hours a week?

Then leave your FCV DA team . Problem solved

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

Call it whatever you want. For us, the commute from Loudoun to TSJ is an hour or more. Will you put your daughter in the car for 8+ hours a week?

Then leave your FCV DA team . Problem solved

That is what they are saying they will do. Did you miss that part?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

I call BS too.

Why would that be BS? If they can’t commit and contribute to a carpool there are lots of soccer options closer by. And even if it was possible not getting home until 10 every night can certainly negatively impact school work. Spending 4 to 4.5 hours a day 4 days a week in a car and on the field is not particularly balanced in life and it would not be shocking that people would decide that it is not for them especially when you realize that recruiting is more about the player than it is about the team the player is on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a forum. A place to shoot the shit. To speculate. To just have a conversation. While you can disagree with people’s theories, stating things like “why do you care?” and getting all defensive about your kid’s club is a waste of time. If you don’t want to hear this stuff then stop reading this forum. If you’re going to read this forum, then don’t be a puss about it. Counter argue, but quit the little bitchy comments.

Ha! So, you got nothing then? Except some rules for how we should approach the forum. Got it. We all know what this place is. A place for you to vent your frustrations endlessly about FCV. But we’re the wusses? Ok. Whatever happened, let it go.

Ummm he was staring in general about how forums work and he is right. Whatever you said makes no point and certainly doesn’t counter that fact.

“Ha!” Is not a counter argument.

The forum is a place to speculate about these things and that is all people are doing. There is nothing wrong about predicting how this sale will work out down the road. Your defensiveness on the matter will neither stop the speculation nor affect the possible outcomes. Is it better to plan for the future based on a range of scenarios or to just wait for things to happen and plan after the fact?

How many practices at the St James are to many? One? Two? It doesn’t matter? How much of a price hike or how much extra “encouraged” extras can you afford or are comfortable saying no to? Knowing your own limitations and a healthy dose of speculative prediction can make you better prepared.

Last year you signed on at FCV and it was a simple soccer decision, certainly nobody was anticipating the club would sell. But now this year after a out of the blue sale and the near certainty of change you think the best idea is to wait until next spring to plan? You don’t think the higher ups at the St James don’t have their own buddies who they would like to work with? Change is coming, how much is hard to tell but to deny that change is coming is a bad approach.

Here is why these posts are so stupid. Everyone can do the same thing about every club with the speculation and snark. Watch...

Are you tired of playing at Loudoun and realizing that those U10 tournament victories don't help your resume and those GotSoccer points expire? By U13 all that has been developed is one-footed kickballers. But, hey, those GKs can punt the crap out of the ball.

Anyone worried that VDA is made up of 3 average clubs (PWSI, VSA and VYS) and that within 3 years that partnership will collapse and you all will be playing for PWSI in ECNL regional? Where will all the BRYC players go when the Scots pack up and leave for greener pastures when they realize that BRYC doesn't have a big enough club to pay their salaries and ECNL is just glorified CCL?

And so on and so on.

I’ll take the bait because you raised a couple of interesting points to speculate about. Particularly the fate of VDA. I disagree with the shade you are throwing at VSA and PWSI, (two clubs FCV can’t beat by the way). But how will a Regional ECNL affect VDA when VSA and PWSI could just go it alone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

I call BS too.

Why would that be BS? If they can’t commit and contribute to a carpool there are lots of soccer options closer by. And even if it was possible not getting home until 10 every night can certainly negatively impact school work. Spending 4 to 4.5 hours a day 4 days a week in a car and on the field is not particularly balanced in life and it would not be shocking that people would decide that it is not for them especially when you realize that recruiting is more about the player than it is about the team the player is on.

Leaving the best team in your recruitment years is stupid...that's why. A hour commute, while long, is not a deal breaker if you only have to drive one day a week because of carpool.

07 and below..I get it...but 05 and above will stay together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what do people think of the outlook 4 years from now? I’m assuming that the primary goal of the girls playing in ECNL and DA is getting looks to play in college, whether D1 or D3.

ECNL:
Mclean is great at the older ages (teams established before there were DA options) and not as good at the younger. Their feeder club seems less populated than it used to be. Geographically competing with Arlington to the east and Metro United to the west and BRYC to the south. And even Bethesda to the north? They were already losing out to FCV on talent before DA came into existence 2 years ago, and now there are all of those other options for showcasing available.

VDA seems to have strong feeder clubs, and a grip on the geography between Richmond and the beltway.

Loudoun also has a strong feeder pool, and may be winning the western geography given the St. James situation with FCV.

BRYC seems to be, like mclean, great at the older ages but struggling at the younger. And losing players from teams younger than 03. May be losing geographically to VDA to the west/south, Mclean to the north, and Arlington to the east.

DA:
FCV remains the strongest program in the area (remnant of the time when FCV and Mclean were mostly the only girls’ games in town, with a nod to BRYC) but this St James situation and its uncertainty will be an issue. If practices move towards St James and away from Evergreen over the next 3 years, STJFCV will lose the western player pool to Loudoun but might gain some of the southern player pool from BRYC or VDA.

Arlington just got the full girls DA this year and has a huge feeder population (like Loudoun). Arlington wins the traffic geography for kids inside the beltway on the Virginia side, other than those sitting in Tysons/Mclean, since it will generally be a reverse commute. And they can draw from parts of DC and MD that are closer in.

Metro United (née Washington Spirit VA). As much as I like to root for the underdog, I think this club will be made up of kids who don’t make the Loudoun, Mclean, Arlington, STJFCV, BRYC teams. Still haven’t seen any announced feeder club partnerships beyond GFR, which could be a real talent issue given market saturation of team options.

My prediction is that Arlington DA, Loudoun ECNL, and VDA ECNL end up on top in 5 years for pure player pool size, player development, and geographic/traffic reasons. FCV will stay in the mix and in the conversation on the strength of its current brand, but the St. James uncertainty will undermine it and 3 or 4 years from now, FCV will be what Mclean is today — a former destination club in the mid-pack in the standings and on its way down. Mclean will putter along but be at the bottom of the ECNL rankings, and if Clyde Watson retires, its talent draw will go downhill very fast. Metro United and BRYC will have ceased to participate at the ECNL/DA levels, perhaps by merging their top team with those of other clubs in their respective leagues (like Richmond United ECNL has partnerships with all the top clubs in Richmond, like VDA with its feeder clubs, and like Baltimore Armour DA and its club partnerships).

MU will only improve - U14 currently improving game by game. Poor predictions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05 and above at FCV will not change regardless of practice location. Most of the 05 team will be 9th grade and the 04 10th grade next year. We like to call them the recruiting years.

This move will effect the 06 and down age groups.

I can tell you this. We are ahead of your cutoff line and are not going to be commuting to Springfield for practices 4 times/wk if that's what happens. There are other options that are closer and offer similar opportunities for college recruiting.

So you kid is on a FCV DA team and you wont commute in a car pool? IM CALLING BS

I call BS too.

Why would that be BS? If they can’t commit and contribute to a carpool there are lots of soccer options closer by. And even if it was possible not getting home until 10 every night can certainly negatively impact school work. Spending 4 to 4.5 hours a day 4 days a week in a car and on the field is not particularly balanced in life and it would not be shocking that people would decide that it is not for them especially when you realize that recruiting is more about the player than it is about the team the player is on.

Leaving the best team in your recruitment years is stupid...that's why. A hour commute, while long, is not a deal breaker if you only have to drive one day a week because of carpool.

07 and below..I get it...but 05 and above will stay together.

I think you missed a year there, chief

[Anonymous]

MU is dead in a year OR will be acquired by STJ with the help of DD, CZ, et al....or given to BRYC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MU is dead in a year OR will be acquired by STJ with the help of DD, CZ, et al....or given to BRYC

You’re really going to have to straighten your story out. You are correct that STJ at 07 (or 06) and below will include mostly south Fairfax and PWC kids. When that happens starting next year MU will take all those kids in the chain that don’t want to drive to the mixing bowl four times a week. There are tons of Loudoun and northwestern Fairfax kids and they all can’t play for Loudoun ECNL. All MU has to do is survive for a year. CZ gave them a lifeline by selling, not a death sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MU is dead in a year OR will be acquired by STJ with the help of DD, CZ, et al....or given to BRYC

Are you the same FCV parent crying over people talking bad about your club and how these are just kids? Asking why do you care if you don’t play there? Probably the same fool.