Arlington Getting Boys DA Expansion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington DA parents and kids... nothing but a bunch of annoying snubs!

Ha. Omg. The op before you. Omg. Ha.

They are a “special” group over in Arlington. The fact they claim they play beautiful football, don’t pick for size and deletion individuals is pure comedy.

*develop

But they do “delete” in favor of kids developed elsewhere in the older years. Most certainly

I think this is inevitable to some degree, and the way it should be. DA teams are supposed to be getting the kids that have the most potential and developing them. I will say that

1. Arlington DA does a really good job (now - per my previous post I can't speak to any previous era) of developing kids while they're at the club.
2. Arlington does not cut kids mid-season. Nor do they maintain rosters so large that some of the team can't dress on game day. Neither of those things are universally true at DA level.
3. Arlington gives kids a good amount of playing time, nobody spends 3/4 of every game on the bench.

Last year for example three kids from the '06 team left the squad. One was both somewhat unhappy (for reasons that would not pertain any longer) and also wanted to spend more time on other sports, one preferred to go back to travel and plays on the Red team, and one was cut. Four or five new players joined one of whom had been cut by DC United and was returning to Arlington where he had played previously.

This year I'm not sure how many will leave. DC United is interested in several of the team so that may mean the team will need to add some new faces, and there may be a player or two who decides not to continue as DA is a huge commitment for kids heading into high school. Aside from that it's possible that one or two kids will actually be cut - although I'm actually expecting that no-one will.

Again - it may not always have been this way - and should Oscar leave it may well not be again. But that's all you ever get with any club. As leaders change so do the policies.

For now things are really good.

[Anonymous]

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The problem with that argument is that they already have an huge recruiting advantage, just by virtue of being the only pro club in the area, and it doesn't seem to be helping.

They will lose that MLS name advantage when they move to Loundoun. No one cart their kids all the way out there in to that traffic hellhole to train. Therefore, Arlington DA should get a huge boost.

Around in circles we go. Most kids at DCU are not any closer to Arlington than other DAs viewed as comparable to or better than DCU. Dream on.

You think Maryland kids will go to Loundoun? At rush hour? Really?

Kids on my children’s team do. Kids from Bethesda, Silver Spring.

That is insane.

Maryland kids can go to Baltimore armour or Bethesda. Other dcu kids live near VDA and would probably have easier commutes to Loudoun for DCU than to Arlington in any event. These are not kids or families who are just doing travel soccer or DA to round out Johnny’s college app.

For Woodbridge/Dale City it takes 50-60 min to get to RFK in rush hour. The move to Loudoun will add about 10-15 min to that. Arlington is only about 30 min for them, but they are already passing that field on the way into DC to get to RFK, not to mention Howison which is right in their backyard. The added time to get to Loudoun is not going to be a deal breaker for them.

For anyone coming from MD or DC who has to take the 495/267 route, the traffic will be a nightmare on 495, pretty heavy on 267, and the cost will be outrageous. Taking 267 from the Beltway to Segra field will cost $10.55 at rush hour, and 9.50 getting back. That's $20/day x 4 day/week = $80/week. That's about $3000/year just in tolls. Then add in the gas wear/tear of the additional 300 miles/week (75 round trip each night). That's at least another $1K. Even for those coming from the Bethesda/Rockville/Silver Spring area it still means sitting in traffic for 2 - 2 1/2 hours a night. For those in DC itself, or north or east of the city (Ft. Washington, Waldorf, Laurel Bowie, ...) I just don't think its even feasible. Some could go to Armour instead, but Arlington would be a much closer option for many of them.

The problem with these discussions is the assumption that all these kids live somewhere near the team they currently play for. VDA (which splits practices between Howison and Long Park in Haymarket) draws players from Woodbridge no doubt. But it also draws from Haymarket, Fairfax, Leesburg, Reston, Oakton, Vienna. Heck there's at least one player driving in from Front Royal every night of the week. Arlington too draws from Fairfax, Loudoun and Maryland as well as Arlington itself. And DC United even more so draws from all over the region.

If you're thinking about signing up for this - you looking at a 20 hours per week commitment. Some parents watch the practices. Others are some of the best customers of the local bars .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The problem with that argument is that they already have an huge recruiting advantage, just by virtue of being the only pro club in the area, and it doesn't seem to be helping.

They will lose that MLS name advantage when they move to Loundoun. No one cart their kids all the way out there in to that traffic hellhole to train. Therefore, Arlington DA should get a huge boost.

Around in circles we go. Most kids at DCU are not any closer to Arlington than other DAs viewed as comparable to or better than DCU. Dream on.

You think Maryland kids will go to Loundoun? At rush hour? Really?

Kids on my children’s team do. Kids from Bethesda, Silver Spring.

That is insane.

Maryland kids can go to Baltimore armour or Bethesda. Other dcu kids live near VDA and would probably have easier commutes to Loudoun for DCU than to Arlington in any event. These are not kids or families who are just doing travel soccer or DA to round out Johnny’s college app.

For Woodbridge/Dale City it takes 50-60 min to get to RFK in rush hour. The move to Loudoun will add about 10-15 min to that. Arlington is only about 30 min for them, but they are already passing that field on the way into DC to get to RFK, not to mention Howison which is right in their backyard. The added time to get to Loudoun is not going to be a deal breaker for them.

For anyone coming from MD or DC who has to take the 495/267 route, the traffic will be a nightmare on 495, pretty heavy on 267, and the cost will be outrageous. Taking 267 from the Beltway to Segra field will cost $10.55 at rush hour, and 9.50 getting back. That's $20/day x 4 day/week = $80/week. That's about $3000/year just in tolls. Then add in the gas wear/tear of the additional 300 miles/week (75 round trip each night). That's at least another $1K. Even for those coming from the Bethesda/Rockville/Silver Spring area it still means sitting in traffic for 2 - 2 1/2 hours a night. For those in DC itself, or north or east of the city (Ft. Washington, Waldorf, Laurel Bowie, ...) I just don't think its even feasible. Some could go to Armour instead, but Arlington would be a much closer option for many of them.

The problem with these discussions is the assumption that all these kids live somewhere near the team they currently play for. VDA (which splits practices between Howison and Long Park in Haymarket) draws players from Woodbridge no doubt. But it also draws from Haymarket, Fairfax, Leesburg, Reston, Oakton, Vienna. Heck there's at least one player driving in from Front Royal every night of the week. Arlington too draws from Fairfax, Loudoun and Maryland as well as Arlington itself. And DC United even more so draws from all over the region.

If you're thinking about signing up for this - you looking at a 20 hours per week commitment. Some parents watch the practices. Others are some of the best customers of the local bars .

+1

[Anonymous]

Just in case someone is only reading this thread. Arlington was granted a boys DA expansion and then the entire DA folded. Unfortunate timing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just in case someone is only reading this thread. Arlington was granted a boys DA expansion and then the entire DA folded. Unfortunate timing.

You're not suggesting a cause-effect relationship, are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just in case someone is only reading this thread. Arlington was granted a boys DA expansion and then the entire DA folded. Unfortunate timing.

You're not suggesting a cause-effect relationship, are you?

https://twitter.com/ussoccer_da/status/1250554039093334019/photo/1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just in case someone is only reading this thread. Arlington was granted a boys DA expansion and then the entire DA folded. Unfortunate timing.

You're not suggesting a cause-effect relationship, are you?

https://twitter.com/ussoccer_da/status/1250554039093334019/photo/1

Pretty sure Arlington/Bethesda/Baltimore part of this: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/04/15/major-league-soccer-launches-new-elite-competition-youth-academies. So in effect remains DA just with another name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just in case someone is only reading this thread. Arlington was granted a boys DA expansion and then the entire DA folded. Unfortunate timing.

You're not suggesting a cause-effect relationship, are you?

https://twitter.com/ussoccer_da/status/1250554039093334019/photo/1

Pretty sure Arlington/Bethesda/Baltimore part of this: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/04/15/major-league-soccer-launches-new-elite-competition-youth-academies. So in effect remains DA just with another name.

You're assuming that those clubs are deemed worthy of being non-MLS members of the new league. Curious if places like Crossfire that are good enough to play with MLS academies are included or excluded due to politics.