VYS Soccer - better or worse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VYS parent here. We started our season on Sat and same old story. Good kids, shitty play. Played strong in the first half, then choked in the second. I'm on the verge of pulling my kid out, she's starting to hate soccer because the team sucks soo bad.

If a kid hates soccer because the team sucks, then soccer isn't the sport for that kid, and it isn't the responsibility of any club to make sure all the kids teams win all the time so they will stay interested in the sport. They are there for the sport or they are not. It is black & white.

Maybe the kid doesn't hate the sport but they do hate playing with their team.

Exactly. Sports teach a lot of life lessons about winning and losing and kids should play because they love the sport BUT, if teammates are not committed. If the coach isn't committed. etc. Then the kid should leave and find a team where he/she fits in. Also, you don't want you kid to be one of the weakest players on the team nor one of the strongest. Players need the right environment to develop. The right answer is NOT...we play for Vienna no matter what. If you don't want to play on a sh-t team then you must not love the sport.

The quote at the top is probably just made up -- the troll was pretending to be someone he's not.

Anyway, though, you give great advice here. I just wonder: when is it time to stop switching teams and hoping to find just the right environment, do you think? Is there a point where you just say, yes, the coach is a buffoon, but DD at least has some friends on the team, so we're going to stick it out? I kind of wonder if there even is "the right environment" considering how issue-plagued travel clubs seem to be these days. Your thoughts?

I believe you need a tremendous amount of luck to find the perfect environment. Good coach. Dedicated kids. Dedicated parents. Supportive club. But for my son, I watched the other teams that we played closely and always thought about where my son would fit in. I contacted the coaches of the teams I liked and asked if my son could join a practice or two during the season. During those practices, I watched the coach, the parents, and the other kids. Are the kids showing up on time? Are they clowning around constantly? How did the coach handle that, etc. Then I discussed with my son where he wanted to play and so far I have agreed with have I have been able to accommodate him. If all he cares about is playing with friends, then that's fine with me, but I'm not paying much for it. That's a rec mentality. He can play SFL if that's what he cares about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the boys side at least, the general consensus about VYS is that it's a nice, laid back, not super competitive club. Which is fine—except that a club like that should not be charging as much as the competitive clubs. VYS should charge in line with the reality of what it is.

There's no way VYS is charging as much as BRYC is to play in ECNL all over the East Coast.

[Anonymous]

Kudos to the person that wrote about using sports to teach life lessons. I'm not a part of VYS, but we have a flake club that does not promote and does things that are particularly odd. With that being said, our coach and the kids are second to none. They train hard, successful at games/tournaments, and the families are very supportive.

A youth player in a club is closely related to the saying about why employees leave a company. Almost always has nothing to do with the company, they leave the manager. With that being said, Coach is the most important component to having a positive experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VYS parent here. We started our season on Sat and same old story. Good kids, shitty play. Played strong in the first half, then choked in the second. I'm on the verge of pulling my kid out, she's starting to hate soccer because the team sucks soo bad.

If a kid hates soccer because the team sucks, then soccer isn't the sport for that kid, and it isn't the responsibility of any club to make sure all the kids teams win all the time so they will stay interested in the sport. They are there for the sport or they are not. It is black & white.

Maybe the kid doesn't hate the sport but they do hate playing with their team.

Exactly. Sports teach a lot of life lessons about winning and losing and kids should play because they love the sport BUT, if teammates are not committed. If the coach isn't committed. etc. Then the kid should leave and find a team where he/she fits in. Also, you don't want you kid to be one of the weakest players on the team nor one of the strongest. Players need the right environment to develop. The right answer is NOT...we play for Vienna no matter what. If you don't want to play on a sh-t team then you must not love the sport.

The quote at the top is probably just made up -- the troll was pretending to be someone he's not.

Anyway, though, you give great advice here. I just wonder: when is it time to stop switching teams and hoping to find just the right environment, do you think? Is there a point where you just say, yes, the coach is a buffoon, but DD at least has some friends on the team, so we're going to stick it out? I kind of wonder if there even is "the right environment" considering how issue-plagued travel clubs seem to be these days. Your thoughts?

Clubs are not all as terrible as they are made out to be at this site. Half of the problem falls upon parental expectations that can be unrealistic. That said, as eluded to earlier, the mentality at VYS seems to feed on that "just stay here and have fun" which truly is a rec mentality at a travel level. And many comments seem angry at those who claim to either have left or have expressed a desire to leave for a more competitive environment. Winning isn't everything and it certainly is not a measure of development but being competitive is important.

[Anonymous]

Quiet. Almost too quiet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the boys side at least, the general consensus about VYS is that it's a nice, laid back, not super competitive club. Which is fine—except that a club like that should not be charging as much as the competitive clubs. VYS should charge in line with the reality of what it is.

There's no way VYS is charging as much as BRYC is to play in ECNL all over the East Coast.

Where id the PP ever mention ECNL or BRYC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VYS parent here. We started our season on Sat and same old story. Good kids, shitty play. Played strong in the first half, then choked in the second. I'm on the verge of pulling my kid out, she's starting to hate soccer because the team sucks soo bad.

If a kid hates soccer because the team sucks, then soccer isn't the sport for that kid, and it isn't the responsibility of any club to make sure all the kids teams win all the time so they will stay interested in the sport. They are there for the sport or they are not. It is black & white.

Maybe the kid doesn't hate the sport but they do hate playing with their team.

Exactly. Sports teach a lot of life lessons about winning and losing and kids should play because they love the sport BUT, if teammates are not committed. If the coach isn't committed. etc. Then the kid should leave and find a team where he/she fits in. Also, you don't want you kid to be one of the weakest players on the team nor one of the strongest. Players need the right environment to develop. The right answer is NOT...we play for Vienna no matter what. If you don't want to play on a sh-t team then you must not love the sport.

The quote at the top is probably just made up -- the troll was pretending to be someone he's not.

Anyway, though, you give great advice here. I just wonder: when is it time to stop switching teams and hoping to find just the right environment, do you think? Is there a point where you just say, yes, the coach is a buffoon, but DD at least has some friends on the team, so we're going to stick it out? I kind of wonder if there even is "the right environment" considering how issue-plagued travel clubs seem to be these days. Your thoughts?

Clubs are not all as terrible as they are made out to be at this site. Half of the problem falls upon parental expectations that can be unrealistic. That said, as eluded to earlier, the mentality at VYS seems to feed on that "just stay here and have fun" which truly is a rec mentality at a travel level. And many comments seem angry at those who claim to either have left or have expressed a desire to leave for a more competitive environment. Winning isn't everything and it certainly is not a measure of development but being competitive is important.

Clubs won't admit it, but winning is a gauge used to measure success. No coach is going to keep his/her job by loosing or at minimum put together a competitive team, to do so you want to attract like minded players. It really comes down to what is best for the player, if you want to learn soccer, get exercise, and make friends VYS can supply that just as good as anyone. If you aspire to play in college or pro at some level, he/she may choose a neighboring club that will provide you better exposure. I think many times, probably most of the time it's the parents that are seeking "better" clubs, not the kids. We left VYS years ago, but enjoyed the time that we were a part of the club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VYS parent here. We started our season on Sat and same old story. Good kids, shitty play. Played strong in the first half, then choked in the second. I'm on the verge of pulling my kid out, she's starting to hate soccer because the team sucks soo bad.

If a kid hates soccer because the team sucks, then soccer isn't the sport for that kid, and it isn't the responsibility of any club to make sure all the kids teams win all the time so they will stay interested in the sport. They are there for the sport or they are not. It is black & white.

Maybe the kid doesn't hate the sport but they do hate playing with their team.

Exactly. Sports teach a lot of life lessons about winning and losing and kids should play because they love the sport BUT, if teammates are not committed. If the coach isn't committed. etc. Then the kid should leave and find a team where he/she fits in. Also, you don't want you kid to be one of the weakest players on the team nor one of the strongest. Players need the right environment to develop. The right answer is NOT...we play for Vienna no matter what. If you don't want to play on a sh-t team then you must not love the sport.

The quote at the top is probably just made up -- the troll was pretending to be someone he's not.

Anyway, though, you give great advice here. I just wonder: when is it time to stop switching teams and hoping to find just the right environment, do you think? Is there a point where you just say, yes, the coach is a buffoon, but DD at least has some friends on the team, so we're going to stick it out? I kind of wonder if there even is "the right environment" considering how issue-plagued travel clubs seem to be these days. Your thoughts?

Clubs are not all as terrible as they are made out to be at this site. Half of the problem falls upon parental expectations that can be unrealistic. That said, as eluded to earlier, the mentality at VYS seems to feed on that "just stay here and have fun" which truly is a rec mentality at a travel level. And many comments seem angry at those who claim to either have left or have expressed a desire to leave for a more competitive environment. Winning isn't everything and it certainly is not a measure of development but being competitive is important.

Clubs won't admit it, but winning is a gauge used to measure success. No coach is going to keep his/her job by loosing or at minimum put together a competitive team, to do so you want to attract like minded players. It really comes down to what is best for the player, if you want to learn soccer, get exercise, and make friends VYS can supply that just as good as anyone. If you aspire to play in college or pro at some level, he/she may choose a neighboring club that will provide you better exposure. I think many times, probably most of the time it's the parents that are seeking "better" clubs, not the kids. We left VYS years ago, but enjoyed the time that we were a part of the club.

Coaches don't get fired for losing, coaches get fired for losing players.

[Anonymous]

How is the turn out at pick up soccer on Friday nights? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Better than I've seen it at any time over the past three years. Tilts young. But very well organized with active supervision from parent-coaches and occasionally full-time coaches. They do an excellent job grouping the kids. Now that they've shifted to Jones Branch, less likely to get rainouts and establish it as a regular Friday night activity through late fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Better than I've seen it at any time over the past three years. Tilts young. But very well organized with active supervision from parent-coaches and occasionally full-time coaches. They do an excellent job grouping the kids. Now that they've shifted to Jones Branch, less likely to get rainouts and establish it as a regular Friday night activity through late fall.

Any guess to the age and gender breakouts?

[Anonymous]

Yes, principally male and younger. Some games are coed and there are usually 1-2 games for kids over 9. It's a great program and a step in the right direction in fostering more of a club atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Honestly feel like the club has done the best they could. Girls teams are really competitive any more but girls having fun.

[Anonymous]

How is the DA designation and involvement working out for Vienna-based boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly feel like the club has done the best they could. Girls teams are really competitive any more but girls having fun.

Saw a couple VYS girls teams at the finals in the WAGS tournament last weekend. Not sure if any of them won but 2nd isn't bad.