Girls soccer @ O'Connell vs. Yorktown

[Anonymous]

DD will be a rising freshman next year, and the boundary school is Yorktown, but we also applied to O'Connell. She would like to play soccer in high school, but we recognize how competitive soccer is in Arlington. DD joined the ASA landscape late compared to her peers (she did not try out until 6th grade) -she started at the bottom and continues to advance each year. I'm curious about the soccer scene at both schools. For example, coaching staff, team culture, etc. Both programs are competitive but I am curious about the pros and cons. People say the Yorktown team is impossible to make unless you play ECNL or pre-academy via ASA. The school decision will not be based solely on the likelihood of her potential soccer career but certainly a factor she will consider if accepted to O'Connell. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Oh my. Please don't use soccer as a criteria for picking a high school.

[Anonymous]

O’Connell plays high school soccer in the Fall. Just an FYI. The majority of the Varsity team does double practices, going straight from high school to club practice. I also highly recommend speaking to the coach and shadowing a player to understand the environment. It’s a great school, though.

[Anonymous]

Agree with others. Choose the high school for academics, not athletics. I had sons play soccer at DJO and one of the top ranked FCPS high schools. Both played collegiate soccer with their HS soccer, for the most part, considered negligible versus what they did with their respective travel teams and their performance at ID camps.

DJO and YHS are great schools with the facilities at YHS arguably better.

One big difference is that teams share the one field at DJO, pushing soccer practices to the grass at Tuckahoe ES.

No lights at DJO either. (Thanks neighbors!)

That said, across the league, WCAA competition is very strong; even fierce at times, with the level of play and players superior to that within VHSL.

As noted, WCAA and independent high schools play in the fall. VHSL plays in the spring.

[Anonymous]

One correction to the above post (though it is not my post)— DJO varsity teams practice on the turfed stadium field and turfed baseball field, not on the grass field at Tuckahoe, though I think sometimes JV teams practice there. Also the conference is the WCAC, not WCAA.

[Anonymous]

It's my understanding that you need to be on one of the top travel teams to play on the yorktown girls varisty soccer team.