Are there any travel programs that don't require fall and spring participation?
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Anonymous
| DS has a school sports obligation one season and between that and homework load, it's not feasible to follow a travel schedule in both fall and spring... any options for a player who wants more than rec, but can't commit to the three seasons system most programs seem to have? |
Anonymous
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No - its a year long commitment. If you want more, there are programs in between- development (with a professional coach) or rising stars type of teams that are selective but that have less practice and commitment.
Where do you live? |
Anonymous
DC. I'm not worried about where it's leading, he just wants to play more and is willing to do a 3 day a week plus game schedule (has done with other sports). We could probably get a waiver from the school sports obligation, but he really enjoys playing with his school--has a good level of play, good camaraderie, good coaching--and since he's probably not going to be a professional soccer player, it seems more important to keep that line open. He's done trainings at several different programs--like six week, twice a week--kind of things, which have been enormously helpful and he enjoys, but not a replacement for playing on a team. |
Anonymous
| No. |
Anonymous
lame |
Anonymous
Summer training and winter futsal |
Anonymous
|
While I am not familiar with this specific situation, I am 100% sure you can find a club that suits your needs, ESPECIALLY in DC. I live in DC and our clubs are no where as serious as the MD and VA clubs, no matter how serious or good they think they are. None of them are at this time.
Check out the smaller clubs like DC XI, City Sporting Club, DC Way, District Elite FC, Washington Capital United, etc. I have only seen kids skip futsal for basketball in the winter. Baseball and other sports are usually integrated somehow. Nevertheless, you should find someone who can cater to your needs. |
Anonymous
| Play on a high level MSI Classic team - some are more competitive than travel teams, and all games are in Montgomery County |
Anonymous
This is an interesting one. Thank you! |
Anonymous
Most of the clubs that we checked that had teams that played in MSI Classic or SAM Select required a year round commitment. There were a couple that we were able to find that let us to join just for a season. But they were either pretty bad and/or eventually folded. With Classic, there are some rec teams that decided to move up to Classic and aren't professionally coached teams or clubs. I would think there would be a better chance of them letting you join for just a season but don't know if it's the type of trainign and level you'd be looking for. But that's just based on what we've seen and tried. There might be other clubs/teams out there that we don't know about. Here are the pages where teams are looking for players in Classic and Select: https://www.msisoccer.org/classic-tryout-notices https://mdsoccerplex.org/sam-soccer/leagues/select-league-combine-tryouts/ You can also see what teams play in the league and try reaching out to them. |
Anonymous
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My kid has a Fall HS season. He was an ECNL player---their season and practices were basically August-February. It sucked majorly for him. The spring practices were just a handful of kids who also had Fall HS seasons or did not play HS. We paid the same as we would for a year-round club---but only got one season.
He's in MLSNext now so it's no longer an issue. But, when he initially joined ECNL, I did not know how crappy it would be for a Fall VA HS kid to play ECNL in VA. |
Anonymous
| Yes. Every single team. Never forget that you are the customer and that you are paying them. Show up when you want to and don't when you don't. |
Anonymous
| They'll happily take your money for the whole year. Just don't expect them to prorate if you just want to show up half the year. |
Anonymous
OP here, and yes, I probably should've stated that I'm sure they would happily take my year's worth of fees and only let him play when he wants, but... you know, I'd rather not. The summer training, winter futsal is more or less where we'll probably go... he's not yet in HS, but are any of the HS rec programs real? Just to keep him on the field doing something on spring weekends. |
Anonymous
You reached out to specific teams and asked about the commitment? Because the league-wide info seems to be built around a season-by-season structure. Interesting stuff to check out either way, thanks for the tip... |