St John's HS Soccer Teams

[Anonymous]

My son is a rising 9th grader. He is a club team player for past 5 years (Bethesda, DC Soccer) and usually starts and is on the mid tier teams. We met the coach for St John's at the open house and we signed him up for a week at the summer camp. We assume lot's of kids in this position and wondering the likelihood of making JV or Freshman team. Curious how many kids usually try out and if they all come from elite clubs or they just stay with their clubs and don't play for the HS team? Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

I think you will find SJC boys soccer to be very disappointing. Your son does not need to go to the camp to play for SJC. I also think you will find the camp to be disappointing. He will probably make the Freshman team. We were hoping for a change in leadership for next year, but it didn't happen. Sorry for the bad news.

[Anonymous]

Who is coaching the teams at St John’s next year? Freshman and JV? I heard they will change and not be connected to Achilles. Varsity = Sal still.

[Anonymous]

I heard they are getting all new soccer coaches at St Johns. Is this not true?

[Anonymous]

I don't think Freshman or JV coach have been associated with Achilles ever. It is soccer. Lots of boys tryout. I wouldn't assume OP's kid is going to make it (there are thousands of boys who play club soccer in the DMV), but, the teams are large to try and get as many on as possible. Achilles camp is likely not to help (unless your kid is a phenom), but, I could see the benefit for becoming familiar with what Sal values in a soccer player.

[Anonymous]

To answer your question, they come from a mix of clubs. I would not say they are generally from the "elite" clubs.

[Anonymous]

Only top kids make JV and Freshman. If you are not a strong A or B player you won't. They never take Freshman and put them on varsity with the exception of 1 or 2 a year. 80 try out for freshman team. 20 make it. Same number for JV. Yes, some JV will be Freshman but the odds are still low for an average player. And that same kid will be locked out of other sports except wrestling or track or crew.

[Anonymous]

Freshman coach is an Achilles coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard they are getting all new soccer coaches at St Johns. Is this not true?

SJC Soccer Parent here -- the school is not and has not been transparent about the boys soccer program; it is really treated like a third tier sport. But, at this point, we think Achilles will be coaching the Varsity team, and an SJC teacher will be coaching the JV team. No word on the coach for the Freshman team -- for the past three seasons, the Freshman team had a different coach each year. There is no continuity to the soccer program, and the coaches work very independently.

Last season, the Freshman and JV teams each had 21 players, and the Varsity team had 23 players. Most of the kids also play travel soccer, but only a few play on MLS Next teams.

Hopefully, SJC will make some much needed changes to the program so your sons will have a better experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard they are getting all new soccer coaches at St Johns. Is this not true?

SJC Soccer Parent here -- the school is not and has not been transparent about the boys soccer program; it is really treated like a third tier sport. But, at this point, we think Achilles will be coaching the Varsity team, and an SJC teacher will be coaching the JV team. No word on the coach for the Freshman team -- for the past three seasons, the Freshman team had a different coach each year. There is no continuity to the soccer program, and the coaches work very independently.

Last season, the Freshman and JV teams each had 21 players, and the Varsity team had 23 players. Most of the kids also play travel soccer, but only a few play on MLS Next teams.

Hopefully, SJC will make some much needed changes to the program so your sons will have a better experience.

Thank you for this. Another parent of a travel soccer team (not the Achilles team) hoping to play in HS. How many try out? And are they still sitting them in a circle after the last try out and call out the ones who made it in front of everyone?

[Anonymous]

The tryout process is in flux -- last year, for the first time, they had Freshman and JV tryout on the same day, but the Varsity tried out a few days (or maybe even one week) later. It did not benefit anyone and was a mess. So those kids who wanted to make Varsity did not tryout for JV, but when they didn't make Varsity, they had no spot on any team.

Approx. 85 kids tryout across all three teams, and about 65 are selected. And yes, they still announce who made the team at the last tryout -- I really wish they didn't do this, but there is no oversight of the coaching staff, so this nonsense continues.

[Anonymous]

Still a mess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still a mess

We are familiar with a couple of other WCAC soccer programs and have heard they are a mess too. So please keep expectations very low regardless of what school your kids end up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still a mess

We are familiar with a couple of other WCAC soccer programs and have heard they are a mess too. So please keep expectations very low regardless of what school your kids end up.

This thread sounds like a therapy session for every well-heeled parent of a child who didn’t make the team because in reality, they were never that good (especially given how much they paid for travel soccer and private lessons).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, they come from a mix of clubs. I would not say they are generally from the "elite" clubs.

If you are not MLSNext player, you are not “elite”.