Where do I start for 13yo boy soccer in DC proper?

[Anonymous]

Okay please be kind - my almost 13 yr old has played on his school team and wants to play on a "real" team finally. He has intellectually liked soccer (Premier League) but only start playing himself in the last 1-2 years - he is good given his experience but skills aren't amazing. He is very motivated though.

I'm trying to find a club/spot for him with decent coaching, practices within DC proper (we are in Northwest) and games can be anywhere but we are booked for Sundays.

On several websites including DC Soccer Club, it never says locations!!! This is so frustrating to me - the actually schedule and location are so important to how I can pull things off logistically, a huge worry for me. But they expect you to sign up and find out later.

Can you please help me out with what clubs I should be looking at that might fit the bill?

PS I'm also thinking of taking him to a bunch of soccer clinics (esp if I can't pull off a team for the spring) to improve his skills, but eventually need to learn this. Thank you so much

[Anonymous]

Travel league games are usually on Sundays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel league games are usually on Sundays.

Are there non-travel leagues though?

[Anonymous]

Are MSI classic games on Saturday’s or Sunday's?

You are looking for a slightly less than travel league. More like in house league.

[Anonymous]

The DC proper teams appropriate for your kid will be:

DC XI (Riggs Lasalle?)
City Sporting (Edgewood?)
DC Soccer (Varies)
PPA (NW DC & SS?)
District Elite (Palisades?)
DC Way (NE)

NONE of the clubs can provide what you are looking for in terms of schedule because permits fluctuate. From our location in NW, it is much easier for us to practice in Wheaton and Rockville than to get over to Dunbar or RFK. Your best bet is to schedule to join a practice with each club and see which is most patient with you. That will probably be District Elite, DC XI and City Sporting.

Achilles is the most consistent practice location at St John’s, Wheaton, etc. but they will not be a fit your family based on this post.

Regarding clinics, visit each of the clubs and ask do they have supplemental training you can join to get up to speed. Most of his development should come from being home alone. A good starting point for him to learn how to juggle 100x with each foot, pass and receive against the wall about 200-400x with each foot and then work on ball manipulation to get at least 1k touches a day (sole roles, etc.). An inexpensive app like Anytime Soccer training has everything he needs to learn the technical stuff.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for something immediate for Spring, DC Soccer Club Rec League has games on Saturdays. They can't and won't tell you in advance where games and practices are because they are beholden to DPR and DCPS permitting, which doesn't allow them to plan out much in advance of the season. The games are spread out in the city, though mostly in NW (both sides of the park) from our experience. If you don't have a specific team you want to join, you can request a team with kids from your child's school, which might lead to practices closer to your home.

[Anonymous]

Soccer on the Hill has rec teams that play in NCSL also.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you sooooooooo much for the excellent advice!!! The permitting issues now make sense.

Very grateful!