Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

Most of our refs have been an average age of 55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

Most of our refs have been an average age of 55.

Yeah, for those age groups it's either young and learning, or old and out of shape.
The reason for this is the massive referee shortage...anyone that is vaguely competent has his/her pick of games, and are doing either the older youth games, or adult games, both of which pay far better than U9.
The main reason for this? Most new refs quit after the first year, mainly because of abuse from coaches and parents.
This isn't aimed at PP...just thought I'd use this as a platform to remind all soccer parents that every time you yell at a ref, especially a young one, you're contributing to the problem.
I've been reffing for 20 years, and switched from doing mainly youth games to only reffing adults, except for an occasional big youth tournament or two. (See you at the Soccerplex for the Bethesda Tournament!)
I make a lot more money, and don't have to deal with abusive parents. It's nice.

[Anonymous]

PP, I'm sorry for your bad reffing experiences.

I really appreciated the older refs my kid's team had (U9 NCSL). They took the time to explain things to the kids, which is necessary at this age. For example, telling a kid why he called offside, or reminding a kid how to properly do a throw in. When they're 8 and 9, they need kind reminders!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

Most of our refs have been an average age of 55.

Yeah, for those age groups it's either young and learning, or old and out of shape.
The reason for this is the massive referee shortage...anyone that is vaguely competent has his/her pick of games, and are doing either the older youth games, or adult games, both of which pay far better than U9.
The main reason for this? Most new refs quit after the first year, mainly because of abuse from coaches and parents.
This isn't aimed at PP...just thought I'd use this as a platform to remind all soccer parents that every time you yell at a ref, especially a young one, you're contributing to the problem.
I've been reffing for 20 years, and switched from doing mainly youth games to only reffing adults, except for an occasional big youth tournament or two. (See you at the Soccerplex for the Bethesda Tournament!)
I make a lot more money, and don't have to deal with abusive parents. It's nice.

Thanks for offering the ref perspective, PP. Do you ref every weekend, or just occasionally? I'm curious about how much of a career vs. hobby the job is for those who ref in the various leagues around here.

My daughter (now 16) got the entry level license last year, and loves reffing games. She's only done DC Stoddert rec games so far, but has had a really good experience overall. Occasionally a coach or parent will yell at her about a call, but they generally get themselves under control if she gives them a pointed look. We will be interested to see how long she keeps with it. Seems like a good way to make money in your spare time so long as you don't have to deal with too many nutty parents or coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

Most of our refs have been an average age of 55.

Yeah, for those age groups it's either young and learning, or old and out of shape.
The reason for this is the massive referee shortage...anyone that is vaguely competent has his/her pick of games, and are doing either the older youth games, or adult games, both of which pay far better than U9.
The main reason for this? Most new refs quit after the first year, mainly because of abuse from coaches and parents.
This isn't aimed at PP...just thought I'd use this as a platform to remind all soccer parents that every time you yell at a ref, especially a young one, you're contributing to the problem.
I've been reffing for 20 years, and switched from doing mainly youth games to only reffing adults, except for an occasional big youth tournament or two. (See you at the Soccerplex for the Bethesda Tournament!)
I make a lot more money, and don't have to deal with abusive parents. It's nice.

Thanks for offering the ref perspective, PP. Do you ref every weekend, or just occasionally? I'm curious about how much of a career vs. hobby the job is for those who ref in the various leagues around here.

My daughter (now 16) got the entry level license last year, and loves reffing games. She's only done DC Stoddert rec games so far, but has had a really good experience overall. Occasionally a coach or parent will yell at her about a call, but they generally get themselves under control if she gives them a pointed look. We will be interested to see how long she keeps with it. Seems like a good way to make money in your spare time so long as you don't have to deal with too many nutty parents or coaches.

Used to do every weekend, and a few weekday games, now with a wife and kids I get out there about once a month.
Unless you're playing in DA games or State Cup, you probably won't see any referees that are working towards a career in reffing. Even in MLS, not all the ref jobs are full time....so 99.9% of the refs around here are just doing it as a hobby.
Most refs you'll see are Grade 8...which means, like your daughter, that they've taken the 8 hour class, and passed the test with at least a 75%.
There are a bunch of Grade 7 refs, which you won't notice because they have the same badge as the 8s, that have taken an advanced class, passed an advanced test, passed a fitness test and passed a game assessment.
You'll see a handful of Grade 6 State referees, which adds more classes and assessments. That's where I peaked.
To get to Grade 5 (National Candidate) or higher (Grade 4 and 3 are National Refs, Grade 2 and 1 are International Assistant Ref and Referee respectively) you pretty much have to dedicate your life to reffing, and hope your job is OK with it.

I would encourage every youth player to ref...it's a great experience, especially if you're not thin skinned, and you learn a lot about the game from a different perspective. I had played and coached for a long time before reffing, and I was surprised about how much I didn't know about the Laws of the Game.
Plus, you can earn far more money reffing than you can at any other part time job. Great for high school/college kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular season is over. Any examples of outrageous parental behavior? My son plays U9 in the NCSL and I thought the parents were great for the most part. Refs not so much, but the parents still showed a lot of restraint.

What do you expect from U9 refs?
Guess what...your kids are just learning soccer at that age, and so are the referees.

Most of our refs have been an average age of 55.

Yeah, for those age groups it's either young and learning, or old and out of shape.
The reason for this is the massive referee shortage...anyone that is vaguely competent has his/her pick of games, and are doing either the older youth games, or adult games, both of which pay far better than U9.
The main reason for this? Most new refs quit after the first year, mainly because of abuse from coaches and parents.
This isn't aimed at PP...just thought I'd use this as a platform to remind all soccer parents that every time you yell at a ref, especially a young one, you're contributing to the problem.
I've been reffing for 20 years, and switched from doing mainly youth games to only reffing adults, except for an occasional big youth tournament or two. (See you at the Soccerplex for the Bethesda Tournament!)
I make a lot more money, and don't have to deal with abusive parents. It's nice.

Thanks for offering the ref perspective, PP. Do you ref every weekend, or just occasionally? I'm curious about how much of a career vs. hobby the job is for those who ref in the various leagues around here.

My daughter (now 16) got the entry level license last year, and loves reffing games. She's only done DC Stoddert rec games so far, but has had a really good experience overall. Occasionally a coach or parent will yell at her about a call, but they generally get themselves under control if she gives them a pointed look. We will be interested to see how long she keeps with it. Seems like a good way to make money in your spare time so long as you don't have to deal with too many nutty parents or coaches.

Used to do every weekend, and a few weekday games, now with a wife and kids I get out there about once a month.
Unless you're playing in DA games or State Cup, you probably won't see any referees that are working towards a career in reffing. Even in MLS, not all the ref jobs are full time....so 99.9% of the refs around here are just doing it as a hobby.
Most refs you'll see are Grade 8...which means, like your daughter, that they've taken the 8 hour class, and passed the test with at least a 75%.
There are a bunch of Grade 7 refs, which you won't notice because they have the same badge as the 8s, that have taken an advanced class, passed an advanced test, passed a fitness test and passed a game assessment.
You'll see a handful of Grade 6 State referees, which adds more classes and assessments. That's where I peaked.
To get to Grade 5 (National Candidate) or higher (Grade 4 and 3 are National Refs, Grade 2 and 1 are International Assistant Ref and Referee respectively) you pretty much have to dedicate your life to reffing, and hope your job is OK with it.

I would encourage every youth player to ref...it's a great experience, especially if you're not thin skinned, and you learn a lot about the game from a different perspective. I had played and coached for a long time before reffing, and I was surprised about how much I didn't know about the Laws of the Game.
Plus, you can earn far more money reffing than you can at any other part time job. Great for high school/college kids.

Thanks for the response! So are the DA refs grade 4 minimum? It is remarkable how much better they are on average than the refs we had during the NCSL and WAGS years, though we had some great ones back then and have had a handful of bad ones in DA.

I agree that it's very worthwhile for kids to ref if they can. Like you say, it broadens your perspective on the game, and on life in general. Kids learn a lot from negotiating with adults in a structured setting, and it's a rare teen job where you are in that sort of position of authority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the response! So are the DA refs grade 4 minimum? It is remarkable how much better they are on average than the refs we had during the NCSL and WAGS years, though we had some great ones back then and have had a handful of bad ones in DA.

I agree that it's very worthwhile for kids to ref if they can. Like you say, it broadens your perspective on the game, and on life in general. Kids learn a lot from negotiating with adults in a structured setting, and it's a rare teen job where you are in that sort of position of authority.

No, there are only about 200 or so National Refs in the country, so you'll see a few at the highest level DA games, but the majority will be State Refs and promising Grade 7s.
The DA games and tournaments are where USSF does most of its scouting for referee talent, so it's where all the good young refs that hope to advance gravitate.

[Anonymous]

My son plays soccer and I have to admit, I don't know all the rules/laws of the game. Do you recommend a coaching tutorial, or even a class, or anything along those lines? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What percent of girls make the Vienna travel teams U9? That's the first year, correct?

That is, of the 12 or so girls on the house u8 team, how many will tryout and how many will get selected?

Usually you see the U8 all stars, 44 girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What percent of girls make the Vienna travel teams U9? That's the first year, correct?

That is, of the 12 or so girls on the house u8 team, how many will tryout and how many will get selected?

This spring, Vienna formed four travel teams of 12 players each -- 44 players. I think 50-some players tried out, which seems a little low to me. It was closer to 90 on the boys side. They've had more than 100 boys in the past. Not sure how many girls they typically get, but again, under 60 seems low to me.

They currently have 10 House teams at U9, so that's obviously a lot bigger. The U9 boys have 14.

As they get older, it's not too hard to get onto *some* travel team, and some teams are scrambling for players. (Which seems typical in a lot of places.) But the top teams are selective and pretty good. They've got two in the State Cup semifinals this fall. In one age group, they got two teams in the "Champions League" groups (eight teams), which is unusual.

Thanks, this is what I wanted to hear. So there are a lot more house players U9 than travel players. As long as my girl is playing with her friends and we are not travelling too far, I'm not really concerned if she does travel or house. House sounds easier.

Usually when a U9 travel team forms, the same kids are the same on the U10 team the following year. Unless kids leave the team and spots open up after the U9 travel year, the only really difficult team to make us a U10 team. U11-U12 spots open up as the players in the field increase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son plays soccer and I have to admit, I don't know all the rules/laws of the game. Do you recommend a coaching tutorial, or even a class, or anything along those lines? Thanks

Lots of online resources.

For the basics, read through the Laws of the Game, and if you want more details, stick around for the official interpretations of the Laws. Both can be found here:
http://www.fifa.com/mm/Document/FootballDevelopment/Refereeing/02/36/01/11/LawsofthegamewebEN_Neutral.pdf

If you don't want that much detail, check out the Laws Made Easy. I know it looks silly and juvenile, but it's actually really good.
http://www.calsouth.com/data/Downloads/Referees/LawsoftheGameMadeEasy.pdf

If you'd rather watch stuff online, you can look at the official USSF training modules for the basic referee class.
http://www.ussoccer.com/Referees/Resource-Center/Online-Training/Grade-8-Referee-Course.aspx

I'd also take a look at some myth/fact sites...clearing up some common misconceptions about the Laws.
http://enidsoccer.com/myths-facts/
https://sites.google.com/site/epicshock12/soccer-myths

[Anonymous]

Whats going on in Vienna now! I am hearing from several families that they are leaving and searching for other clubs for their kids. I also heard that their new executive director has resigned. Hearing they made some crazy changes this year. Shame, the club had seemed to be growing and had an amazing reputation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats going on in Vienna now! I am hearing from several families that they are leaving and searching for other clubs for their kids. I also heard that their new executive director has resigned. Hearing they made some crazy changes this year. Shame, the club had seemed to be growing and had an amazing reputation.

If true that's breaking news! Kind of a break because she seems like a dud. Not really crazy changes this year. But had brought in a whole new staff (technical staff and executive director) with hopes for something better. IMO the new staff has not been that impressive so far - actually would give them lower marks than the previous group. It might be kind of a break if some of them left quickly. VYS is not a trigger happy organization and I think it would be some time before the staff turned over otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats going on in Vienna now! I am hearing from several families that they are leaving and searching for other clubs for their kids. I also heard that their new executive director has resigned. Hearing they made some crazy changes this year. Shame, the club had seemed to be growing and had an amazing reputation.

Heard this as well