Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe VYS had to drop the Friday night pick-up because of field space? At least some of their VPL teams have their 3rd practice on Friday nights.

They had the space available, at least until daylight hours grew short. New TD just made a snap decision and has no idea how to back it up.

Friday night they had travel games practicing at Luther Jackson this fall.

After they ran out of daylight elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I know hindsight is 20/20... but I would bet the majority would like to rewind things back to a year ago and bring back our original technical team and a reasonable leadership team on the board. It sucks that something this important to our kids has turned into a political power struggle. No offense to the new TD.. he didnt have a chance with this board behind him.

[Anonymous]

I am no longer a member of VYS. I think my sin has settled in quite well in Arlington. My only advice is for the parents that remain to either be proactive and remove the current board or move on as my family did.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in VYS, so I apologize for my ignorance, but I don't understand how it's always like the sky is falling. Is every single travel team and/or house team crumbling? I doubt it. Are the kids having good experiences? Maybe there are some dud trainers out there. Is that the end of the world? In my opinion, as long as the kids are having fun and improving at a steady rate, who give a S if there are field space issues or Gunney doesn't show his face or the Board is screwed up or the VP took his kids to McLean or an asst TD took a leave of absence. Keep the kids on your teams isolated from that crap and focused on training and having fun, and just relax. It does suck that they raised fees and took away programs though. Pick up is essential in my opinion and I believe that crossover is a great program as well (but again that affects such a small few). VYS is very expensive but when compared to McLean it's a bargain. I can't blame some from going elsewhere just from a cost perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am no longer a member of VYS. I think my sin has settled in quite well in Arlington. My only advice is for the parents that remain to either be proactive and remove the current board or move on as my family did.

Arlington already has too many fcking kids and they keep accepting mediocre players from other clubs. This has to stop. They have so much talent (Christ given the sheer number of kids playing in this County--if they can't develop top teams with the 205 kids trying out in each group it isn't saying much about their player development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in VYS, so I apologize for my ignorance, but I don't understand how it's always like the sky is falling. Is every single travel team and/or house team crumbling? I doubt it. Are the kids having good experiences? Maybe there are some dud trainers out there. Is that the end of the world? In my opinion, as long as the kids are having fun and improving at a steady rate, who give a S if there are field space issues or Gunney doesn't show his face or the Board is screwed up or the VP took his kids to McLean or an asst TD took a leave of absence. Keep the kids on your teams isolated from that crap and focused on training and having fun, and just relax. It does suck that they raised fees and took away programs though. Pick up is essential in my opinion and I believe that crossover is a great program as well (but again that affects such a small few). VYS is very expensive but when compared to McLean it's a bargain. I can't blame some from going elsewhere just from a cost perspective.

A good example of you get what you pay for

[Anonymous]

McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Anyone have the scoop on what happened? Seems to have happened suddenly so I assume something cause such an abrupt departure (if he has in fact departed, which VYS has yet to confirm, despite rumors on here).

She's gone. Hear it had something to do generally with board behavior and specifically with allocation of travel/house resources and very strong/aggressive opinions on subject by some BOD members. BOD is dominated by active travel parents, and the money generated from house program is constantly being diverted to pay for travel staff salaries, so that may have something to do with it. Not sure where ED fell in that debate though or what exactly happened to cause resignation.

VYS will never achieve balance until house parents start participating in club and asserting themselves. Right now, a small circle of travel soccer dads controls everything. That's the problem. Board should be representative of club as a whole, not a small politically active subgroup looking out for their own interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

I have to guess that this is Arlington. All I know is that their top U9 and U11 boys teams are quite good so, if the best players are on lower teams...boy could they make a heck of a top team. With so many players, you would think another club could form out of Arlington. Why just one club?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

I have to guess that this is Arlington. All I know is that their top U9 and U11 boys teams are quite good so, if the best players are on lower teams...boy could they make a heck of a top team. With so many players, you would think another club could form out of Arlington. Why just one club?

My kid is U-9 and several '06 players from low teams were bumped down from the prior age group to the U9 team. I'm not sure what will happen when next year they have to bump back up to their '06 age group. if a kid wasn't on the cusp he didn't have that option though so most likely remained on same team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

I have to guess that this is Arlington. All I know is that their top U9 and U11 boys teams are quite good so, if the best players are on lower teams...boy could they make a heck of a top team. With so many players, you would think another club could form out of Arlington. Why just one club?

$$MONEY$$ Why do you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

I have to guess that this is Arlington. All I know is that their top U9 and U11 boys teams are quite good so, if the best players are on lower teams...boy could they make a heck of a top team. With so many players, you would think another club could form out of Arlington. Why just one club?

My kid is U-9 and several '06 players from low teams were bumped down from the prior age group to the U9 team. I'm not sure what will happen when next year they have to bump back up to their '06 age group. if a kid wasn't on the cusp he didn't have that option though so most likely remained on same team.

Hopefully the club will use the new birth date rules as a means to rearrange and give all kids a fresh look. There are a lot of misplacements. My daughter did move up-- and the team above is not as good as the one below it. When you can only move one to two 'chess pieces' at a time (and only one team bump up or down)---it makes it difficult to really make change. This spring's tryouts would be a good chance to do a complete overhaul. Another idea is to align Fall and Spring b-days if they really want to overcome the age advantage and not merely shift it to a new group.

Sadly, I think they will just keep current assignments and mash them together. It will be too big of an undertaking otherwise. I will be severely disappointing if this turns out to be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean (and I'm sure others) has been shaken up by the influx of Vienna players. Some of the Vienna parents aren't happy that they moved to McLean and are now on a team that loses more than it wins. We are wondering if families will bolt next year for yet another club (Bethesda maybe?) now that so many are jumping around. It makes try-outs and creating teams difficult for the coaches when they don't know if the girls who try out will actually commit to a team when there is this much movement between clubs.

Sometimes you are given no choice. Our club labels/places kids at age 8 (after 3 short tryouts with 175 kids and evaluators not even watching the fields half the time). If a kid was not placed in the top 15-18 at that time he will not be reassessed for many years. Instead of looking at these other kids the club will just mid-season ok adding kids from other clubs to their top two teams--even when there is much better talent already there. They invest all their resources on these 15-20 kids from U9-U12--most who don't end up being the stars they pegged them for by 13. The only way for kids not placed on an A/B team at age 8-9 to get a fresh pair of eyes is to leave the club and tryout elsewhere. I know many that made the 'A' team at equivalent clubs after being banished to th 'D' team at their home club. It's even worse now that there are 6 teams per age group--good luck moving up from an 'F' team. To make matters worse they rub the class divide in 8/9/10 year olds faces.

The tryout fields are preselected. Kids are not to tryout against players from upper teams. They relegate them from season to season to the fields with their current teams. Only if you are a new player do you get a chance to play with the upper group. They also don't scrimmage them and are separated from then at practice. As a rec coach and former Division 1 player--some of my weakest players are in top teams and some of my best and really outstanding players are on the lowest team...and a few didn't even make the cut.

It's a pure $-making business.

I have to guess that this is Arlington. All I know is that their top U9 and U11 boys teams are quite good so, if the best players are on lower teams...boy could they make a heck of a top team. With so many players, you would think another club could form out of Arlington. Why just one club?

$$MONEY$$ Why do you think?

Exactly. Wouldn't another club want to get some of that? I mean you step out of Arlington (and stay inside the beltway) and there is Alexandria, LMVSC, Gunston, Barca, Annadale, Team America, ...I mean these clubs are tripping over themselves. Yet all of Arlington has one club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Anyone have the scoop on what happened? Seems to have happened suddenly so I assume something cause such an abrupt departure (if he has in fact departed, which VYS has yet to confirm, despite rumors on here).

She's gone. Hear it had something to do generally with board behavior and specifically with allocation of travel/house resources and very strong/aggressive opinions on subject by some BOD members. BOD is dominated by active travel parents, and the money generated from house program is constantly being diverted to pay for travel staff salaries, so that may have something to do with it. Not sure where ED fell in that debate though or what exactly happened to cause resignation.

VYS will never achieve balance until house parents start participating in club and asserting themselves. Right now, a small circle of travel soccer dads controls everything. That's the problem. Board should be representative of club as a whole, not a small politically active subgroup looking out for their own interests.

Assuming this is an accurate report, what are the travel soccer dads hoping to get out of this diversion of resources from house to travel? If you were in an area that didn't have any highly competitive soccer programs nearby, I could see why it would make sense to invest in one so that local kids could have the opportunity to play at a high level. But this area is saturated with clubs that have been placing teams in top regional and national leagues for years. There would seem to be little hope for Vienna to develop a program any time soon that could make it a destination club for top players when Arlington, McLean, BRYC, Bethesda, etc. are all pretty close. And the more clubs you have trying to be highly competitive in a small area, the more dilution of talent you risk. That's not helpful for kids, who benefit from playing with and against players of the same level.

Since the Fairfax area doesn't have the great, affordable rec system available to kids in MoCo or DC, it's clear why a good house program is needed, and the more local the better for families starting out with soccer. I can also see why you want to make sure your club has enough decent training available at the young ages to make sure kids have the skills they need if they want to play at a top level when they are older. But beyond that, it seems like the club should just affiliate with one of the destination clubs rather than trying to compete with them at the older age groups.