NoVa Travel Soccer

[Anonymous]

That is an unusual approach. However, once they NCSL teams are assigned, they cannot switch teams. NCSL checks cards against a fixed roster. Also, what happens at U-10 and, critically, U-11 when they are placed in divisions based on their record? Division standing becomes important at U12 and U13. If you're down at the bottom, the best players leave for the likes of McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? I don't see that on the NCSL website. And refs check cards against the roster. Are you sure about this?

Yes you can say no to a team on that level provided they've first said yes to your player!

You're right. WAGS has now gone to the club roster for young players, NCSL is still considering it.

[Anonymous]

For all age groups or just the younger ones?

[Anonymous]

Just the youngest - U9 & U10, I think.

[Anonymous]

That makes sense. Though a bit of a scheduling hassle if coaches change the roster from week to week! It would not be workable once teams place in divisions.

[Anonymous]

Place your player on a house or travel team that is fun and challenging for their level of development. As they improve, move them to a better team/group of players with better coaching... eventually travel. Once in travel soccer, always attend May-June open tryouts for 3-4 different travel teams... always! This will allow your player and family to experience new groups, coaches, and programs.

Young teams tend to develop poorly due to poor management and expectations by parents. These teams are not easy to build and maintain due to competing interests and varied young player development. It is typical and natural for the best players to move on, the core players to stay, and the weakest players to be deselected. Team management is critical at this stage. Young teams managed by parents usually do not make the hard choices. Clubs that rule the management of their teams can help young teams to make good choices. Any parent should expect to deal with it all by deciding when their player should stay or move on based on their player's needs and the health of the team. If the team is suitable but broken, then you may want to help fix it. Otherwise, move to better team.

As your player improves and arrives on stronger teams playing at a higher level, expect club hired coaches, more travel to college showcase events (U16...), and more time and expense. The coach should run the team so find a great coach who knows how... you've been going to open tryouts every June, right? As your player approaches the final stage of youth soccer, they will be settled on a highend team that only loses players to attrition, has good players seeking them out, has a stable experienced parent group, and is not playing anywhere near where it all began... don't keep your player on the same team season after season.

[Anonymous]

9:51 Looking at four to five teams every spring would be time consuming and in my mind isn't the right approach unless these are teams the player is seriously considering joining. Though there really can't be that many teams a player would want to join or that would work logistically as far as practice locations! I'm not following the reasoning behind this suggestion, and I know no travel players who've done this. From the inside (my son plays on a travel team), I could see this scenario playing out: A player on the A team has had a weak year. The coach is considering moving him to the B team. Managers and other parents hear reports that this player's been going to not one or two but four or five tryouts. This suggests he wants to leave. The coach, not wanting to waster a slot on the roster, puts him on the B team! (This scenario would not play out with a strong player.)

Also, if you are managing the tryouts, you don't want a pack of players that's really not interested in joining your team. It's fair to shop around with the right intentions; my rule with my son is he is only trying out for a team he'd want to join if selected. I'd hate for people new to travel soccer to think that this is a common approach!

It is true that teams run by the club and coaches versus the parents are less susceptible to ambition-fueled dramas.

[Anonymous]

11:13 3-4 teams, not 4-5. Don't miss the intent of the advice. If you are happily on a team, stay put... and hope the team does not implode when the coach moves on or the top tier players move on shortly after trying out for better teams. The point is be pro-active, be prepared, and go out and get some free training and exposure to other programs. It is not a hardship to visit a few tryouts for a few new teams each June. Your player will grow, become more independant and assertive later on, and realize new things and have more options should you decide to move to a new team sooner than later. Otherwise, your player may rot in one place for too many seasons on a 'friends' team and you will realize too late that you could have should have explored other options sooner. It is not easy to predict which player will rise to the top by U18, and you cannot sit around waiting for signs to act for they can come late or be overlooked, especially if you don't bother to make the effort. Go to tryouts and have some fun. You don't have to join a team if you don't want to.

Travel soccer is select soccer and it suffers when parents defeat the open tryout selection process by not holding OPEN tryouts, by not attending OPEN tryouts, and by not selecting and deselecting players to maintain the health of a team at whatever level of play they choose to pursue. Youth sports is a process that can teach your player many important life skills, like networking and stepping through open doors to see what opportunites are on the other side... go to tryouts! How else will you evaluate teams, coaches, parent groups, and club programs to find a team for your player... gossip on a forum?

June tryouts are now! Research the clubs in your area, id the teams in your age group, and show up at their tryouts... expect a positive change!

[Anonymous]

>>Also, if you are managing the tryouts, you don't want a pack of players that's really not interested in joining your team.

Good coaches and good managers of good programs want as many prospective players at their tryouts as they can get... keeps everyone on their toes and makes for more fun! It's their chance to recruit players by finding them and selling them the opportunity to play for a good team in a good program. To suggest otherwise is folly.

And nobody said to attend tryouts of teams you would not join. The most common reason for this thinking is that the parent simply does not want to make the effort. Tryouts are a necessary part of the process... avoiding them will not help your player.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PPs for the interesting and helpful advice. Does anyone have experience with or an opinion on the most respectful way to handle and time communication with a current coach about trying out for and/or possibly changing teams?

[Anonymous]

12:38 Simply, openly, and always let the adults on your team know that your player always attends open tryouts in June for the experience of meeting new teams and coaches and to keep your options open in the event your team implodes after June tryouts. That's all. Be open and up front about it because you will meet team parents sneaking around tryouts sheepishly and you will be the only one there who they already knew would be there... so no stupid rumors to follow and disrupt home team harmony.

This openness is a good thing... it tells your team manager and coach that they must not take your player for granted... that they must operate fair and square to keep good families onboard.

Another tip... if your team players don't bother to attend their own team tryouts religiously, your team is not healthy. Me, I'd find another team. Select soccer is a special privilege... respect it or loss it... let 'em play house soccer.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any "inside info" or other input on the different competitive NOVA travel programs and their "parent communities?" - - things that might not be readily apparent from a distance or based on typical research? (With the understanding that all programs have strengths and weaknesses, opinions will vary and one program might be a great fit for one player but not another. . .) Thanks a lot.

[Anonymous]

13:15 Club programs vary from hands off to hands on, with the trend toward hands on to save players from their novice parents. The hands on clubs do more for your team but will cost more. A significant benefit is when the club hires the coach, removing the parents from that equation. That said, you must find a team of players with a reliable coach, a nice group of parents, and training locations you can drive to. If you have an older player, it must be a really good coach and a team that gets accepted into quality tournaments. Given all of that, you can not be too picky about clubs and programs, since what's really left is just your player playing soccer and enjoying it. So, research prospective teams in your age group and go to their tryouts to see if you like what they do... it doesn't take long before you can tell the good from the not so good team experience. The better teams play in WAGS and NCSL at the top divisions, but you are not wrong to put a young player on a lessor tier team where he or she can still get good coaching and player development. But eventually, good players must seek top level competition to encourage their development.

Parents across NOVA are a pretty smart and tolerable bunch. Clubs are similarly ok, although a club run by an individual entity can trend toward self-serving. One negative that may be arriving with the hands on clubs is that their budgets are getting out of their control... they cannot afford to do what they want to do... to do all things well. They will try to pass these cost on to their membership, and may succeed somewhat in NOVA, but still, their costs are growing, requiring more fundraising/tournaments/volunteers.

The best 'program' for developing young players is FUTSAL. But it is struggling to get established in NOVA.

[Anonymous]

For my money, I'd want a club with A, B, and C teams integrated enough that if my child develops faster or slower than expected, there'd be somewhere for him to go.

Keep in mind that there's a lot of driving and a substantial time commitment. For my money, "best" must include "can we pull this off?" Time in the car is not spent on homework or anything else worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

17:41 Most clubs have A and B teams.

12:38 Before the first tryout.

12:14 / 13:00 Not sure if you're the same person. Either way, my son's on the A team, they don't tend to implode though yes I know they sometimes do. I do not share this philosophy that players go to tryouts for 3 or 4 teams. As a manager, I do not want players passing through our team's tryouts for sport, for trying out for a team the player does not want to join. It's a waste of my time, the coach's time. Also, it gets delicate, if an A team player is moved to the B team because the coach selected some of the pass-throughs, then they move back to the A team when the pass-throughs don't join the team. Have you ever managed a team, or have you just been on one that's imploded?