Confused on which club to seek out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a son who is close to or same age and live within reasonable driving distance of most of the places you listed. Agree with others that you should ask to attend practice and see what you think. Afterwards, you can see if the coach will give you some honest input on where they think your son would fit in terms of team level. You will need to do this very soon because the spring season is almost over the only one I wouldn’t bother with is FCV/St James because they don’t have home fields that are specifically for them. It has caused some issues with game scheduling this spring and it means that different level teams practice at different locations, some of which are not going to be convenient to you at all.

You could also think about whether a small club or a large club would be a good fit. Out of the ones you listed I think Loudoun is the biggest and Herndon is the smallest.

What club are you with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend loudoun soccer and Virginia revolution.

If your kid is serious about soccer i would recommend staying far far away from valor. They are probably the bottom of the barrel in the nova area for soccer development.

I would also not recomment FCV/St James. They are a sinking ship.

Assume your kid plays for Loudoun and Virginia Revolution. What has been your experience with those clubs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

I will be moving to the area in late summer before school starts. My DS (9) plays travel soccer but as I've been researching everybody seems to complain about all of the clubs. Can someone give some guidance about which club has the most invested coaches and kids who care about soccer and not just because parents put them there for an activity? Which clubs to absolutely avoid?

Between Loudoun soccer, Virginia revolution, Valor, FCV/StJames, Herndon soccer, Reston Soccer. Are there others I should be considering?

Overwhelmingly all of the threads are negative and it makes it all the more confusing (and honestly a bit disheartening).

Thanks in advance for the help and insight!

dmv fcu …. Or NVA -U ✅ confirmed

[Anonymous]

Avoid all teams mentioned in this forum most frequently
That's your starting point

[Anonymous]

For a 9 year old, go with whatever is closest, unless it Valor or FCV/TSJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend loudoun soccer and Virginia revolution.

If your kid is serious about soccer i would recommend staying far far away from valor. They are probably the bottom of the barrel in the nova area for soccer development.

I would also not recomment FCV/St James. They are a sinking ship.

Assume your kid plays for Loudoun and Virginia Revolution. What has been your experience with those clubs?

+1

[Anonymous]

At this point, all tryouts for U9 are done, And if you are new to the area I will go with Revolution.
Revolution is much more welcoming to new members than Loudoun, Loudoun is all about who you know and the hierarchy level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend loudoun soccer and Virginia revolution.

If your kid is serious about soccer i would recommend staying far far away from valor. They are probably the bottom of the barrel in the nova area for soccer development.

I would also not recomment FCV/St James. They are a sinking ship.

Assume your kid plays for Loudoun and Virginia Revolution. What has been your experience with those clubs?

We've played at both. Resolution is better developmentally. I'd only go Loudoun if your kid is on their top team. The rest is just a money grab. I watched second team coaches sitting on their phones instead of coaching and 3rd team and below is just coaches connecting paychecks.

VRSC staff at least has directors watching games and practices to, at the least, pretend to be interested in all the kids.

Though that's just loudoun clubs. Better options elsewhere. Loudoun is too big and top heavy. Revolution is too new still and we only stayed a year.

[Anonymous]

OP you didn't mention if you have a 2015 or 2014 son. If you have a 2014 in particular, you might also consider the leagues where these different clubs play. At the younger ages all of these clubs play in NCSL. Starting at U11 the top teams for Herndon, Great Falls-Reston, Valor, and Loudoun all play in the "pre ECNL-RL" league. At U13 they will play in the actual ECNL-RL. Right now FCV and VRSC are not in this league, so their top teams will not be playing against the larger clubs' top teams. Maybe that will change in the near future? If your son is not likely to make a top team, this doesn't really matter. And coach matters more than league, so go where you can find the best coach for your son's level.