Are there any travel programs that don't require fall and spring participation?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s called the B team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s called the B team.

sounds perfect for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Play on a high level MSI Classic team - some are more competitive than travel teams, and all games are in Montgomery County

Most of the clubs that we checked that had teams that played in MSI Classic or SAM Select required a year round commitment.

There were a couple that we were able to find that let us to join just for a season. But they were either pretty bad and/or eventually folded.

With Classic, there are some rec teams that decided to move up to Classic and aren't professionally coached teams or clubs. I would think there would be a better chance of them letting you join for just a season but don't know if it's the type of trainign and level you'd be looking for.

But that's just based on what we've seen and tried. There might be other clubs/teams out there that we don't know about.

Here are the pages where teams are looking for players in Classic and Select:
https://www.msisoccer.org/classic-tryout-notices
https://mdsoccerplex.org/sam-soccer/leagues/select-league-combine-tryouts/

You can also see what teams play in the league and try reaching out to them.

You reached out to specific teams and asked about the commitment? Because the league-wide info seems to be built around a season-by-season structure. Interesting stuff to check out either way, thanks for the tip...

Regardless of whether an MSI Classic team is parent or club coached, it is still usually a fall/spring commitment (MSI specifically wants teams to commit to both seasons). Yes, as a player you can choose to leave the team after the fall season but then the team has to find a new player because MSI Classic strictly limits roster sizes and does not allow guest players. Club-based teams might have a pipeline to fill that empty spot, but you’ll leave the parent coached team hanging — so be fair and give the coach a heads up if you are only planning on playing one season. Perhaps a different story if you’re looking to join in the spring, and those try out pages will tell you which teams are looking for players. There are some Classic teams that only play one season but it’s usually the team as a whole not a single player (and it’s relatively rare).

[Anonymous]

Go for a parent coached Classic team rather than a club Classic team. My son had 2 boys who only played one season each year because of another sport, and due to the roster size and friendships, it works just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Play on a high level MSI Classic team - some are more competitive than travel teams, and all games are in Montgomery County

Most of the clubs that we checked that had teams that played in MSI Classic or SAM Select required a year round commitment.

There were a couple that we were able to find that let us to join just for a season. But they were either pretty bad and/or eventually folded.

With Classic, there are some rec teams that decided to move up to Classic and aren't professionally coached teams or clubs. I would think there would be a better chance of them letting you join for just a season but don't know if it's the type of trainign and level you'd be looking for.

But that's just based on what we've seen and tried. There might be other clubs/teams out there that we don't know about.

Here are the pages where teams are looking for players in Classic and Select:
https://www.msisoccer.org/classic-tryout-notices
https://mdsoccerplex.org/sam-soccer/leagues/select-league-combine-tryouts/

You can also see what teams play in the league and try reaching out to them.

You reached out to specific teams and asked about the commitment? Because the league-wide info seems to be built around a season-by-season structure. Interesting stuff to check out either way, thanks for the tip...

Regardless of whether an MSI Classic team is parent or club coached, it is still usually a fall/spring commitment (MSI specifically wants teams to commit to both seasons). Yes, as a player you can choose to leave the team after the fall season but then the team has to find a new player because MSI Classic strictly limits roster sizes and does not allow guest players. Club-based teams might have a pipeline to fill that empty spot, but you’ll leave the parent coached team hanging — so be fair and give the coach a heads up if you are only planning on playing one season. Perhaps a different story if you’re looking to join in the spring, and those try out pages will tell you which teams are looking for players. There are some Classic teams that only play one season but it’s usually the team as a whole not a single player (and it’s relatively rare).

yeah, we'd be looking for spring, because he plays on the school team in the fall... so maybe there are opportunities for plugging holes. But even if it was the other way around, I wouldn't ever sign up for something and leave the coach hanging -- if he couldn't agree to a one season thing, I wouldn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go for a parent coached Classic team rather than a club Classic team. My son had 2 boys who only played one season each year because of another sport, and due to the roster size and friendships, it works just fine.

And a parent coached classic team is going to be a higher level of play than just a rec team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go for a parent coached Classic team rather than a club Classic team. My son had 2 boys who only played one season each year because of another sport, and due to the roster size and friendships, it works just fine.

And a parent coached classic team is going to be a higher level of play than just a rec team?

It absolutely can be. While there is variability in Classic, the level of play is generally higher than in rec (think low level travel to high level rec). If you are questioning the level play of a parent coached team; the team can be just as good as a low level travel team, depends on the players. Also many parent led teams bring in private coaches/trainers to coach the team (MSI offers this as a service to all Classic teams)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go for a parent coached Classic team rather than a club Classic team. My son had 2 boys who only played one season each year because of another sport, and due to the roster size and friendships, it works just fine.

And a parent coached classic team is going to be a higher level of play than just a rec team?

It absolutely can be. While there is variability in Classic, the level of play is generally higher than in rec (think low level travel to high level rec). If you are questioning the level play of a parent coached team; the team can be just as good as a low level travel team, depends on the players. Also many parent led teams bring in private coaches/trainers to coach the team (MSI offers this as a service to all Classic teams)

interesting... i can believe it, we just live in the district so never looked at MSI, but it would not be hard to reach.

[Anonymous]

Our parent-coached Rising 5th-grade classic team is looking for more boys:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfzlbWOFOSkG4Wf0Zx2Mn4v0JjVerfBPpM-vGdT9bBTzZBLSA/viewform

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Play on a high level MSI Classic team - some are more competitive than travel teams, and all games are in Montgomery County

Most of the clubs that we checked that had teams that played in MSI Classic or SAM Select required a year round commitment.

There were a couple that we were able to find that let us to join just for a season. But they were either pretty bad and/or eventually folded.

With Classic, there are some rec teams that decided to move up to Classic and aren't professionally coached teams or clubs. I would think there would be a better chance of them letting you join for just a season but don't know if it's the type of trainign and level you'd be looking for.

But that's just based on what we've seen and tried. There might be other clubs/teams out there that we don't know about.

Here are the pages where teams are looking for players in Classic and Select:
https://www.msisoccer.org/classic-tryout-notices
https://mdsoccerplex.org/sam-soccer/leagues/select-league-combine-tryouts/

You can also see what teams play in the league and try reaching out to them.

You reached out to specific teams and asked about the commitment? Because the league-wide info seems to be built around a season-by-season structure. Interesting stuff to check out either way, thanks for the tip...

Regardless of whether an MSI Classic team is parent or club coached, it is still usually a fall/spring commitment (MSI specifically wants teams to commit to both seasons). Yes, as a player you can choose to leave the team after the fall season but then the team has to find a new player because MSI Classic strictly limits roster sizes and does not allow guest players. Club-based teams might have a pipeline to fill that empty spot, but you’ll leave the parent coached team hanging — so be fair and give the coach a heads up if you are only planning on playing one season. Perhaps a different story if you’re looking to join in the spring, and those try out pages will tell you which teams are looking for players. There are some Classic teams that only play one season but it’s usually the team as a whole not a single player (and it’s relatively rare).

yeah, we'd be looking for spring, because he plays on the school team in the fall... so maybe there are opportunities for plugging holes. But even if it was the other way around, I wouldn't ever sign up for something and leave the coach hanging -- if he couldn't agree to a one season thing, I wouldn't do it.

DC Way would typically have Spring-only openings on the lowest level travel team in any age group for which they sport multiple teams (and at many ages this is just 2 teams and the 2nd team is much better than rec). They charge per season and typically lose 1-2 kids to moving or injury or a change of interest. I actually think Fall only would be tough, but Spring is totally doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS has a school sports obligation one season and between that and homework load, it's not feasible to follow a travel schedule in both fall and spring... any options for a player who wants more than rec, but can't commit to the three seasons system most programs seem to have?

Obviously you want travel soccer in name only
Leave that to committed kids and parents

You want the full-time job on a part-time schedule

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has a school sports obligation one season and between that and homework load, it's not feasible to follow a travel schedule in both fall and spring... any options for a player who wants more than rec, but can't commit to the three seasons system most programs seem to have?

Obviously you want travel soccer in name only
Leave that to committed kids and parents

You want the full-time job on a part-time schedule

Is travel soccer inherently three seasons? Travel basketball and baseball aren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has a school sports obligation one season and between that and homework load, it's not feasible to follow a travel schedule in both fall and spring... any options for a player who wants more than rec, but can't commit to the three seasons system most programs seem to have?

Obviously you want travel soccer in name only
Leave that to committed kids and parents

You want the full-time job on a part-time schedule

Is travel soccer inherently three seasons? Travel basketball and baseball aren't.

It's inherently 2 seasons - fall/spring. You sign on for the year with a gap starting right about now until Aug.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? A lot of high school teams play one season and sit out the season that their public schools are in season for soccer. In Virginia, that means they play in the fall and sit out the spring. They train and do tournaments over the winter (basically until President's Day, when HS tryouts start), with the exception of teams who then do Jeff Cup in March. Chat with your club admin or TD to see how they work this out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has a school sports obligation one season and between that and homework load, it's not feasible to follow a travel schedule in both fall and spring... any options for a player who wants more than rec, but can't commit to the three seasons system most programs seem to have?

Obviously you want travel soccer in name only
Leave that to committed kids and parents

You want the full-time job on a part-time schedule

Is travel soccer inherently three seasons? Travel basketball and baseball aren't.

It's inherently 2 seasons - fall/spring. You sign on for the year with a gap starting right about now until Aug.

yeah, and the kid plays fall soccer at his school -- they need a place for him that matches the level he plays in the fall in the spring. The fact that the club wants him two (or three) seasons is a them problem... he's committed to two seasons of soccer, but they only need one through a club.

bottom line, clubs around here are too inflexible and it's silly.