Alexandria on way down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is anything to report here. All the Alexandria Boy's 1st teams are doing quite well, except the 2010 group, and they are doing fine. From 2014 to 2008 age groups, they are mostly ranked in the top 10 in the state.

Rankings don’t matter. Poor barometer of development.

Oh, you're talking development...I'm confused, because the title of this thread is "Alexandria on the way down?" I was talking about rankings wins and losses. You know, the things that matter when talking about if a team & Club is up or down.

Oh…you are one of those snarky American soccer parents who probably thinks MLS Next and D1 soccer are elite relative to the world.

Rankings = 🤡 show

There are top team ranked in the top 10 that can’t even string 5 passes together. You might as bad as the participation-trophy loving, original poster.

Thanks for telling me you know nothing about development without telling me you know nothing about development.

-Oh are you the OP? No, I didn't think so. Just someone who likes to pop into message boards to confuse people by changing the topic. Are you talking about Development or Rankings? If you are trying to make a big deal out of being off topic, then start a new thread. And everyone agree rankings and development are not exactly equally tied together. You didn't Wow anyone by saying they are not related. We'll call you Captain Obvious who likes to confuse the topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 2012 team has 24 rostered on their team. The coach plays his fav. and the DCU kids while giving the other players very few mins.

“Coach plays his fav.”?
You mean the players that are better than your kid?

I don’t want to insult anyone’s kids, but you are doing the same when you simply refer to other kids as the coach’s favorite

[Anonymous]

We are new to the club, but it has been one of the more organized I have seen, providing resources like onsite trainers at practice, mindfulness coaching, and injury prevention. I don’t consider those signs at all of a club on the way down. I actually feel like for once I see where my $$ is going. On roster size, it’s very much the case at clubs that as the kids get older, so too do the roster sizes. Go read some of the other threads and you’ll see 24 or more (28 at Bethesda). If your kid isn’t playing, certainly look at another club or moving down. But you may have the same problem if you stay on a top team and just move unless it’s a lower performing team. Right now, the boys at the 2012 and 2013 age groups, Alex is top 1/3, so not doing too bad and it’s early. (A little rougher on the girls side, which mistimed their GA tryouts, except for the 2012s which apparently are tied in first with SYC as the only two undefeated teams in their division.)

[Anonymous]

The onsite trainers were there this week and it's to self-promote.

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the club, but it has been one of the more organized I have seen, providing resources like onsite trainers at practice, mindfulness coaching, and injury prevention. I don’t consider those signs at all of a club on the way down. I actually feel like for once I see where my $$ is going. On roster size, it’s very much the case at clubs that as the kids get older, so too do the roster sizes. Go read some of the other threads and you’ll see 24 or more (28 at Bethesda). If your kid isn’t playing, certainly look at another club or moving down. But you may have the same problem if you stay on a top team and just move unless it’s a lower performing team. Right now, the boys at the 2012 and 2013 age groups, Alex is top 1/3, so not doing too bad and it’s early. (A little rougher on the girls side, which mistimed their GA tryouts, except for the 2012s which apparently are tied in first with SYC as the only two undefeated teams in their division.)

[Anonymous]

The situation this year is especially unique for the 2012 team. They have a large roster due to the whole DCU debacle with not fielding a U14 team. Alexandria had already extended their offers, and now the players who were originally planning to move to DCU didn’t end up making the switch. Instead, they’re part-time with DCU and also playing with Alexandria.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys side is roster is way over the limit , they have been adding kids to roster after the season started. Resulting in the kids sitting out for game day . Its is very sad to see kids in bench though on first team .

1) Move down to 2nd team.
2) practice with 1st team and play with 2nd team
3) Get permission to guest with another club to get playing time

EVERY club is willing to take on additional players and move others down. This is not unique to Alexandria.

Your kids situation is emblematic of your parenting style. You think there is a problem with an entire boys side of the club because they don’t feel your son is good enough to play. Don’t go a moment and think I am above this situation and that my son has not been in the same position. This is their moment to put up or shut up and it is on your child to decide how they want to respond.

Everybody wants to be 1st team until it is time to do what 1st team players do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The situation this year is especially unique for the 2012 team. They have a large roster due to the whole DCU debacle with not fielding a U14 team. Alexandria had already extended their offers, and now the players who were originally planning to move to DCU didn’t end up making the switch. Instead, they’re part-time with DCU and also playing with Alexandria.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys side is roster is way over the limit , they have been adding kids to roster after the season started. Resulting in the kids sitting out for game day . Its is very sad to see kids in bench though on first team .

1) Move down to 2nd team.
2) practice with 1st team and play with 2nd team
3) Get permission to guest with another club to get playing time

EVERY club is willing to take on additional players and move others down. This is not unique to Alexandria.

Your kids situation is emblematic of your parenting style. You think there is a problem with an entire boys side of the club because they don’t feel your son is good enough to play. Don’t go a moment and think I am above this situation and that my son has not been in the same position. This is their moment to put up or shut up and it is on your child to decide how they want to respond.

Everybody wants to be 1st team until it is time to do what 1st team players do.

I don't think anyone is "part-time" so much as certain players that would otherwise be at DCU can't be (because DCU cancelled their U-14 team) and so now they're playing full-time with Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Plz plz stay away from ASAP. Is really bad and MLS Next Director does not care about development, just himself. Club does not provide good coaching at all. Stay away, and if you there, sorry, start looking around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plz plz stay away from ASAP. Is really bad and MLS Next Director does not care about development, just himself. Club does not provide good coaching at all. Stay away, and if you there, sorry, start looking around.

Who is the MLS Director?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any intel on the boy's side of the club?

We played their MLSNext team recently. Solid team. What’s your angle?

[Anonymous]

The 2011s were humiliated when they played SYC, losing 0–7.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any intel on the boy's side of the club?

We played their MLSNext team recently. Solid team. What’s your angle?

[Anonymous]

ASA can't be going down that bad when both U17 and U19 1st teams beat DCU. That speaks volume watching from the outside of the club imo.

[Anonymous]

The high turnover rate common in many clubs—with 5+ players leaving and joining annually—creates a fundamental obstacle to success. It's unrealistic to expect any coach to truly rebuild a team in that environment. This is a problem with all P2P clubs now.

Many coaches need to seriously reconsider their recruitment strategy. The constant pursuit of the "next shiny player"—always chasing the big, tall, or fast athlete—often leads to a bloated roster and kills team chemistry.

Trust and chemistry aren't built overnight or in four practice sessions; they are the cumulative result of time and shared experience. When a coach keeps bringing in new talent even when the roster is full, it sends a clear message that current players are expendable.

Retain your players, develop the talent you have, and build the team up year over year.

It's amazing the results you'll see when a team feels appreciated and valued. Loyalty is a two-way street. Coaches can't expect commitment from their players if they aren't demonstrating loyalty by investing in the existing squad. Stop stacking the roster and start fostering stability.

[Anonymous]

Honest question, not specific to Alexandria. With clubs having be competive at a high level in order to retain MLS Next membership, at what point/age is it ok to say that, for better or worse, results do matter? While that might be a fundamental problem with US soccer in general, it's the predicament that all these clubs are in. So of course they are trying to do what they can to both attract and play the players that give them the best chance of being successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honest question, not specific to Alexandria. With clubs having be competive at a high level in order to retain MLS Next membership, at what point/age is it ok to say that, for better or worse, results do matter? While that might be a fundamental problem with US soccer in general, it's the predicament that all these clubs are in. So of course they are trying to do what they can to both attract and play the players that give them the best chance of being successful.

Results begin to matter U16+

Everything else is puberty ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 2011s were humiliated when they played SYC, losing 0–7.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any intel on the boy's side of the club?

We played their MLSNext team recently. Solid team. What’s your angle?

And this is why parents spend all of this money and time and wonder why their kid has no D1 offers and it is unfair that internationals are taking their D1 spots.

Can anyone name ONE current professional SYC alumni in Europe?

Can anyone name FIVE current SYC professional alumni playing professionally anywhere right now?

As someone who did the research and kept an open mind about where to go locally, it was clear that certain clubs prepared you for the highest level and some clubs prepared you to win IG, Jeff Cup, MLS Next, SuperCopa and the Rankings app. It’s okay if that is your thing but please understand winning has NOTHING to do with development.

The SYC team in my son’s age group would DESTROY our current team right and we are a “top 5 team in the state.” They have a great collection of talent.

While those kids are athletically superior right now and have no competition locally, we are building boring technical habits when they matter the most. Once puberty hits and you can no longer outrun and outmuscle your opponents and you have have a poor first touch and don’t know how to create a favorable 2v1 situation anywhere on the pitch through a dribble or pass because your soccer IQ is too low, have fun winning MLS Next while the boring kids who lost early are in Europe, MLS Next or at worst, D1.

You’re welcome to the two people who will heed this warning. The rest will return to being Rankings app drones and this can easily explain the 1% success rate of those who go D1, MLS or Europe/SA.