Arlington Red team vs Arlington DA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on pros and cons?

It depends on age of child, if they would start, and you personal view on development. If you are a fringe player at U15 DA, sub rules for DA may limit play time. U13 rules are slightly different on numbers of subs - but still no re-entry. If younger (rising U13), I would prioritize touches on the ball in games especially if you presume to be a sub player. Just depends on lots of factors and your beliefs on development. Lots of opinions on the board. Many are valid that are contrary to mine too. Consider it all good input. Ignore the snarky arses though....

[Anonymous]

Training will matter more than games at the U12-u14.

Compare the coaches and the training.

[Anonymous]

>U12, Arlington Red is the Bteam going forward (older DA age groups added each year). Big divide between the top of Bteam Red and the bottom of Bteam Red. Tops of local Bteams need to get together and find something better then Ccl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:>U12, Arlington Red is the Bteam going forward (older DA age groups added each year). Big divide between the top of Bteam Red and the bottom of Bteam Red. Tops of local Bteams need to get together and find something better then Ccl.

But you forget that the 15 kids/parents are going to say f*ckit and stick together as Red so Red will always remain the A team.

[Anonymous]

^^
Not sure who posted that but yah, won't happen. Opposite in fact. DA has the secret sauce for a handful of players and the rest loyally jump on the bandwagon each year .... poof ........ Red is always the 2nd team during DA years, boys and girls. FOMO is the driver, not some higher kinship between families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:>U12, Arlington Red is the Bteam going forward (older DA age groups added each year). Big divide between the top of Bteam Red and the bottom of Bteam Red. Tops of local Bteams need to get together and find something better then Ccl.

But you forget that the 15 kids/parents are going to say f*ckit and stick together as Red so Red will always remain the A team.

This is so funny, but sure, you all stick together and have fun because at the end of the day if the girls aren't having fun, what's the point?

Or is the parents are having fun? Idk.

Either way, either take the opportunity to move up to DA and benefit from the better, more intensive training or don't. If you don't, other kids will and they will surpass your kids, but hey, you all can still be the "red" team because outside of Arlington or any other club for that matter, no one really knows what club specific colors mean.

[Anonymous]

It is a marathon, not a sprint. The race to make your DD "better" then the next girl who gets "surpassed" leaves much to be desired, not to mention a bad taste. But this is Arlington, and par for the course here.

It will be interesting if the DA crowd is ok with just unform patches, or if DA bumper stickers come next. DA has its place, but many in that program outside the starting 11 are not a lock to "surpass" anyone, let alone the top 3 on a Red team.

Lots of myopia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a marathon, not a sprint. The race to make your DD "better" then the next girl who gets "surpassed" leaves much to be desired, not to mention a bad taste. But this is Arlington, and par for the course here.

It will be interesting if the DA crowd is ok with just unform patches, or if DA bumper stickers come next. DA has its place, but many in that program outside the starting 11 are not a lock to "surpass" anyone, let alone the top 3 on a Red team.

Lots of myopia.

If the 15 kids stick together, thumb their nose at DA and stay on Red, yes they will be surpassed. And then one by one the defections to the DA squad start to happen because it will be evident that Red is now the B team, with the B team coach, the B team practice schedule, and the B team club attention. That will not sit well with parents who have been used to the club star treatment and slowly one by one the group pact falls apart.

Just do what is best for your kid and be encouraging of the decisions that other kids and parents make. Teams do not stick together forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^
Not sure who posted that but yah, won't happen. Opposite in fact. DA has the secret sauce for a handful of players and the rest loyally jump on the bandwagon each year .... poof ........ Red is always the 2nd team during DA years, boys and girls. FOMO is the driver, not some higher kinship between families.

sneaky too. Parents will say directly to your face their kid isn't going to do it...all the while secretly sending in their acceptance check.

People are nuts. This County is more lemming than most area so all of them will do it---even if they don't necessarily want to or think it is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

I hate to break it to the parent who thinks her DD's precious red team will stay together but even if Arlington didn't have DA, the coaching staff would be moving players up and dropping players down. That is how travel soccer works.

If you want to play with the same kids from U6 to U18, stick to the rec/SFL teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a marathon, not a sprint. The race to make your DD "better" then the next girl who gets "surpassed" leaves much to be desired, not to mention a bad taste. But this is Arlington, and par for the course here.

It will be interesting if the DA crowd is ok with just unform patches, or if DA bumper stickers come next. DA has its place, but many in that program outside the starting 11 are not a lock to "surpass" anyone, let alone the top 3 on a Red team.

Lots of myopia.

If the 15 kids stick together, thumb their nose at DA and stay on Red, yes they will be surpassed. And then one by one the defections to the DA squad start to happen because it will be evident that Red is now the B team, with the B team coach, the B team practice schedule, and the B team club attention. That will not sit well with parents who have been used to the club star treatment and slowly one by one the group pact falls apart.

Just do what is best for your kid and be encouraging of the decisions that other kids and parents make. Teams do not stick together forever.

Sheep:

Fomo. eliteness. College soccer. showcase. Airplanes. club star treatment.

GAG

None of these piggy banks played the game to assess any of this..... so, they all played college ball? How about hs? Same dads whose warm-up routine at U9 was to kick the ball back and forth with their kid. Same dads yelling "shoot" as their club star dribbles at the goal now.

you are right about defections. Shiny new object. At all costs.

Red team is for losers who care about social friendship.

We hear you loud and clear soccer dad.....the new track suit looks great too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:>U12, Arlington Red is the Bteam going forward (older DA age groups added each year). Big divide between the top of Bteam Red and the bottom of Bteam Red. Tops of local Bteams need to get together and find something better then Ccl.

But you forget that the 15 kids/parents are going to say f*ckit and stick together as Red so Red will always remain the A team.

This is so funny, but sure, you all stick together and have fun because at the end of the day if the girls aren't having fun, what's the point?

Or is the parents are having fun? Idk.

Either way, either take the opportunity to move up to DA and benefit from the better, more intensive training or don't. If you don't, other kids will and they will surpass your kids, but hey, you all can still be the "red" team because outside of Arlington or any other club for that matter, no one really knows what club specific colors mean.

That is so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a marathon, not a sprint. The race to make your DD "better" then the next girl who gets "surpassed" leaves much to be desired, not to mention a bad taste. But this is Arlington, and par for the course here.

It will be interesting if the DA crowd is ok with just unform patches, or if DA bumper stickers come next. DA has its place, but many in that program outside the starting 11 are not a lock to "surpass" anyone, let alone the top 3 on a Red team.

Lots of myopia.

If the 15 kids stick together, thumb their nose at DA and stay on Red, yes they will be surpassed. And then one by one the defections to the DA squad start to happen because it will be evident that Red is now the B team, with the B team coach, the B team practice schedule, and the B team club attention. That will not sit well with parents who have been used to the club star treatment and slowly one by one the group pact falls apart.

Just do what is best for your kid and be encouraging of the decisions that other kids and parents make. Teams do not stick together forever.

Sheep:

Fomo. eliteness. College soccer. showcase. Airplanes. club star treatment.

GAG

None of these piggy banks played the game to assess any of this..... so, they all played college ball? How about hs? Same dads whose warm-up routine at U9 was to kick the ball back and forth with their kid. Same dads yelling "shoot" as their club star dribbles at the goal now.

you are right about defections. Shiny new object. At all costs.

Red team is for losers who care about social friendship.

We hear you loud and clear soccer dad.....the new track suit looks great too

Sheep? Coming from the person who wants to do what the other 14 parents and kids will do? Ok bud. Don't make a decision based on your kids interests, just wait for the team to decide for you. What a clown.

[Anonymous]

^^ Wrong poster dumba$$

[Anonymous]

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington DA is pre-HS. It doesn’t matter yet. She can quit DA if she wants to play HS down the road.

Frankly, I think DA is a gimmick and don’t like 4 practices per week and large rosters.

But I assume the majority of her current red team will do it and if she wants to stick with them she does it unless you all band together and say f@ck it.

Once DA and ECNL begin kids get separated. Trying to keep the team together just does not work past U12 as this is a transition year. Your "band together" comment sounds like many parents who's kids made friends though Rec and also wanted to keep them together when they look into going into travel.

You will need to determine what it is important to your daughter. DA or ECNL are college showcase leagues primarily. If your daughter wishes to play in college then you should look into which league can provide a proven pathway as well as the best fit for your daughter. IF she is primarily interested in the social aspects then it is likely that neither league is a good fit and perhaps regardless of the team makeup playing on Red might be the best choice.

But DO NOT try and convince parents to choose one or the other just to keep the team together. To do so would do a tremendous disservice to all involved. All of your daughter's teammates at this point, just like when leaving Rec, must choose what is in their best interests based on their long term goals not short term comfort or compatibility.

Ok, coach. We will all commit to traveling out of state every other weekend. Thanks for the tip.

Not so sure. Our team of top players all have said f*ck it to stuff as a unit and there really wasn't much they could do except cut their best 15 players in the age group...which they did not.

Some times it takes a village to stand up to the horseshit that has become US Youth soccer.

You are my new hero.

Look, I speak with former women's national team players all the time. They played because it was FUN. They played other sports. They played with friends.

Sure, the rest of the world has advanced in technical skills. So is the best solution to put everyone on airplanes every other week? How much technical skill do you develop at 35,000 feet, anyway?

I've also spoken with DA people, and I get what they're trying to do. Lots of training. Centralized planning. OK.

But I have not spoken with anyone who thinks you HAVE to go along with the DA approach to fulfill your potential as a soccer player and a human being. We have, and will continue to have, multiple pathways.

Put another way -- if Mallory Pugh can be one of the best players on the national team a couple of years after playing high school soccer, how are you going to tell 15 families they have to give up everything else to go to the DA?

First of all, DA clubs don't fly all over the country every weekend. You play regionally in the mid Atlantic and can go to two national showcases every year at the older ages.

Second, the fifteen girls on Arlington red can stay on arlington red for all I care. There are hundreds of girls in the area who will gladly take their place.