Why is playing travel soccer preferable to playing MSI Classic with a professional coach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda and McLean girls in that age range are having a some problems right now. Parents I have talk to describe the same thing at both programs- bully coaches, lots of yelling, etc. It has turned a lot of girls off. So you have to go in with your eye open. Lots of other programs around.

I gather than Bethesda recently fired one of the yellers.

o

My yeller is still there. One of the nicer coaches is not returning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It all depends on the quality and dedication of the coach.

There are 5 levels, really. This is specific for girls soccer.

1. Elite / Premier (whatever you want to call it)

An example would be the top team of a club like Bethesda. If you look at Bethesda Blue, you would find dedicated players who have been in training programs since a young age, or who have older siblings or parents who teach them the game at home.

Players generally have some kind of individual improvement plans from their coaches and are working on their skills at home or through extra clinics.

Expect 3x per week practices during the spring and fall, 1-2x per week practices over the winter and a futsal league. Camps/clinics in the summer or offseason.

You definitely have to try out for these types of teams, and they are hard to make if you have not had training the last few years since U8 and younger or are a gifted athlete.

2. Competitive +

An example of this type of team would be Bethesda White. They are still on the same yearly schedule as Bethesda Blue, but you may not see quite as much individual dedication or pure talent from the players outside of the normally scheduled practices to improve on their own. There are still some very good players here, to be sure, but it is not the whole team "top to bottom" as you will find on Blue.

3. Competitive

This would be a team that practices 2x per week and does some type of training in the off-season. This sounds like the Classic team you joined last year. Players may play more than 1 sport competitively, sometimes practices are only 1 hour instead of 1.5 hours. So you're only getting 2 hours per week of practice compared to 4.5 hours at the higher level - less than half.

This also means that players develop at a slower rate. A player who practices for 45 hours per season (10 weeks x 4.5hrs per week) will improve at a rate more than double what a player who practices 20 hours per season.

Most parents are apathetic to this, and players don't know the difference or generally care how many hours they practice per season. However when your player gets to high school age and wants to try out as a 9th grader, guess who you are competing against?

4. Academy

This would be where a group of recreational players are put into some type of training program, and then the kids in the training program play games and match up against equal competition. PPA (Player Progression Academy) is sort of like this. I think they also offer the "competitive" option where there is some type of try-out process. "Academy" level teams typically don't even have tryouts - if you have signed up for the training program, you are in.

Usually the quality of coaching here is so-so, and players are doing it more or less for fun, so not always the most focused group of kids or the most expert of coaches. But still, some training is better than no training.


5. Rec

Playing for fun, usually a volunteer coach, hit or miss on the quality of the training and rate of improvement.
Usually 1 hour practices twice a week during the season, and nothing during the off-season. A lot of turnover rate on the team from season to season and year to year.

Can't do a thing about kids with issues (low motivation level, doesn't try hard, negative attitude, doesn't attend practices) because their parents have paid their fee.

Some coaches stay with their team from year to year (have a kid on it) and actually manage the team well, do a little recruiting, and get a good group together. Other teams not so much - mixed bag.

This was an outstanding description! Thank you for taking the time to do it. I've been trying to figure this out by reading the board, but this put it all together-- and it's great to see examples from Maryland because a lot of the board focuses on Virginia leagues that I'm not familiar with. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Are the color designations consistent across clubs?
Blue=highest
White=second highest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the color designations consistent across clubs?
Blue=highest
White=second highest?

That is for BSC girls. Each club has different classifications. Some clubs will have DA on top of the color system. I disagree with the assessment of BSC blue for the girls. There are like 3-4 girls on blue who are considered the top players. The rest of the players on blue and the top 4 on white are a step down from the top blue players. Those other players are pretty interchangeable and there is not much difference regardless of color designation. If you are not in the top, there is a chance you can be replaced each year from outside the club.

[Anonymous]

Not worth the extra $$ if you are not on the top travel team;
My kid only played Classic and does play on the very competitive HS team;
I would say most important is if your kid is a) having fun and b) learning something and c) with friends on the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not worth the extra $$ if you are not on the top travel team;
My kid only played Classic and does play on the very competitive HS team;
I would say most important is if your kid is a) having fun and b) learning something and c) with friends on the team.

And max commute of 20 minutes to practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It all depends on the quality and dedication of the coach.

There are 5 levels, really. This is specific for girls soccer.

1. Elite / Premier (whatever you want to call it)

An example would be the top team of a club like Bethesda. If you look at Bethesda Blue, you would find dedicated players who have been in training programs since a young age, or who have older siblings or parents who teach them the game at home.

Players generally have some kind of individual improvement plans from their coaches and are working on their skills at home or through extra clinics.

Expect 3x per week practices during the spring and fall, 1-2x per week practices over the winter and a futsal league. Camps/clinics in the summer or offseason.

You definitely have to try out for these types of teams, and they are hard to make if you have not had training the last few years since U8 and younger or are a gifted athlete.

2. Competitive +

An example of this type of team would be Bethesda White. They are still on the same yearly schedule as Bethesda Blue, but you may not see quite as much individual dedication or pure talent from the players outside of the normally scheduled practices to improve on their own. There are still some very good players here, to be sure, but it is not the whole team "top to bottom" as you will find on Blue.

3. Competitive

This would be a team that practices 2x per week and does some type of training in the off-season. This sounds like the Classic team you joined last year. Players may play more than 1 sport competitively, sometimes practices are only 1 hour instead of 1.5 hours. So you're only getting 2 hours per week of practice compared to 4.5 hours at the higher level - less than half.

This also means that players develop at a slower rate. A player who practices for 45 hours per season (10 weeks x 4.5hrs per week) will improve at a rate more than double what a player who practices 20 hours per season.

Most parents are apathetic to this, and players don't know the difference or generally care how many hours they practice per season. However when your player gets to high school age and wants to try out as a 9th grader, guess who you are competing against?

4. Academy

This would be where a group of recreational players are put into some type of training program, and then the kids in the training program play games and match up against equal competition. PPA (Player Progression Academy) is sort of like this. I think they also offer the "competitive" option where there is some type of try-out process. "Academy" level teams typically don't even have tryouts - if you have signed up for the training program, you are in.

Usually the quality of coaching here is so-so, and players are doing it more or less for fun, so not always the most focused group of kids or the most expert of coaches. But still, some training is better than no training.


5. Rec

Playing for fun, usually a volunteer coach, hit or miss on the quality of the training and rate of improvement.
Usually 1 hour practices twice a week during the season, and nothing during the off-season. A lot of turnover rate on the team from season to season and year to year.

Can't do a thing about kids with issues (low motivation level, doesn't try hard, negative attitude, doesn't attend practices) because their parents have paid their fee.

Some coaches stay with their team from year to year (have a kid on it) and actually manage the team well, do a little recruiting, and get a good group together. Other teams not so much - mixed bag.

This is nicely put together, but having a DD and DS who have both played MSI Rec, MSI Classic and PPA I would have to say the level of play with MSI Classic is very similar to PPA's developmental program. The kids are usually multi-sport kids who try hard and have decent skills. You may get some players that are not very good but you see plenty of those in MSI Classic.
I'm not very familiar with programs in Maryland that fit the description PP has for #4 which seems to be a professionally coached rec-type league but maybe MSA or the YMCA leagues?
PPA also has an elite program I'd describe as competitive+ and higher depending on the team composition for that particular age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the color designations consistent across clubs?
Blue=highest
White=second highest?

That is for BSC girls. Each club has different classifications. Some clubs will have DA on top of the color system. I disagree with the assessment of BSC blue for the girls. There are like 3-4 girls on blue who are considered the top players. The rest of the players on blue and the top 4 on white are a step down from the top blue players. Those other players are pretty interchangeable and there is not much difference regardless of color designation. If you are not in the top, there is a chance you can be replaced each year from outside the club.

On the boys’ side at BSC, I’d say there’s is more than a chance that kids they are developing will be moved down to make a spot on the top team for someone new to the club. Not saying that’s good or bad, but they should be honest about it.

[Anonymous]

My son's Classic team has a paid, professional coach and he's awesome. Just depends!

[Anonymous]

Just chiming to say that there's a lot of variability within the competitive/competitive+ groups as well.

I've had two kids go from rec to travel without any problem, and this past year, my older one just went from mid-level travel to a high-level travel (EDP level 4 to 1) and he's had to put in a lot of work to make the move.

[Anonymous]

During the winter, travel teams practice two times a week and have futsal games. Missing out on futsal for 4 years u9 to u12 and training once a week casually over the winter makes a pretty big difference by the time they get to Middle school.

The level of teams you play against will plateau pretty quickly. U11 is a good year to make the jump to travel.

Check out the ncsl website and go watch a travel game in your age group., look up when MSI academy teams play and you will see a noticeable difference in the level of play.

It may not seem like a big deal now but by the time high school tryouts roll around, you don't want to be a player who's not on a real travel team. Those will be the ones who end up getting in the program first priority.

Like I said, may not seem like a big deal now but the longer you wait, the harder it gets later.