Boys DA, ECNL, ODP, CCL, EDP, NCSL, ODP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:leagues and Clubs mean nothing....what you need, in my opinion.

Great coach/trainer. Someone that connects, teaches, demonstrates, pushes, and inspires.
Your kid to be in the middle of the pack skill wise where he can be pushed by better players and have some success in 1v1 situations at practice
Committed kids who are their to learn and improve
Committed parents (I understand people work and stuff but kids need to get to every practice and games on time - meaning 15 mins early or the team is doomed.)
Parents and kids that buy into the style of play of the team.
Quality training field (I say this because my son almost had these things but the team's practice field was a foot tall, grassy swamp. Killed practices.)

If anyone knows of this team, please share! : )

I think Washington Spirit Baltimore Armour Development Academy comes close to this. The level of commitment of parents and kids is extremely high. They are seriously motivated to play Division 1 college soccer and some are targeting national team and professional level. The practice fields and game day fields are awesome. The coaching is great and very fair. The only thing lacking is parents bought in to style of play. I hear a lot of opinions on the sideline from parents who are former players. I don't think you can ever get away from that.

I'm surprised to hear the practice fields are so great. Are you guys practicing somewhere else besides that Maryland complex in Boyds? We played Spirit MD there, and the fields were awful. The field itself was lumpy and uneven; plus it had weeds. And don't even get me started on the bugs (although I could forgive that if the field itself were great). No comment on the program itself, as that part, I don't really know.

Now, if we truly want to talk lush, gorgeous fields, the fields for the DA showcase in FL were exceptional.

Washington Spirit Baltimore Armour trains at the SAC turf fields in Ellicott City and sometimes at HS turf fields. Their home games this year will primarily be at Baltimore Polytechnic HS turf field although some games may be at the Soccerplex. Some of the grass fields at the Soccerplex can get lumpy after long periods of rain but generally they are very well maintained. If you don't like bugs, you should stay at home or in your car. That is an unbelievable whiney complaint.

[Anonymous]

Field 5 (or 4?) at the soccerplex was unplayable this spring. It was so beatup that you could not make passes. The rest of the fields were in pretty good shape and well maintained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:leagues and Clubs mean nothing....what you need, in my opinion.

Great coach/trainer. Someone that connects, teaches, demonstrates, pushes, and inspires.
Your kid to be in the middle of the pack skill wise where he can be pushed by better players and have some success in 1v1 situations at practice
Committed kids who are their to learn and improve
Committed parents (I understand people work and stuff but kids need to get to every practice and games on time - meaning 15 mins early or the team is doomed.)
Parents and kids that buy into the style of play of the team.
Quality training field (I say this because my son almost had these things but the team's practice field was a foot tall, grassy swamp. Killed practices.)

If anyone knows of this team, please share! : )

I think Washington Spirit Baltimore Armour Development Academy comes close to this. The level of commitment of parents and kids is extremely high. They are seriously motivated to play Division 1 college soccer and some are targeting national team and professional level. The practice fields and game day fields are awesome. The coaching is great and very fair. The only thing lacking is parents bought in to style of play. I hear a lot of opinions on the sideline from parents who are former players. I don't think you can ever get away from that.

I'm surprised to hear the practice fields are so great. Are you guys practicing somewhere else besides that Maryland complex in Boyds? We played Spirit MD there, and the fields were awful. The field itself was lumpy and uneven; plus it had weeds. And don't even get me started on the bugs (although I could forgive that if the field itself were great). No comment on the program itself, as that part, I don't really know.

Now, if we truly want to talk lush, gorgeous fields, the fields for the DA showcase in FL were exceptional.

Washington Spirit Baltimore Armour trains at the SAC turf fields in Ellicott City and sometimes at HS turf fields. Their home games this year will primarily be at Baltimore Polytechnic HS turf field although some games may be at the Soccerplex. Some of the grass fields at the Soccerplex can get lumpy after long periods of rain but generally they are very well maintained. If you don't like bugs, you should stay at home or in your car. That is an unbelievable whiney complaint.

That's great. Good for them. Glad they have great fields. I agree about the whiney bug complaint.

Just one thing, ....

They are a girls team, no? This is a boys soccer thread, right?

Having seen the BOYS Baltimore Armour teams play last year, I have to say I was not impressed. They get OK results, but from what I saw it's just bunker-n-counter long ball soccer trying to rely on a couple big fast kids to make the difference. No development there.

That's probably why Baltimore Celtic is still able to retain so many top level players, even though all the parents complain about how weak the competition in the ECNL is. Armour is crap and there just isn't any realistic DA alternative within driving distance. I know some from there go to DCU or Philly Union but that isn't a viable option for many.

[Anonymous]

Baltimore Armour does have a more physical, less attractive style of play than many other DA teams, but I think that's largely because SAC was one of the big feeders to start with. Armour has very good coaching, and the partnership with Pipeline is likely to lead to an influx of more technically sound players over time. Armour has done very well for being around for such a short time.

Celtic has done well in part because the Baltimore area has deep, deep private school roots, and the private schools there have always valued soccer. There are a whole lot of kids there who are not going to give up their HS soccer experience any time soon, so they will maintain good non-DA teams. The same is true of Boston (with both their private and boarding schools) and a number of other cities.

[Anonymous]

What are the top teams, in the DC area, for '05 boys?

[Anonymous]

Bethesda and DCU, who else?

[Anonymous]

The Baltimore Celtic 05s are very good and play a possession oriented style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Baltimore Celtic 05s are very good and play a possession oriented style.

They are number 1 in MD, correct? Doradus is ranked #1 in VA. Both of those teams are playing in EDP division 1 this Fall.

[Anonymous]

Are FPYC teams supposed to be any good? We were caught a little off guard by them this past weekend. Not that it can’t happen to anyone, but I thought their travel program was weak and they focused mostly on rec. I guess the possibility exists that they brought outside players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are FPYC teams supposed to be any good? We were caught a little off guard by them this past weekend. Not that it can’t happen to anyone, but I thought their travel program was weak and they focused mostly on rec. I guess the possibility exists that they brought outside players.

LOL...No, we didn't bring in any guest players! We are a very small club, it's true. But the good thing about being small is that players get a lot of personal attention and playing time. If your age group at FPYC has a good coach, then you are all set. It's not a money-making venture, so we don't have to deal with a lot of bs that other clubs do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are FPYC teams supposed to be any good? We were caught a little off guard by them this past weekend. Not that it can’t happen to anyone, but I thought their travel program was weak and they focused mostly on rec. I guess the possibility exists that they brought outside players.

Sorry but every guest player we took is part of our program and plays for the second team. We weren’t even at full strength.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Baltimore Celtic 05s are very good and play a possession oriented style.

They are number 1 in MD, correct? Doradus is ranked #1 in VA. Both of those teams are playing in EDP division 1 this Fall.

Doradus lost their 2 best players to DCU. They won't be anywhere near as strong as they were last year.

[Anonymous]

DCU will definitely be strong this year, having strengthened their frontline with the 2 Doradus imports.
It seems that their relatively poor results last Fall has pushed them to recruit more athletic forwards during the winter/spring to complement their already strong midfield.

Not sure how Doradus' kick and run will do without these 2 players this year...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are FPYC teams supposed to be any good? We were caught a little off guard by them this past weekend. Not that it can’t happen to anyone, but I thought their travel program was weak and they focused mostly on rec. I guess the possibility exists that they brought outside players.

I wouldn't underestimate a TEAM just because the CLUB isn't that prominent or whatever. FPYC has a parent volunteer rec program, so I'm not sure how much the club focuses on the rec program. The program goes as the volunteerism goes. The club does provide plenty of field space. As for the travel program, a few years ago, it was really building itself and had a very good pre-travel academy starting at U6 and they had strong U9-U12 travel teams that came through that pre-travel program. However, the pre-travel academy is pretty much dead from what I hear currently. About three years ago, FPYC went with UK Elite to run it's pre-travel academy and all new travel teams were forced to hire a UK Elite trainer. Joga and FPYC went their separate ways. Note that Joga trainers assisted in the pre travel academy and coached/trained several (but not all by any means) travel teams especially most of the youngest travel teams. Since then the travel program has steadily declined. There used to be two teams for every age groups for both boys and girls. Currently, there is one boys U9 (2010) team, no 2009 boys teams, no 2008 boys teams, and no boys 2007 teams. I'm not sure about the girls but I think they have no 2009 girls team. one 2008 team, and no 2007 girls teams. It didn't help that the Technical Director quit in the middle of last summer with very short notice. I think this forum talked about FPYC a month or so ago about it imploding and the Director of Soccer must have caught wind because the Director of Soccer emailed the travel coaches and team managers and said that the travel program was not imploding and that he has full faith in the direction of the travel program and UK Elite. Right after that email, the head UK Elite guy emailed the club and said that he was cancelling 2007 boys tryouts. They weren't even going to try to make a 2007 team boys or girls for that matter. Since then, the boys 2008 team folded because I heard there are no UK Elite coaches available. I mean it's a sad state of affairs. But I hear the 2006 and 2005 boys team are doing well. Maybe some older ones too but, at this pace, the club will not have a travel program unless they get someone in there that can inspire some kids to play travel at that club.

I highly doubt that FPYC brought in outside players just to get a win. They definitely aren't about winning at all costs. Maybe your team isn't as good as you think it is. Is it SYA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are FPYC teams supposed to be any good? We were caught a little off guard by them this past weekend. Not that it can’t happen to anyone, but I thought their travel program was weak and they focused mostly on rec. I guess the possibility exists that they brought outside players.

I wouldn't underestimate a TEAM just because the CLUB isn't that prominent or whatever. FPYC has a parent volunteer rec program, so I'm not sure how much the club focuses on the rec program. The program goes as the volunteerism goes. The club does provide plenty of field space. As for the travel program, a few years ago, it was really building itself and had a very good pre-travel academy starting at U6 and they had strong U9-U12 travel teams that came through that pre-travel program. However, the pre-travel academy is pretty much dead from what I hear currently. About three years ago, FPYC went with UK Elite to run it's pre-travel academy and all new travel teams were forced to hire a UK Elite trainer. Joga and FPYC went their separate ways. Note that Joga trainers assisted in the pre travel academy and coached/trained several (but not all by any means) travel teams especially most of the youngest travel teams. Since then the travel program has steadily declined. There used to be two teams for every age groups for both boys and girls. Currently, there is one boys U9 (2010) team, no 2009 boys teams, no 2008 boys teams, and no boys 2007 teams. I'm not sure about the girls but I think they have no 2009 girls team. one 2008 team, and no 2007 girls teams. It didn't help that the Technical Director quit in the middle of last summer with very short notice. I think this forum talked about FPYC a month or so ago about it imploding and the Director of Soccer must have caught wind because the Director of Soccer emailed the travel coaches and team managers and said that the travel program was not imploding and that he has full faith in the direction of the travel program and UK Elite. Right after that email, the head UK Elite guy emailed the club and said that he was cancelling 2007 boys tryouts. They weren't even going to try to make a 2007 team boys or girls for that matter. Since then, the boys 2008 team folded because I heard there are no UK Elite coaches available. I mean it's a sad state of affairs. But I hear the 2006 and 2005 boys team are doing well. Maybe some older ones too but, at this pace, the club will not have a travel program unless they get someone in there that can inspire some kids to play travel at that club.

I highly doubt that FPYC brought in outside players just to get a win. They definitely aren't about winning at all costs. Maybe your team isn't as good as you think it is. Is it SYA?

This was in the high school bracket. Again not trying to accuse them of anything, just were not expecting them to be so strong. I have been reading the other posts that claim their travel program has been regressing but these guys just blew away the rest of the competition. Does UK Elite also train the older teams?