Pipeline

[Anonymous]

Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

Welcome to pay to plays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

Welcome to pay to plays.

It is sad because our son has played with a few different clubs and pipeline is by far the worst for this. I believe kids should earn their playing time but don’t push them out for the shiny new one that shows up mid season with a wallet full of cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not Pipeline dad but did see several teams play this weekend. Any parent or coach who saw any of the Pipeline teams play will tell you that those teams are strong and will compete for the best team in the area in all of its age groups. No other club can say that not even my DDs club.

Exaggerating somewhat. Even the boys side cannot claim to be competing for best team in the area in all age groups. No club - even Armour or Arlington - can legitimately claim that.

Not the PP, but he said that of the teams he saw, they could compete for the best team in the area in each team's age group. He didn't claim to have watched every Pipeline team in every age group.

Hmm. I've reread what he wrote and find it hard to read in any way bit the way I read it the first time. No biggie anyway - I was being picky. I would certainly agree that the pipeline boys teams are all strong and at least one of them (maybe more - I have not seen all of them play ) would certainly challenge for best in the area in its age group. I don't know much about the girls teams although have seen it suggested that they are not as strong on the girls side.

Which boy's team impressed/

2006 team has been very strong for last couple of years (and quite possibly before but I didn't see them prior to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Any girls coach or parent knows Pipeline is a very competitive club. Granted, the club is stepping up to ECNL but the club can compete for the top team in most age groups. Again, just ask any coach.

The age groups I have seen will not challenge for top teams in ecnl. We will see when ecnl starts in November.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

Sorry to hear, it really does suck... BUT, it happens at all ages, levels, and clubs.

Clubs top priority will always be recruit first (new money) and then as a distant 4th or 5th is to develop.

The way this pay for play system is set up, development as a individual is done on one's own time and money.

Coaches treat kids and run teams like theyre playing fantasy football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

Sorry to hear, it really does suck... BUT, it happens at all ages, levels, and clubs.

Clubs top priority will always be recruit first (new money) and then as a distant 4th or 5th is to develop.

The way this pay for play system is set up, development as a individual is done on one's own time and money.

Coaches treat kids and run teams like theyre playing fantasy football.

Agree, but unfortunately it's kind of the nature of the beast with pay for play and teams trying to build teams they can then brag about in their social media accounts, which in turn draws in more money. On the other hand, Pipeline and other clubs at a higher level are not a rec program and they are looking for the best players all the time to compete. This is good if you have a kid in the top tier of a top tier team and want to get recognition at the higher level. If your child is a bubble player on one of these better teams then they are always open to being relegated for the shiny new object, especially if a better player comes along. It's not about loyalty and tenure, it's about winning. You don't get to remain on a top team just because you have been there a while.

To answer the OPs question, I think Pipeline boys are pretty solid throughout. Are they the best at every age? Absolutely not from what I have seen and have some pretty weak teams. However, they have a few of the top 5 boys teams in the area based on the ones we have played and watched at tournaments. Don't know much about the girls side, but I understand their talent was usually split between BA and Pipeline. I have heard most from BA moved over to Pipeline so they have kind of consolidated talent. I'm assuming the Pipeline parent poster is referring to this as their child was probably demoted in favor of an Armour player(s) moving over. Definitely a crappy situation for them.

[Anonymous]

A PP here that is not Pipeline Dad. Pipeline has been the dominate team in my DDs age group since we started playing 11v11. Gotsoccer has each Pipeline team from u16 to u19 ranked #1 in MD. We will see how the team performs in ECNL but they were one of the top girls clubs in the area and every coach of every elite DC-area teams knows the strength of the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A PP here that is not Pipeline Dad. Pipeline has been the dominate team in my DDs age group since we started playing 11v11. Gotsoccer has each Pipeline team from u16 to u19 ranked #1 in MD. We will see how the team performs in ECNL but they were one of the top girls clubs in the area and every coach of every elite DC-area teams knows the strength of the program.

They will be a mediocre ECNL team at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pipeline parent - not pipeline dad - and I am very disappointed in our experience. Third year with the club. They win because they will drop your kid in a heartbeat if someone better comes along. The club has had two years of rolling try outs which means that you sign a contract, pay your fee, expect that a specific group of kids are on the team and your kid will possibly get some playing time - if she or he performs. Then said kid from another team rolls in midway through the season, takes a spot and current team kids get benched. It happens at every level of this club.
Instead of developing the kids they have, they pull in new kids. It breaks spirits.

Welcome to pay to plays.

It is sad because our son has played with a few different clubs and pipeline is by far the worst for this. I believe kids should earn their playing time but don’t push them out for the shiny new one that shows up mid season with a wallet full of cash.

My son has played for Pipeline for past four years and this is not a widespread problem. He is not on top team and has been with 80 percent of the same kids for the past several years. Sounds like you got stuck with a bad coach who isn’t interested in developing players.

[Anonymous]

Agree, but unfortunately it's kind of the nature of the beast with pay for play and teams trying to build teams they can then brag about in their social media accounts, which in turn draws in more money. On the other hand, Pipeline and other clubs at a higher level are not a rec program and they are looking for the best players all the time to compete. This is good if you have a kid in the top tier of a top tier team and want to get recognition at the higher level. If your child is a bubble player on one of these better teams then they are always open to being relegated for the shiny new object, especially if a better player comes along.

It's not about loyalty and tenure, it's about winning. You don't get to remain on a top team just because you have been there a while.

My son has played for Pipeline for past four years and this is not a widespread problem. He is not on top team and has been with 80 percent of the same kids for the past several years. Sounds like you got stuck with a bad coach who isn’t interested in developing players.

I just don't accept that the bolded is the way it should be. A commitment goes both ways - a player commits to the team, the parents pay, the coach needs to commit to the player's development in some way and not cast him or her aside in favor of new additions.

The PP mentioned having a good experience on a second team, so any good coach should give those top team bubble players opportunities to get playing time in the event that a shiny new thing comes along. A great club has second team options to help the bubble kids develop, but few clubs do have that in reality.

Every time one of these discussions comes up, there is always someone who chimes in that your kid should work harder, or isn't that good, or whatever. But top team selections at younger age groups are often about more than just hard work and current skill. My kids are in high school and we have absolutely seen some of the athletic, super fast and and strong 9 year old go on to become amazing older players. But for every one of those players, there are many U9 stars that did not pan out once other players matured physically. I recall my son playing against his old team, and one of the parents asked what happened to that big fast striker the old team used to have? The kid actually was still on the team, but barely noticeable now amongst other players whose physical growth caught up and who are now even more skilled.

[Anonymous]

Does Pipeline treat the girls the same? This looked like a nice addition to ECNL and reachable perhaps. How did they fare against Mclean and Arlington ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agree, but unfortunately it's kind of the nature of the beast with pay for play and teams trying to build teams they can then brag about in their social media accounts, which in turn draws in more money. On the other hand, Pipeline and other clubs at a higher level are not a rec program and they are looking for the best players all the time to compete. This is good if you have a kid in the top tier of a top tier team and want to get recognition at the higher level. If your child is a bubble player on one of these better teams then they are always open to being relegated for the shiny new object, especially if a better player comes along.

It's not about loyalty and tenure, it's about winning. You don't get to remain on a top team just because you have been there a while.

My son has played for Pipeline for past four years and this is not a widespread problem. He is not on top team and has been with 80 percent of the same kids for the past several years. Sounds like you got stuck with a bad coach who isn’t interested in developing players.

I just don't accept that the bolded is the way it should be. A commitment goes both ways - a player commits to the team, the parents pay, the coach needs to commit to the player's development in some way and not cast him or her aside in favor of new additions.

The PP mentioned having a good experience on a second team, so any good coach should give those top team bubble players opportunities to get playing time in the event that a shiny new thing comes along. A great club has second team options to help the bubble kids develop, but few clubs do have that in reality.

Every time one of these discussions comes up, there is always someone who chimes in that your kid should work harder, or isn't that good, or whatever. But top team selections at younger age groups are often about more than just hard work and current skill. My kids are in high school and we have absolutely seen some of the athletic, super fast and and strong 9 year old go on to become amazing older players. But for every one of those players, there are many U9 stars that did not pan out once other players matured physically. I recall my son playing against his old team, and one of the parents asked what happened to that big fast striker the old team used to have? The kid actually was still on the team, but barely noticeable now amongst other players whose physical growth caught up and who are now even more skilled.

I don't necessarily disagree, but that is what most clubs can/should be using second teams for...develop kids for the top teams.

If you are on a top team in a top club and there are two kids who aren't keeping up do you wait for them to hopefully develop more over time or do you bring in a kid who is better from tryouts or supplementals? Should the other kids on the team suffer because player X can't play at that level, but is a nice kid with a nice family who has been with the club for years? I know that's crappy and shouldn't be like that, but there are always other teams and clubs if it is too competitive. If we are talking U11 that is a tougher call because player X is still developing and who the hell knows, but at u15 and above it's a no brainer for most. Once again, the bubble kid can always work/develop and get back up to the top team. Actually, it's probably better for their development to get put on the second team as they will get way more minutes than being a bubble player on the top team.

[Anonymous]

I don't necessarily disagree, but that is what most clubs can/should be using second teams for...develop kids for the top teams.

If you are on a top team in a top club and there are two kids who aren't keeping up do you wait for them to hopefully develop more over time or do you bring in a kid who is better from tryouts or supplementals? Should the other kids on the team suffer because player X can't play at that level, but is a nice kid with a nice family who has been with the club for years? I know that's crappy and shouldn't be like that, but there are always other teams and clubs if it is too competitive. If we are talking U11 that is a tougher call because player X is still developing and who the hell knows, but at u15 and above it's a no brainer for most. Once again, the bubble kid can always work/develop and get back up to the top team. Actually, it's probably better for their development to get put on the second team as they will get way more minutes than being a bubble player on the top team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't necessarily disagree, but that is what most clubs can/should be using second teams for...develop kids for the top teams.

If you are on a top team in a top club and there are two kids who aren't keeping up do you wait for them to hopefully develop more over time or do you bring in a kid who is better from tryouts or supplementals? Should the other kids on the team suffer because player X can't play at that level, but is a nice kid with a nice family who has been with the club for years? I know that's crappy and shouldn't be like that, but there are always other teams and clubs if it is too competitive. If we are talking U11 that is a tougher call because player X is still developing and who the hell knows, but at u15 and above it's a no brainer for most. Once again, the bubble kid can always work/develop and get back up to the top team. Actually, it's probably better for their development to get put on the second team as they will get way more minutes than being a bubble player on the top team.

I agree, although I would probably go with U16 or about as the cutoff. But under U15 for sure many early developers stagnate as others get stronger. The problem though, is that most clubs don't use their B teams this way, even though they say they do. B teams are an afterthought.

That was always my issue as a parent of a bubble kid. If my kid was closer to the 4th best player on down on the A team than the second best player on the B team was to him, the B team wasn't the greatest fit. The other problem is that it is ridiculous to keep switching clubs mid-season as new kids come along. I firmly believe that every club should commit to every kid selected for a team, with the understanding that there can be movement between teams in certain situations. But honestly, even if an A kid gets dropped to B, if the B team is hapless, give the dropped kid a chance to at least practice with the A team. Developing players should be more of a priority than winning when they are young, but it isn't.