Where did McLean go wrong?

[Anonymous]

after all only so many players can be on a single team.

[Anonymous]

All of the area ECNL clubs have competitive teams.

I would recommend players/parents not worry too much about which team is the best. They should find the ECNL club which is closest to their home, try to make that clubs top team early on and stay put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that a club that used to be a clear first choice for players has sunk? I know they still have a lot of good teams, and it is possible that many who come here just have an axe to grind with them, but what happened if not?

My son doesn’t like the kids in that part of NOVA and the parents don’t have the best reputation, though Arlington gives them a run for their money in my book. I would be delighted if he changed his mind as he gets older. It is a lot closer to where we live vs the club that he goes to now. I am sure McLean has done nothing wrong. Perception is not reality no matter how much people are slaves to perception. And they are often fluid, as the theme of the thread suggests.

Yeah. We avoid both of those Clubs for those reasons.

[Anonymous]

the rosters are way too big...it's all about money and politics at mclean

[Anonymous]

Arlington played Mclean earlier this season on the boys side. Arlington won all of the younger age brackets, and tied or lost the older ones.

I wonder how many of the older teams are carry overs from the days when McLean was a DA and had stronger teams, vs now when they are dealing with more competition.

U12: 1-0 (W)
U13: 7-1 (W)
U14: 7-0 (W)
U15: 4-2 (W)
U16: 1-1 (T)
U17: 1-1 (T)
U19: 4-2 (L)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean has had a lot of turn over of coaching staff. In many cases unclear why coaches that left/were asked to leave.

It seems that leadership of club views coaches and players as expendible?

This is not the issue at all but rather the opposite issue. The elite teams struggle when McLean decides to give less qualified coaches a chance. Whenever CW, NM, and BL are the coaches on the girls side and JW and AP are the coaches on the boys side then the teams are great. It is not rocket science, great coaches produce great players and teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean has had a lot of turn over of coaching staff. In many cases unclear why coaches that left/were asked to leave.

It seems that leadership of club views coaches and players as expendible?

This is not the issue at all but rather the opposite issue. The elite teams struggle when McLean decides to give less qualified coaches a chance. Whenever CW, NM, and BL are the coaches on the girls side and JW and AP are the coaches on the boys side then the teams are great. It is not rocket science, great coaches produce great players and teams.

Great recruiting

[Anonymous]

Whoever started this conversation probably wanted to get attention off of Loudoun, BRYC, VDA, FCV, Pipeline and all the other clubs that wish they could be as good as McLean. McLean has finished as the best team in the area for over 10 years in a row so until another club does that or has a better college class then them...let’s keep quiet.
I don’t see anything that is changing with all the current groups especially with all their top coaches working with all age groups right now.
It’s funny how people think success at the younger age groups actually means something. Even when McLean was one of only two ECNL teams, they weren’t the best at the young age groups but still finished the best. Actually can anyone tell me when the best u13 or 14 team ended up the best team at U18/19?

[Anonymous]

^McLean girls teams get better as they get older bc the strong coaches mentioned above develop players. They don’t recruit although they do get some players reaching out to inquire about trying out. This is what happens when you have a strong program that has players who graduate out and succeed at the college level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^McLean girls teams get better as they get older bc the strong coaches mentioned above develop players. They don’t recruit although they do get some players reaching out to inquire about trying out. This is what happens when you have a strong program that has players who graduate out and succeed at the college level.

This is wholly incorrect. There have been half teams recruited at the older ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoever started this conversation probably wanted to get attention off of Loudoun, BRYC, VDA, FCV, Pipeline and all the other clubs that wish they could be as good as McLean. McLean has finished as the best team in the area for over 10 years in a row so until another club does that or has a better college class then them...let’s keep quiet.
I don’t see anything that is changing with all the current groups especially with all their top coaches working with all age groups right now.
It’s funny how people think success at the younger age groups actually means something. Even when McLean was one of only two ECNL teams, they weren’t the best at the young age groups but still finished the best. Actually can anyone tell me when the best u13 or 14 team ended up the best team at U18/19?

Yes because mclean on the girl side use to get everything inside the beltway at u13. They basically had their pick of Arlington, Alexandria, Stoddert, Great Fall, Vienna etc. This has stopped. The clubs mclean use to draw from have options now. The landscape has really changed. Why do you care if you have an older girl? Things change. More options are better vs less option.

[Anonymous]

All I know is that FCV, Mclean and, to a lesser extent, Bethesda produce more elite players than the other clubs combined. Do your own research. That is not to say that McLean and FCV develop players from the ground up but once players are at a level and age where they believe that they can make it to the YNT or a top DI program, they usually head to one of the three and of the three, today, McLean is in the best position. FCV has an issue with its league affiliation and Bethesda has lost its ability to keep and attract talent. I know dozens of people who drive by Bethesda to go to MUFC, Pipeline and McLean.

I have watched a few college games over the past 18 month and watched former McLean players do the following:
Alabama soph. score an amazing goal against Tenn
Duke senior lead top-ranked defense
UNC sophomore assist on several amazing goals
Clemson freshman starting on top ranked team and delivering a perfect cross, leading to a goal
Wisconsin freshman start every game on that school's backline
Georgetown freshman start every game and make all-BIG East freshman team.
UVA Junior lead backline

Sorry but that is pretty strong support. No other club in the area has as many players impacting their respective schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington played Mclean earlier this season on the boys side. Arlington won all of the younger age brackets, and tied or lost the older ones.

I wonder how many of the older teams are carry overs from the days when McLean was a DA and had stronger teams, vs now when they are dealing with more competition.

U12: 1-0 (W)
U13: 7-1 (W)
U14: 7-0 (W)
U15: 4-2 (W)
U16: 1-1 (T)
U17: 1-1 (T)
U19: 4-2 (L)

It's also worth noting that the U16 and U17 games were pretty one sided in terms of play - McLean got lucky with the results. When the U16 boys played Arlington the following week in the state cup the result was 4-0 to Arlington .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know is that FCV, Mclean and, to a lesser extent, Bethesda produce more elite players than the other clubs combined. Do your own research. That is not to say that McLean and FCV develop players from the ground up but once players are at a level and age where they believe that they can make it to the YNT or a top DI program, they usually head to one of the three and of the three, today, McLean is in the best position. FCV has an issue with its league affiliation and Bethesda has lost its ability to keep and attract talent. I know dozens of people who drive by Bethesda to go to MUFC, Pipeline and McLean.

I have watched a few college games over the past 18 month and watched former McLean players do the following:
Alabama soph. score an amazing goal against Tenn
Duke senior lead top-ranked defense
UNC sophomore assist on several amazing goals
Clemson freshman starting on top ranked team and delivering a perfect cross, leading to a goal
Wisconsin freshman start every game on that school's backline
Georgetown freshman start every game and make all-BIG East freshman team.
UVA Junior lead backline

Sorry but that is pretty strong support. No other club in the area has as many players impacting their respective schools.

Great repost from 2015.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^McLean girls teams get better as they get older bc the strong coaches mentioned above develop players. They don’t recruit although they do get some players reaching out to inquire about trying out. This is what happens when you have a strong program that has players who graduate out and succeed at the college level.

This is wholly incorrect. There have been half teams recruited at the older ages.

What do you mean recruited? Are the coaches calling players from local clubs? I don't know of any player that has been called but please fill me in on an example that has happened. Players tryout for other teams. Obviously good players want to play with other good players. As I did with my daughter, if she is good enough to play with McLean, why wouldn't you play for coaches that have so much more experience helping kids play at the next level? We had choices but it was a no brainer vs BRYC, Loudoun, VDA, Arlington, Metro, etc.. as their coaching staffs have little to no experience with college placement.

I also hear a lot of people knock the large rosters in McLean. We as parents make a decision to be a part of that because all of the players still improve and move on to play at the next level where you know what...they have large rosters. I think it says more about the other clubs that a kid would rather be number 26 on a McLean roster then go be a starter for one of the other local clubs.