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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
Seconded -- I just read it. Truthfully, we shouldn't have tryouts at age 8. The "part-time travel" programs he describes sounds like the pre-travel or "crossover" programs we're only doing at U8 now. Why not do "part-time travel" through age 11 or so? |
Anonymous
+100 We did travel at 8, very much against our will and every bone in our body, only because doors start closing fast and if you try to get in when kids are older they already have set teams and don't want to cut players. Coaches are very reluctant to admit when they've made a poor pick as well. |
Anonymous
Ugh, totally agree. Going through this tryout process with my 8yo, and it's too much. |
Anonymous
It's not like the 130 is a badge of honor. The U9 numbers are a little lower than last year at FPYC, but in the ballpark. FWIW, this year's tryouts for the same group (about to be U10) attracted players from other clubs including a couple of the best ones from McLean so not all about quantity. |
Anonymous
So wouldn't you rather have your child in a reasonably competitive house program up to about U11 and then have them join a travel program if they remained committed? I hate how everything starts closing at U9. Even at U10 the competition seems to between current travel kids and travel kids from other leagues and not house vs travel kids competing against each other. Most parents don't even want to do travel at U9 but feel there's no choice. |
Anonymous
I should update that at FPYC after the second day there were about 45. Most of the kids were *very* good. DS, who is the best kid on his rec team, was middle-of-the-road at the FPYC tryouts. |
Anonymous
I'm the "ugh" poster. No, DS has outgrown rec and is ready to make more of a commitment and play at a higher level. For me the question is whether to let him have fun in ODSL or go more hardcore with a CCL or NCSL academy-style team. |
Anonymous
How will you control that? Arlington has 4 travel teams at that age group. First one is CCL, 2nd/3rd are NCLS and 4th is ODSL. All kids train together and practice together. Your kid could tryout for a club that plays in that league, but still end up playing in the ODSL. I wouldn't worry about that. Practices/development are more important at that age. |
Anonymous
So let me get this right. Tryouts are too much for you to handle and you agree that you don't want your child to do U9 travel, but you think your child has outgrown rec and therefore should be put on a competitive team? That makes sense. |
Anonymous
I admit my feelings on all of this are not quite coherent. DS is ready for something more, and I'm on board with that, but I'm just dismayed that the process seems so serious, and that it feels like if you don't get your kid on the right track at age 8, he's going to fall behind and never be able to achieve his goals (which for my kid is HS soccer). |
Anonymous
Some clubs are like that, but some are not. For example, FPYC has two teams at U9, and both play NCSL. I think BRYC's Academy also has two teams, and both play CCL. |
Anonymous
I think a lot of parents feel exactly the way you do about the issue, and it's a normal reaction given the various trade-offs involved. The thing is, assuming your son ends up on a good team, it won't feel like you've stepped on a treadmill. He'll likely be very excited to be mastering so many new skills and playing with kids who push each other to be better. You'll probably be amazed to see what he and the other kids are able to do as time wears on, and it will be increasingly fun to watch the games the better the team gets. It is very helpful to try to get a good carpool together for practices--that takes a lot of the pressure off. |
Anonymous
| How realistic is it though that her child will make the high school soccer team? He needs something more than rec but apparently isn't a standout player. Many travel players play for years and never make their high school teams. Why does the only option have to be travel or rec at age 8? |
Anonymous
There is no way to predict whether a child will make a high school soccer team based on their proficiency level at age 8. That will depend not only on the child's athletic and skill development, practice, and priorities through the years (as well as the level of family support he gets), but also on the soccer culture and coach of the high school where he ends up. I'm not clear on why so many people see the idea of joining a travel team at 8 as a bad thing assuming (and it's a large assumption, I know) they have the time and money for it, and I found the travel baseball piece someone posted above the be pretty silly and one-sided, with very little application to soccer. In any case, the choice is not as stark as enter travel at 8 or never play high school. The important thing for a family with a soccer focused kid is to make sure he learns the skills he'll need to be competitive if he still wants to pursue soccer in middle school and beyond. There are a variety of ways to get there, and joining a good travel program is the easiest for kids who do not come from families that know and value soccer. |
Anonymous
| For the record, VYS has been wonderful for our family. It's just house and all-stars, but we've appreciated just about everything, including the volunteer coaches. Vienna wouldn't be the same for kids without it. |