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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
Well it matters in some regard specifically with what you get in return for your money. If I recall correctly travel is not cheap in comparison to Rec. An organized club with a solid coaching staff, making sure my kid gets a fair amount of playing time and is building his skills is the most important to me. I dont expect to have the next Messi 
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Anonymous
You sound like you have just the right approach to this. Not sure why the PP thinks there is anything odd about trying to find good training for a 9 year old, especially since 8-12 are generally considered to be the foundational years for building skills. I agree with a prior poster that PWSI and BRYC are both great options. If you can hack the traffic, I agree it probably makes sense to stay at PWSI since it's a known quantity, and as a bonus it is likely to provide an easier pathway to the boys U12 DA in a few years if your son stays interested in soccer. |
Anonymous
My kid went to the PWSI super y tryouts last month and that was my first experience with them. I noticed that no parent said a word during the entire tryout and you could clearly hear the coaches during the games, I wasn't sure if that was just because it was tryouts or if that is common behavior. Good for them if that is the standard. |
Anonymous
Flexible rosters and academy style play can be good if they are well run, but there are other set-ups that work well for helping players develop, so I wouldn't use this as a determining factor. |
Anonymous
Great feedback. Any thoughts on the leagues these clubs play in? PWSI will play in NCSL and the YDL. I read they had to exit the CCL and BRYC plays in the CCL. I got the impression that the YDL is new. Not much information on them. |
Anonymous
Yeah, and that makes me a little leery of them. In this day and age, you should be able to get some basic information about a league and its objectives. But in general, the league matters far less than the club atmosphere. Some CCL clubs (like BRYC) are terrific. But you'll be traveling to play, say, Roanoke instead of perfectly good teams from Herndon, Reston, etc. And while every poster on this board obviously has a kid who's a Division I college prospect or future pro, the vast majority of kids are not "elite." Besides, there are some really good teams in ODSL -- their clubs just haven't been around long enough or fulfilled whatever criteria NCSL requires. So forget the league. Meet the team staff. Avoid yellers. Find coaches with contagious enthusiasm. Or just go to whichever team's practice field is closest. Unless your kid is a really top talent or is having a really bad experience, there's no reason to make your rush hours any more miserable than they already are. |
Anonymous
Agree with the PP, that so long as the most convenient club provides good training and good coaches at U9/U10/U11 there is no reason to drive 30-40 minutes each way to a further away club that may be better known or play in a slightly more competitive league. There will be plenty of time to look at other clubs at U12-U14 if your kid turns out to really loves soccer and outgrows the level of competition available in your most convenient club. Spending 10 hours a week in your car getting your kid to and from practices at a distant "elite" club/team may be doable and worthwhile at U14-U17, but you will NOT want to do that for the full 8 or 9 years. |
Anonymous
Stick with PWSI unless the drive is untenable, although I doubt the drive for BRYC would be much better. PWSI has the facilities, staff, development focus, and competition access that the others on your list can't compete with. BRYC is a step down, LMVS is another step down from BRYC, and the others I wouldn't touch. |
Anonymous
YDL (Youth Development League) is simply a supplemental short sided league geared towards U9s. Think of it as outside futsal. Some clubs use it as a primary league but most use it as a supplement to WAGS, ODLSL, NCLS. The 5v5 element produces more touches. |
Anonymous
Before you "stick with PWSI" I would try driving from where you live to BRYC's practice/game locations at Robinson and Woodson high schools. We live near you and the drive west to Robinson/Woodson is MUCH easier at afternoon/evening rush hour than driving south on Route 1 or I-95 to PWSI's training fields. |
Anonymous
While it is good advice to try this drive for research purposes, I tend to agree with the stick to PWSI poster unless there is such a large difference in driving time that it significantly affects the family's stress level. I don't know all the differences between PWSI and BRYC--they both seem like great clubs and good options to me. But the poster we are responding to said that the son is having a great experience at PWSI so far. I don't think they should lightly give up a situation that has been great for their kid, because there is no guarantee that their son will flourish as well at a different club, even a good one. |
Anonymous
One other thing to consider is what the teams are doing with the new age groups. No idea what BRYC is doing so maybe reach out to them, but PWSI is making teams based on 6 month groups at 9/10. From what I understand their 1st teams in those ages will be jan-june birthdays and 2nd teams will be july-dec. I'm not sure if that makes a difference but something to consider at least, they talk about in this letter they released on the 2nd page under RAE. https://bsbproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/portals/5977/docs/pwsi_letter_to_the_membership-pdi_implementation_feb2016.pdf |
Anonymous
Again great feedback from everyone. Nice to hear some difference of opinions. Makes me thinks of some things that I havent thought about before. Sounds like everyone is on the same page that PWSI and BRYC are solid clubs. Even with my son currently with PWSI he would still have to try out for the travel teams. I will also consider BRYC as an alternative. Traffic should always be better NOT going south and I also have parents in the area that we try to team up with to take the kids to practice should we be unavailable so that always helps. PWSI seems really organized. A few weeks back they had a town hall meeting to discuss how they are going to handle the birth year changes as well as talk about changes to their program for the next season. They even put together a powerpoint with all their plans and dates for tryouts and camps etc. I was impressed. Some clubs have been difficult to find information on their website. Thanks |
Anonymous
| I used to hold McLean in high regard. But after this weekend's tournament, they have definitely fallen quite a few notches in my opinion. The behavior on display from their (U9 and U10 boys) coaches and parents was appalling. We witnessed parents nearly fighting with each other on the sidelines. A parent pulling their child out of the 'good game' line at the end of a match. A coach nearly get thrown out over arguing with a ref about a throw-in! Are any of you with McLean? Is that kind of behavior normal/encouraged there? Or was this weekend just a fluke? We (like everyone) are looking around at clubs for spring tryouts and I absolutely have marked McLean off the list. Anyone else have this kind of experience? |
Anonymous
| Years ago when my kid was U9 their parents were very unsportsmanlike on the sidelines and tried to get in a fight with our parents. I can't say I've seen it get any better in the last 6+ years. |