Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Nope. They lost their Academy a few years back. Parents have always been a major problem at this club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

This is how it is every time we've played them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

I cracked up and got sad at the same time when I read this. It has been several years since my kids were with McLean soccer, and it seems like things haven't changed. I am pretty sure I know the coach you are talking about, but then again there are several screamers/hot heads. Holy Smokes I am glad we left (for other clubs). What a shit show. Crazy parents and coaches (not all, but many). My kids are playing college soccer now, thanks to good training and team work at other NOVA clubs. You have to go where it works for your kid(s). Unfortunately, that takes time, research, trial and error, and the grace of God. McLean was not the place for my kid (or many of their friends, who also left, after being verbally abused by crazy coaches). But it may work for others. I could write a book about travel soccer in NOVA. I am just glad to be done with it. No regrets, though. My kids learned a lot about life in this little world-of-its-own. Are the parents and coaches in other sports and activities this crazy???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Nope. They lost their Academy a few years back. Parents have always been a major problem at this club.

Parents and coaches ARE the problem at this club. My family has lived in from the inside.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the thing about Mclean ... it attracts ultra competitive people who are willing to pay LOTS of money for their kids to play at the club. I remember seeing the finances of the club on time, and they are astounding. Coaches get away with murder. This club needs to be disbanded and maybe built again from the ground up, with a fresh start and new staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing about Mclean ... it attracts ultra competitive people who are willing to pay LOTS of money for their kids to play at the club. I remember seeing the finances of the club on time, and they are astounding. Coaches get away with murder. This club needs to be disbanded and maybe built again from the ground up, with a fresh start and new staff.

Well--that explains why their Academy did so majorly shitty in the past that they lost it. It will be interesting to see how it does this time around. Maybe they'll fill the spots with talent vs trust fund babies.

[Anonymous]

Thank you -- Very good to know re McLean. One less tryout to worry about.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who left Mclean and went elsewhere.. where are the good clubs in NOVA? I can't seem to find any that don't have huge issues from coaches to parents to club chaos to overly political to a lack of competitive soccer. Any advise would be great. thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who left Mclean and went elsewhere.. where are the good clubs in NOVA? I can't seem to find any that don't have huge issues from coaches to parents to club chaos to overly political to a lack of competitive soccer. Any advise would be great. thanks.

The clubs that people (including my family and other McLean "defectors") have been happy with:


- FCV
- BRYC
- PWSI
- VSA
- Stoddert


I have known a lot of talented players who played for MHS varsity soccer (boys and girls) over the last 7 years. Not many of them played for their home club (which would be McLean MPS). That should tell you something. You just have to keep an open mind and have your player's best interest at heart. An insane coach cares about himself, not the team or the player.

[Anonymous]

I would add to that list: Alexandria and FPYC. Both clubs focus on possession style/player development. FPYC is small and able to give kids lots of attention that larger clubs cannot.

[Anonymous]

SYA is a pretty good club.

[Anonymous]

we had a decent experience in McLean several years ago, but only stayed for a year and then left for another club because it was closer to home. That coach was good, but he was pushed out by the McLean admins and even the parents b/c he wasn't afraid to move you from green to white if you weren't working hard.

we tried it again for another one of our kids for the younger, developmental program for the u8s and it was a whole bunch of crazy parents who were convinced they were raising Messi and would get in fights on the sidelines and everything else mentioned.

The girls ECNL is great and the current u15 boys team is excellent but the club overall is a $h!tshow.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have information about PAC (Premier Athletic Club) in Falls Church for an 8th grade girl?

[Anonymous]

The information in this thread would be much more useful if it specified age group and gender (or at least rough age group). Boys and girls programs can be very different, and so can the different age groups (e.g., U9-12 vs. U13+)

[Anonymous]

U16+ CCL clubs