Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purely from a crazy parent standpoint, McLean parents are indeed "privileged" and expect favors due to power and money but are saints compared to FCV and PWSI in that list below. FCV parents are among the worst in Virginia instigating and engaging opposing teams' parents and players in combative conversations and are notorious for recruiting young players immediately after games right on the field without their parents present. Completely despicable behavior from the top down at FCV.

BRYC is a good club that does an above-average job at developing talent at the younger age groups. VSA is an unknown to me that seems hit or miss based on the teams they field.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sounds like you're mad because no FCV Coach took an interest in your kid.

Not the poster above, but the description of FCV was pretty accurate, and yes, I have had a FCV parent try to get my child to try out at the club.

[Anonymous]

Mine would have a spot with no tryout.... FCV is relentless

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine would have a spot with no tryout.... FCV is relentless

So no other clubs approach players at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would have a spot with no tryout.... FCV is relentless

So no other clubs approach players at all?

defensive much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purely from a crazy parent standpoint, McLean parents are indeed "privileged" and expect favors due to power and money but are saints compared to FCV and PWSI in that list below. FCV parents are among the worst in Virginia instigating and engaging opposing teams' parents and players in combative conversations and are notorious for recruiting young players immediately after games right on the field without their parents present. Completely despicable behavior from the top down at FCV.

BRYC is a good club that does an above-average job at developing talent at the younger age groups. VSA is an unknown to me that seems hit or miss based on the teams they field.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sounds like you're mad because no FCV Coach took an interest in your kid.

Not the poster above, but the description of FCV was pretty accurate, and yes, I have had a FCV parent try to get my child to try out at the club.

A FCV parent encouraged your kid to tryout?!?!?! Why, why that is just madness!!!

Funny, I have had coaches and parents at clubs other than FCV say similar things to me and I just take it as a compliment regarding my kids without any ill feeling towards the parent, coach or the club represented.

The bottom line is, all clubs, to some extent, poach kids. They'll offer guesting opportunities or clinics etc. Did you ever wonder how those new kids on your own teams got there? Is the new kid a "school friend of Suzie?". Don't you think Suzie's parents told new Mia's parents, "oh, they haven't played together since rec, you know you really should bring her to tryouts, our coach is great and we can carpool. It would be sooo much fun!!!!"

Parents poach, coaches poach, everybody poaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would have a spot with no tryout.... FCV is relentless

So no other clubs approach players at all?

defensive much?

Not defensive. You do realize that you cant be forced to join a soccer club right? Again, my kids have been approached and I just take it as a compliment. And frankly, it is nice to know that there are options if circumstances change. Why would I be mad at a coach, parent or club that expressed interest in either of my kids?

The soccer world is to small to take offense over being asked to play soccer somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Nobody poaches like FCV poaches.

[Anonymous]

There's conversational recruiting that happens between players and their friends, or parents .... and then there's the outright poaching by FCV .... big difference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As to our U9 McLean Gold coach who went ballistic over a throw in. I was pissed. We are trying to teach the kids to respect referees and understand that everyone makes mistakes and you need to bounce back from a bad call, let it go, and refocus on the next play. That a-hole wouldn't let it go. That ref should have sent him off.

For some reason, the score of the Mclean Gold v Great Falls game wasn't posted on the website. I asked the site official and they said they weren't sure what they were going to do because, in all their years of running tournaments, they NEVER saw such a verbal attack on the 14 year old referee of that game by McLean.

Keep in mind that these games were in the lowest division of the tournament. These are clubs' 3rd and 4th teams maybe.

I am not sure why your last statement matters. These are 8 and 9-year olds. This type of behavior should not be happening. Their parents pay the same amount of $ for coaches and training. They are 8 and 9 many could be on the green team by 14. That's how it usually works.

NP here. I have a son on the Great Falls side of that game. That 14 year old ref had no idea what he was doing. They never should have put him out there without more training. We paid a lot of money to go to that tournament, and not so some inexperienced child could learn the ropes. If anyone yelled at that kid, they were only expressing what everyone else was thinking. It was bad call after bad call, and many more things not called out at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's conversational recruiting that happens between players and their friends, or parents .... and then there's the outright poaching by FCV .... big difference

I guess explain the difference then so that I know it when I see it.

[Anonymous]

With all this poaching going on : ) and with the birth year changes, I suspect many kids will be jumping clubs next year. Anyone willing to share which club they are leaving, what age/gender, where you are going next year, and why?

[Anonymous]

Is FCV that bad? Is it the same club that FCV South County is a part of? I thought it was a relatively new club or perhaps just the South County one is. I know that SCAA moved its soccer program over to them.

[Anonymous]

How is SYA as a club? I am looking for clubs and am in the vicinity of NVSC, VSA, SYA and Loudoun. I have heard from here and have knowledge of the other clubs other than SYA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's conversational recruiting that happens between players and their friends, or parents .... and then there's the outright poaching by FCV .... big difference

I'll back off my comments about poaching a bit because it sounds like you are a coach because I just don't think a parent really thinks of it as "poaching" the way coaches do.

Sure, if you are a coach it sucks to spend time developing kids only to watch them walk. But then again, how many average kids walked from your teams over the years without a second thought? Only the 'good players" get poached is your thinking. Well, if you have turnover in your club it is worth your time to find out why, regardless of your opinion of the player.

Generally, players only leave for situations that are perceived to be better than the one they are in. So EVERY kid that has ever voluntarily left your team did so because they perceived the destination to be an improvement and selectively calling it "poaching" doesn't change that fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is FCV that bad? Is it the same club that FCV South County is a part of? I thought it was a relatively new club or perhaps just the South County one is. I know that SCAA moved its soccer program over to them.

FCV is just an umbrella that affiliates with clubs in order to use their fields and to be able to say they have a rec program ... they claim their affiliate's rec programs as their own to check that box with ECNL. South County is their latest affiliate, and just one of a long line of clubs FCV has already or will in the future burn bridges with. There is no development that happens with FCV, just taking players to overfill their ECNL rosters. Their lower level teams regularly roster ECNL players in an attempt to pad their stats.