Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss Part II

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But those are the very reasons that - no matter how could a job "Este's crew" does - SYC will never be considered an elite club.

They aren't going to be able to attract and retain the best players.

It sounds like you classify an elite club as only those that are topped off by a DA (i.e. Arlington, Loudoun, Bethesda). If that's the case, then you're right--SYC will probably not ever get there, as the best players will leave for DAs. However, they can get to the level of the best non-DA clubs in the region like McLean, Alexandria, LMVSC.

As far as the "raiding" question...There's no such thing as "raiding" for players. We don't sign multi-year contracts with clubs, and if we (as parents advocating for our players) don't like something, the club tells us to go f*ck ourselves. No parent or player owes a club a single thing beyond the fees which we agree to pay. Pay-to-play...it's a crappy system, but let's not pretend it should only work for the clubs.

Yeah, I think there will be lots of players and several coaches who go over to SYC. The worst part of that is that it seems that the coach of the teams at SYC that are already doing very well (06 and 07 Boys, both in their top brackets at the Jeff Cup) has already been fired. That seems pretty dumb.

Yes, I think they might be able to get to the level of the clubs you've mentioned. They make a lot of money from the Virginian tournament and have pretty good fields.

Also agree with you on the club loyalty thing. The club will stick your kid on the bench as soon as they find someone they think is better, so parents can't be faulted for acting the same way.

Was the coach of the 06 and 07 boys Ben Kamara? Why fire him in the middle of the year just because you're changing TDs? Makes no sense and I think it will hurt their ability to hire good coaches in the future. It's not a matter of whether they can trust Este. It's a matter of whether they can trust the club.

[Anonymous]

SYC travel parent here. I liked Lee. Numerous people that I have talked to liked Lee and are upset that he is gone. Of course that is just within my social circle, so I can't speak for everyone. The only complaint I heard about Lee was that he was not very organized, which is true to an extent. However, you don't hire a TD because he is really great at organizing. But he always kept us in the loop and we knew what was going on.

I can also state that within the first 30 minutes of our first practice Lee knew every kid's name (and there were 20+ kids there). Coach Este was playing on his phone the first 30 minutes of our first practice. His assistant coach (an LMVSC 'crew' member) didn't bother to ask names. During the last 30 minutes Este decided to join in and only asked the name of one (of the six) children he was working with.

[Anonymous]

I believe Lee coached the top 06 team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But those are the very reasons that - no matter how could a job "Este's crew" does - SYC will never be considered an elite club.

They aren't going to be able to attract and retain the best players.

It sounds like you classify an elite club as only those that are topped off by a DA (i.e. Arlington, Loudoun, Bethesda). If that's the case, then you're right--SYC will probably not ever get there, as the best players will leave for DAs. However, they can get to the level of the best non-DA clubs in the region like McLean, Alexandria, LMVSC.

As far as the "raiding" question...There's no such thing as "raiding" for players. We don't sign multi-year contracts with clubs, and if we (as parents advocating for our players) don't like something, the club tells us to go f*ck ourselves. No parent or player owes a club a single thing beyond the fees which we agree to pay. Pay-to-play...it's a crappy system, but let's not pretend it should only work for the clubs.

Yeah, I think there will be lots of players and several coaches who go over to SYC. The worst part of that is that it seems that the coach of the teams at SYC that are already doing very well (06 and 07 Boys, both in their top brackets at the Jeff Cup) has already been fired. That seems pretty dumb.

The issue isn't from the player side, it's from the coaching side. Este and whoever goes over most likely has a clause in their contract not to recruit from LMVSC. It's pretty standard language in coaching contracts. If at any point he recruits coaches to come over or players, they would be liable and SYC would be as well if they were aware of these clauses. Something they most definitely are since, again, it's standard language for contracts.

I have to admit, I'm not sure what this means? If an LMVSC coach goes to SYC, holds tryouts, and their players from LMVSC show up, then what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But those are the very reasons that - no matter how could a job "Este's crew" does - SYC will never be considered an elite club.

They aren't going to be able to attract and retain the best players.

It sounds like you classify an elite club as only those that are topped off by a DA (i.e. Arlington, Loudoun, Bethesda). If that's the case, then you're right--SYC will probably not ever get there, as the best players will leave for DAs. However, they can get to the level of the best non-DA clubs in the region like McLean, Alexandria, LMVSC.

As far as the "raiding" question...There's no such thing as "raiding" for players. We don't sign multi-year contracts with clubs, and if we (as parents advocating for our players) don't like something, the club tells us to go f*ck ourselves. No parent or player owes a club a single thing beyond the fees which we agree to pay. Pay-to-play...it's a crappy system, but let's not pretend it should only work for the clubs.

Yeah, I think there will be lots of players and several coaches who go over to SYC. The worst part of that is that it seems that the coach of the teams at SYC that are already doing very well (06 and 07 Boys, both in their top brackets at the Jeff Cup) has already been fired. That seems pretty dumb.

Yes, I think they might be able to get to the level of the clubs you've mentioned. They make a lot of money from the Virginian tournament and have pretty good fields.

Also agree with you on the club loyalty thing. The club will stick your kid on the bench as soon as they find someone they think is better, so parents can't be faulted for acting the same way.

Was the coach of the 06 and 07 boys Ben Kamara? Why fire him in the middle of the year just because you're changing TDs? Makes no sense and I think it will hurt their ability to hire good coaches in the future. It's not a matter of whether they can trust Este. It's a matter of whether they can trust the club.

I believe the decision to fire the coaches that were let go had already been made before Este arrived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But those are the very reasons that - no matter how could a job "Este's crew" does - SYC will never be considered an elite club.

They aren't going to be able to attract and retain the best players.

It sounds like you classify an elite club as only those that are topped off by a DA (i.e. Arlington, Loudoun, Bethesda). If that's the case, then you're right--SYC will probably not ever get there, as the best players will leave for DAs. However, they can get to the level of the best non-DA clubs in the region like McLean, Alexandria, LMVSC.

As far as the "raiding" question...There's no such thing as "raiding" for players. We don't sign multi-year contracts with clubs, and if we (as parents advocating for our players) don't like something, the club tells us to go f*ck ourselves. No parent or player owes a club a single thing beyond the fees which we agree to pay. Pay-to-play...it's a crappy system, but let's not pretend it should only work for the clubs.

Yeah, I think there will be lots of players and several coaches who go over to SYC. The worst part of that is that it seems that the coach of the teams at SYC that are already doing very well (06 and 07 Boys, both in their top brackets at the Jeff Cup) has already been fired. That seems pretty dumb.

The issue isn't from the player side, it's from the coaching side. Este and whoever goes over most likely has a clause in their contract not to recruit from LMVSC. It's pretty standard language in coaching contracts. If at any point he recruits coaches to come over or players, they would be liable and SYC would be as well if they were aware of these clauses. Something they most definitely are since, again, it's standard language for contracts.

I have to admit, I'm not sure what this means? If an LMVSC coach goes to SYC, holds tryouts, and their players from LMVSC show up, then what?

Again, players aren't the problem. As stated before, they can choose to attend any tryout or join any team. The coaches are the ones likely on shaky legal ground. I don't know what their contracts look like, but based on industry standards, they would be limited in their ability to communicate with players about coming over. Este is probably in the most risky position, as he is probably not even allowed to talk to coaches.

This stuff use to happen all the time and clubs got wise to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But those are the very reasons that - no matter how could a job "Este's crew" does - SYC will never be considered an elite club.

They aren't going to be able to attract and retain the best players.

It sounds like you classify an elite club as only those that are topped off by a DA (i.e. Arlington, Loudoun, Bethesda). If that's the case, then you're right--SYC will probably not ever get there, as the best players will leave for DAs. However, they can get to the level of the best non-DA clubs in the region like McLean, Alexandria, LMVSC.

As far as the "raiding" question...There's no such thing as "raiding" for players. We don't sign multi-year contracts with clubs, and if we (as parents advocating for our players) don't like something, the club tells us to go f*ck ourselves. No parent or player owes a club a single thing beyond the fees which we agree to pay. Pay-to-play...it's a crappy system, but let's not pretend it should only work for the clubs.

Yeah, I think there will be lots of players and several coaches who go over to SYC. The worst part of that is that it seems that the coach of the teams at SYC that are already doing very well (06 and 07 Boys, both in their top brackets at the Jeff Cup) has already been fired. That seems pretty dumb.

The issue isn't from the player side, it's from the coaching side. Este and whoever goes over most likely has a clause in their contract not to recruit from LMVSC. It's pretty standard language in coaching contracts. If at any point he recruits coaches to come over or players, they would be liable and SYC would be as well if they were aware of these clauses. Something they most definitely are since, again, it's standard language for contracts.

I have to admit, I'm not sure what this means? If an LMVSC coach goes to SYC, holds tryouts, and their players from LMVSC show up, then what?

Again, players aren't the problem. As stated before, they can choose to attend any tryout or join any team. The coaches are the ones likely on shaky legal ground. I don't know what their contracts look like, but based on industry standards, they would be limited in their ability to communicate with players about coming over. Este is probably in the most risky position, as he is probably not even allowed to talk to coaches.

This stuff use to happen all the time and clubs got wise to it.

You're probably assuming too much. Even if LMVSC could establish breach of contract, what are the damages? A few thousand dollars in lost player fees? Even for that, they'd have to prove causation, and I'm sure most of the parents / coaches would claim the moves would have happened anyway, regardless of whether anyone reached out.

Not worth a lawyer's time for 1/3 of not much or nothing at all.

[Anonymous]

No one has to solicit/raid any players. Este's move to SYC is no secret. I think it is logical to assume that people who liked his coaching style and want to follow him will show up at tryouts in May. Do those players have an advantage over the existing SYC players? Maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SYC travel parent here. I liked Lee. Numerous people that I have talked to liked Lee and are upset that he is gone. Of course that is just within my social circle, so I can't speak for everyone. The only complaint I heard about Lee was that he was not very organized, which is true to an extent. However, you don't hire a TD because he is really great at organizing. But he always kept us in the loop and we knew what was going on.

I can also state that within the first 30 minutes of our first practice Lee knew every kid's name (and there were 20+ kids there). Coach Este was playing on his phone the first 30 minutes of our first practice. His assistant coach (an LMVSC 'crew' member) didn't bother to ask names. During the last 30 minutes Este decided to join in and only asked the name of one (of the six) children he was working with.

Ouch. That doesn't sound good. Not the way to make a good first impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SYC travel parent here. I liked Lee. Numerous people that I have talked to liked Lee and are upset that he is gone. Of course that is just within my social circle, so I can't speak for everyone. The only complaint I heard about Lee was that he was not very organized, which is true to an extent. However, you don't hire a TD because he is really great at organizing. But he always kept us in the loop and we knew what was going on.

I can also state that within the first 30 minutes of our first practice Lee knew every kid's name (and there were 20+ kids there). Coach Este was playing on his phone the first 30 minutes of our first practice. His assistant coach (an LMVSC 'crew' member) didn't bother to ask names. During the last 30 minutes Este decided to join in and only asked the name of one (of the six) children he was working with.

Ouch. That doesn't sound good. Not the way to make a good first impression.

Based on the number of fb/ig/twitter posts promoting SYC soccer over the past few days, I bet he was working on the social media game

[Anonymous]

Possible. SYC has def joined the 21st century in terms of social media. I am sure Este is the driving force behind that based on the timing of the ramp up and him joining the club (and I think that's a good thing. LMVSC is really great with social media and getting info about their club out there). But he was supposed to be coaching my kid during that hour, not Tweeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Possible. SYC has def joined the 21st century in terms of social media. I am sure Este is the driving force behind that based on the timing of the ramp up and him joining the club (and I think that's a good thing. LMVSC is really great with social media and getting info about their club out there). But he was supposed to be coaching my kid during that hour, not Tweeting.

The good thing is that at the end of the season you aren't happy with how things stand, any of the other local clubs would be happy to take a look at him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Possible. SYC has def joined the 21st century in terms of social media. I am sure Este is the driving force behind that based on the timing of the ramp up and him joining the club (and I think that's a good thing. LMVSC is really great with social media and getting info about their club out there). But he was supposed to be coaching my kid during that hour, not Tweeting.

The good thing is that at the end of the season you aren't happy with how things stand, any of the other local clubs would be happy to take a look at him.

That's a good point. Wonder if this and other current SYC parents are considering looking at other options for next year.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't be surprised. Again this is anecdotal but several parents I was talking to were not happy prior to the TD switch. And my older child's current team (not SYC) has three families that left SYC last year due to disorganization. My older DC actually turned down an SYC offer. There is no lack of other clubs near SYC: LMVSC, Guston, SCAA, BRYC, BAC, FPYC, etc. Now none of those are 'elite' clubs but for the parent/child that is not DA-bound, or does not want the level of commitment/stress involved with soccer at those levels, those clubs are viable options.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the state of the teams in the older age groups?