Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know what happened to the thread from yesterday about clubs in the Vienna/Oakton area? It seems to have disappeared.

New poster interested in this thread. Any update?

I think the person created an account and posted that way vs anonymously. I think they deleted their own thread. They were given some solid leads for clubs to try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know what happened to the thread from yesterday about clubs in the Vienna/Oakton area? It seems to have disappeared.

New poster interested in this thread. Any update?

Well the surrounding clubs of Vienna and Oakton that I can think of are... PAC (Premier AC in Falls Church), McLean, FPYC (Fairfax), Chantilly, and, depending on where exactly you live in those areas, BRYC, Reston, Great Falls, and Burke are relatively close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know what happened to the thread from yesterday about clubs in the Vienna/Oakton area? It seems to have disappeared.

New poster interested in this thread. Any update?

I think the person created an account and posted that way vs anonymously. I think they deleted their own thread. They were given some solid leads for clubs to try.

Pity they didn't leave it up as a reference for others. There was some good info there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those players going to other team's practices, aren't you a bit worried your Club will find out and screw your kid because of it?

Soccer is a small world. Most of the coaches at the Clubs in the area know one another and talk.

We are planning to tryout a few new places to check things out, but I wouldn't go as far to contact other coaches because I'm afraid it would get back to our club and they'd screw my kid over when we aren't yet 100% certain we are leaving.

No I am not afraid. Here is little known secret about travel soccer. Clubs never cut kids. Kids may get moved up or down but once in the club they don't get cut. So, going to other teams practices is the best way to see how the other coach is and how your kids gets along with their actual team. This way you make the tryout period less stressful. If you determine the other team is not for you, no need to waste time at their tryouts.

I dont think you can make the blanket statement that clubs don't cut kids. Big clubs with 6 or 7 teams in the younger age groups will make cuts to ensure that they have no more than 2 or 3 strong teams at the 11v11 age groups. I've also frequently seen kids cut at smaller clubs when a second team implodes and the coach wants to bring in a few of those players, or players from outside the club, and drop kids from the first team they see as underperforming.

Generally speaking, a well run club is not going to punish kids for trying out elsewhere, and rarely will any club cut a top player even if the people in charge are vindictive. We certainly have run across clubs with vindictive coaches and technical directors though. My son left one club for another 4 years ago (at the end of a season, in a very civil fashion), and we gather that the board and TD are still talking trash about our family to this day.

At the younger ages kids are added because the game grows from 7v7>8v8>9v9>11v11. That timeline will change now due to US Soccer mandates but generally, no, kids at young ages are not cut from the club simply because roster sizes have to grow. They may be assigned a different team, and if as a parent, you feel that is a "cut", well, that is on you but a "demotion" during a development phase is not a "cut", not even close. And, if a club does cut kids at U9-U12, you should run, not walk from that club.

I coached in a large club for a long time and we definitely cut players, even in the younger age groups where multiple teams train together. If a player is disinterested, not committed, not improving, violent, etc, they may be cut. Now, it is a managed process with several meetings to discuss what is going on over the course of a season/year, what needs to improve, but it is still a cut. There may be some clubs where the coaches just show up and collect a check, maybe it's easier to not cause disruptions, but that's not all coaches.

Whey you say "meetings" do you mean with other coaches or with parents? And what would you do with kids who showed talent in practice but weren't effective in games? We have a few of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those players going to other team's practices, aren't you a bit worried your Club will find out and screw your kid because of it?

Soccer is a small world. Most of the coaches at the Clubs in the area know one another and talk.

We are planning to tryout a few new places to check things out, but I wouldn't go as far to contact other coaches because I'm afraid it would get back to our club and they'd screw my kid over when we aren't yet 100% certain we are leaving.

No I am not afraid. Here is little known secret about travel soccer. Clubs never cut kids. Kids may get moved up or down but once in the club they don't get cut. So, going to other teams practices is the best way to see how the other coach is and how your kids gets along with their actual team. This way you make the tryout period less stressful. If you determine the other team is not for you, no need to waste time at their tryouts.

I dont think you can make the blanket statement that clubs don't cut kids. Big clubs with 6 or 7 teams in the younger age groups will make cuts to ensure that they have no more than 2 or 3 strong teams at the 11v11 age groups. I've also frequently seen kids cut at smaller clubs when a second team implodes and the coach wants to bring in a few of those players, or players from outside the club, and drop kids from the first team they see as underperforming.

Generally speaking, a well run club is not going to punish kids for trying out elsewhere, and rarely will any club cut a top player even if the people in charge are vindictive. We certainly have run across clubs with vindictive coaches and technical directors though. My son left one club for another 4 years ago (at the end of a season, in a very civil fashion), and we gather that the board and TD are still talking trash about our family to this day.

At the younger ages kids are added because the game grows from 7v7>8v8>9v9>11v11. That timeline will change now due to US Soccer mandates but generally, no, kids at young ages are not cut from the club simply because roster sizes have to grow. They may be assigned a different team, and if as a parent, you feel that is a "cut", well, that is on you but a "demotion" during a development phase is not a "cut", not even close. And, if a club does cut kids at U9-U12, you should run, not walk from that club.

I coached in a large club for a long time and we definitely cut players, even in the younger age groups where multiple teams train together. If a player is disinterested, not committed, not improving, violent, etc, they may be cut. Now, it is a managed process with several meetings to discuss what is going on over the course of a season/year, what needs to improve, but it is still a cut. There may be some clubs where the coaches just show up and collect a check, maybe it's easier to not cause disruptions, but that's not all coaches.

Whey you say "meetings" do you mean with other coaches or with parents? And what would you do with kids who showed talent in practice but weren't effective in games? We have a few of those.

Not the PP but I would presume that "meetings" wouild meen with coaches and the parents.

[Anonymous]

Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids may not get "cut," but they get dropped from travel to House.

That is cut to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

Well, actually ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

Well, actually ...

Is it PAC? Of the ones bolded, I think of them as the least ... I don't want to say "competitive." Maybe the least concerned about game results (versus purely player development)? Although, I have to say, I've seen how being wildly overmatched by older/faster kids does nothing in the way of player development in game situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

Well, actually ...

Is it PAC? Of the ones bolded, I think of them as the least ... I don't want to say "competitive." Maybe the least concerned about game results (versus purely player development)? Although, I have to say, I've seen how being wildly overmatched by older/faster kids does nothing in the way of player development in game situations.

That's pretty accurate, at least in some age groups. The coaches are great, and they can often build a team up to NCSL D1 even if they were struggling at U9 or U10. It's a small club -- they're not going to have 100 good athletes turn up for U9 tryouts as you'll in McLean or Arlington.

I love the club philosophy, but there is indeed a fine line between "challenging" and "beating your head against a wall."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those players going to other team's practices, aren't you a bit worried your Club will find out and screw your kid because of it?

Soccer is a small world. Most of the coaches at the Clubs in the area know one another and talk.

We are planning to tryout a few new places to check things out, but I wouldn't go as far to contact other coaches because I'm afraid it would get back to our club and they'd screw my kid over when we aren't yet 100% certain we are leaving.

No I am not afraid. Here is little known secret about travel soccer. Clubs never cut kids. Kids may get moved up or down but once in the club they don't get cut. So, going to other teams practices is the best way to see how the other coach is and how your kids gets along with their actual team. This way you make the tryout period less stressful. If you determine the other team is not for you, no need to waste time at their tryouts.

I dont think you can make the blanket statement that clubs don't cut kids. Big clubs with 6 or 7 teams in the younger age groups will make cuts to ensure that they have no more than 2 or 3 strong teams at the 11v11 age groups. I've also frequently seen kids cut at smaller clubs when a second team implodes and the coach wants to bring in a few of those players, or players from outside the club, and drop kids from the first team they see as underperforming.

Generally speaking, a well run club is not going to punish kids for trying out elsewhere, and rarely will any club cut a top player even if the people in charge are vindictive. We certainly have run across clubs with vindictive coaches and technical directors though. My son left one club for another 4 years ago (at the end of a season, in a very civil fashion), and we gather that the board and TD are still talking trash about our family to this day.

At the younger ages kids are added because the game grows from 7v7>8v8>9v9>11v11. That timeline will change now due to US Soccer mandates but generally, no, kids at young ages are not cut from the club simply because roster sizes have to grow. They may be assigned a different team, and if as a parent, you feel that is a "cut", well, that is on you but a "demotion" during a development phase is not a "cut", not even close. And, if a club does cut kids at U9-U12, you should run, not walk from that club.

I coached in a large club for a long time and we definitely cut players, even in the younger age groups where multiple teams train together. If a player is disinterested, not committed, not improving, violent, etc, they may be cut. Now, it is a managed process with several meetings to discuss what is going on over the course of a season/year, what needs to improve, but it is still a cut. There may be some clubs where the coaches just show up and collect a check, maybe it's easier to not cause disruptions, but that's not all coaches.

Whey you say "meetings" do you mean with other coaches or with parents? And what would you do with kids who showed talent in practice but weren't effective in games? We have a few of those.

Meeting with the player, parent(s) and coach. We did seasonal progress meetings with the players - if there was an instance of a player performing differently in training vs matches, we would see if the player could articulate why - was it the transition for playing as an individual to part of a team, perception of pressure (from match/parent/coach), or some other reason, then find a plan to address it. If training performance was good - paying attention, working hard, grasping topics, mastering techniques, etc - match performance would be a secondary concern up to a point, as it is likely mental or environmental and can be addressed much more quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those players going to other team's practices, aren't you a bit worried your Club will find out and screw your kid because of it?

Soccer is a small world. Most of the coaches at the Clubs in the area know one another and talk.

We are planning to tryout a few new places to check things out, but I wouldn't go as far to contact other coaches because I'm afraid it would get back to our club and they'd screw my kid over when we aren't yet 100% certain we are leaving.

No I am not afraid. Here is little known secret about travel soccer. Clubs never cut kids. Kids may get moved up or down but once in the club they don't get cut. So, going to other teams practices is the best way to see how the other coach is and how your kids gets along with their actual team. This way you make the tryout period less stressful. If you determine the other team is not for you, no need to waste time at their tryouts.

I dont think you can make the blanket statement that clubs don't cut kids. Big clubs with 6 or 7 teams in the younger age groups will make cuts to ensure that they have no more than 2 or 3 strong teams at the 11v11 age groups. I've also frequently seen kids cut at smaller clubs when a second team implodes and the coach wants to bring in a few of those players, or players from outside the club, and drop kids from the first team they see as underperforming.

Generally speaking, a well run club is not going to punish kids for trying out elsewhere, and rarely will any club cut a top player even if the people in charge are vindictive. We certainly have run across clubs with vindictive coaches and technical directors though. My son left one club for another 4 years ago (at the end of a season, in a very civil fashion), and we gather that the board and TD are still talking trash about our family to this day.

At the younger ages kids are added because the game grows from 7v7>8v8>9v9>11v11. That timeline will change now due to US Soccer mandates but generally, no, kids at young ages are not cut from the club simply because roster sizes have to grow. They may be assigned a different team, and if as a parent, you feel that is a "cut", well, that is on you but a "demotion" during a development phase is not a "cut", not even close. And, if a club does cut kids at U9-U12, you should run, not walk from that club.

I coached in a large club for a long time and we definitely cut players, even in the younger age groups where multiple teams train together. If a player is disinterested, not committed, not improving, violent, etc, they may be cut. Now, it is a managed process with several meetings to discuss what is going on over the course of a season/year, what needs to improve, but it is still a cut. There may be some clubs where the coaches just show up and collect a check, maybe it's easier to not cause disruptions, but that's not all coaches.

Whey you say "meetings" do you mean with other coaches or with parents? And what would you do with kids who showed talent in practice but weren't effective in games? We have a few of those.

Meeting with the player, parent(s) and coach. We did seasonal progress meetings with the players - if there was an instance of a player performing differently in training vs matches, we would see if the player could articulate why - was it the transition for playing as an individual to part of a team, perception of pressure (from match/parent/coach), or some other reason, then find a plan to address it. If training performance was good - paying attention, working hard, grasping topics, mastering techniques, etc - match performance would be a secondary concern up to a point, as it is likely mental or environmental and can be addressed much more quickly.

Really helpful, thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

Well, actually ...

Is it PAC? Of the ones bolded, I think of them as the least ... I don't want to say "competitive." Maybe the least concerned about game results (versus purely player development)? Although, I have to say, I've seen how being wildly overmatched by older/faster kids does nothing in the way of player development in game situations.

Its not PAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our club says we're going to keep teams together and just have a whole lot of kids play up an age group. Is anyone else doing this? I get the togetherness factor, but I also don't want to get blown out in every game by older kids.

I don't understand this. All kids move up. Some move up 2 yrs. all the kids are moving up 2 yrs? That seems odd. Not a good long term strategy. I know it's not Arlington, McLean or Pac . I'm doubting Herndon or cya.

Well, actually ...

Is it PAC? Of the ones bolded, I think of them as the least ... I don't want to say "competitive." Maybe the least concerned about game results (versus purely player development)? Although, I have to say, I've seen how being wildly overmatched by older/faster kids does nothing in the way of player development in game situations.

Its not PAC

I've got an email saying PAC is keeping all its teams together, even U9s.