Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

[Anonymous]

Anyone doing BRYC's Elite Academy? Curious about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience with SYC girls soccer?

SYC isn't much on the club level, but may have a decent age group of athletes here and there, might have a good coach in some age groups. Huge waste considering the cash they bring in from the tournament and the size and population of their base.

If your daughter is a player she would be better served at PWSI or Arlington, depending on where you are in Springfield. If those aren't convenient - Braddock Road. You can also try Alexandria or possibly Annandale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.

I didn't know about the anonymity part. In my son's group it was all boys from the same school who didn't do developmental last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.[/quote]

Perhaps because by then they had determined these were the better players and it would make sense to have any new players play against them to see if they were competitive? This isn't a conspiracy. This is how you find the best kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience with SYC girls soccer?

SYC isn't much on the club level, but may have a decent age group of athletes here and there, might have a good coach in some age groups. Huge waste considering the cash they bring in from the tournament and the size and population of their base.

If your daughter is a player she would be better served at PWSI or Arlington, depending on where you are in Springfield. If those aren't convenient - Braddock Road. You can also try Alexandria or possibly Annandale.

That would depend on what you're looking for, wouldn't it? Can you judge a club solely by the wins and losses of its top team? Is it more important to play Division 1 with an obnoxious coach, or is it fine to play Division 5 with a coach who cares?

Even so, SYC has one team that finished second in D1 WAGS.

I don't know much else about them. But I don't consider it a "waste" to have a big club just because its top teams don't recruit as well as the big guns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.

Perhaps because by then they had determined these were the better players and it would make sense to have any new players play against them to see if they were competitive? This isn't a conspiracy. This is how you find the best kids.

no, they pitted existing players against each other. how's that finding best new kids?

plus if they should've alerted parents if 2nd day evaluation was based on 1st day results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.

Perhaps because by then they had determined these were the better players and it would make sense to have any new players play against them to see if they were competitive? This isn't a conspiracy. This is how you find the best kids.

no, they pitted existing players against each other. how's that finding best new kids?

plus if they should've alerted parents if 2nd day evaluation was based on 1st day results.

Maybe they had the current players together so they could focus on the other folks, whom they don't know as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience with SYC girls soccer?

SYC isn't much on the club level, but may have a decent age group of athletes here and there, might have a good coach in some age groups. Huge waste considering the cash they bring in from the tournament and the size and population of their base.

If your daughter is a player she would be better served at PWSI or Arlington, depending on where you are in Springfield. If those aren't convenient - Braddock Road. You can also try Alexandria or possibly Annandale.

That would depend on what you're looking for, wouldn't it? Can you judge a club solely by the wins and losses of its top team? Is it more important to play Division 1 with an obnoxious coach, or is it fine to play Division 5 with a coach who cares?

Even so, SYC has one team that finished second in D1 WAGS.

I don't know much else about them. But I don't consider it a "waste" to have a big club just because its top teams don't recruit as well as the big guns.

I am not judging the club based on the team records or division placement. I am commenting based on my experience as a paid travel coach for many years, looking at clubs with established technical directors, youth development curriculums, club coaching staff, and history of producing quality technical players. SYC is still very disorganized - sometime you have a coach, sometimes a parent+ trainer, sometimes just a parent. I have yet to be impressed with the coaches I have seen from SYC, or many of the players beyond athletic ability. PWSI and the others mentioned above are a different class. Not because they recruit, but because they teach, coach, and develop.

A player can have fun at SYC, maybe that specific team might have a decent coach and she might even improve. Not sure where you are getting the idea that coaches at better clubs yell at players and don't care? I know many of them and have seen many more and that has not been my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

don't think DS-10 made it. what are our options beyond Rec in/near Arlington? he really isn't developing with his rec team. he's already given up playing soccer at recess because the kids are so much better than him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

don't think DS-10 made it. what are our options beyond Rec in/near Arlington? he really isn't developing with his rec team. he's already given up playing soccer at recess because the kids are so much better than him.

Check out Annandale, I know others who didn't make Arlington boys/girls who have played in Annandale then came back and made Arlington teams next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not judging the club based on the team records or division placement. I am commenting based on my experience as a paid travel coach for many years, looking at clubs with established technical directors, youth development curriculums, club coaching staff, and history of producing quality technical players. SYC is still very disorganized - sometime you have a coach, sometimes a parent+ trainer, sometimes just a parent. I have yet to be impressed with the coaches I have seen from SYC, or many of the players beyond athletic ability. PWSI and the others mentioned above are a different class. Not because they recruit, but because they teach, coach, and develop.

A player can have fun at SYC, maybe that specific team might have a decent coach and she might even improve. Not sure where you are getting the idea that coaches at better clubs yell at players and don't care? I know many of them and have seen many more and that has not been my experience.

It's the culture. The "win first" mentality encourages coaches to recruit and replace players who've been with the club for years. Beyond that, my experience with top coaches is a mixed bag.

I don't know SYC that well, but I can see their approach -- similar to other clubs with a community focus -- is to have U9s through U12s training together with paid coaches during the week and then playing for parent coaches over the weekend. I'm sure the paid coaches turn up from time to time. At least, that's the idea. If your experience is different, I'll have to defer to you.

PWSI is a good program, though I'm curious to see how they'll respond to the change in leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

don't think DS-10 made it. what are our options beyond Rec in/near Arlington? he really isn't developing with his rec team. he's already given up playing soccer at recess because the kids are so much better than him.

Check out Annandale, I know others who didn't make Arlington boys/girls who have played in Annandale then came back and made Arlington teams next year.

Depending on where you are, you might try Premier AC, which is travel-only but seems to take players later in the year. They're sort-of Falls Church, though they do a lot of their training and games at Luther Jackson MS in Merrifield. They do fairly well with players that fell through the cracks at larger clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone tryout for Arlington's ADP? how did that go?

It was fine. My kid went to both tryouts, like they suggested. I think they should let people know that the two tryouts are different; a bunch of drills the first night and scrimmages the second. There was a wide range of ability on display.

plus on 2nd day they actually grouped the existing U10 ADP players together in the scrimmages, even though everyone was wearing white shirt with numbers only and supposedly remain anonymous at the tryout.

Perhaps because by then they had determined these were the better players and it would make sense to have any new players play against them to see if they were competitive? This isn't a conspiracy. This is how you find the best kids.

no, they pitted existing players against each other. how's that finding best new kids?

plus if they should've alerted parents if 2nd day evaluation was based on 1st day results.

Maybe they had the current players together so they could focus on the other folks, whom they don't know as well.

This was my daughter's first time trying out for ADL (U10). I agree that knowing the two days were so different would have helped!

At the second scrimmage day they definitely did not group all existing developmental players together. My daughter scrimmaged with at least one current developmental player.