Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss Part II
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Anonymous
| ^^High School Soccer* |
Anonymous
I'm not the PP, but I think you totally missed the point. It's a legit concern that having so many "elite" teams in one area will dilute the talent. If you put all the top players in this area on one team, it'd be awesome. Split them all up, and are they doomed to get blasted by Penn Fusion and PDA all the time? But if you insist on knowing where everyone's child plays -- mine plays in the NCSL. He's a boy who'll never be close to ECNL or DA level. |
Anonymous
Sorry to disappoint you. Only sock puppet here is you. |
Anonymous
This must be happening in many teams in the DMV because we just left a team last year almost exactly like the one you describe. My kid isn't a strong defender but would mostly get slotted as center mid but would never see the ball once it reached the wings as those kids dribbled it all the way down only to get it lost. And parents there also always commented on the "winning lineup." My son was not a part of the "winning lineup" and although his footskills, touch, and ability to read the game were better than most he never got the minutes I believe all kids that age should get for development and ended up leaving. |
. At 9, I really need my kid playing everything. We mitigate by winter indoor where we place him up front the entire winter (we coach) to offset the defensive mindset they are creating.
Anonymous
I didn't miss the point. I have heard it all before. How is it a "legit" concern to have so many "elite" teams in one area (A area of over 3 million people). Who is concerned? You? Your son play tier 5 NCSL. Why do you care? |
Anonymous
Again, many older kids stayed with or were gifted ECNL. FCV only got stronger by adding the player pool of Loudoun soccer to their established and successful ECNL rosters. How did FCV get diluted. BRYC, a strong club in its own right was just gifted ECNL so many of those older kids stayed as well as McLean. The real test is for 05 and beyond with McLean and BRYC kids and whether they choose ECNL or DA. |
Anonymous
I didn't say tier 5. I care for two reasons: 1. As someone who sees soccer as much more than a mere vehicle for family vanity, I worry about player development. 2. I have these things called "friends." It's not all about me and my DS. |
Anonymous
What did your coach say? Was your kid middle of the pack? I don't mean to be rude, but your assessment of your child's talent will always be higher than reality. The winning line up at the younger ages always means more athletic, that advantage begins to go away around U11 when IQ takes over. Hope you are enjoying your new club. |
Anonymous
Well then you just contradicted yourself. Because if you cared about development you would want more elite venues for children not less. You are worried more about scored than development. |
Anonymous
FCV did mot get strong by adding Loudoun. Very wrong misconception |
Anonymous
I disagree. The more "elite" teams you have in a given area, the farther away from "elite" they will actually be. The concern over talent dilution is not just about the match scores, it has to do with the training and playing environment the truly elite players are actually in. The best get better when playing with and against the best, in matches but more importantly every day at training. In the context of elite player development, the real question is how many of the best players in this area are comfortable, versus how many feel that they need to push themselves to their limit every day just to stay in the starting 11, or even on the team. That type of competitive environment at training, day in and day out, lifts the overall level of intensity and focus for everyone. If the top girls in our area are not in that environment, and top girls in PA and NJ are, then our top girls are not going to develop as well as theirs. One explanation for that may be that the DA & ECNL clubs in this area have not been as successful in consolidating all of the top talent, and there are still a lot of elite players on non-DA/ECNL teams. That is definitely a possibility, especially since this is the DA's 1st year so there is still a lot of uncertainty about it, and on top of that you at least one club charging $5000/year (the Spirit, but I've heard some of the ECNL clubs are comparable when all is said and done). Another explanation is that this area just doesn't have the talent level to support that many truly elite level girls teams. I don't think we'll really have the answer to that for another year or two, and at the rate things seem to be constantly changing in the youth soccer landscape these days, who knows what it will all look like by then? |
Anonymous
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What elite teams in PA or NJ are destroying our older age groups?
PA classics just played Spirit and come away with one win in four games. That one was by one goal (2-1)...against a startup DA with no player pool. PDA...one of the best clubs in the nation...beat FCV older teams by one goal or so...hardly a blow out. So don't go overboard with your assessment. Development is done by teaching. Building the soccer brain. Going hard in practice doesn't in it self make you better...especially if you continually do the wrong thing. Again, stop looking at the little kids and look at the older teams to see where everything truly stands. When most kids are fully physically developed and the size advantages have even out. |
Anonymous
I agree a parent's assessment can be higher than reality, but I do try to look to assess the situation objectively. If I were trying to field a winning team, my kid would not be in the "winning starting lineup." That being said I am still a firm believer in giving equal playing time at these young age groups for development of all players on the team. Most development takes place in training but I believe there is an important piece that is learned in real game situations that my kid was missing out on. That being said, the coach did say he was one of the strongest technical players on the team and that he was very comfortable on the ball and in 1v1 situations. He is small in stature, and playing in the top team where a lot of athleticism takes over, the game may have been a bit too fast for him at this time against higher level competition where there are a lot of bigger, faster kids. And the chemistry may not have been there with some of his teammates. He is playing pretty much the full game now with his new team with a stronger role, but there are cons to playing with kids that are less skilled. He is happy that he is just playing more now. I am not too worried as my kid continues to play with the ball everyday and is constantly working on his individual skills. Just trying to ensure he is having fun, and playing only 6-8 minutes per half was not fun for him. Think about how many touches would be had in those few minutes, and then winning competitive games knowing you had no real part in it. Unfortunately, the fun piece was going away for him. |
Anonymous
The ability for NoVA to support five elite teams per age group I would agree with, but over time the talent will consolidate within the DA. There are reason why kids remained with ECNL and most of it is due to DA uncertainty within the first year. Older kids are not leaving their ECNL spot if they ar ein a good situation. Obviously ECNL kids did not jump from DA over to a ECNL club so there was no talent dilution there. But there are kids at McLean who are likely on the fence in regards to next year and likely some BRYC kids as well. The cost for both ECNL and DA after all the nickle and dimed added costs will end up about the same. So parents will then have a choice where that money is better spent, ECNL or DA. ECNL may in a year or two prove to be to expensive for the quality of play. ECNL expaned to U13 in hopes to get the kids in earlier and to keep them but what happens when DA matches that? Or, worse for ECNL, expands like the boys side and adds U12 with more clubs to reduced travel and costs while increasing the player pool at the same time? |
Anonymous
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" Obviously ECNL kids did not jump from DA over to a ECNL club so there was no talent dilution there. "
I meant to say "Obviously FCV kids did not jump from their DA spot to ECNL...." |