Washington Spirit Virginia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’ve got a resilient kid-these are the ones who will be successful in life. I am hopeful this year’s tryouts will motivate DD in a similar manner!

close some tabs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes me happiest about this change is that the trolls don’t know what’s happening. That means they are either not with the current Spirit teams or that they are and are not being invited back. Since poor play by some percentage of players was a good part of the reason for the bad results, this can only be seen as a good thing.

To the point about Spirit coaches not being any part of this new arrangement, we’ll all have to see what the announcement says. So this club will be composed of “youth soccer coaches” LIKE EVERY OTHER ECNL AND DA CLUB and the pro teams head coach Ritchie a few months ago!! Hardly and indictment.

What’s important is that the base coaches are highly qualified, enthusiastic, and great coaches. That part of the environment doesn’t change, and that was the part parents likes. The part that was disliked, the roster sizes, the common play ups, field situations, etc will likely change. More partnerships with other clubs will be announced, which means access to other coaches and players.

The end results may be MUCH better than the original product and have a lot less association with the pro team. And given the state of the other options in the local area, if George and Spencer can pull everything they plan together, they could easily be a viable option and near the top over time.

This, all day long.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a current Spirit VA player, I am concerned about their ability to attract new talent and fear the 1st year or two of this new venture may be an uphill battle. It feels a bit too experimental. I guess more answers will come at this upcoming parent meeting.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what this changes exactly, but it does bring a feeling of stability I would think. Incoming and existing players know what it is now. They could (theoretically) go after boys DA too now that they are free from the Spirit shackles. There are a lot of kids in the Reston, Herndon, GF, Sterling, McLean, Oakton, Vienna area that may see this as the best DA/ECNL option within a short driving distance to practice. If this is handled well, and they offer effective scholarships to the less privileged talent in the pockets of affordable housing in Reston, Sterling, and Herndon they could become a magnet. This could become a powerhouse. A long way to go and a lot of risk, but it is possible.

[Anonymous]

The first year or two under WAS an uphill battle for WSVA!

Time to right-size the program, follow through on commitments and expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a current Spirit VA player, I am concerned about their ability to attract new talent and fear the 1st year or two of this new venture may be an uphill battle. It feels a bit too experimental. I guess more answers will come at this upcoming parent meeting.

The advantage is being freed to run the club properly, and some of this forum had talked about the DA helping fund the first team. There was truth to that (like the "free" /not free tickets),

I'll confess I'm less than enthusiastic about a generic name like Metro United. There was a chiqueness to "Spirit" and to being attached to a pro team. PSG has a girl's youth Academy. Completely differently run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first year or two under WAS an uphill battle for WSVA!

Time to right-size the program, follow through on commitments and expectations.

That's all what I want to see. Show me the playing up craziness is over. Show me the smaller roster. Show me that the kids who can't play at this level won't be on that roster.

[Anonymous]

Me too-the name stinks. Hopefully some nice uniforms!!

[Anonymous]

For those of us on the outside who are curious/interested and not just trolling, how was this announcement made? Is there a print/email version of it somewhere that someone can copy and paste?

[Anonymous]

So far, just word of mouth I believe. Maybe some written info will come out after parent meeting later this week or next.

To all those interested-last ID session is this Sunday afternoon at Lake Fairfax!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the point on Larry/Baldwin. Yes, those two have ruined their reputations with many. They just have. Some will be bitter about that. They have guaranteed significantly lower attendance at Spirit pro games with this move, between the DA kids free seats and the parents with season tickets who will not renew in protest of what they’ve done.

But the fact is that their devious handling of this has nothing to do with the new organization. Larry/Baldwin are not in control of this new organization at any level—as they desired. It would be foolish to take out anger over the change against George and Spencer. The way to act is to send nasty messages to Larry, in writing and by avoiding Spirit related purchases, with any anger over the change.

You still deserve a bath in all 300 dirty uniforms for being such an @ss, though. The Spirit branded team is no more, you can settle down now.

If Larry is smart he will give players free tickets for as long as they play for this team.

[Anonymous]

I think this new team could be fantastic for 06 and younger. I wouldn't want to be a parent of 05 or older though. Where will Metro United get decent players at those ages?

[Anonymous]

The current Spirit 05 team is strong (most came from McLean ECNL)-so they could be just fine sticking with new iteration of this team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The current Spirit 05 team is strong (most came from McLean ECNL)-so they could be just fine sticking with new iteration of this team.

But McLean 05 is clearly stronger. Go figure

[Anonymous]

That's because Clyde Watson can still recruit and will remain in charge of next year's McLean ECNL 05 and 04 teams.