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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
Here's what seems like a very good chart that shows average scholarship and participation rates for college soccer for men and women, along with tons of other interesting info: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/soccer.html This shows that there are more than 9,000 women playing D1 soccer, and the average women's scholarship is around $16k, with a limit of 14 scholarships per team. Most competitive programs probably provide the most sought after players with much more than $16k, leaving a smaller pool for the remainder. A lot of people say things like scholarships are "virtually non-existent" in order to help parents of younger kids have realistic expectations about the very small likelihood that a child will get a full-ride or significant scholarship money down the line. In that context, it's a fair statement, because the odds of any one U9 ending up with a significant soccer-related award are miniscule. And it's very true that there is vastly more merit money out there for academic high achievers than there is soccer money. That being said, the conversation above was prompted by someone mentioning that her rising freshman would be starting playing on a very high level club team. If you are starting on a DA, ECNL or club team that is nationally top-ranked by your later years of high school, the odds that you will be in the running to receive some scholarship money for your sport go up significantly. More importantly probably for most of us on DCUM, an impact player on a top team at that age has a good chance of getting some admissions assistance at a school that might otherwise be more of a reach. |
Anonymous
Didn't realize you couldn't do both. Maybe some changes are in order. |
Anonymous
You can do both girls DA and ECNL. I'm sure ECNL would prefer that member clubs not participate in the girls DA as that's the only way they'll be able to try to claim they continue to be the top league for girls, but they can't really tell clubs that currently have boys DA plus ECNL not to apply for the girls' DA. The list of girls DA clubs has several ECNL teams like FC Dallas, CASL, Colorado Rush and SoCal Blues. The press release just has the first wave of accepted clubs. I'm sure there will be more club announcements before too long. |
Anonymous
That's not quite the case: - Several 2014 UVA men's signees not from DA: http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/022714aaa.html - Beach FC sending several players to college each year: http://www.beachfc.com/college-alumni Here's a not-comprehensive list for 2016: http://www.soccerwire.com/ncaa-mens-soccer-commitment-tracker-class-of-2016/ ... note five from Arlington, many from Baltimore Celtic, four from FC Frederick, two from Loudoun, one from MSC, five from Pipeline, two from SYA, one SAC, four SOCA, one VSA, one Barca, one Virginia Rush, etc. And again, that's not comprehensive. The USYSA National League notes nine from Arlington: http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/national_league/201516_national_league_commits__under18_boys/ So yes, the DA is the surest path. But not the only one. |
Anonymous
| The perfectionist in me would want to take a look at the actual players and see how they stack up. My feeling is that the ones from a non-DA path have the most grit or are really talented. Specifically for my DS, it is unlikely I will have enough time to go out of the club to network with coaches and have DS tryout different training sessions. I think for most the DA, if your child can get in, will be providing a framework the player and parents can work off of. If done right with affordable dues and reasonable training times, I think quite a few kids scouted that they otherwise wouldn't have. |
Anonymous
Different poster here, but yes you don't need to play DA to get onto a good college team. There are not nearly enough DA players to fill all the available D1 spots, much less the universe of DI, DII, and DIII, and lots of great players don't live anywhere near a DA or ECNL team. You just will need to do more legwork in most cases to get yourself onto the radar of college coaches if you are not playing DA or on another high level regional or national league type team. |
Anonymous
I think a lot of people on this forum did go to college, and perhaps already have their Master's of some sort. Probably a lot of people here also played some sort of organized sport in H.S. I ask a simple question: While at college, would you have played at a low-ranked D1 or DII or lower if you didn't get any scholarship money? My point, and I'm not sure if anybody will agree with me, is that it will always benefit the person who focuses on academics vs. sports in college. I think a few H.S players may be sold into playing for a college team, in my opinion while going to college, those had the worst experiences and graduated a few years after I did(I graduated with a 4-year degree in 4-years). |
Anonymous
| Doers anyone here have older kids who are attending/ or have attended any college ID camps? Any local colleges? And how was the experience? |
Anonymous
The USGDA went to the Wash. Spirit, not any of those 4 CCL clubs, correct? So, this is different then the boys side, where both ASA and Loudon got academies, but formed an alliance with DCU for a pathway for older boys. These 4 CCL clubs here are not getting academies and are simply in alliance somehow with the Spirit. If that is correct, it seems like MYS was left out for some reason, and wouldn't later get a girls academy of its own . . . unless MYS would drop ECNL in order to get a girls academy?? Not likely I am wondering? (I am guessing MYS would have applied for an academy, as they did get the boys U12 academy, but how would they be able to fiance both ECNL and USGDA at a club with only 3,000 kids? I would think they would have needed the help of an alliance, which it looks like everyone else got but them.) |
Anonymous
I don't have any inside information on any of this, but with respect to the relationship between the 4 CCL clubs and the Washington Spirit, the way I read the press release is that the 4 clubs will partner with the Spirit to send promising girls to the DA teams the Spirit runs, but will not have their own DA teams. It's structured differently for some of the other initial clubs--note that Sky Blue and PDA jointly will run a DA program. I think it's too early to tell about the prospects for McLean or any other area club, because there will absolutely need to be a lot more clubs added for the league to be operational. The closest clubs to the Spirit right now are Penn Fusion, Sky Blue-PDA in NJ and CASL in NC. Kids can't do that kind of travel every week. I expect that there will be a lot more DC area teams added as time goes on. Note also this part from the Spirit press release: "The Spirit also have plans for an Academy more convenient to players from DC and Maryland, to be detailed at a later date." This suggests that there may in the end be a Spirit VA and a Spirit MD, like they have for Super Y now. |
Anonymous
Great thoughts and very helpful. Thx! I too was wondering about the travel issue and not having enough clubs in the Mid-Atlantic. Time will tell, as it is still over a year away and maybe MYS gets invited into this Alliance so they can have a pathway as well. Another thought I have had was whether US Soccer would even be thinking at this point of expanding the girls Academy to include u12/u13 age groups to make it equal with the boys (for example, in 2018-19 season). I am sure no one knows at this point, but just mentioning it. A few months ago before the announcement I asked that question to one of the higher-ups working on a bid at one of the 4 CCL clubs and they didn't know. |
Anonymous
As a northern Virginia CCL club just like the other members of the Spirit Virginia alliance, MYS was certainly offered a chance to join that group but for whatever reason decided not too. This was a poor decision by McLean as there's no chance they'll get a DA by itself, if for no other reason than proximity to the Spirit Virginia DA. Not being part of the DA will not stop top McLean players from trying out so why not join the alliance and get your club the prestige/benefits from being affiliated with what wilol be the top level of girls soccer? |
Anonymous
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https://swimswam.com/6-amazing-things-swim-parents/
Good read and reminders |
Anonymous
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- Several 2014 UVA men's signees not from DA: http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/022714aaa.html - Beach FC sending several players to college each year: http://www.beachfc.com/college-alumni Here's a not-comprehensive list for 2016: http://www.soccerwire.com/ncaa-mens-soccer-commitment-tracker-class-of-2016/ ... note five from Arlington, many from Baltimore Celtic, four from FC Frederick, two from Loudoun, one from MSC, five from Pipeline, two from SYA, one SAC, four SOCA, one VSA, one Barca, one Virginia Rush, etc. And again, that's not comprehensive. The USYSA National League notes nine from Arlington: http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/national_league/201516_national_league_commits__under18_boys/ So yes, the DA is the surest path. But not the only one. All 24 members of the 2016 Baltimore Celtic team committed to play at D1 or D3 colleges. |
Anonymous
All 24 members of the 2016 Baltimore Celtic team committed to play at D1 or D3 colleges. Yeah, but Celtic isn't a particularly helpful example given what an anomaly the club is. I wonder if it will still be such a draw in a few years as the Steve Nichols connection fades and it has to compete with an increasingly stronger Baltimore Armour. The strong private school/soccer connections in Baltimore make for an interesting dynamic. |