ECNL forcing Brave & Union Partnership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It is soccer. There is no conflict of interest. Where does it state that the coach can't do private training?
Club camps are open to everyone it is not inclusive. You have the option to enroll or not enroll. You are mad because you didn't

No, most likely they're mad because the business of youth sports has made this type of quid pro quo into standard operating procedure.

Camps are a different beast - but private sessions giving money directly to a coach who will be involved in choosing teams? It doesn't take a genius to see how it's gotten out of control. That's a fact.

It's amazing to see all the parents here suggesting that coaches shouldn't be doing private training or hosting camps. When has anyone posting here tried to live in the DMV on $40-60k, which is 2-3 teams at $20k season, and then turned down a free meal or game tickets at the same time? Private training or hosting summer/winter camps is how they can make their soccer career pan out and stay in the game. It's not much different than the college coaching staffs. Most of the time the camps that advertised by colleges aren't actually by the colleges, they're run by the coaching staff and technically not affiliated with the university. The colleges allow them to use the name to provide marketing and have a way to supplement those low salaries. Try to understand the financial realities of these coaches trying to make a living in a game they love so that your kid can play with a real coach instead of a parent volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It is soccer. There is no conflict of interest. Where does it state that the coach can't do private training?
Club camps are open to everyone it is not inclusive. You have the option to enroll or not enroll. You are mad because you didn't

No, most likely they're mad because the business of youth sports has made this type of quid pro quo into standard operating procedure.

Camps are a different beast - but private sessions giving money directly to a coach who will be involved in choosing teams? It doesn't take a genius to see how it's gotten out of control. That's a fact.

It's amazing to see all the parents here suggesting that coaches shouldn't be doing private training or hosting camps. When has anyone posting here tried to live in the DMV on $40-60k, which is 2-3 teams at $20k season, and then turned down a free meal or game tickets at the same time? Private training or hosting summer/winter camps is how they can make their soccer career pan out and stay in the game. It's not much different than the college coaching staffs. Most of the time the camps that advertised by colleges aren't actually by the colleges, they're run by the coaching staff and technically not affiliated with the university. The colleges allow them to use the name to provide marketing and have a way to supplement those low salaries. Try to understand the financial realities of these coaches trying to make a living in a game they love so that your kid can play with a real coach instead of a parent volunteer.

Well- we NEVER had our kids train with same Club, same coaches. The point of training was different styles, different set of eyes, different focus. Individual focus. Learning from different people.

But- to my kid's detriment in getting placed on teams..lol. We never talk to or email coaches--unless of course they email us about something or we need to say they are sick, injured, etc. We are ghosts.

We have seen so much in the 10 years our kids have been in this, just shameless, shameless ****sss kissing and favors and bribes and 'coach want a coffee?", etc. But- our kids have grit. They have experienced failure and all the BS life has to offer so they don't crumble when faced with challenges or mommy and daddy aren't there.

Kids know the real deal. All of them. All of them know when a kid is only there because of a parent. That kid knows. It really does a number on them mentally. They didn't earn it and the message is: you aren't good enough to earn this on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is this I am hearing about a FXU coach who has a son and his friends on the team and didn't need to try out? Total conflict of interest right? This new Union is a joke.

What is the conflict? He took a 0-18 team to a top 10 finish, what is left to show for a tryout? They are not a bunch of his son's friends, these boys were recruited by the coach to help turn that team around. A few came from Valor, NVU, VDA, and SYC. I think that is what they call recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is this I am hearing about a FXU coach who has a son and his friends on the team and didn't need to try out? Total conflict of interest right? This new Union is a joke.

What is the conflict? He took a 0-18 team to a top 10 finish, what is left to show for a tryout? They are not a bunch of his son's friends, these boys were recruited by the coach to help turn that team around. A few came from Valor, NVU, VDA, and SYC. I think that is what they call recruiting.

Who really cares about top 10 in a 16 club division? I wouldn’t say that’s knocking it out of the ballpark to the point where you are guaranteed a spot with no tryout against other talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean parent already have ML in their pocket so that's why they are so pissed off, and why SYC families are so willing to leave. MV has never demonstrated that he cares what any parent thinks. This is every overinvolved soccer parents worst fear but may lead to better results. Give the Dutch guy a shot

Better results than what? Winning the top bracket of Jeff cup? Finishing in 2nd place in conference play with just 1 loss? And no, no one has ML in their pocket. He's a tough but fair coach. He has a great reputation and every parent I know whose daughter played for him has nothing but good things to say, whether they played for him in Herndon, DMV FC, or McLean. Stop trying to create a false narrative. The "Dutch guy" doesn't have a good record and Brave families will tell you they are disappointed he's on the coaching slate.

Nice try, but not true. Most Brave players and families have embraced these upcoming changes only because MV is involved.

Not a false narrative this is the truth. Call me what you will, but I've been spot on for all this since page 1 of this thread. MV is well regarded, respected, and appreciated by Brave families. Notice I didn't say liked. They will certainly follow him to Union, IF they are able to make the team. He's not sentimental so he will put best team together from who shows up to tyouts and IDs. The fact that 7 Brave offers were made at 2010s speaks volumes to not his favoritism to Brave players, but the reality that half of the current Union team is not coming back, thats on ML and MYS parents specifically. If the team that just won Jeff Cup was bringing everyone back and just reloading with 2-3 best players at Brave, and 2-3 other solid players in NoVa making moves then sure my narrative is wrong. The truth is the team will be different, and ML had to bend and invite 7 Brave players. We all know only 2-3 should have been added, but when you lose talent you got be creative so more offers had to be made to the inferior group of players.

Aren’t all the players on this Union team from SYC and elsewhere and not from McLean anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know parents who have given "extra" sports tickets to coaches or had them over for cookouts and what not.

Did you ever think these parents just like the coach and are being nice? I’ve done this before with zero ulterior motives.

But its a conflict of interest or at least the appearance of one. Ideally the coaches decline this sort of stuff but that depends on the coach and usually how senior they are.

You have to understand that there is no conflict of interest in soccer. This is not the government contracting world. Soccer is a big community where coaches are free to coach at any club simultaneously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all, I love that this thread is threatening to get to 200 pages. Just glorious.

Second, what do you mean when you say “parents have XX coach in their pocket”? If all the McLean parents have this coach in pocket, then do all their kids get minutes? But if that’s the case, then do any of them really have a difference in influence? Are they paying him under the table? Like, passion g over envelopes of cash? Because I have never seen anything like that. I have most definitely seen coaches who have favorites, including playing kids who are struggling far longer than they should, instead of giving other kids a chance. But in most cases, you could kind of see some reason why (kid was tall/fast/good attitude/gritty).

The usual way parents pay coaches is via privates.

The usual way parents pay clubs is via camps.

This is all on top of regular club fees.

It is soccer. There is no conflict of interest. Where does it state that the coach can't do private training?
Club camps are open to everyone it is not inclusive. You have the option to enroll or not enroll. You are mad because you didn't

No, most likely they're mad because the business of youth sports has made this type of quid pro quo into standard operating procedure.

Camps are a different beast - but private sessions giving money directly to a coach who will be involved in choosing teams? It doesn't take a genius to see how it's gotten out of control. That's a fact.

Look at VDA... Who is the Executive Director?? Where does that Executive Director other job?
If that is not okay, then there will already be a case on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all, I love that this thread is threatening to get to 200 pages. Just glorious.

Second, what do you mean when you say “parents have XX coach in their pocket”? If all the McLean parents have this coach in pocket, then do all their kids get minutes? But if that’s the case, then do any of them really have a difference in influence? Are they paying him under the table? Like, passion g over envelopes of cash? Because I have never seen anything like that. I have most definitely seen coaches who have favorites, including playing kids who are struggling far longer than they should, instead of giving other kids a chance. But in most cases, you could kind of see some reason why (kid was tall/fast/good attitude/gritty).

The usual way parents pay coaches is via privates.

The usual way parents pay clubs is via camps.

This is all on top of regular club fees.

It is soccer. There is no conflict of interest. Where does it state that the coach can't do private training?
Club camps are open to everyone it is not inclusive. You have the option to enroll or not enroll. You are mad because you didn't

No, most likely they're mad because the business of youth sports has made this type of quid pro quo into standard operating procedure.

Camps are a different beast - but private sessions giving money directly to a coach who will be involved in choosing teams? It doesn't take a genius to see how it's gotten out of control. That's a fact.

Look at VDA... Who is the Executive Director?? Where does that Executive Director other job?
If that is not okay, then there will already be a case on it.

The only parents that are mad are the one that are not on the VDA team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is this I am hearing about a FXU coach who has a son and his friends on the team and didn't need to try out? Total conflict of interest right? This new Union is a joke.

What is the conflict? He took a 0-18 team to a top 10 finish, what is left to show for a tryout? They are not a bunch of his son's friends, these boys were recruited by the coach to help turn that team around. A few came from Valor, NVU, VDA, and SYC. I think that is what they call recruiting.

Who really cares about top 10 in a 16 club division? I wouldn’t say that’s knocking it out of the ballpark to the point where you are guaranteed a spot with no tryout against other talent.

Everyone on this thread cares. Wins/losses are the easiest metric to use in sports to measure success, do you have some other metric that is tracked that will allow you to evaluate progress. Unless you are the coach, how can you even say that they are guaranteeing offers or that current players aren't at tryouts. I just don't get how you folks think, everyone is assuming without know anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all, I love that this thread is threatening to get to 200 pages. Just glorious.

Second, what do you mean when you say “parents have XX coach in their pocket”? If all the McLean parents have this coach in pocket, then do all their kids get minutes? But if that’s the case, then do any of them really have a difference in influence? Are they paying him under the table? Like, passion g over envelopes of cash? Because I have never seen anything like that. I have most definitely seen coaches who have favorites, including playing kids who are struggling far longer than they should, instead of giving other kids a chance. But in most cases, you could kind of see some reason why (kid was tall/fast/good attitude/gritty).

The usual way parents pay coaches is via privates.

The usual way parents pay clubs is via camps.

This is all on top of regular club fees.

It is soccer. There is no conflict of interest. Where does it state that the coach can't do private training?
Club camps are open to everyone it is not inclusive. You have the option to enroll or not enroll. You are mad because you didn't

No, most likely they're mad because the business of youth sports has made this type of quid pro quo into standard operating procedure.

Camps are a different beast - but private sessions giving money directly to a coach who will be involved in choosing teams? It doesn't take a genius to see how it's gotten out of control. That's a fact.

Look at VDA... Who is the Executive Director?? Where does that Executive Director other job?
If that is not okay, then there will already be a case on it.

The only parents that are mad are the one that are not on the VDA team

Or the parents that are currently at VDA. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean parent already have ML in their pocket so that's why they are so pissed off, and why SYC families are so willing to leave. MV has never demonstrated that he cares what any parent thinks. This is every overinvolved soccer parents worst fear but may lead to better results. Give the Dutch guy a shot

Better results than what? Winning the top bracket of Jeff cup? Finishing in 2nd place in conference play with just 1 loss? And no, no one has ML in their pocket. He's a tough but fair coach. He has a great reputation and every parent I know whose daughter played for him has nothing but good things to say, whether they played for him in Herndon, DMV FC, or McLean. Stop trying to create a false narrative. The "Dutch guy" doesn't have a good record and Brave families will tell you they are disappointed he's on the coaching slate.

Nice try, but not true. Most Brave players and families have embraced these upcoming changes only because MV is involved.

Not a false narrative this is the truth. Call me what you will, but I've been spot on for all this since page 1 of this thread. MV is well regarded, respected, and appreciated by Brave families. Notice I didn't say liked. They will certainly follow him to Union, IF they are able to make the team. He's not sentimental so he will put best team together from who shows up to tyouts and IDs. The fact that 7 Brave offers were made at 2010s speaks volumes to not his favoritism to Brave players, but the reality that half of the current Union team is not coming back, thats on ML and MYS parents specifically. If the team that just won Jeff Cup was bringing everyone back and just reloading with 2-3 best players at Brave, and 2-3 other solid players in NoVa making moves then sure my narrative is wrong. The truth is the team will be different, and ML had to bend and invite 7 Brave players. We all know only 2-3 should have been added, but when you lose talent you got be creative so more offers had to be made to the inferior group of players.

MV is in over his head regardless of what VYS parents who never had ECNL aspirations before believe. The reality is the BRAVE families lucked out that they will inherit McLean experience and connections because MV has zero pull with college coaches.

MV puts 4 players in college. LOL

Wrong, he has 17 girls...

Class of 2023 - 6 girls committed
Class of 2024 - 9 girls committed
Class of 2025 - 2 girls committed

I think McLean has about that much committed for the class of 2024

Those are not good numbers at all. Union has nearly every 05/06 girl committed, with the uncommitted kids being trapped players. From the Instagram page it looks like Arlington has all but 2 2024s and 2 2025’s committed. (granted, Arlington’s commits are heavy on academic schools, not necessarily P4 D1). Which raises a good point, for all of those Arlington kids listed as “committed” does that mean they are actually on the soccer team? Or is Arlington counting kids who just happen to be going to those schools and play at their club as “committed”? Because if those kids are all playing, then it’s a damn impressive list from an academic perspective. If not, then Arlington is dishonest AF.

[Anonymous]

A little less than 1/3 (13 out of 34) VA Union 05/06 ECNL team players are uncommitted. The team only has 2024’s and 2025’s. A “trapped” 2025 means nothing as they have all been able to talk directly to college coaches for the past 9 months from June 15th last year.

[Anonymous]

Mclean family here with one kid who played ACC soccer. I want to dispel any myth that CW or NM or anyone else just waves a magic wand and gets your kid recruited. They are not that effectgive bc they do not have the time to put into it because they have too many other things going on. And CW isn't a strong voice in these types of situations anyway NM would be stronger.

TBH my kids were recruited because they and (us parents) spent a lot of time on this and did visits. We kept up the communications and had the resources ($) to invest in the process. The club didn['t really help.

You need the grades, soccer skills and elbow grease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mclean family here with one kid who played ACC soccer. I want to dispel any myth that CW or NM or anyone else just waves a magic wand and gets your kid recruited. They are not that effectgive bc they do not have the time to put into it because they have too many other things going on. And CW isn't a strong voice in these types of situations anyway NM would be stronger.

TBH my kids were recruited because they and (us parents) spent a lot of time on this and did visits. We kept up the communications and had the resources ($) to invest in the process. The club didn['t really help.

You need the grades, soccer skills and elbow grease.

THE most sensible response about college recruiting and soccer. Funny thing is, clubs always have the kids committing point at the club crest during the photos announcing commitments when generally it's more to do with the individual than the club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mclean family here with one kid who played ACC soccer. I want to dispel any myth that CW or NM or anyone else just waves a magic wand and gets your kid recruited. They are not that effectgive bc they do not have the time to put into it because they have too many other things going on. And CW isn't a strong voice in these types of situations anyway NM would be stronger.

TBH my kids were recruited because they and (us parents) spent a lot of time on this and did visits. We kept up the communications and had the resources ($) to invest in the process. The club didn['t really help.

You need the grades, soccer skills and elbow grease.

THE most sensible response about college recruiting and soccer. Funny thing is, clubs always have the kids committing point at the club crest during the photos announcing commitments when generally it's more to do with the individual than the club.

Seconding this!