Bethesda Soccer On Way Down

[Anonymous]

Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm, from talking with parents on several of the top girls teams 2014-2016, they opted not to return because of KL's coaching style.

Heard the same. When 9 out of 13/14 kids leave - that is not a good sign, and reflects poorly on the coach and the club!

Where did they go and who is taking those slots?

If 9 girls left, they can go wherever they want, hire a quality coach and create a new standard. People are afraid to pave a way. If the training environment is amazing, that is most important. Have an all-girls team play in a boys league. Play up in EDP. Play in GA. There are so many options but one game a week pales in comparison to the development and the training environment 3x a week and people get too caught up in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm, from talking with parents on several of the top girls teams 2014-2016, they opted not to return because of KL's coaching style.

Heard the same. When 9 out of 13/14 kids leave - that is not a good sign, and reflects poorly on the coach and the club!

Where did they go and who is taking those slots?

If 9 girls left, they can go wherever they want, hire a quality coach and create a new standard. People are afraid to pave a way. If the training environment is amazing, that is most important. Have an all-girls team play in a boys league. Play up in EDP. Play in GA. There are so many options but one game a week pales in comparison to the development and the training environment 3x a week and people get too caught up in that.

I know some went to McLean and some to SYC. Much easier said than done to start a new club or team. BSC would actively work to block that team from even being able to enter or compete in tournaments and the logistics alone are daunting, fields, finding a strong coach willing to jump in. I hate to say it but you would also have to trust all the other families completely, everyone would be doing whatever they think is best for their child and at the first sign of trouble people would bail. Clubs know when families are club hoppers. There are problems everywhere, BSC has plenty. The path I often see on the boy's side is that kids that have played for two or more team, like BSC and SYC, often end up at Achilles as their last stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem isn’t even that KL is so verbally abusive. It’s that the club couldn’t care less There is zero point of the board. When there are issues, there is no one to contact. It’s a black hole. KL is one issue but there are a TON of issues. And nowhere to go with them.

+1 Exactly this. BSC is a not-for-profit that in theory exists to serve the local community. But there are no open meetings and no meaningful ways to get parent concerns addressed. The bylaws have been restructured so that the leadership gets to select board members who go along with whatever they want, so there is no accountability.

100%, the club is run like a little mafia with a few families making all the decisions. Any concerns, questions, issues are often met with "if you don't like the way we do things, you're free to take your son/daughter elsewhere." I understand they can't just switch practice days, tournaments, leagues, etc easily, but they can only get away with their inflexibility because of their stranglehold on MoCo youth soccer. If a viable alternative appears, many families would gladly leave without a second thought. I know the club doesn't care and TBH, it's hard to expect any club to care as much as a parent. However, if BSC doesn't adapt it will suffer in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain to me BSC's obsession with their new USL2 men's team? They email and post about it all of the time on social media, they've even posted it on every teams' calendars. And yet multiple boys and girls teams won State Cup titles last Sunday and not a single post has been up about them? Does USL2 make money for them or what's driving the focus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me BSC's obsession with their new USL2 men's team? They email and post about it all of the time on social media, they've even posted it on every teams' calendars. And yet multiple boys and girls teams won State Cup titles last Sunday and not a single post has been up about them? Does USL2 make money for them or what's driving the focus?

It's a good question. I assume because it's considered semi-pro and the "highest" level of any BSC team ever? I hate that the USL2 calendar shows up on my kid's BSC calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

Because GFR is slowly taking over BSC via NM and he is having teams practice on GFR fields. The older girls practice in Great Falls, Reston, and Tysons. It's absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm, from talking with parents on several of the top girls teams 2014-2016, they opted not to return because of KL's coaching style.

Heard the same. When 9 out of 13/14 kids leave - that is not a good sign, and reflects poorly on the coach and the club!

Where did they go and who is taking those slots?

I believe mostly to VA clubs in small groups. I would not be shocked if others follow suit in the future once they have seen their friends bravely cross the bridge! That team was very talented and could have gone places for BSC if there was actually good leadership at the club, but interestingly they didn't buy into the "ECNL or bust" hype and my understanding is they picked their new clubs based on coaches.

[Anonymous]

Saw some bags at FVU practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me BSC's obsession with their new USL2 men's team? They email and post about it all of the time on social media, they've even posted it on every teams' calendars. And yet multiple boys and girls teams won State Cup titles last Sunday and not a single post has been up about them? Does USL2 make money for them or what's driving the focus?

It's a good question. I assume because it's considered semi-pro and the "highest" level of any BSC team ever? I hate that the USL2 calendar shows up on my kid's BSC calendar.

it a requirement to maintain MLS Next status. Bethesda has been very lacking in this so they received a warning. Even clubs like VA Revolution and McLean who have MLS Next Academy promote more than Bethesda does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

Because GFR is slowly taking over BSC via NM and he is having teams practice on GFR fields. The older girls practice in Great Falls, Reston, and Tysons. It's absurd.

Many of the players live near those areas. It makes sense if you want to recruit from a wider area, and poach players from other clubs, you need to cast a wider net and not just limit where your players live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me BSC's obsession with their new USL2 men's team? They email and post about it all of the time on social media, they've even posted it on every teams' calendars. And yet multiple boys and girls teams won State Cup titles last Sunday and not a single post has been up about them? Does USL2 make money for them or what's driving the focus?

It's a good question. I assume because it's considered semi-pro and the "highest" level of any BSC team ever? I hate that the USL2 calendar shows up on my kid's BSC calendar.

it a requirement to maintain MLS Next status. Bethesda has been very lacking in this so they received a warning. Even clubs like VA Revolution and McLean who have MLS Next Academy promote more than Bethesda does.

I am confused. It is a MLS Next requirement to have a USL2 team and promote it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

Because GFR is slowly taking over BSC via NM and he is having teams practice on GFR fields. The older girls practice in Great Falls, Reston, and Tysons. It's absurd.

Many of the players live near those areas. It makes sense if you want to recruit from a wider area, and poach players from other clubs, you need to cast a wider net and not just limit where your players live.

That does not make sense at all…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

Because GFR is slowly taking over BSC via NM and he is having teams practice on GFR fields. The older girls practice in Great Falls, Reston, and Tysons. It's absurd.

Many of the players live near those areas. It makes sense if you want to recruit from a wider area, and poach players from other clubs, you need to cast a wider net and not just limit where your players live.

Nonsense. It is for NM’s convenience. It also dilutes the power that BSC historically had in MoCo as the “only” competitive soccer club in the area for families who didn’t want to travel to VA. Now players are fleeing from BSC to Virginia clubs of their own accord because they don’t want to take the abuse and know VA practices are in their future anyway. The 2015s are Exhibit A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would any Bethesda team be practicing in Virginia? On what fields?

Because GFR is slowly taking over BSC via NM and he is having teams practice on GFR fields. The older girls practice in Great Falls, Reston, and Tysons. It's absurd.

Many of the players live near those areas. It makes sense if you want to recruit from a wider area, and poach players from other clubs, you need to cast a wider net and not just limit where your players live.

Nonsense. It is for NM’s convenience. It also dilutes the power that BSC historically had in MoCo as the “only” competitive soccer club in the area for families who didn’t want to travel to VA. Now players are fleeing from BSC to Virginia clubs of their own accord because they don’t want to take the abuse and know VA practices are in their future anyway. The 2015s are Exhibit A.

Are you implying that they are being abused this year and leaving because of it?