Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So for all the knowledgeable soccer families out there, where does your kid do supplemental training (training outside his club) and how much does it cost per hour? There were many questions asked on this thread about D-ODP and whether or not people thought it was worth it. There were different opinions. I personally chose NOT to have my son "tryout" for D-ODP. (Yes, I know and knew that they take everyone at this age). I know some VERY knowledgeable soccer families that have their kids in D-ODP and I know some VERY knowledgeable people who turned me away from it. But the bottom line is that many kids do a 4th practice per week. I don't see why people would ridicule people for doing D-ODP. For those people...what is better supplemental training? Can you share the cost as well please. Thanks.

Training is where you find it. I'm not sure what someone would say about D-ODP that would turn you away. Even their taste in coaching might be different than yours. The more coaches, styles, and training you expose your kids to the more informed YOU will be as a parent. I know you can't throw money at everything but don't be afraid to try different things.

There is a lot of negativity on these sites and people that have their own agendas, even people looking you in the eye will manipulate some elements.

Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the reply. Sunday nights and the drive to South County HS wasn't best for me, so I, personally, chose different supplemental training for my son other than D-ODP. I'm just wondering what all these knowledgeable parents do for supplemental training for their kids. I hope they will share their knowledge.

We decided similarly. No way in hell after afternoon travel games we'd be driving to South County Sunday nights. And practice until 9:45pm was out of the question for my 11-year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

Were some clubs promoting D-ODP ? Encouraging kids to sign up ? I have heard someone at our club say ODP is a waste of time and money, so I know they don't support it. I'm just curious, if it's something other clubs get behind and promote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

Were some clubs promoting D-ODP ? Encouraging kids to sign up ? I have heard someone at our club say ODP is a waste of time and money, so I know they don't support it. I'm just curious, if it's something other clubs get behind and promote.

Our club advised against D-ODP.

[Anonymous]

My kids U11 A team coach said all should do it. I saw that a few did. I think SNF Academy is really good training by Karl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the reply. Sunday nights and the drive to South County HS wasn't best for me, so I, personally, chose different supplemental training for my son other than D-ODP. I'm just wondering what all these knowledgeable parents do for supplemental training for their kids. I hope they will share their knowledge.

Not that knowledgeable, unfortunately, but DC recently trained with HP Elite. Clinics are about $200. We did see a definite improvement, but it's time to take a break.

I'm also familiar with Golden Boot. What we noticed is that the quality of the Golden Boot sessions vary hugely depending on the trainer. I personally don't enjoy interacting with the owner, but hey.

There have to be others out there who understand the supplemental training picture much better. Care to enlighten us?

[Anonymous]

The best players I know get their 4th practice session in with private training, not ODP or something like that.

I think ODP used to be quality training, but it's a waste of time and money now, in my not-very-but-somewhat-knowledgeable soccer opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the reply. Sunday nights and the drive to South County HS wasn't best for me, so I, personally, chose different supplemental training for my son other than D-ODP. I'm just wondering what all these knowledgeable parents do for supplemental training for their kids. I hope they will share their knowledge.

Not that knowledgeable, unfortunately, but DC recently trained with HP Elite. Clinics are about $200. We did see a definite improvement, but it's time to take a break.

I'm also familiar with Golden Boot. What we noticed is that the quality of the Golden Boot sessions vary hugely depending on the trainer. I personally don't enjoy interacting with the owner, but hey.

There have to be others out there who understand the supplemental training picture much better. Care to enlighten us?

Semi-knowledgeable parent here, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express recently, so I'll take a shot. DS is U11 and started doing supplemental training about a year ago in addition to his 2x a week activities with main club. It proved to be extremely valuable for him and accelerated his development in a way that his main club training was not. Supplemental training gets the kids exposure to different coaches/trainers and methods and also gets them playing with different kids. One previous poster mentioned getting out of the comfort zone and that is exactly right. This particular supplemental training made a huge difference in subsequent tryouts. My son's current coach is very open to having the kids do supplemental activities, but with regular season activities soon to be taking up at least four days a week, we will take a break from the supplemental stuff until the "offseason".

[Anonymous]

The question that was asked was about supplemental training, presumably asking where people send their kids. And here is the thing, people are protective of their choices and sharing what they feel is successful for their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question that was asked was about supplemental training, presumably asking where people send their kids. And here is the thing, people are protective of their choices and sharing what they feel is successful for their kid.

Perhaps some insecure parents are protective of their choices, but other parents are not. We have been very pleased with the one-on-one supplemental training our DD received from trainers at ZAR Soccer Academy. We have also used Golden Boot but found that individual or two-player/one trainer produces better results than small group supplemental training.

What is most important to see the benefits of supplemental training is that your kid has to want to do it. Not the parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question that was asked was about supplemental training, presumably asking where people send their kids. And here is the thing, people are protective of their choices and sharing what they feel is successful for their kid.

Perhaps some insecure parents are protective of their choices, but other parents are not. We have been very pleased with the one-on-one supplemental training our DD received from trainers at ZAR Soccer Academy. We have also used Golden Boot but found that individual or two-player/one trainer produces better results than small group supplemental training.

What is most important to see the benefits of supplemental training is that your kid has to want to do it. Not the parent.

And I think this exemplifies why it also isn't worth stating where the training is but what type of training. I like some one on one but I find that smallish group training with different kids to go up against to be better.

It is really a matter of what you think your kid needs and responds best to. Every kid's needs are different and every parents wallet is different.

Overall, I am personally against getting private lessons from the current coach for many reasons and that is my only recommendation for a "don't do"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

Were some clubs promoting D-ODP ? Encouraging kids to sign up ? I have heard someone at our club say ODP is a waste of time and money, so I know they don't support it. I'm just curious, if it's something other clubs get behind and promote.

Our club advised against D-ODP.

They would prefer you spend your money with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

Were some clubs promoting D-ODP ? Encouraging kids to sign up ? I have heard someone at our club say ODP is a waste of time and money, so I know they don't support it. I'm just curious, if it's something other clubs get behind and promote.

Our club advised against D-ODP.

They would prefer you spend your money with them.

Why the obsession with where people spend their money? There is no effing training that is free so just be a educated consumer and move on already. Every company that offers training wants your money, duh. I just fail to understand why people hold soccer to some standard that requires it to be free.

Look at the pros and cons of the training and decide for yourself what is best for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some parents do D-ODP solely because they think it will give their kid an advantage for ODP tryouts in the future, e.g, getting the coaches to know them.

At some point they will take the best players period. The majority will not have done D-ODP. Sometimes it backfires, the more the coaches see a kid they start to form biases the kids can't break later. Coaching staff changes quite frequently.

Find the best club coach you can (don't worry about league) and the kid should be motivated to practice on his own. These kids will surpass any kid whose parents were trying to buy favor for signing up for things solely to try to foster political connections. I see it in my own club--parents purchasing sessions directly from a coach solely thinking it will win him favor to advance (they even joke about it)--but not because they know anything about the level of training they are actually receiving or that the kid is actually improving.

Were some clubs promoting D-ODP ? Encouraging kids to sign up ? I have heard someone at our club say ODP is a waste of time and money, so I know they don't support it. I'm just curious, if it's something other clubs get behind and promote.

Our club advised against D-ODP.

They would prefer you spend your money with them.

Not at all. They do 3 night per wee practices and stress the importance of kids practicing on THEIR OWN against a wall and other drills they send via video versus parents paying more $$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question that was asked was about supplemental training, presumably asking where people send their kids. And here is the thing, people are protective of their choices and sharing what they feel is successful for their kid.

Perhaps some insecure parents are protective of their choices, but other parents are not. We have been very pleased with the one-on-one supplemental training our DD received from trainers at ZAR Soccer Academy. We have also used Golden Boot but found that individual or two-player/one trainer produces better results than small group supplemental training.

What is most important to see the benefits of supplemental training is that your kid has to want to do it. Not the parent.

I have shied away from supplemental training during the season as my kid already does 3x/week training, plus weekend games, and you know, school and life! However, during the 'off-season' we have done supplemental training with Bethesda Soccer Club. Not cheap, but not crazy price. Some of my kid's teammates swear on Joga as the best supplemental training. I have also heard HP Elite is good. Another kid has done ODP and liked it. I don't want my kid to burn out, so I don't push any of these. He can decide for himself if he wants more.