Choosing between VDA ECNL and FCV GA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a young daughter who wants to go to a top-ranked club for the next several years, and it appears FCV and VDA are the top clubs in the area for talent and coaching. My question is, which club has the better training curriculum and recruiting opportunities? I don't need any troll responses, I really want to know which club is better from unbiased families and why you feel that way. 

I definitely give the nod on coaching to VDA. FCV seems to have better recruiting classes.

FCV 2009 is a terrible team. That might be an indication that they are very much a club in decline as discussed on this board.

Provide your insight into Loudoun and their success.

Soccer wise please. We don’t care about how they make money… 🐸☕️

HUUUUUUUGE rec program and huge player pool. Loudoun used to lose top players to FCV because FCV had ECNL. Once Loudoun was added to ECNL their younger age group retention has increased exponentially. These were players FCV relied on over the years to round out their player pool. GA just isn't a draw for most Loudoun players anymore.

FCV coaching is better than Loudoun but the talent pool is decidedly deeper and getting deeper at Loudoun.

Thank you for the response. I really do care about the player pool, only coaching and which coaches are linked up with college coaches and help with recruitment.

Players get recruited. Players who are seen get recruited. Club coaches can make a difference with recruiting but the player does 95% of the work themselves and talent generally wins the day. Being a talented player on a talented team makes getting recruited significantly easier. Don't fall for the trap of coaches who claim to be rainmakers with getting their kids committed. They were likely gifted a talented roster to begin with. No club coach will get your kid on a college team that is above their playing weight. Every player settles in to their level of college interest based on their own work reaching out to coaches and their level of talent as primary drivers.

A good club coach will help set realistic schools that should be a good soccer fit then the rest is up to the player regardless of club coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a young daughter who wants to go to a top-ranked club for the next several years, and it appears FCV and VDA are the top clubs in the area for talent and coaching. My question is, which club has the better training curriculum and recruiting opportunities? I don't need any troll responses, I really want to know which club is better from unbiased families and why you feel that way. 

😂 You don’t a troll response? This is a troll post. But don’t worry….everybody and their mother will comment.

Nope, I actually want to know your thoughts. I am not even sure why you would say this, as I am new to this forum. Maybe this will make you feel I genuinely want a genuine response. Not based on who wins, because I could care less about that. I care about training and recruiting for the future. 

GA isn't going to be a top league and GA clubs will stop drawing top players moving forward.

The younger FCV teams are very poor performing teams with little hope of attracting top talent moving forward. While win loss records and rankings are to be taken with a pinch of salt all of FCV's current top performing GA teams were all top performing youth teams at U10-U12. They once had strong core groups of players they added to at the full sided ages but they seem to rely more heavily on recruiting to those teams in the future without a strong feeder pool.

VDA seems to be more consistent moving forward with a solid player pool to draw from between VSA and PWSI.

The only ECNL club I would choose FCV over would be BRYC. I would no longer consider joining a FCV team younger than 07/08. They simply do not have the draw of a destination league nor a decent player pool.

FCV does, however, recruit all of their players. Take a look at the current 2022 predictions. Despite the fact that this year has been extremely difficult for that class, the coach was able to recruit almost all of those girls, and by the end of the year, they will have 100% committed. That's impressive, and you should be proud of yourself.

[Anonymous]

tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is a good post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a young daughter who wants to go to a top-ranked club for the next several years, and it appears FCV and VDA are the top clubs in the area for talent and coaching. My question is, which club has the better training curriculum and recruiting opportunities? I don't need any troll responses, I really want to know which club is better from unbiased families and why you feel that way. 

I definitely give the nod on coaching to VDA. FCV seems to have better recruiting classes.

FCV 2009 is a terrible team. That might be an indication that they are very much a club in decline as discussed on this board.

Provide your insight into Loudoun and their success.

Soccer wise please. We don’t care about how they make money… 🐸☕️

HUUUUUUUGE rec program and huge player pool. Loudoun used to lose top players to FCV because FCV had ECNL. Once Loudoun was added to ECNL their younger age group retention has increased exponentially. These were players FCV relied on over the years to round out their player pool. GA just isn't a draw for most Loudoun players anymore.

FCV coaching is better than Loudoun but the talent pool is decidedly deeper and getting deeper at Loudoun.

Thank you for the response. I really do care about the player pool, only coaching and which coaches are linked up with college coaches and help with recruitment.

Players get recruited. Players who are seen get recruited. Club coaches can make a difference with recruiting but the player does 95% of the work themselves and talent generally wins the day. Being a talented player on a talented team makes getting recruited significantly easier. Don't fall for the trap of coaches who claim to be rainmakers with getting their kids committed. They were likely gifted a talented roster to begin with. No club coach will get your kid on a college team that is above their playing weight. Every player settles in to their level of college interest based on their own work reaching out to coaches and their level of talent as primary drivers.

A good club coach will help set realistic schools that should be a good soccer fit then the rest is up to the player regardless of club coach.

I get what you're saying, but I disagree. In NOVA, the playing field is fairly even, and coaches who know more college coaches and have a solid relationship with them can pitch to them more if the college coach has a trusting relationship with the club coach. In athletics, it's all about who you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is a good post.

You've just given yourself a response. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a young daughter who wants to go to a top-ranked club for the next several years, and it appears FCV and VDA are the top clubs in the area for talent and coaching. My question is, which club has the better training curriculum and recruiting opportunities? I don't need any troll responses, I really want to know which club is better from unbiased families and why you feel that way. 

😂 You don’t a troll response? This is a troll post. But don’t worry….everybody and their mother will comment.

Nope, I actually want to know your thoughts. I am not even sure why you would say this, as I am new to this forum. Maybe this will make you feel I genuinely want a genuine response. Not based on who wins, because I could care less about that. I care about training and recruiting for the future. 

GA isn't going to be a top league and GA clubs will stop drawing top players moving forward.

The younger FCV teams are very poor performing teams with little hope of attracting top talent moving forward. While win loss records and rankings are to be taken with a pinch of salt all of FCV's current top performing GA teams were all top performing youth teams at U10-U12. They once had strong core groups of players they added to at the full sided ages but they seem to rely more heavily on recruiting to those teams in the future without a strong feeder pool.

VDA seems to be more consistent moving forward with a solid player pool to draw from between VSA and PWSI.

The only ECNL club I would choose FCV over would be BRYC. I would no longer consider joining a FCV team younger than 07/08. They simply do not have the draw of a destination league nor a decent player pool.

FCV does, however, recruit all of their players. Take a look at the current 2022 predictions. Despite the fact that this year has been extremely difficult for that class, the coach was able to recruit almost all of those girls, and by the end of the year, they will have 100% committed. That's impressive, and you should be proud of yourself.

FCV has received how many commitments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

VDA has only recently started placing players in D1 colleges in high numbers, depending on the age groups you could get a very good coach or a bad coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

VDA has only recently started placing players in D1 colleges in high numbers, depending on the age groups you could get a very good coach or a bad coach.

What characterizes a lousy coach? What has changed in the program to make them the number one destination if they are now placing all of their players in D1 institutions and training is good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

VDA has only recently started placing players in D1 colleges in high numbers, depending on the age groups you could get a very good coach or a bad coach.

Do they have a strong training program? I don't believe so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

Overall a decent depiction of the landscape, but I would caveat the bolded. For the older girls (06 and up), this is totally true. For the younger girls (09-07), I would disagree. Several years ago, the best talent at Loudoun would historically leave for FCV or Mclean at U13, which were the only "top" programs around in NOVA at the time. A few years ago Loudoun was admitted into ECNL, and that tide is changing. Just look at the ECNL records this year, for example:

09-07s: combined 13-1-1 record
06-03s: combined 3-7-5 record

The older teams still struggling, while the younger teams are having success. The 07s were Loudoun's first age group to not have to leave Loudoun to be in ECNL, so it appear that the paradigm is shifting, which negatively impacts FCV primarily (as this was where most Loudoun girls tried to go to previously).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

VDA has only recently started placing players in D1 colleges in high numbers, depending on the age groups you could get a very good coach or a bad coach.

What characterizes a lousy coach? What has changed in the program to make them the number one destination if they are now placing all of their players in D1 institutions and training is good?

Go to training and watch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

Overall a decent depiction of the landscape, but I would caveat the bolded. For the older girls (06 and up), this is totally true. For the younger girls (09-07), I would disagree. Several years ago, the best talent at Loudoun would historically leave for FCV or Mclean at U13, which were the only "top" programs around in NOVA at the time. A few years ago Loudoun was admitted into ECNL, and that tide is changing. Just look at the ECNL records this year, for example:

09-07s: combined 13-1-1 record
06-03s: combined 3-7-5 record

The older teams still struggling, while the younger teams are having success. The 07s were Loudoun's first age group to not have to leave Loudoun to be in ECNL, so it appear that the paradigm is shifting, which negatively impacts FCV primarily (as this was where most Loudoun girls tried to go to previously).

Loudoun has not been able to retain or attract talent at the older age groups. A strong hire could change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tons of variables including commute distance, but here are a few thoughts

Loudoun - huge club so very political, underperforms at ECNL level which would make me evaluate coaching carefully. It really comes down to the coach
FCV - good track record at producing competitive teams and college placement, questionable culture, questionable ability to draw elite talent in future with GA only, practice locations uncertain
McLean - good track record at college placement, declining ability to attract and develop talent due to dilution, moderately competitive on average. A lock to stay in ECNL
VDA - up and comers of the bunch, middling placement history. remote location, polarizing ECNL coaching
BRYC - hit hard by coaching defections (and players), least competitive ECNL program currently, faithful following. Significant potential for a merger in the future

for us, it would boil down to who would the coach be, because that will determine a players progress more than the club. There are coaches we would avoid like the plague but you should develop your own opinions. Highly recommend going to see how they operate at practice and at games.

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much. This has piqued my interest (VDA - up-and-comers with a mediocre placement history). Please elaborate, polarizing ECNL coaching.

VDA has only recently started placing players in D1 colleges in high numbers, depending on the age groups you could get a very good coach or a bad coach.

Because VDA started 4 years ago. Need time to develop the program. Once PWSI/VSA got VDA going, players stopped leaving in the recruiting years for McLean and FCV.