American Select

[Anonymous]

VA Metro coach is the one that ruined UA DC team for the past several years

This may be true but the Capital Director has been ruining the DC teams for the last 5 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess My question is as a parent, we really need these type of teams to get recruited, or are they really money grabs

They are an opportunity to get really good film against top opposition. Also, making one of these teams, especially in a competitive region puts you ahead of others and can get coaches to your games in sophomore year summer and get invites to prospect days.

No matter what anyone says, nothing is absolutely critical. Your recruiting plan should be based around what camps/tourneys/events your targeted schools will attend.

[Anonymous]

Money grab from everything I’ve heard! Often times the best girls don’t even go out for these teams.

[Anonymous]

My 2 daughters did not try out or in fact need UA and or AS or UA150 and got recruited by going to the right tournaments and the individual camps and being persistent. They both play for top 40 programs and extremely happy. Just my opinion but it seems as though parents want these special teams more than the players do, just for bragging rights. Again, just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 daughters did not try out or in fact need UA and or AS or UA150 and got recruited by going to the right tournaments and the individual camps and being persistent. They both play for top 40 programs and extremely happy. Just my opinion but it seems as though parents want these special teams more than the players do, just for bragging rights. Again, just my two cents.

I agree especially for DMV girls. These teams are much more important for non Northeast or DMV girls who need to show they can play at a high level. Also much more important for girls who play for second or third tier clubs.

You can’t do everything. Like PP said, you should target your efforts based on where your targeted schools will be.

Also some of this is very position specific. For specialists like goalies or draw specialists, it’s all about prospect days. Coaches won’t recruit a specialist who they haven’t worked out in person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VA Metro coach is the one that ruined UA DC team for the past several years

This may be true but the Capital Director has been ruining the DC teams for the last 5 years

Complete BS. You are just bitter your DD isn’t on Capital. Gussie has done nothing wrong re any special teams. She was never involved in UA at all and first time in the cesspit of “super teams” was AS. That turned out fine for DC teams.

[Anonymous]

Wrong. My DD was on Capital but it isn't Gussie I'm referring to. If you don't know what you are talking about please don't comment

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP that AS and UA/UA150 are not necessary in the DMV and that club status and camp performance mean more, they can helpful from a resume-building standpoint, especially early on.

That selection can lead to a greater awareness of your player and cam, in combination with club affiliation and performance, give them a leg up when it comes to consideration for the all-star team and prospect events and school camps.

[Anonymous]

DC/VA does not have a strong history with these types of events. Two years ago a team of primarily VAM players did not perform well at UA. Lost every game. Last year a team primarily made up of Capital players went 1-3 in one of the weaker American Select brackets. The one win was against a team that was 0-4. The team was one of the lowest scoring in the entire tournament. Doubt many would agree with the poster who believes this turned out fine for DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC/VA does not have a strong history with these types of events. Two years ago a team of primarily VAM players did not perform well at UA. Lost every game. Last year a team primarily made up of Capital players went 1-3 in one of the weaker American Select brackets. The one win was against a team that was 0-4. The team was one of the lowest scoring in the entire tournament. Doubt many would agree with the poster who believes this turned out fine for DC.

These are interesting events.

What's strange is that for the non-east coast regions like Southwest, Cali and Midwest, they always get their top players and they play together as a team much more. For instance at UA, Midwest beat DC at both age groups. Watching the games it was clear DC/VA was more talented, but the Midwest team actually passed and cut on offense and played as a team. The DC team was pretty much me ball.

MD and LI also played mostly me ball, but there are talented enough to get away with it.

[Anonymous]

The problem with last year's DC/VA AS team was more based on coaching lack of familiarity with the players, which led to some initial playing time and rotation issues.

Once the team got their legs under them, they played better.

Overall talent wasn't the issue, unlike previous UA teams.

That being said, DC/VA will generally always be an underdog vs. MD.CT, NY, PA, NJ, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with last year's DC/VA AS team was more based on coaching lack of familiarity with the players, which led to some initial playing time and rotation issues.

Once the team got their legs under them, they played better.

Overall talent wasn't the issue, unlike previous UA teams.

That being said, DC/VA will generally always be an underdog vs. MD.CT, NY, PA, NJ, etc.

All of the AS teams had to make this adjustment, so no one team had an advantage or was disadvantaged because of the coaching. If the argument is the coaches, then shame on the AS regional director who helped select the coaches and for not creating expectations around practicing before the games. The regional director is responsible for the product that goes on the field. It seems like you are suggesting the other regional directors had their coaches and players better prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with last year's DC/VA AS team was more based on coaching lack of familiarity with the players, which led to some initial playing time and rotation issues.

Once the team got their legs under them, they played better.

Overall talent wasn't the issue, unlike previous UA teams.

That being said, DC/VA will generally always be an underdog vs. MD.CT, NY, PA, NJ, etc.

All of the AS teams had to make this adjustment, so no one team had an advantage or was disadvantaged because of the coaching. If the argument is the coaches, then shame on the AS regional director who helped select the coaches and for not creating expectations around practicing before the games. The regional director is responsible for the product that goes on the field. It seems like you are suggesting the other regional directors had their coaches and players better prepared.

I'd argue CT had a big edge in AS since 90% of the teams at most levels were from the same club -- Grizzlies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd argue CT had a big edge in AS since 90% of the teams at most levels were from the same club -- Grizzlies.

When you look at last year's AS rosters it's easy to see they aligned with whomever the director was for that region. CT definitely took the cake with 20 of 22 players making the team for their 2023 class. Almost every team was made up of 50% of players from the regional director's club.

Lesson learned, if you are a club director you better fight to wear the crown of AS regional director. It seems to be a ticket to stack the regional team with your club players. If you are a parent or player, make sure you know who the regional director is for your area before spending all that money. If it is your club director, you may as well tryout. Good chance you will make the team. If your club director is not the AS regional director, you need to decide if you will play the longer odds. And more than likely lose out on your investment.

I think parents/players were already aware of this in the DC/VA region, so many top players didn't bother trying out. While AS claimed they would be different than UA when it came to selecting teams, no one was foolish enough to believe this. And the final rosters proved this. This was the main complaint about the UA team that was made up of primarily VAM players. The DC/VA AS team was not different. These teams had good players. The problem is they did not have all of the best players in the area. Thus, could not compete against the better teams.

[Anonymous]

Leas than one week away from tryouts and still no coaches named for DC/VA. Is it even worth going at this point with out even having coaches named?