GFR or Herndon ?

[Anonymous]

The purpose of this thread is to compare two clubs. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We joined Herndon a few years back. Our coach is great but with all clubs some are great and some not so great. I have found , you have a better experience if your child fits well with the team.

[Anonymous]

We preferred Herndon coaching and club environment. GFR has more talented individual players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 9 year old who was on the strongest team in our previous club (out of state).
We are equidistant to GFR training fields and Herndon training fields. Kid liked both fine when trying out - says he has no preference.
For the seasoned soccer parents, is one club preferred over the other? I see him playing long-term and he aspires to play in high school. Thank you for any information.

GFR has pretty solid boys teams. My DD is older and I don't have a son at their club (too far and she drives) but from what we see when we play them they are fast and technical. Herndon's not bad either, but we were turned off by some of the parents behaviors during games and some of the players in my son's age group were mouthing off to the Ref, ect.

[Anonymous]

I would say with any club the teams vary. Go watch the teams you are considering play. Confirm that the coach will still have that team next year. You may not be able to do that yet since most clubs have not named the 2024-25 coaches but once they do, go check them out.
You want to consider-
- style of play
- coach’s demeanor
- kids and parents behavior
- whether your kid likes the kids already on the team, so ask to attend a training session this spring
- to some extent where they play (leagues and tournaments) but the right fit is a lot more than that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s not a good sign that they won’t let him guest play. Every top team that my kid practiced with were open to the idea at least.

Might not necessarily be a bad sign. Teams that have full rosters will have less opportunities for guest players, even if they are excited to have the player join in the future. Coach may not want to bring in a guest player when multiple parents are already complaining about playing time. And a full roster is not necessarily bad - top teams with great coaches end up with very full rosters, and they still have opportunities as the team moves from 7v7 to 9v9 to 11v11.

Btw OP, depending on the commute for you, another club to consider would be VSA.

What does VSA stand for?
-OP

VSA is. Virginia Soccer Association. It’s based in Prince William County. If you live in Herndon/Reston/Great Falls area that would be a long drive with traffic on weeknights. Loudoun Soccer is probably closer to you. Maybe look into that one too.

As for guest playing — is anyone playing games other than futsal right now? Is that what you asked to guest play? Maybe there is some logistical reason they both said no that is specific to futsal? If I recall correctly GFR has futsal training open to all but only certain players get invited to go to futsal tournaments. Not sure what Herndon is doing right now. There are only a few futsal leagues in the area.

Fair warning - I would caution you to steer very clear of Loudoun Soccer if you think that Herndon is bad! They will tell you your son will be on the "A Team" (ECNL in this case). Come tryout time, even if they said that you would be shocked at how many players they drop down to B, C teams, then promise you a "Dual Roster" that won't amount to anything. I have not only lived this but know so many families who have left because of this bait and switch. And we are not talking about bad players either!! The development is next to laughable and they had to put together an alliance for the top teams just to draw in outside talent since they know that can't create good players themselves.

Is Valor a consideration?

No

[Anonymous]

Find out where you want to be at U13. Plan appropriately. Location, feeder clubs etc. Always easier transition from the inside than trying to come in from the outside. Seems like a long way out, but time flies.

[Anonymous]

OP - VSA = Virginia Soccer Association vsaonline.org

[Anonymous]

Herndon is the Wild West. You never know what’s coming your way next. Left and never looked back. They do have some nice kids and families there.

[Anonymous]

Some very good coaches in Herndon, particularly the ones who don't speak English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find out where you want to be at U13. Plan appropriately. Location, feeder clubs etc. Always easier transition from the inside than trying to come in from the outside. Seems like a long way out, but time flies.

This is 100% false unless you're starting at the top. Many second team legacy players have to leave to bump up to first team even with player expansion years

[Anonymous]

What leagues do 2010-2006 girls play in? ECNL RL for top team and NCSL for second team? DD looking for something closer to home

[Anonymous]

Herndon^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What leagues do 2010-2006 girls play in? ECNL RL for top team and NCSL for second team? DD looking for something closer to home

For Herndon, NCSL: https://herndonyouthsoccer.org/travel/2024-2025-Coaching-Slate

For GFRSC, ECNL-R then, typically, NCSL, then some EDP https://www.gfrsoccerclub.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1239141 (check this section: "How does competition affect the travel soccer program?")

[Anonymous]

I received my D coaching license this past year and we used players from GFR for our clinics. I was super impressed with the talent level of the players we had in our clinic from GFR. I noted one of our instructors has involvement with GFR and he knew his stuff, nice guy too. GFR also runs multiple ball mastery clinics within the club, which allow for extra development.

My own club doesn't even do this. We only conduct team training and don't really develop individual players. Some clubs do development better than others, I think GFR does this.