Soccer summer camp for experienced U13 boy

[Anonymous]

Depends on the individual coach running the group. UVA and USNA camps are very good. Some other colleges not so much. Depends on their commitment to push the kids. High school sponsored camps are usually crap. Just talk to people who've had good experiences. Camps are dependent on who is running it and it changes year to year in a lot of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to Bethesda Frostburg and hated it (for some of the same reasons they now hate playing with Bethesda).

Would second the suggestion to go overseas and get some experience in a different system.

Ditto for my kid. Bethesda Frostburg was horrible for a non-Bethesda player and pretty bad even for those players on the team.

[Anonymous]

I was set to send my son to Georgetown's Soccer Camp for rising 7th & 8th grade boys (week long day camp), but it was cancelled due to COVID. I don't know if they're going to have it this summer. Georgetown has some good coaches and their boys team is ranked in the top 5 this year and I think won the NCAA's in 2019 or 2020 so it's a good program...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're looking for a soccer summer camp for our U13 son, accessible to Bethesda or NW DC. He's been playing rec since kindergarten, so he's quite experienced and skilled, but not very fast or ambitious, hence he's never progressed to travel. I've compiled this list so far. But whenever I call a place and ask about the age distribution, it seems they mostly have younger kids (even though they advertise programs for the older kids - but I guess the older kids don't sign up.) Any experience with older kids at these places?

PPA
Coerver in MD
Stoddert
DC United at RFK
Bruce Murray
Bethesda Soccer Club
Four Soccer (found an old post about them but their website seems out of date)
Achilles FC/Sal Caccavale
DCYF
Thanks for the info. Even if you “child is quite experienced and skilled, but not very fast or ambitious” I would not recommend that he go to Achilles or DC United (though I have less Intel on that team). Though the training is good, the head coach at Achilles can easily destroy a kids self esteem.

The DCYFC summer camps are good. Lots of game time. They did Brazilian camp with coaches from Brazil before the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

OP, my son is basically like yours -- he's a really good rec player but just is not super competitive, as he has other interests. He likes to play because he loves the sport.

He had a bad experience with Bethesda Soccer (then at Sidwell) a few years ago. Most of the kids at the camp were in Bethesda soccer and on the same team, and he said they were just jerks to him because he wasn't on their team. I think he was placed appropriately for his skill level, but it was just the boy version of a "mean girl" situation and he said the coaches just yelled at people a lot. It made both him and me reluctant to do soccer camps that drew primarily from a club.

Wish there were some better options. I feel like the uber-competitive people end up driving away the kids who just like the sport but aren't looking to get a college scholarship or play in Italy or whatever. His dad played soccer through H.S. at the varsity level, but I'm not sure he'll make it thorugh 8th grade because it's so hard to find a team at the non-travel level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did Achilles. It was like babysitting. Sal wasn't even there for half of the camp and the people running it were meh at best. It wasn't for a serious player.

Same here. Total waste of time and money.

[Anonymous]

Suggesting that a parent send their rec player to Europe for soccer summer camp is peak DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suggesting that a parent send their rec player to Europe for soccer summer camp is peak DCUM

Lol! I thought that was weird also but I couldn't articulate it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suggesting that a parent send their rec player to Europe for soccer summer camp is peak DCUM

Lol! I thought that was weird also but I couldn't articulate it well.

Pretty sure it was sarcasm. At least I hope it was!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Achilles. It was like babysitting. Sal wasn't even there for half of the camp and the people running it were meh at best. It wasn't for a serious player.

Same here. Total waste of time and money.

+1. It is overpriced babysitting. It was disappointing that Sal wasn't even there very much. He had college kids running it for most of the day. It's also a way for him to look to fill his teams..."Billy did great at camp. I'd like him to join Achilles." They lost a lot of players after families realized it was a money grab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suggesting that a parent send their rec player to Europe for soccer summer camp is peak DCUM

Ha!! Died laughing! I think they were serious. Those camps do exist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suggesting that a parent send their rec player to Europe for soccer summer camp is peak DCUM

I would have thought so, until I saw the idea that flying to Brazil to let your kid play soccer on a beach is "free".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's club, Achilles FC, runs a great summer camp. It is a good balance of building technical skills, scrimmages, etc. I think the camp will run for 7 weeks this summer. More below:


___________________________

Sal Caccavale Soccer Academy has been running summer camps in the DMV for over 10 years and continues to grow every year! Summer camp is a fun and inclusive environment for kids of all ages and skill levels. While all of our campers come to have fun, the reason our camp is different and better than other soccer camps around the area is due to the training environment and the improvement campers will make throughout the summer.

Campers range from 6-19 years old and all attend camp with the same goal - to have fun and get better! We have an amazing coaching staff that have all played college or professional soccer that interact with players throughout the morning and even hop in some of the afternoon games! It’s truly a family environment at Sal’s Summer Camp! Our camp involves technical development, a ton of gameplay, weekly awards, and a lot of fun! Kids will really enjoy the atmosphere our camp offers and will be wanting to come back for more. To find out more information on Sal's Summer Camp or to register, please visit salsoccer.com.

Please don't waste your money on the Achilles camp. It is a glorified babysitting at a premium price. They have college students running the camp and Sal is not even present at the camp for very long.

GREAT reputation, hmm?? Do a search this site for Achilles and you will see plenty about their reputation. There are many other camps of better quality in the area from that list like the UMD and Bethesda camps. I saw the Achilles' advertising for their camps and it makes used car dealers look good...SOLD OUT... new low low price. Such a MONEYGRAB!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son's club, Achilles FC, runs a great summer camp. It is a good balance of building technical skills, scrimmages, etc. I think the camp will run for 7 weeks this summer. More below:

My son plays at Achilles. He will be attending the summer camp. Before signing up, I asked several parents and kids who have attended in the past and there were universally positive responses. I can't vouch for how much Sal will be there, but Vinny, his brother and my son's Achilles head coach, plans on being there the entire time. And it's very affordable. For someone to say it's a "premium price" is outrageous. It is $995 for FOUR weeks 8:30A to 3pm, less than $250/week. It's one of the most affordable camps around. The technical training at Achilles practices is focused, high energy and fun. The coaches are hands on participants. After a year, my son has improved a lot and loves the coaching.

Please stop with this incessant and dishonest criticism of Achilles. Someone is clearly searching for reasons in these threads to criticize them. On every thread where someone complains about coaching or a club, one of these folks pops up and says something like, was it Achilles? Achilles is terrible. Now they're pleading with people to NOT go to an Achilles summer camp and checking the Achilles website for details on a camp they're not attending just to criticize it.


___________________________

Sal Caccavale Soccer Academy has been running summer camps in the DMV for over 10 years and continues to grow every year! Summer camp is a fun and inclusive environment for kids of all ages and skill levels. While all of our campers come to have fun, the reason our camp is different and better than other soccer camps around the area is due to the training environment and the improvement campers will make throughout the summer.

Campers range from 6-19 years old and all attend camp with the same goal - to have fun and get better! We have an amazing coaching staff that have all played college or professional soccer that interact with players throughout the morning and even hop in some of the afternoon games! It’s truly a family environment at Sal’s Summer Camp! Our camp involves technical development, a ton of gameplay, weekly awards, and a lot of fun! Kids will really enjoy the atmosphere our camp offers and will be wanting to come back for more. To find out more information on Sal's Summer Camp or to register, please visit salsoccer.com.

Please don't waste your money on the Achilles camp. It is a glorified babysitting at a premium price. They have college students running the camp and Sal is not even present at the camp for very long.

GREAT reputation, hmm?? Do a search this site for Achilles and you will see plenty about their reputation. There are many other camps of better quality in the area from that list like the UMD and Bethesda camps. I saw the Achilles' advertising for their camps and it makes used car dealers look good...SOLD OUT... new low low price. Such a MONEYGRAB!

[Anonymous]

My son plays at Achilles. He will be attending the summer camp. Before signing up, I asked several parents and kids who have attended in the past and there were universally positive responses. I can't vouch for how much Sal will be there, but Vinny, his brother and my son's Achilles head coach, plans on being there the entire time. And it's very affordable. For someone to say it's a "premium price" is outrageous. It is $995 for FOUR weeks 8:30A to 3pm, less than $250/week. It's one of the most affordable camps around. The technical training at Achilles practices is focused, high energy and fun. The coaches are hands on participants. After a year, my son has improved a lot and loves the coaching.

Please stop with this incessant and dishonest criticism of Achilles. Someone is clearly searching for reasons in these threads to criticize them. On every thread where someone complains about coaching or a club, one of these folks pops up and says something like, was it Achilles? Achilles is terrible. Now they're pleading with people to NOT go to an Achilles summer camp and checking the Achilles website for details on a camp they're not attending just to criticize it.

And sorry for the re-post. I somehow buried my response amongst other messages last time.