Youth Soccer Sucks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- that's disgusting and I 100% believe it.

I have not committed to anything for next year for my rising future U16 (current 14-year old 8th grader) or my rising U13 boys. They are on a first team now in a good league.

I have been disgusted by youth soccer since the oldest started travel at U9. Totally disgusted by what became of a sport I used to love.

My kids and I are playing a ton of soccer now. They are training on their own. They love their current coaches and are doing zoom meetings. Unfortunately, this club is too far away and we were looking to transition next year--but frankly there is no other club we like or staff we respect.

For now, with no guarantee of soccer, my husband and I that played college soccer will train our own kids. Once groups of players are allowed to meet together and compete we will reassess the situation.

Your description of private tryouts out kid's homes or fields is disturbing.

I also think the 'no tryout' thing and nothing based on actual MERIT is a huge disservice to youth soccer. It's a reason kids that progress rapidly and do not advance leave the sport entirely.

Most of the clubs websites say no formal tryouts. This leaves open the informal tryouts.

[Anonymous]

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

Kids need to understand that he had an entire year to "try out" for next year. I understand that COVID happened and he lost Spring, but, if his work through the winter didn't cut it, then it didn't cut it. If a kid joined the club (regardless if he was recruited or just joined), he should be placed on the team that most suited to his ability. Let this be a lesson that kids need to treat every day like it's a try out....Ok maybe not every day but you get my point. The hypothetical kid that got cut had his chance. Hopefully, he uses this to to motivate him. I honestly do not see anything wrong with this...and my kid is only 12. The only problem I would have is if he got cut and had no where else to go, but if there is a B team, so be it. He drops to the B team.

You would be fine if your kid got cut to the B team for an outside player who tried out when you were told there would be no tryouts?

Yes, I would. They don't even have to explain to me that they went to his house and gave him a tryout. All they would have to say is that the [insert a position that my kid plays] from [insert another club] decided to join our team and unfortunately he makes our team stronger than with your your kid, so we are bumping your kid down to the B team. I don't understand how that isn't understandable. What do you think should happen...should I say, but there wasn't a tryout? They watched my son play all year! Hopefully, my kid would understand and this would make him better. That's why I tell my kid he needs to play hard all the time and ALWAYS do his best, so there are no regrets. Plus, you never know who might be watching.

[Anonymous]

Did the kid get performance reviews or warnings? Some clubs profit of the families while no other kids are signing for the team. The club selects the player making it believe that he is atA level. When another kid shows up and gets the spot, the club discards the original player. People with no ethics do it.
What was the achievement of the original player? Nothing even when The club sells development, college placement etc

[Anonymous]

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

I have not seen this. Our club has told all travel players they will be guaranteed a spot on a team, but in some cases it will not be the same team. In those cases, the body of work in the fall season will be the basis for it. I would hope that coaches are doing proper evaluations of anyone coming in new.

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:
Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...

Our club has offered a partial refund in the form of a credit towards fees if returning, or a partial refund if not. I don't have any problems with that since they have done quite everything possible to keep the kids engaged thus far.

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:
If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

[Anonymous]

The soccer scene always feels like the Wild West where everyone is a gunslinger abiding by their own personal rules and skirting the law/rules. Yeehaw!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

I hear that happening at mclean. Seems BSC south is having problems/coach retiring and lots of mclean boys are being pushed down to make room. Most of the kids played for mclean at one point. Guess mclean did not sign the non compete with BSC?

I don't think most played with McLean in the past. Maybe 3 of them. At least four former Vienna kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

Kids need to understand that he had an entire year to "try out" for next year. I understand that COVID happened and he lost Spring, but, if his work through the winter didn't cut it, then it didn't cut it. If a kid joined the club (regardless if he was recruited or just joined), he should be placed on the team that most suited to his ability. Let this be a lesson that kids need to treat every day like it's a try out....Ok maybe not every day but you get my point. The hypothetical kid that got cut had his chance. Hopefully, he uses this to to motivate him. I honestly do not see anything wrong with this...and my kid is only 12. The only problem I would have is if he got cut and had no where else to go, but if there is a B team, so be it. He drops to the B team.

Agree completely. The reverse also sucks. Our club said everyone gets to keep their team placement no matter what, even though coach told individual players mid-season that they were on track to move up (maybe blowing smoke, who knows?). But guess what happened? After coach announced on a Zoom call that there would be no upward or downward movement between the A and B teams, all the A team players stopped doing the weekly team "challenges". Coach even called them out . . . and they're still doing nothing. This approach only breeds complacency and entitlement. Let the fall and winter season serve as the tryout-- if existing A team players are outmatched by B team players, let the pieces fall as they may! They had their chance and don't deserve to be "grandfathered" in to the top team because BIG SOCCER ORGANIZATION doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

Kids need to understand that he had an entire year to "try out" for next year. I understand that COVID happened and he lost Spring, but, if his work through the winter didn't cut it, then it didn't cut it. If a kid joined the club (regardless if he was recruited or just joined), he should be placed on the team that most suited to his ability. Let this be a lesson that kids need to treat every day like it's a try out....Ok maybe not every day but you get my point. The hypothetical kid that got cut had his chance. Hopefully, he uses this to to motivate him. I honestly do not see anything wrong with this...and my kid is only 12. The only problem I would have is if he got cut and had no where else to go, but if there is a B team, so be it. He drops to the B team.

Agree completely. The reverse also sucks. Our club said everyone gets to keep their team placement no matter what, even though coach told individual players mid-season that they were on track to move up (maybe blowing smoke, who knows?). But guess what happened? After coach announced on a Zoom call that there would be no upward or downward movement between the A and B teams, all the A team players stopped doing the weekly team "challenges". Coach even called them out . . . and they're still doing nothing. This approach only breeds complacency and entitlement. Let the fall and winter season serve as the tryout-- if existing A team players are outmatched by B team players, let the pieces fall as they may! They had their chance and don't deserve to be "grandfathered" in to the top team because BIG SOCCER ORGANIZATION doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

On the flip side, if I paid to sign my kid up to be on the A team, and they demoted him after the fall/winter, I'd be totally pissed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

Tells you the Club knows nothing about soccer.

Juggling/ball skill that's what the evaluated. It tells you ABSOLUTELY ZERO about this kid as a player.

How does he move off the ball? Does he anticipate? Does he have good acceleration with the ball? Does he know when to pass vs when to dribble and take the space? Is he aggressive?

You cannot evaluate a player in a backyard tryout by himself. That's just ludicrous.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

Kids need to understand that he had an entire year to "try out" for next year. I understand that COVID happened and he lost Spring, but, if his work through the winter didn't cut it, then it didn't cut it. If a kid joined the club (regardless if he was recruited or just joined), he should be placed on the team that most suited to his ability. Let this be a lesson that kids need to treat every day like it's a try out....Ok maybe not every day but you get my point. The hypothetical kid that got cut had his chance. Hopefully, he uses this to to motivate him. I honestly do not see anything wrong with this...and my kid is only 12. The only problem I would have is if he got cut and had no where else to go, but if there is a B team, so be it. He drops to the B team.

You would be fine if your kid got cut to the B team for an outside player who tried out when you were told there would be no tryouts?

Yes, I would. They don't even have to explain to me that they went to his house and gave him a tryout. All they would have to say is that the [insert a position that my kid plays] from [insert another club] decided to join our team and unfortunately he makes our team stronger than with your your kid, so we are bumping your kid down to the B team. I don't understand how that isn't understandable. What do you think should happen...should I say, but there wasn't a tryout? They watched my son play all year! Hopefully, my kid would understand and this would make him better. That's why I tell my kid he needs to play hard all the time and ALWAYS do his best, so there are no regrets. Plus, you never know who might be watching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

Kids need to understand that he had an entire year to "try out" for next year. I understand that COVID happened and he lost Spring, but, if his work through the winter didn't cut it, then it didn't cut it. If a kid joined the club (regardless if he was recruited or just joined), he should be placed on the team that most suited to his ability. Let this be a lesson that kids need to treat every day like it's a try out....Ok maybe not every day but you get my point. The hypothetical kid that got cut had his chance. Hopefully, he uses this to to motivate him. I honestly do not see anything wrong with this...and my kid is only 12. The only problem I would have is if he got cut and had no where else to go, but if there is a B team, so be it. He drops to the B team.

You would be fine if your kid got cut to the B team for an outside player who tried out when you were told there would be no tryouts?

Yes, I would. They don't even have to explain to me that they went to his house and gave him a tryout. All they would have to say is that the [insert a position that my kid plays] from [insert another club] decided to join our team and unfortunately he makes our team stronger than with your your kid, so we are bumping your kid down to the B team. I don't understand how that isn't understandable. What do you think should happen...should I say, but there wasn't a tryout? They watched my son play all year! Hopefully, my kid would understand and this would make him better. That's why I tell my kid he needs to play hard all the time and ALWAYS do his best, so there are no regrets. Plus, you never know who might be watching.

Tells you the Club knows nothing about soccer.

Juggling/ball skill that's what the evaluated. It tells you ABSOLUTELY ZERO about this kid as a player.

How does he move off the ball? Does he anticipate? Does he have good acceleration with the ball? Does he know when to pass vs when to dribble and take the space? Is he aggressive?

You cannot evaluate a player in a backyard tryout by himself. That's just ludicrous.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda Soccer Club dropped 4 players from a team, after the coach told all the kids on a zoom call that they would all have a spot. And they offered a spot on the team to a truly "beginner" player we shall say, no better, if not worse, than the players they dropped. They are planning on borrowing players for games from the top level team for the lack of roster for the time being.

[Anonymous]

I have no skin in this game, but I want to point out that if you are anxious to get a certain level of service for your fee next year, please get that in writing and in detail with a refund guarantee. There is a very strong probability that there won't be matches, or scrimmages, or any type of group work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Our club said that, absent unusual circumstances, you are guaranteed a spot on the team you were on last year. I am ok with that.

Ours said that you were guaranteed a spot. Didn't guarantee same team though - indicated there would could be internal promotion/relegation between teams. I'm Ok with that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

I hear that happening at mclean. Seems BSC south is having problems/coach retiring and lots of mclean boys are being pushed down to make room. Most of the kids played for mclean at one point. Guess mclean did not sign the non compete with BSC?

I don't think most played with McLean in the past. Maybe 3 of them. At least four former Vienna kids.

Talking u15 right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:Hello everyone I am NOVASoccerCoach. Some of you may remember me a couple months ago, where I did a Q&A and shared my insight on a couple of threads. Obviously a lot has changed since I was last on this forum and I just wanted to share some of my frustrating opinions about the landscape of youth soccer as well as offer you some insight.

1. No Tryout BS
A lot of clubs seem to be guaranteeing spots to players and doing this "no tryouts" thing. All I'm going to say is that its total bs. Players are now getting placed on teams without tryouts and there's an ABSURD amount of behind-the-scenes recruiting going on. I've even heard some directors/coaches have conducted "Social Distancing Tryouts" where they go to the kids' house and they do a ball mastery tryout. It's absolutely ridiculous and sad. Kids who have spent years at the club are getting dropped without a proper tryout for these outside club players who just had an illegal "social distancing" tryout.

Clubs are just robbing people
First off, clubs should be refunding parents for the spring. It's absolutely ridiculous. The "virtual season" does not count as a season. It should not be awarded a % credit or stipend or anything. It's bs. I can really dive into this but clubs, tournaments, etc. are just robbing families that have been loyal to clubs for so long. It's f*cked up. I don't want to even get into how they are handling the fall season...


If you have a coach that you are fond of, really lean and tap into those coaches in this time. Ask them to be honest with you and they will. Coaches unfortunately are stuck in the middle right now between the bs upper leadership is doing and actually caring for what's best for the kid. Most of the time, I would hope the coach will tell you his/her honest opinion on what's best for your kid.

What is so wrong with a coach "recruiting" a player and dropping another without tryouts? The coach obviously knows the kid that he is dropping and, hopefully, saw the kid that he is recruiting in the Fall/Winter. I'm not so sure that a trainer/coach working with a player is illegal, so I don't think a 1 on 1 tryout is therefore illegal. Plus, there is no loyalty in youth soccer from either the parent or the club side. I don't see why you are so upset about all of this. I'm sure you've seen it all a million times before.

Imagine you are a kid. You just played a fall season on the 1st team. COVID happens. You get told there will be no tryouts. You get an email from your parents that you are being moved to the B team. Ok...who from the B team is taking my spot? No one. It's a player from the outside who had a tryout, after being told there are no tryouts. The kid doesn't even get a chance to fight for the spot. Even if there were actual tryouts and that kid would have been dropped anyways, at least that kid feels they had a chance and maybe looks at themselves saying, I need to improve, my tryout wasn't good enough.

I hear that happening at mclean. Seems BSC south is having problems/coach retiring and lots of mclean boys are being pushed down to make room. Most of the kids played for mclean at one point. Guess mclean did not sign the non compete with BSC?

I don't think most played with McLean in the past. Maybe 3 of them. At least four former Vienna kids.

Talking u15 right?

Yeah, I think Bethesda South only has one team, 2006s. So in the Fall they will be U15s.