Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

I'm new to travel and my son is just starting out and I'm trying to learn all these leagues and stuff for no particular reason other than to just know. Can someone explain the National league and Region 1? How are teams selected? How many teams are there? Do the teams change each year? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm new to travel and my son is just starting out and I'm trying to learn all these leagues and stuff for no particular reason other than to just know. Can someone explain the National league and Region 1? How are teams selected? How many teams are there? Do the teams change each year? Thanks.

A general breakdown of leagues has been posted and discussed throughout this thread, it would probably be best to go and sift through it.

That said, if your kid is younger than 12 none of what you asked even applies.

[Anonymous]

Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Not in CCL but I would imagine that if the holding club had no problems letting the player go I cant see why the receiving club would decline the transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:driving over 2 hours for a friendly sounds like a joke. I'm sure you could set-up some local friendlies against some local teams.

This has been covered before and is really a dead horse. There is no gun to your head that makes you play in CCL or any league that requires "extensive" travel.

I wonder if there are people who write on every negative film review, "There is no gun to your head that made you watch this film!"

And in this case, with some parents who may indeed be making a judgment as to where to put their dollars, discussion of CCL is worthwhile. Some parents -- and, in my experience, some clubs and coaches -- apparently haven't gotten the memo that CCL games are just friendlies.

And asking why you're traveling four hours for a friendly is certainly a valid question. What's the benefit? Seriously, what is it?

which goes to ask why the multiple leagues that separate local area clubs instead of one where all have the opportunity to compete against each other. These clubs want to be in top 1/2 of their respective leagues so they move to different ones constantly. Combine it all into 1 and have them really compete. All of this marketing of how CCL allows club to really develop is nothing but softening these players with no drive to really have a true need to compete on a week to week basis.

Compete for what? At any given age CCL only accounts for 18 teams per gender in the DC Metro area. What is your problem? There are LOTS of teams not affiliated with CCL. CCL is not this huge marketing machine and is a relatively small piece of the local soccer landscape but you certainly have it against this league for whatever damage they must have done to you.

Im sure there are teams in your CCL club that you could put your kids on if you think the league sucks so bad. Please just explore that option and stfu.

I'm not the poster you are responding too, but why are you so invested in CCL that you feel the need to curse at strangers on the internet if they dare criticize it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:driving over 2 hours for a friendly sounds like a joke. I'm sure you could set-up some local friendlies against some local teams.

This has been covered before and is really a dead horse. There is no gun to your head that makes you play in CCL or any league that requires "extensive" travel.

I wonder if there are people who write on every negative film review, "There is no gun to your head that made you watch this film!"

And in this case, with some parents who may indeed be making a judgment as to where to put their dollars, discussion of CCL is worthwhile. Some parents -- and, in my experience, some clubs and coaches -- apparently haven't gotten the memo that CCL games are just friendlies.

And asking why you're traveling four hours for a friendly is certainly a valid question. What's the benefit? Seriously, what is it?

which goes to ask why the multiple leagues that separate local area clubs instead of one where all have the opportunity to compete against each other. These clubs want to be in top 1/2 of their respective leagues so they move to different ones constantly. Combine it all into 1 and have them really compete. All of this marketing of how CCL allows club to really develop is nothing but softening these players with no drive to really have a true need to compete on a week to week basis.

Compete for what? At any given age CCL only accounts for 18 teams per gender in the DC Metro area. What is your problem? There are LOTS of teams not affiliated with CCL. CCL is not this huge marketing machine and is a relatively small piece of the local soccer landscape but you certainly have it against this league for whatever damage they must have done to you.

Im sure there are teams in your CCL club that you could put your kids on if you think the league sucks so bad. Please just explore that option and stfu.

I'm not the poster you are responding too, but why are you so invested in CCL that you feel the need to curse at strangers on the internet if they dare criticize it?

I actually don't have a kid in CCL at all. I just don't understand the unnecessary league bashing. I've told, likely the same person, over and over again to explore other leagues. How is that an endorsement or an investment in CCL. The question is more why the constant badgering against a league when there are soooo many options?

They don't like CCL, we all heard it, so move on already. Find a Coach, Team, Club, League, in that order that works for your needs.

[Anonymous]

To sum up the last two pages:

Q: "What's the benefit of playing CCL, with the extra costs and travel for games that some (but not all) clubs treat as friendlies?"

A: "SHUT up! Just SHUT up! Play rec soccer! Besides, our league wins State Cups!"

I think the best thing you could say about other leagues at this point, including less-elite NCSL and the arguably more-elite EDP, is that they and their fanboys/fangirls are willing to talk about best practices. CCL just seems to adopt a "Shut up -- we know what's best" stance.

None of which should preclude anyone from taking an offer to play for excellent teams in Loudoun, Braddock Road, etc. If that's your best option, and you don't mind the money and travel, great. But if you're weighing options between that and, say, a really good Alexandria, Bethesda, VSA or PWSI team, you should feel free to ask questions. Some of those clubs may have outrageous costs and travel requirements as well. Or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Saw one like this blocked last year between two CCL clubs. They don't want to set the precedent if it's not within the rules. Also, if you have not physically moved, that's a problem too. If you joined one club for the year that was further away than your local club and made that commute commitment, you don't get to invoke the local factor later on. If you have moved, that's a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To sum up the last two pages:

Q: "What's the benefit of playing CCL, with the extra costs and travel for games that some (but not all) clubs treat as friendlies?"

A: "SHUT up! Just SHUT up! Play rec soccer! Besides, our league wins State Cups!"

I think the best thing you could say about other leagues at this point, including less-elite NCSL and the arguably more-elite EDP, is that they and their fanboys/fangirls are willing to talk about best practices. CCL just seems to adopt a "Shut up -- we know what's best" stance.

None of which should preclude anyone from taking an offer to play for excellent teams in Loudoun, Braddock Road, etc. If that's your best option, and you don't mind the money and travel, great. But if you're weighing options between that and, say, a really good Alexandria, Bethesda, VSA or PWSI team, you should feel free to ask questions. Some of those clubs may have outrageous costs and travel requirements as well. Or not.

I'm the "go find another league" guy not the "CCL wins state champions" guy. I said STFU because, seriously, and this applies to "CCL wins State Champions" guy as well. If you are unhappy with the league then STFU and leave. And to the "CCL wins State Championships" guy, if someone is unhappy with the league, STFU and let them leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Saw one like this blocked last year between two CCL clubs. They don't want to set the precedent if it's not within the rules. Also, if you have not physically moved, that's a problem too. If you joined one club for the year that was further away than your local club and made that commute commitment, you don't get to invoke the local factor later on. If you have moved, that's a different story.

And all any of this means is that the kid simply cannot be rostered on a CCL team for League play. Move to the club, "guest play" with the team during tournaments and play league games on the B or C team for the Spring season. Not that big of a deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Saw one like this blocked last year between two CCL clubs. They don't want to set the precedent if it's not within the rules. Also, if you have not physically moved, that's a problem too. If you joined one club for the year that was further away than your local club and made that commute commitment, you don't get to invoke the local factor later on. If you have moved, that's a different story.

Thanks. Did the league (CCL) block it, or did the transferring CCL club somehow block it? I am assuming the former, and if so, I didn't realize CCL has to sign off on the transfer before the receiving CCL Club can roster the player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Saw one like this blocked last year between two CCL clubs. They don't want to set the precedent if it's not within the rules. Also, if you have not physically moved, that's a problem too. If you joined one club for the year that was further away than your local club and made that commute commitment, you don't get to invoke the local factor later on. If you have moved, that's a different story.

And all any of this means is that the kid simply cannot be rostered on a CCL team for League play. Move to the club, "guest play" with the team during tournaments and play league games on the B or C team for the Spring season. Not that big of a deal.

Helpful idea. What is your thought as to whether the kid could be rostered on a CCL2 team at the receiving CCL Club? Or, would the kid be limited to rostering for Spring on teams that play in, e.g., WAGS, ODSL, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question on CCL anti-recruitment / transfer rules.

From a quick look at the rules, it appears that a player can move from one CCL Club to another CCL Club during the seasonal year if they meet a geographic mileage requirement and the directors of both clubs approve. But has anyone had any practical experience with how this rule is implemented?

For example, imagine a hypothetical where both a coach at a CCL Club and the player on her team would agree to and support a mid-season transfer to another CCL Club that is a few miles away and would take the player. Imagine a scenario where there was no recruitment going on by the other CCL Club, and that there was no acrimony between player and coach, but that the move made sense to everyone involved for family reasons. Would the directors of both clubs be able to to agree to this and waive the CCL restriction even though the geographic requirement is obviously not met? Has this sort of thing ever been done before (behind the scenes somehow?), or does everyone just have to wait the full seasonal year until the next open tryout for the player to have the freedom to move to the new CCL Club? Again, imagine an environment where everything is friendly and no one would have a desire to block this. Curious as to others thoughts?

Saw one like this blocked last year between two CCL clubs. They don't want to set the precedent if it's not within the rules. Also, if you have not physically moved, that's a problem too. If you joined one club for the year that was further away than your local club and made that commute commitment, you don't get to invoke the local factor later on. If you have moved, that's a different story.

And all any of this means is that the kid simply cannot be rostered on a CCL team for League play. Move to the club, "guest play" with the team during tournaments and play league games on the B or C team for the Spring season. Not that big of a deal.

Helpful idea. What is your thought as to whether the kid could be rostered on a CCL2 team at the receiving CCL Club? Or, would the kid be limited to rostering for Spring on teams that play in, e.g., WAGS, ODSL, etc.?

My gut says that due to the Club Pass that a CCL II team would likely be off limits. But regardless, talk with the other club coach and come up with a contingency plan assuming the transfer would be denied within CCL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To sum up the last two pages:

Q: "What's the benefit of playing CCL, with the extra costs and travel for games that some (but not all) clubs treat as friendlies?"

A: "SHUT up! Just SHUT up! Play rec soccer! Besides, our league wins State Cups!"

I think the best thing you could say about other leagues at this point, including less-elite NCSL and the arguably more-elite EDP, is that they and their fanboys/fangirls are willing to talk about best practices. CCL just seems to adopt a "Shut up -- we know what's best" stance.

None of which should preclude anyone from taking an offer to play for excellent teams in Loudoun, Braddock Road, etc. If that's your best option, and you don't mind the money and travel, great. But if you're weighing options between that and, say, a really good Alexandria, Bethesda, VSA or PWSI team, you should feel free to ask questions. Some of those clubs may have outrageous costs and travel requirements as well. Or not.

I'm the "go find another league" guy not the "CCL wins state champions" guy. I said STFU because, seriously, and this applies to "CCL wins State Champions" guy as well. If you are unhappy with the league then STFU and leave. And to the "CCL wins State Championships" guy, if someone is unhappy with the league, STFU and let them leave.

OK, you get some credit at least for not being the "CCL wins state championships" guy.

The problem with your "go find another league" if you're not happy mantra is that finding another league doesn't help with the problem caused by CCL's spread into NOVA and farther north. As the poster above said, because of CCL, we now have "multiple leagues that separate local area clubs instead of one where all have the opportunity to compete against each other". Stating that the issue only applies to 18 teams per gender doesn't help, because a club's top teams are a big driver of a club's culture. The better they are, the more they inspire the players both on the top teams and on the teams below them. It's helpful to everyone if a club's top team has the opportunity to play both highly competitive local games and good tournament and showcase ones, but as it stands now, only the less good teams in CCL get the full benefit of the competition CCL offers.

CCL's stated mission of fostering development over winning at the younger ages is great, though many CCL teams don't follow those principles, and many clubs and teams outside of CCL do. I just would prefer to see those models gain widespread acceptance in some way that doesn't restrict local competition.

[Anonymous]

Here's a breakdown of current State Cup quarterfinalists (group stage):

CCL LOCAL
9 Arlington: U15B, U16B, U17B, U18B*, U19/20B, U16G, U17G, U18G, U19/20G
8 Braddock Road: U15B, U16B*, U17B*, U18B*, U19/20B, U16G*, U17G, U19/20G
8 Loudoun U15B, U17B, U18B*, U19/20B*, U15G, U16G, U18G, U19/20G
3 SYA - U15B, U18B, U15G
2 Lee Mt. Vernon - U15B, U15G
2 McLean - U16B, U18G (note: also plays in ECNL)
1 DC Stoddert - U18B
0 Fredericksburg

CCL DISTANT
7 Beach FC - U16B, U17B, U19/20B, U15G, U16G, U17G, U19/20G
6 SOCA-Charlottesville - U17B, U19/20B, U15G, U17G, U18G, U19/20G
4 Virginia Legacy - U16B, U19/20B, U16G, U17G
1 FC Richmond - U17B
0 Roanoke Star

VPL LOCAL
3 PWSI - U15G, U16G, U19/20G
2 Annandale - U17B, U19/20G*
2 Vienna - U18G, U19/20G
1 FC Virginia - U16G
1 NVSC - U17G
1 VSA - U16B
0 Chantilly

VPL DISTANT (Richmond clubs also funnel players to DA)
4 Virginia Rush - U17B, U18B, U15G, U16G
1 Richmond Strikers - U16B
0 Richmond Kickers

NCSL (playing this fall, maybe also playing EDP?)
1 Alexandria - U15B
1 Barca - U15B
1 Great Falls - U16G

NCSL CLUBS (but teams not playing NCSL this fall -- maybe EDP?)
1 Fauquier County - U18B
1 South County - U17G
1 SYC - U19/20B

EDP-only
1 Bethesda South - U15B

VARIOUS
4 Herndon - U19/20B (NCSL), U15G (EDP), U18G Storm (NCSL), U18G United (EDP?)

ELSEWHERE
1 Western Branch Elite - U18B
1 New River United Elite - U18G

* - also in National League

So what do we learn from this and perhaps some knowledge of recent history?

1. CCL has three dominant local clubs (Arlington, Braddock Road, Loudoun). I don't think anyone's surprised by that.

2. CCL has two dominant clubs from the rest of the state (Beach FC, SOCA). Virginia Legacy also is close.

3. The rest of CCL is comparable to VPL and Herndon. (I'd argue Alexandria is at that level as well.) FC Virginia, Annandale, NVSC and VSA are a little down this fall. PWSI and Virginia Rush are perennials. Others are hit and miss, like the rest of CCL. The Richmond clubs send their best players to the DA.

So does that justify the travel for what we're told are friendlies? Your mileage may vary.

And the league status matters a lot less than the club. Arlington, Braddock Road and Loudoun have the best teams in the region.

(Excluding the NCSL and DA, which will be in transition forever.)