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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
By 15-16 years old most players are recruited from non-CCL clubs. I'd look for a development club if I had a U13 and below player (at least on the male side). |
Anonymous
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Without a doubt, if ECNL teams were eligible for state cup, the most of the FCV, McLean and Richmond United teams would make the quarter finals at least. But those ECNL teams are not guaranteed to win State Cup because in practically every age group there's a non-ECNL team that's a good or better.
And please don't talk about CCL teams recruiting when that's all ECNL clubs do. None of the three clubs mentioned above are worth a damn at development. |
Anonymous
Braddock Road? They don't field a ton of travel teams -- just two (total, not per age group) in NCSL, plus a bunch of ODSL teams mostly run out of their rec department. Arlington and Loudoun, yes -- many teams in NCSL and ODSL. Arlington has nearly 230,000 people just in the county itself. Add Falls Church and areas that border Arlington, and you're talking about more people than Iceland. Loudoun has nearly 350,000. (And people here give Vienna -- population 16,370, maybe 40-50K total if you stretch from northern Oakton to western Tysons -- a hard time because they're not on the same level.) |
Anonymous
Dumb post and this is why Vienna is bad. |
Anonymous
My, what a powerful argument. I am now completely convinced Vienna's faults are not because it's in a smaller area surrounded by giant clubs. They are surely the fault of the last three technical directors and the last 30 board members, along with every coach, parent or pro. Thank you for enlightening me. Back to the point: Is Braddock Road really "big"? Arlington and Loudoun certainly are. |
Anonymous
Because you are comparing "Towns" and "Counties" as if that is how the clubs or that those are the clubs that people who live in those counties must play at. Vienna is in a large county that is able to support multiple clubs. This points to the mindset that is only "Vienna" that only people that live in certain zip code can play for them. Vienna could draw from many locations but they simply are not a destination club, but "poor Vienna" they are only centrally located in a wealthy suburb of a very large county. 
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Anonymous
And the fact that Braddock Road is not big at all but really good should be enough to demonstrate just how bad Vienna really is. But, there is a Vienna thread to discuss your poor hard luck club. Please post there. |
Anonymous
I heard that maybe DAs at older ages because the DAs have too many restrictions on your opportunities. I'm not actually sure of the restrictions though. I looked at the regulations and it seems to specifically mention that you cannot do DA and High School, but what about middle school? What about outside training? What about guest playing? etc at U12 and U13? |
Anonymous
From everything that I've read is that DA has strong lock in rules. High School soccer is bad enough, Middle School soccer is utterly pointless other than a fun low cost alternative. But it would not be anything that I would risk DA participation over. Generally no outside training is allowed but I would think it would be hard to enforce. |
Anonymous
Yeah, I'm not saying Middle School is a good alternative I was just saying that I know a kid who does DA but really wanted to play with his friends in Middle School. I also know kids with opportunities to go Europe in tournaments. Tournaments is Dallas. Trying different outside training/trainers. etc But if you join the DA, you are locked into that training. Some people find it too limiting. |
Anonymous
See, that answers the question. I've never had the impression Braddock Road was "big" in the sense that it has a ton of people. It just has reputation built up over the decades, from Jill Ellis to Mia Hamm to the present day. Arlington and Loudoun are always going to be good because of the names "Arlington" and "Loudoun." Those are big areas with tons of people who love soccer. Good coaching (in some cases) puts them over the top and into the national elite. I suppose Vienna (which is, really, a baseball town) could beat itself up because it's not Braddock Road. But who is? Braddock Road laid the groundwork for an excellent club before any of us even thought about having kids, and they've managed to keep it going. Great. But I simply can't think of another club without a giant catchment area that has done that. McLean, maybe, but that's still a substantial area, and they've declined substantially since their DA days. (Yeah, yeah, I know -- "national champions." So is VSA.) |
Anonymous
 VSA 
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Anonymous
 Is what I meant to VSA
Hahaha 
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Anonymous
Yea-- my sister and I played alongside those women at BRYC (and beyond) in the 80s. I wish my own kids could experience what I did--the coaching and the training. Soccer was better when it was grassroots. It's a business now and the kids are the ones suffering for it. Too many people trying to make a buck off a schmuck. |
Anonymous
| If soccer was about soccer in this area, having a technical director such as Paul Ellis would certainly help a club develop into a more prominent club. But it doesn't and checks are continuing to be cashed. |