Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please take your VYS sad story to the Vienna soccer thread where it belongs.

Why are you so obsessed with responding to an offhand comment about club sizes, Mr./Ms. Former VYS Coach or Board Member?

Because there is a thread dedicated specifically to discussion pertaining to this particular club. Once the discussion stops being about overall general travel soccer and is geared more to particular issues pertaining to BYS just take it to the VYS thread. Not that hard to understand.

Here is the link for your convenience:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/533272.page

I'm aware of that. And so are you. So why do you keep responding here?

It was one offhand comment comparing club sizes. Someone insisted on dredging up all the perceived ills of VYS.

It wasn't an "offhand comment. You stated, "(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.) "

Nobody mentioned Vienna until you did. The only place that Vienna gets a hard time is in its own thread by its own members.

Thank you for providing the punchline to a ridiculous conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's all so random. Maybe not totally random, as some parents might really, really do their homework but it seems to me...that every club has good and bad trainer/coaches. All of the clubs discussed above have produced some great teams. However, why don't they ALWAYS produce great teams? It's the kids that come into the program at that time. It's the quality of that particular trainer/coach. It's the commitment of the parents of those kids. Not every season do you get a group of talented kids who work hard outside of practice, who get a great trainer/coach, and with committed parents. At any given year, that can can happen at any of these clubs regardless of the league. It could even happen at the smallest of clubs. And I think that's what this message board is all about...trying to find THAT team each year or the closest thing to it. My kid is younger and plays in the NCSL and the teams that he's been on have beaten the crap out of just about all of the teams mentioned above. Does that mean they are bad clubs? No, it just means that they don't have the group of kids, etc that we do at this time. So I think all this league and club talk is BS. The quest is to find a great trainer with a great bunch of teammates.

+1

The clubs that do it consistently are either huge (Arlington, Loudoun) or managed to build a tradition decades ago (Braddock Road).

Most of the CCL clubs, maybe half of the VPL clubs and a handful of NCSL clubs can produce good teams. It's trickier these days to keep them together, with the DA and ECNL picking off the top players and Loudoun/Arlington/BRYC taking a few more, but some teams do pretty well for themselves all the way through the age groups.

And for 80-90% of travel players, it hardly matters. There's no magic formula to tell you whether Loudoun's C team is a better place than Herndon's B team or vice versa.

^^^ infrastructure ain't so great when 80% get cut.

Fields. Depth of coaching -- coaches can develop within the club and benefit from working together. Depth of talent -- if D.C. United takes three players, they can move up decent players from the B team.

Money to pay for all this. You've seen the accusation elsewhere -- a lot of C-, D- and F- teams are just subsidizing the coaches and scholarship money for the A team. And if they have big rec programs, or if they have the resources to put on big money-making tournaments, they can pay those A-team coaches to stay and subsidize scholarships and travel.

If you play at Arlington for anything other than an A team -- which applies to hundreds and hundreds of kids -- some of your money is going to make the A teams better. You can be annoyed by that, or you can take pride in it. Or you can just figure you like your coach, you like the convenience of where you play, and the costs aren't any better some place farther away. Up to you.[/quote

"The clubs that do it consistently are either huge (Arlington, Loudoun) or managed to build a tradition decades ago (Braddock Road)."

Can someone explain what "building a tradition decades ago" means in the context of BRYC's production of talented older teams TODAY? How is it that a smallish club (e.g. 1 or 2 teams per age group above U12) with no real geographic identity -- other than the name of a street in Fairfax county -- and squeezed between two dozen other local clubs in Northern Virginia create such a large number of good teams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's all so random. Maybe not totally random, as some parents might really, really do their homework but it seems to me...that every club has good and bad trainer/coaches. All of the clubs discussed above have produced some great teams. However, why don't they ALWAYS produce great teams? It's the kids that come into the program at that time. It's the quality of that particular trainer/coach. It's the commitment of the parents of those kids. Not every season do you get a group of talented kids who work hard outside of practice, who get a great trainer/coach, and with committed parents. At any given year, that can can happen at any of these clubs regardless of the league. It could even happen at the smallest of clubs. And I think that's what this message board is all about...trying to find THAT team each year or the closest thing to it. My kid is younger and plays in the NCSL and the teams that he's been on have beaten the crap out of just about all of the teams mentioned above. Does that mean they are bad clubs? No, it just means that they don't have the group of kids, etc that we do at this time. So I think all this league and club talk is BS. The quest is to find a great trainer with a great bunch of teammates.

+1

The clubs that do it consistently are either huge (Arlington, Loudoun) or managed to build a tradition decades ago (Braddock Road).

Most of the CCL clubs, maybe half of the VPL clubs and a handful of NCSL clubs can produce good teams. It's trickier these days to keep them together, with the DA and ECNL picking off the top players and Loudoun/Arlington/BRYC taking a few more, but some teams do pretty well for themselves all the way through the age groups.

And for 80-90% of travel players, it hardly matters. There's no magic formula to tell you whether Loudoun's C team is a better place than Herndon's B team or vice versa.

^^^ infrastructure ain't so great when 80% get cut.

Fields. Depth of coaching -- coaches can develop within the club and benefit from working together. Depth of talent -- if D.C. United takes three players, they can move up decent players from the B team.

Money to pay for all this. You've seen the accusation elsewhere -- a lot of C-, D- and F- teams are just subsidizing the coaches and scholarship money for the A team. And if they have big rec programs, or if they have the resources to put on big money-making tournaments, they can pay those A-team coaches to stay and subsidize scholarships and travel.

If you play at Arlington for anything other than an A team -- which applies to hundreds and hundreds of kids -- some of your money is going to make the A teams better. You can be annoyed by that, or you can take pride in it. Or you can just figure you like your coach, you like the convenience of where you play, and the costs aren't any better some place farther away. Up to you.[/quote

"The clubs that do it consistently are either huge (Arlington, Loudoun) or managed to build a tradition decades ago (Braddock Road)."

Can someone explain what "building a tradition decades ago" means in the context of BRYC's production of talented older teams TODAY? How is it that a smallish club (e.g. 1 or 2 teams per age group above U12) with no real geographic identity -- other than the name of a street in Fairfax county -- and squeezed between two dozen other local clubs in Northern Virginia create such a large number of good teams?

Simple, it is a destination club. People are willing to drive to the club knowing that their kids will be part of a strong development process. They don't need 6 teams per age group that does nothing more than create a system of attrition based on a large player pool.

[Anonymous]

^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

What the What?!?!?!

[Anonymous]

^^ but hey there club pride. To the A team braggart--newsflash you are subsidizing non-Arlington DA team players.

I don't give a shit about pride. I care about individual training which given lack of field space with the push to grow too big too fast we can't even scrimmage now. Players are handed off age group to age groups with zero consistent plan carried through. I think that's what BRYC is getting at--about relying on a name and not a tradition of training.

Some don't need to trade on a brand name. If there were other local options--I know many disgruntled "customers" that would not be there. Having a monopoly is great for business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ but hey there club pride. To the A team braggart--newsflash you are subsidizing non-Arlington DA team players.

I don't give a shit about pride. I care about individual training which given lack of field space with the push to grow too big too fast we can't even scrimmage now. Players are handed off age group to age groups with zero consistent plan carried through. I think that's what BRYC is getting at--about relying on a name and not a tradition of training.

Some don't need to trade on a brand name. If there were other local options--I know many disgruntled "customers" that would not be there. Having a monopoly is great for business.

+1

Came because of the name, left because of the training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ but hey there club pride. To the A team braggart--newsflash you are subsidizing non-Arlington DA team players.

I don't give a shit about pride. I care about individual training which given lack of field space with the push to grow too big too fast we can't even scrimmage now. Players are handed off age group to age groups with zero consistent plan carried through. I think that's what BRYC is getting at--about relying on a name and not a tradition of training.

Some don't need to trade on a brand name. If there were other local options--I know many disgruntled "customers" that would not be there. Having a monopoly is great for business.

+1

Came because of the name, left because of the training.

Us too. Gave it the college try for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ but hey there club pride. To the A team braggart--newsflash you are subsidizing non-Arlington DA team players.

I don't give a shit about pride. I care about individual training which given lack of field space with the push to grow too big too fast we can't even scrimmage now. Players are handed off age group to age groups with zero consistent plan carried through. I think that's what BRYC is getting at--about relying on a name and not a tradition of training.

Some don't need to trade on a brand name. If there were other local options--I know many disgruntled "customers" that would not be there. Having a monopoly is great for business.

+1

Came because of the name, left because of the training.

Us too. Gave it the college try for a few years.

I'm confused.... are the last few "monopoly" and "unhappy about training" posters talking about Arlington or BRYC, and what ages?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

lest we forget German and Krieger.

FWIW, Arlington was late to the party. It did not have the size or early successes or development in the 1980s that the clubs such as Fairfax, Braddock Road, Springfield, Annandale did. The history is lacking. The sheer number of kids playing, the existence of only one club option and the growth of the County is a big reason for it being put on the map. The parents need to wake up though. They don't even see what is happening right under their eyes. These people do not have their kids' interests at heart. History will tell you that. Take a look at what happened in McLean, Loudon, VYS, Prince William...these are the people you hired in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

lest we forget German and Krieger.

FWIW, Arlington was late to the party. It did not have the size or early successes or development in the 1980s that the clubs such as Fairfax, Braddock Road, Springfield, Annandale did. The history is lacking. The sheer number of kids playing, the existence of only one club option and the growth of the County is a big reason for it being put on the map. The parents need to wake up though. They don't even see what is happening right under their eyes. These people do not have their kids' interests at heart. History will tell you that. Take a look at what happened in McLean, Loudon, VYS, Prince William...these are the people you hired in recent years.

You're drunk, go home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

lest we forget German and Krieger.

FWIW, Arlington was late to the party. It did not have the size or early successes or development in the 1980s that the clubs such as Fairfax, Braddock Road, Springfield, Annandale did. The history is lacking. The sheer number of kids playing, the existence of only one club option and the growth of the County is a big reason for it being put on the map. The parents need to wake up though. They don't even see what is happening right under their eyes. These people do not have their kids' interests at heart. History will tell you that. Take a look at what happened in McLean, Loudon, VYS, Prince William...these are the people you hired in recent years.

You're drunk, go home.

Nah, they don't allow drinking at Longbridge...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

lest we forget German and Krieger.

FWIW, Arlington was late to the party. It did not have the size or early successes or development in the 1980s that the clubs such as Fairfax, Braddock Road, Springfield, Annandale did. The history is lacking. The sheer number of kids playing, the existence of only one club option and the growth of the County is a big reason for it being put on the map. The parents need to wake up though. They don't even see what is happening right under their eyes. These people do not have their kids' interests at heart. History will tell you that. Take a look at what happened in McLean, Loudon, VYS, Prince William...these are the people you hired in recent years.

You're drunk, go home.

Nah, they don't allow drinking at Longbridge...

Finally, a Segway to something more entertaining. Just because they don't allow drinking doesn't mean you can't do it Of course at tournaments on fields that are not affiliated with the schools, the game changes. I've seen teams at tournaments will full-scale bloody Mary bars set up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^6 teams per age group is a complete farce. They didn't even increase field space with the 16 new teams (U9-U12 boys/girls) in the last two years. Training sucks. Not consistent and it's a top-down recruitment organization. People think the name reflects on their own child and lots of ego/chest-beating. It's $3k for glorified poor babysitting. The infiltrators that came from the implosion they caused at other local big clubs rely on the ignorance of their parent base. Arrogance is pervasive amongst the technical/mgmt staff.

Eddie, wtf, bro

lest we forget German and Krieger.

FWIW, Arlington was late to the party. It did not have the size or early successes or development in the 1980s that the clubs such as Fairfax, Braddock Road, Springfield, Annandale did. The history is lacking. The sheer number of kids playing, the existence of only one club option and the growth of the County is a big reason for it being put on the map. The parents need to wake up though. They don't even see what is happening right under their eyes. These people do not have their kids' interests at heart. History will tell you that. Take a look at what happened in McLean, Loudon, VYS, Prince William...these are the people you hired in recent years.

You're drunk, go home.

Nah, they don't allow drinking at Longbridge...

Finally, a Segway to something more entertaining. Just because they don't allow drinking doesn't mean you can't do it Of course at tournaments on fields that are not affiliated with the schools, the game changes. I've seen teams at tournaments will full-scale bloody Mary bars set up.

Guilty as charged.