VYS Soccer - better or worse?

[Anonymous]

How did VYS tryouts go today? Big turnout?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did VYS tryouts go today? Big turnout?

Big rainout, at least for any of them on grass fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did VYS tryouts go today? Big turnout?

Big rainout, at least for any of them on grass fields.

Yep. County grass soccer and baseball fields have been closed for the past 1.5 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So you're the expert on VYS, and yet you can't be bothered to look at their web site, which has bios of the board members and minutes from board meetings.

Uhh, defensive much? I'm not an expert in the intricacies of VYS politics. Sheesh, I don't CARE who the board members are. I don't want to HAVE TO care. If I have to go dig around and read board minutes for a youth soccer club and know the intricacies of board member's bios, there is something VERY WRONG THAT CLUB.

I merely recounted our experience with VYS over several years in house and travel....culminating in this current year in travel. Our overall experience was not pleasant. The atmosphere at VYS is not customer-service-oriented.

Frankly, your responses prove my point. Your exactly the kind of officious, humorless, bureaucratic, petty individual we've encountered throughout VYS. Not everyone, but enough that it's not worth the hassle.

Seriously, what kind of a person has time to investigate the board members of VYS and peruse the minutes of board meetings? Who WANTS to do that? I'll tell you: Someone who values their time so little that they have nothing better to do with their time, that's who.

I'd rather find a club (Chantilly, FPYC, Reston, Loudoun, BRYC, Arlington, McLean) that already functions well and be done with it. We've had several underwhelming interactions with VYS, culminating in what I'll charitably call a wasted year with a coach who was widely acknowledged to be a severely dysfunctional jerk. I mean, this guy was so bad that the ATD acknowledged to me in way back in October that he was not a good fit and that the "dynamics" at VYS made it difficult to do anything about it. Again, who has time for that? Especially at the price VYS charges. Not me.

A couple of bad hires. Now gone.

Doubtful. And, frankly, I'm not willing to wait, when we can find a different club and happily move along.

The good professional coaches should be empowered now that Gunney is out.

Doubtful. The employee and player talent drain has been going on for 3+ years. And, frankly, the other places we've looked into are a) cheaper, b) have reliable access to good fields, c) have capable coaches at relevant ages and d) aren't recovering from years of dysfunction - and that 's IF VYS hasn't bottomed out yet, which is not a safe bet. You watch, VYS will suffer another talent drain this tryout season. I promise.

Look, here's the equation: VYS has a few good folks sprinkled around the organization who might or might not coach/manage a team we're placed on. VYS is suffering from a horrendous reputation (well-earned, mind you) and has been through a huge talent drain for 3+ years. Other clubs in the area have stable coaching rosters with well-established club practices and reliable fields.

I'm sorry if you can't handle that, but it is what it is. Like I noted in my original post, VYS needs to adopt a credible, transparent plan and they need to start implementing it. Until there's actual progress on things parents and kids care about, VYS is a no-go.

Oh, and for what it's worth, can I tell you how deliciously ironic it is that VYS had to cancel travel tryouts today because Kilmer and Colvin Run were muddy. All the while, there was a non-VYS team running practice at Jones Branch this evening. HEH. Yeah, now that Gunney is gone, it's gonna get a LOT better. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Anonymous]

I just checked the schedule. VYS House and Travel teams have the Jones Branch fields Monday through Thursday except for one open slot on one field at 5 p.m. You may have seen a House team, or maybe they gave away the 5 p.m. Tuesday slot to another team.

That's not to say field access isn't going to be a challenge. Geography works against us, as does the turnover in which VYS's longtime fields person was pushed out and replaced by someone who didn't want to do it. Whether THAT improves soon, I don't know.

But the new-ish technical staff (some longtime VYS people, some who came in recently) is good.

My travel-playing son is happy at another club, so I don't plan to bring him back. But I see positive signs, and getting rid of Gunney was the first step toward stopping the decline. The second is to bring in some more board members -- there will be some open seats at the next election. (Sounds scandalous, but it's not -- some people simply don't have the time any more.)

You had a bad experience. I get it. But you don't need to validate it by trying to extrapolate your experience onto the whole club. It's a big organization -- strong in some areas, weak in others. YMMV, as it would at any club in this area.

[Anonymous]

I want to thank the VYS volunteers who ignore the message-board bad press and the churn among the paid overlords to just get things done week after week for more than 3,000 kids who do get to have some fun playing soccer whether the overly harsh travel coaches or the grudge-holding dismissed board members or the disgruntled ex-VYS travel parents like it or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to thank the VYS volunteers who ignore the message-board bad press and the churn among the paid overlords to just get things done week after week for more than 3,000 kids who do get to have some fun playing soccer whether the overly harsh travel coaches or the grudge-holding dismissed board members or the disgruntled ex-VYS travel parents like it or not.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure coaches are more "harsh" in VYS than in other clubs but, right, there are so many kids playing vienna house they get their own league until their teens. It's fun for them to play soccer with and against kids they know from school. VYS house is different demographically (ethnically, socioeconomically) from travel. There isn't a crazy sense of entitlement after the travel kids go on to bigger and better things. Being from a diverse group of countries, house parents seem to understand the sport pretty well. It's not perfect but as a volunteer I like to think we keep the whole "what's the best for the rec player" attitude in mind, and it's fun to imagine those hundreds and hundreds of vienna kids playing soccer every Saturday (well, unless the whole schedule is canceled due to wet fileds -- sigh.

[Anonymous]

What we've been saying for years is that the travel side needs to reflect the spirit of VYS House Soccer. But instead it's like this frankenstein's monster that's bolted on from the outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What we've been saying for years is that the travel side needs to reflect the spirit of VYS House Soccer. But instead it's like this frankenstein's monster that's bolted on from the outside.

But how much is that true elsewhere?

At Braddock Road, the House/ODSL and Elite Academy programs seem to have an iron curtain between them. Different web sites, different staffs, etc.

I think clubs should make more of an effort to blur the line between House and Travel. ODSL allows teams to call up House players. I know VYS does that on occasion. I'd like to see other clubs do it as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: We tried a different local program and we are THRILLED with it. Parents are great, administration is transparent and interested in customer service. Coaching is far superior. Fields are available. Expenses are lower. Yep. Much better.

VYS has its issues, like most clubs, and they tend to get over-magnified on this board for reasons others have pointed out. But, for the poster who is trying to pitch VYS parents on CYA as some type of idyllic, drama-free soccer paradise, run a search on SoccerWire for “CYA SPI Orantes” and see what you get. I know, shock, CYA has crazy internal politics, hyper-active parents, and transparency issues too!

[Anonymous]

Hey, thanks for posting that. It puts the VYS soap opera in context.

Hmmm. I notice that Arlington parents are melting down on an another thread right now. Guess it's catching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, thanks for posting that. It puts the VYS soap opera in context.

Hmmm. I notice that Arlington parents are melting down on an another thread right now. Guess it's catching.

Ditto Stoddert parents, Bethesda parents... Someone should start a thread about which clubs are least complained about! Reston, Herndon, Great Falls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Hmmm. I notice that Arlington parents are melting down on an another thread right now. Guess it's catching.

arl parents are understandably melting down bc they are being forced to pay deposit before knowing coach and team assignments. gunney said that every VYS parent will know their coach and team assignment before having to pay a deposit this year, and coaches have already been posted, so assume that will be honored. yeah us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, thanks for posting that. It puts the VYS soap opera in context.

Hmmm. I notice that Arlington parents are melting down on an another thread right now. Guess it's catching.

Ditto Stoddert parents, Bethesda parents... Someone should start a thread about which clubs are least complained about! Reston, Herndon, Great Falls?

I'm guessing there is no such thing as a complaint-free travel soccer club. The various clubs our kids have played for all have room for improvement, but I'd estimate that at least 75% of the complaints I've heard have more to do with parent's unrealistic expectations or ignorance about soccer than they do with a failure by the club.