Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone play EDP? Curious to get that perspective.

Yes, Do you have a specific question?

Do you sense most clubs are happy playing in that league? Will they get enough teams in this region to minimize travel, which is their goal? How's the travel and the competition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone play EDP? Curious to get that perspective.

Yes, Do you have a specific question?

Do you sense most clubs are happy playing in that league? Will they get enough teams in this region to minimize travel, which is their goal? How's the travel and the competition?

I'm also curious about this question. Will there be more NOVA teams joining? It appears to be mostly MD. What is the benefit of this league vs. NCSL? It appears to be very team centric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone play EDP? Curious to get that perspective.

Yes, Do you have a specific question?

Do you sense most clubs are happy playing in that league? Will they get enough teams in this region to minimize travel, which is their goal? How's the travel and the competition?

I'm also curious about this question. Will there be more NOVA teams joining? It appears to be mostly MD. What is the benefit of this league vs. NCSL? It appears to be very team centric.

Right now the travel isn't that bad. S. District has mostly teams from NOVA and Southern MD, so travel is usually less than 1 1/2 hrs. There are a few teams north of Baltimore and a couple in southern PA.

The league sets the schedule in the sense of who plays who, but then it's up to the teams to reserve field space, arrange for refs and so forth. The refs have to be paid in case each game - $75 for the center and $35 for the assistants. So there's a lot more flexibility, but also more leg work involved.

The main upside is just about all of the games are competitive, mostly because of promotion and relegation. The competitive level is higher than NCSL. Clubs typically put their top teams in EDP and lower teams in NCSL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at the SAC Tournament this weekend also. I was really disappointed. DD's team played at a Glenwood Middle School. The grass on the fields looked like it hadn't been cut in weeks - long and thick. And the rinky dink goals they put up were a joke. Coming from a place where most games and practices are on turf, it looked a mess.
Because of the tall grass, the players couldn't pass at all. They basically had to punt it across the field. And on Sunday, with the wind gusts, they couldn't even do that. I think the players were frustrated and the games turned really physical. It was ugly.

That was DS's experience, too. Played at both Glenwood and Bushy. Fields were horrible, both from the standpoint of playability and safety. We felt fortunate to get out of there without any broken ankles or knee injuries. I know we get spoiled in NOVA with an abundance of quality fields, but it was really disappointing to have to deal with that for a fairly reputable Columbus Day tournament. I hadn't really thought about the fields contributing to the physical play, but that makes perfect sense.

We've played SAC in the past and it was the same. Long grass will always make the game more physical because it slows down the ball more than it slows down the players.

For $700 per team, you think they'd at least be able to get the grass cut. It's not just SAC either. Pretty much all the tournaments are like that. Can't blame them really. We keep coming back right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Expecting competitive balance from U9-U11 kids is stupid. They are children.

U17s are children too.

It's true that it's more difficult to get competitive balance consistently at the younger ages since there is less competitive history to go by, but with a little effort you can get pretty close most of the time. That's the reason most of us with kids on the more competitive ccl teams at younger ages have been so frustrated. BRYC is a good example. They may very well have a great history, and some strong teams at older age groups. But at the younger ages, on the boys side, they don't. At tournaments they struggle in C brackets. So when they meet one of the better CCL teams - its a joke. Waste of time for everyone. To me it seems like EDP does a much better job, but I'm sure if my kid's team played in that league I'd find something else to bitch about too. ;]

What a bunch of BS. At the U-littles who cares about the games? It's like keeping score at a scrimmage. If your kid's the next Messi, beating up on poor old BRYC a couple of times a year isn't going to hurt him any. If he's really that good he'd be playing U16 or something already anyway. Come to think of it, if the game is going to be such a mismatch - why doesn't the club just slide 1/2 of each team up an age group that week? Problem solved. Everyone gets challenged and goes home happy right? Wrong. Because then you might lose a few games and not be able to boast that your 10 year old's team is "top of the table."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Expecting competitive balance from U9-U11 kids is stupid. They are children.

U17s are children too.

It's true that it's more difficult to get competitive balance consistently at the younger ages since there is less competitive history to go by, but with a little effort you can get pretty close most of the time. That's the reason most of us with kids on the more competitive ccl teams at younger ages have been so frustrated. BRYC is a good example. They may very well have a great history, and some strong teams at older age groups. But at the younger ages, on the boys side, they don't. At tournaments they struggle in C brackets. So when they meet one of the better CCL teams - its a joke. Waste of time for everyone. To me it seems like EDP does a much better job, but I'm sure if my kid's team played in that league I'd find something else to bitch about too. ;]

What a bunch of BS. At the U-littles who cares about the games? It's like keeping score at a scrimmage. If your kid's the next Messi, beating up on poor old BRYC a couple of times a year isn't going to hurt him any. If he's really that good he'd be playing U16 or something already anyway. Come to think of it, if the game is going to be such a mismatch - why doesn't the club just slide 1/2 of each team up an age group that week? Problem solved. Everyone gets challenged and goes home happy right? Wrong. Because then you might lose a few games and not be able to boast that your 10 year old's team is "top of the table."

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are your kids teams doing for Winter? Just training or leagues? Our team is considering a futsal league but with a roster of 12 where all are likely to want to participate and only 5 playing at a time we are not sure if there is enough playing time to go around? Thoughts?

.


Form 2 teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your kids teams doing for Winter? Just training or leagues? Our team is considering a futsal league but with a roster of 12 where all are likely to want to participate and only 5 playing at a time we are not sure if there is enough playing time to go around? Thoughts?

.


Form 2 teams

Our club did that an it MAJORLY sucked. Very little playing time for all involved and it really ruins the flow of Futsal to have those constant substitutions.

It was a bit of a drive to the Facility and not worth it for the time all the kids got.

I agree with make a schedule of game rotations where the full roster doesn't show up each game (parents can also select around availability/conflict) or form two teams.

[Anonymous]

How much MORE does your "A" team get than your "B" team in terms of training, additional scrimmages, tournaments, attention for the head coach, etc. etc. etc. If they get more, do they pay more? If they pay the same and get more, has anything ever been done about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much MORE does your "A" team get than your "B" team in terms of training, additional scrimmages, tournaments, attention for the head coach, etc. etc. etc. If they get more, do they pay more? If they pay the same and get more, has anything ever been done about it?

Our A and B teams get the exact same training, tourneys, etc. All parents pay the same and get the same. We are a very small club though, which is probably why we can do it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much MORE does your "A" team get than your "B" team in terms of training, additional scrimmages, tournaments, attention for the head coach, etc. etc. etc. If they get more, do they pay more? If they pay the same and get more, has anything ever been done about it?

Our A and B teams get the exact same training, tourneys, etc. All parents pay the same and get the same. We are a very small club though, which is probably why we can do it that way.

Yes. The bigger the club/more teams per age group--usually the bigger discrepancies--even when fees are the same.

[Anonymous]

My experience so take for what it's worth but from a monetary standpoint, it tends to be fair if you look at the number of practices, tournaments, etc. What differs is that the top team gets the better (in reality, often the more connected) coach, will get preference for which game coach attends if there is a conflict, more attention if the TD/DOC comes to practice, etc.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the club and the league, the A team may have more travel expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much MORE does your "A" team get than your "B" team in terms of training, additional scrimmages, tournaments, attention for the head coach, etc. etc. etc. If they get more, do they pay more? If they pay the same and get more, has anything ever been done about it?

Our A and B teams get the exact same training, tourneys, etc. All parents pay the same and get the same. We are a very small club though, which is probably why we can do it that way.

Yes. The bigger the club/more teams per age group--usually the bigger discrepancies--even when fees are the same.

Any examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much MORE does your "A" team get than your "B" team in terms of training, additional scrimmages, tournaments, attention for the head coach, etc. etc. etc. If they get more, do they pay more? If they pay the same and get more, has anything ever been done about it?

Our A and B teams get the exact same training, tourneys, etc. All parents pay the same and get the same. We are a very small club though, which is probably why we can do it that way.

Yes. The bigger the club/more teams per age group--usually the bigger discrepancies--even when fees are the same.

Any examples?

Just about any large club, Loudoun, Arlington, McLean, Bethesda, SAC etc. The A teams will usually play in "larger", i.e. more expensive tournaments than say the 3rd or 4th team in the same club would. The coach for a large club A or B team will almost always be a paid coach and some of that mileage will vary based upon the coaches license, experience etc. Winter training expenses may be different if the A team is both practicing more off season and depending on the indoor space being used. Those differences alone can net around $300-$400 premium for playing on a A team.

And I say the difference between the A team and the 4rd or 4th team in a large club. The B team in a large club generally will pay a very similar fee to the A team. They often play in the same tournaments, just a bracket lower than the A team.

So the next question is, are the A teams getting more? Yes, yes they are but they are paying for it. A teams are not being subsidized by the lower teams. In general, at a large club the Rec program is really the clubs cash cow.