VA MD DC Girls soccer - thoughts, opinions

[Anonymous]

I am finding humor at this thread. Clearly people replying to this have little to no real inside USTC experience. Aaron Brunner ran USTC for the last few years in VA. He also coincidentally ran Richmond ECNL. Shocking then with Richmond having the only 2 call ups. Folks. It’s politics. Yes, with talent, but politics. Same with ODP etc. Diane Drake now runs USTC for region 1. And her daughter ha now been consistently on the USTC list for VA. Duh. All of you are losing your minds on ECNL versus DA. Where to go. What to do. Find a club that will get your kid solid training and a winning team that will attract good amount college coaches of your desire (D1-3). I know for a fact some of the DA and ECNL teams on both boys and girls are not good. College coaches have conveyed this as well. The top DAs team and top ECNL teams will attract college coaches. They are going to fish off both piers. It’s going to be region by region. Penn Fusion is DA now on girls - dominant team. Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA. This is going to take many years to settle out. Loudoun will announce they are leaving FCV DA and will go ECNL. That is just one of may moves between the two groups. The only thing that is certain is that this is bad for kids and parents. Worry about your kids training and what you want to achieve from soccer.

[Anonymous]

"Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA."

You had me until that. Parents should not get caught up in results and should focus on their kids training as you say. Spirit location is IDEAL, that analysis is just very poor. It is clubs like Arlington, and the ones in DC and MD, that are f@cked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA."

You had me until that. Parents should not get caught up in results and should focus on their kids training as you say. Spirit location is IDEAL, that analysis is just very poor. It is clubs like Arlington, and the ones in DC and MD, that are f@cked.

Ignorance is bliss. Spoken like a parent of spirit DA player

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA."

You had me until that. Parents should not get caught up in results and should focus on their kids training as you say. Spirit location is IDEAL, that analysis is just very poor. It is clubs like Arlington, and the ones in DC and MD, that are f@cked.

Ignorance is bliss. Spoken like a parent of spirit DA player

From your response, it sounds like you are one of those parents with a DD has had no direct involvement with Spirit, its training, or coaches. Your geography/traffic comment says it all - completely untrue, and only an inconvenience for someone stuck in Arlington with no other option because it couldn't work a deal. Enjoy the CCL pitch for another year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA."

You had me until that. Parents should not get caught up in results and should focus on their kids training as you say. Spirit location is IDEAL, that analysis is just very poor. It is clubs like Arlington, and the ones in DC and MD, that are f@cked.

Ignorance is bliss. Spoken like a parent of spirit DA player

Spoken like a FCV parent. How is that Loudoun partnership working out? FCV will be the first GDA to lose their DA because they can’t manage to get fields with lights.

I am going to bold one particular statement as it is likely to haunt you later, but I guess ignorance is bliss for you too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Washington Spirit is terrible and is pinned between too many other teams and driving distance / traffic to win NOVA."

You had me until that. Parents should not get caught up in results and should focus on their kids training as you say. Spirit location is IDEAL, that analysis is just very poor. It is clubs like Arlington, and the ones in DC and MD, that are f@cked.

Ignorance is bliss. Spoken like a parent of spirit DA player

From your response, it sounds like you are one of those parents with a DD has had no direct involvement with Spirit, its training, or coaches. Your geography/traffic comment says it all - completely untrue, and only an inconvenience for someone stuck in Arlington with no other option because it couldn't work a deal. Enjoy the CCL pitch for another year”

Spirit will compete for players against FCV, Loudoun, McLean and BYRC etc. Anyone who has spent anytime on the beltway, 66 or 267 knows that Reston is inconvenient for hours after 5 PM due to traffic. The reality is, All of NOVA is inconvenient. That is the point. No central area is truly ideal. The pool will be diluted. And that in turn impacts the quality of any of those teams put on the field. The “terrible” comment is based on their teams current records - of which the combined records are 14 wins, 24 losses and 10 ties in league play. It is what it is. That does not mean they won’t get better. They will. My point is that at present they are not good compared to other top DA and ECNL teams in the area, and will struggle in NOVA to get players due to a diluted pool and difficult traffic all parents face. I do know DA (boys and girls), ECNL, ODP and USTC Fairly well. They all have their issues - documented in this website quite well. Any team inside or outside the beltway without DA or ECNL will struggle over time to retain talent. And all of the ECNL and DA teams in NOVA will struggle to make powerhouse teams and centralize talent because there are too many top caliber options being pitched in close driving distance to a family.

[Anonymous]

So, ok, it's all just relative on traffic. If you are some expert, then you know it is a very EZ commute into Reston compared to the commutes in other regions, especially Region IV. Reston is nothing. People will drive for good DA training.

And you should be the last person caring about record based on your post. Who the f@ck cares about the record in their 1st year?! That's cr@p and you know it from the other comments in your post. You just don't like something about your situation.

Fact of the matter ... and this is from coaches at ECNL clubs .... is that girls DA will win. Reston can draw from MANY surrounding clubs. They are merging with Great Falls. Their 06s wallop CCL clubs. Where do you think those girls will go? Spirit. What about McLean? How long you really think ECNL is going to be the draw there with Reston so close? Why are current ECNL players ID'ing at Spirit?

You are out of your mind to be so negative on Spirit. You are either at FCV, or Arlington, both of which have gripes against Spirit for reasons that don't make you believable.

[Anonymous]

I would think it would be currently acceptable to attribute some of Spirit's lack of success in the inaugural Fall 2017 season to new team issue's, i.e. dynamics of players and players & players and coaches, position changes, etc... as compared to the FCV & VDA percentages of players who've played together for a bit longer... I would hope FCV would be able to more quickly translate their longer term development to success, same goes for VDA.

Of the nominal amount of games available and watched from the fall 2017 season, the local team victories were not based on dominating possession or what I think one would call semblances of "beautiful game" match play...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, ok, it's all just relative on traffic. If you are some expert, then you know it is a very EZ commute into Reston compared to the commutes in other regions, especially Region IV. Reston is nothing. People will drive for good DA training.

And you should be the last person caring about record based on your post. Who the f@ck cares about the record in their 1st year?! That's cr@p and you know it from the other comments in your post. You just don't like something about your situation.

Fact of the matter ... and this is from coaches at ECNL clubs .... is that girls DA will win. Reston can draw from MANY surrounding clubs. They are merging with Great Falls. Their 06s wallop CCL clubs. Where do you think those girls will go? Spirit. What about McLean? How long you really think ECNL is going to be the draw there with Reston so close? Why are current ECNL players ID'ing at Spirit?

You are out of your mind to be so negative on Spirit. You are either at FCV, or Arlington, both of which have gripes against Spirit for reasons that don't make you believable.

the MYS "6 figures" recently tweeted this out lest anyone believe Lake fairfax is better then training at Lewinsville park with its two porta johns

----

A note from our Technical Director, Clyde Watson, and our Executive Director, Louise Waxler:

Dear Parents,

The spring season and tryouts are just around the corner, and, as often is the case, the youth soccer landscape is changing and providing families with new, and often confusing, options. The McLean Youth Soccer girls program has an awesome history of developing players, and providing each player with the best environment for training, competition and, if desired, preparation for the next level.

The club and technical leadership are excited to meet with families, and provide you with current and accurate information about the MYS program, clarify any misinformation which families may have received, and answer questions.

Wednesday, Feb. 28th
Longfellow Middle School
Lecture Hall
2000 Westmoreland Street
Falls Church, VA
7:00 pm
Team practices for that evening (for ECNL and current U12 players) have been canceled so parents and players may attend this meeting.

We look forward to seeing you there!

- Clyde Watson
MYS Technical Director
MYS ECNL Director

- Louise Waxler
MYS Executive Director

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, ok, it's all just relative on traffic. If you are some expert, then you know it is a very EZ commute into Reston compared to the commutes in other regions, especially Region IV. Reston is nothing. People will drive for good DA training.

And you should be the last person caring about record based on your post. Who the f@ck cares about the record in their 1st year?! That's cr@p and you know it from the other comments in your post. You just don't like something about your situation.

Fact of the matter ... and this is from coaches at ECNL clubs .... is that girls DA will win. Reston can draw from MANY surrounding clubs. They are merging with Great Falls. Their 06s wallop CCL clubs. Where do you think those girls will go? Spirit. What about McLean? How long you really think ECNL is going to be the draw there with Reston so close? Why are current ECNL players ID'ing at Spirit?

You are out of your mind to be so negative on Spirit. You are either at FCV, or Arlington, both of which have gripes against Spirit for reasons that don't make you believable.

Merging with Great Falls? Well I guess it is settled then, Spirit is a force to be reckoned with

[Anonymous]

VYSA VA Friendlies for ODP just finished up in Williamsburg, this weekend.

Anyone have any feedback on the event or the competition?

[Anonymous]

It is somewhat ironic that ASA's size is not translating into GDA, but the smaller Great Falls found a channel to GDA for its elite players.

There will be no GDA inside the beltway according to insiders at our club. The question now is will ASA join ECNL in some fashion?

With Loudoun, BRYC, and MYS all in ECNL, adding ASA would really make ECNL the true 2nd tier for NoVA, but a costly 2nd tier compared to CCL. CCL teams (or NCSL in BRYC's case) then become the 3rd tier. Those that want 1st Tier GDA, can deal with the traffic to VDA, WS, or FCV, and are probably fine with that.

[Anonymous]

I for one believe that the future of high level girls soccer is the DA and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is as my daughter will be making the switch from ECNL to the DA next year. Training 4x a week, training all year (without the distraction of half the team leaving for HS soccer) and just training against girls who are fully committed to soccer will lead to DA being the clearly dominant league either next year or the year after, so there's no reason for a top player to wait any longer.

As far as whether FCV, Spirit or VDA is the best choice among the DAs, we're picking the one that is most convenient to us. If we weren't satisfied with the coaching, maybe the choice would be different, but given the time commitment of the DA, it makes sense to pick the closest one so our family time away from soccer is maximized.

[Anonymous]

What happened to FPYC? Have they just given up on travel and sticking with rec? I have not heard anything about them recently and they use to have some good teams for a small club?

They probably should feed their rec program into BRYC travel program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, ok, it's all just relative on traffic. If you are some expert, then you know it is a very EZ commute into Reston compared to the commutes in other regions, especially Region IV. Reston is nothing. People will drive for good DA training.

And you should be the last person caring about record based on your post. Who the f@ck cares about the record in their 1st year?! That's cr@p and you know it from the other comments in your post. You just don't like something about your situation.

Fact of the matter ... and this is from coaches at ECNL clubs .... is that girls DA will win. Reston can draw from MANY surrounding clubs. They are merging with Great Falls. Their 06s wallop CCL clubs. Where do you think those girls will go? Spirit. What about McLean? How long you really think ECNL is going to be the draw there with Reston so close? Why are current ECNL players ID'ing at Spirit?

You are out of your mind to be so negative on Spirit. You are either at FCV, or Arlington, both of which have gripes against Spirit for reasons that don't make you believable.

I find your desire to curse and get emotionally defensive unfortunate. I am not advocating for or against DA or ECNL. I have coached and been involved in the USYS / NOVA soccer seen for many years. I have seen it change and evolve massively - where ODP used to be the path, but now its not etc. I have had children in the system at various points in time. No I am not coming from an FCV or Arlington POV (but I find it funny you feel that anyone who takes a counter POV of yours must be from those clubs). I have had discussions with many college coaches, club officials, and parents these past few years on what has and is occurring. In short, I have a good working knowledge of the various goings on in the soccer landscape in NOVA. So, I would say my comments are relatively educated, broad based and factual in nature. And, to be specific, I am not "so negative" on Spirit. I actually think they will be quite fine over time (as noted earlier). I believe you have emotionally reacted to my use of the word "terrible". So, lets replace that with, "less than stellar in there current performance on the field." Regarding the traffic comment, I am merely pointing out the problem that EVERY TOP TIER CLUB in NOVA is facing right now - DA or ECNL. There are too many teams, too many DA / ECNL options - and yes - too much traffic for any one of them to dominate the landscape properly. There may not be a clear winner in this situation for many years to come. Not every top player will chose to go to Spirit (or VDA, or Loudoun, MYS, or BYRC etc.) They will splinter across those options based on parents constraints in terms of feasibility, desire (play in HS, etc.), cost ($5K to play for Spirit before any travel etc.) All of these are concerns I hear from parents every day. They are real. I have seen as many good player opt in to DA via VDA, Spirit and FCV as I have seen top players opt in for ECNL clubs. This is not an easy decision for any parent to make. Your lack of ability to acknowledge these facts, your desire to curse in your response, and your unwavering ability to not listen to any opinion that may run counter to your own makes you the one not believable. I wish you the best of luck. No need to respond.