Best MLS-Next program in the area (other than DC United)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria

Really? I don't know much about the other clubs, but I don't often see updates about Alexandria kids playing in college. If they do its to some really small school that I've never heard of.

Same as SYC, you hear very little of kids playing in college. Honestly, many don't make the grades or have the money for College.

For College path, I would suggest ECNL many of those kids do make it in College. Both girls and boys.

Really? SYC’s mlsnext Instagram is filled with college commits and kids playing on National teams w/ dual citizenship.

Look at the volume of kids and quality of schools they are committing to vs. that of Bethesda, which is sending dozens of kids to the ACC and Ivy League. No comparison. Part of it is you don't play college soccer without the grades. This isn't football or basketball where 2.0 is good enough.

As another poster noted, you can't really compare the college commits for the MLS Next programs as of now. Both Alexandria and SYC are new to the highest level of soccer on the boys side. Bethesda is a long established program that competed in the DA before it was dissolved. I also agree with another poster that Alexandria's MLS Next program has a renewed commitment to the top boys sides. I'm familiar with the MLS Next coaches from U13 through U16 and think all three are excellent, and demanding in a positive manner. To the poster that recommended ECNL as superior if you're looking at colleges, I can say without reservation that the bottom portion of ECNL Boys Mid-Atlantic would not be competitive in MLS Next. The bottom tier MLS Next squads, including Alexandria in some age groups, would slot into the top half of the corresponding ECNL division.

[Anonymous]

^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

And all the 'legacy parents' at Bethesda. No joke. That matters for admissions to those Ivies/top 10-20, even with soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

Most of the kids on DC United young teams are loaded and connected. No hate, just the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

Most of the kids on DC United young teams are loaded and connected. No hate, just the truth.

Soccer is a sport for the elite in the US. Gotta pay to play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria

Really? I don't know much about the other clubs, but I don't often see updates about Alexandria kids playing in college. If they do its to some really small school that I've never heard of.

Same as SYC, you hear very little of kids playing in college. Honestly, many don't make the grades or have the money for College.

For College path, I would suggest ECNL many of those kids do make it in College. Both girls and boys.

Really? SYC’s mlsnext Instagram is filled with college commits and kids playing on National teams w/ dual citizenship.

Look at the volume of kids and quality of schools they are committing to vs. that of Bethesda, which is sending dozens of kids to the ACC and Ivy League. No comparison. Part of it is you don't play college soccer without the grades. This isn't football or basketball where 2.0 is good enough.

As another poster noted, you can't really compare the college commits for the MLS Next programs as of now. Both Alexandria and SYC are new to the highest level of soccer on the boys side. Bethesda is a long established program that competed in the DA before it was dissolved. I also agree with another poster that Alexandria's MLS Next program has a renewed commitment to the top boys sides. I'm familiar with the MLS Next coaches from U13 through U16 and think all three are excellent, and demanding in a positive manner. To the poster that recommended ECNL as superior if you're looking at colleges, I can say without reservation that the bottom portion of ECNL Boys Mid-Atlantic would not be competitive in MLS Next. The bottom tier MLS Next squads, including Alexandria in some age groups, would slot into the top half of the corresponding ECNL division.

This is true. But more importantly college coaches do not think very highly of ECNL in general. I know this from direct conversations with several coaches over the last year. They view MLS Next as having significantly better players. That's not to say that they ignore ECNL entirely - they don't - but they spend much more time looking at MLS Next teams and kids. And the fact that the mid atlantic area from DC down to the Carolinas has a strong ECNL division is a detail that many college coaches are unaware of - they just lump all of ECNL into one category.

[Anonymous]

Most of the Bethesda kids go to Ivy League schools on academic scholarship (at least partial) with that consideration given because they are playing soccer. Who cares what pot of money it comes from - take the funds, continue playing high level soccer, and get a good education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Bethesda kids go to Ivy League schools on academic scholarship (at least partial) with that consideration given because they are playing soccer. Who cares what pot of money it comes from - take the funds, continue playing high level soccer, and get a good education.

Ivy league schools don't offer academic, or any other, scholarships. They offer need-based aid, and that's all they offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Bethesda kids go to Ivy League schools on academic scholarship (at least partial) with that consideration given because they are playing soccer. Who cares what pot of money it comes from - take the funds, continue playing high level soccer, and get a good education.

What?

Ivy Leagues don't give athletic or academic scholarship.

Bethesda might send a couple kids a year to the Ivies. The majority of them are full pay but some will get need based aid. They also have kids who go to other schools, and kids who don't play in college at all, or who play club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

Most of the kids on DC United young teams are loaded and connected. No hate, just the truth.

No - it's not the truth. There is a wide mix of kids on the DC United teams. I am only aware of one who is "loaded", and one who is "connected" - and both of them thoroughly deserve their spots. The vast majority are just kids who have been identified by DC United as good at soccer. By all means quibble about whether DC United identify the right kids - I don't think they always do - but it's not because kids are loaded and/or connected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Bethesda kids go to Ivy League schools on academic scholarship (at least partial) with that consideration given because they are playing soccer. Who cares what pot of money it comes from - take the funds, continue playing high level soccer, and get a good education.

What?

Ivy Leagues don't give athletic or academic scholarship.

Bethesda might send a couple kids a year to the Ivies. The majority of them are full pay but some will get need based aid. They also have kids who go to other schools, and kids who don't play in college at all, or who play club.

They have a player on every single Ivy League roster right now, sometimes two players. Two on Georgetown; two on Duke and several other ACC schools. Best record of taking kids to the next level in the area. It's really not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

Most of the kids on DC United young teams are loaded and connected. No hate, just the truth.

No - it's not the truth. There is a wide mix of kids on the DC United teams. I am only aware of one who is "loaded", and one who is "connected" - and both of them thoroughly deserve their spots. The vast majority are just kids who have been identified by DC United as good at soccer. By all means quibble about whether DC United identify the right kids - I don't think they always do - but it's not because kids are loaded and/or connected.

So you know that all those kids scouted from the major clubs (eg, BSC, Pipeline, Arlington, etc) were on scholarship at those clubs?

Anyone who can afford the fees at those clubs may not be loaded but they are certainly more well off than most other soccer players.

Playing at those clubs make you way more connected to DCU scouts than any other clubs in the area.

Besides Cerritos and Touch Kings, what other small clubs has DCU recruited from? At this point, seems like they’ve only consistently recruited from large clubs that can field a few teams for each age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ nor is the glaring economic differences of the players on ASA & SYC vs Bethesda. College soccer offers very little $$$ for male scholarships. $10k at a $40-85k school is just not doable.

I’ve wondered about the socioeconomic breakdown of these clubs top teams.

How many of the kids on each team at these clubs are on scholarship? Every club usually has a scholarship program for those who demonstrate need and I wonder how many are set aside for those on the top teams? Is that information publicly available?

Most of the kids on DC United young teams are loaded and connected. No hate, just the truth.

No - it's not the truth. There is a wide mix of kids on the DC United teams. I am only aware of one who is "loaded", and one who is "connected" - and both of them thoroughly deserve their spots. The vast majority are just kids who have been identified by DC United as good at soccer. By all means quibble about whether DC United identify the right kids - I don't think they always do - but it's not because kids are loaded and/or connected.

PP here. You don’t need to get defensive. I never said anything re their skill level and the ones I personally know there are talented (most are big for their age, another thing they love). And that’s ok. Some would qualify for financial aid/scholarships. But you’re wrong if you claim many are not very well off and connected. They are. Hey, that’s how a lot of the world goes around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Bethesda kids go to Ivy League schools on academic scholarship (at least partial) with that consideration given because they are playing soccer. Who cares what pot of money it comes from - take the funds, continue playing high level soccer, and get a good education.

What?

Ivy Leagues don't give athletic or academic scholarship.

Bethesda might send a couple kids a year to the Ivies. The majority of them are full pay but some will get need based aid. They also have kids who go to other schools, and kids who don't play in college at all, or who play club.

They have a player on every single Ivy League roster right now, sometimes two players. Two on Georgetown; two on Duke and several other ACC schools. Best record of taking kids to the next level in the area. It's really not even close.

And again, the academic background of those kids is NUMBER 1. They have great grades, good test scores and are coming from good high schools. And, yeah, many are white.

You cannot compare them against first gen immigrant families without the exposure to education and college path who also are looking for full financial scholarship.

My kid was told by every IVY/high academic D3 they will not even look at a player if they don’t have the grades to get in, or can’t handle the rigor of the school. I know many kids that failed pre-reads.