Which club is not a mess?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents here. Sure there are politics but that’s every club and every team has some. More or less. I’ve never seen kids who are outright BETTER than the academy players that haven’t been moving up.

I’ve seen kids who are about the same level as academy players didn’t get move up a lot.

Presumably if a kid without academy training and coaching is already as good as a kid with those advantages, they should be promoted because they have more room to grow and benefit from the better training and coaching than a kid already receiving it, but who isn't noticeably better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington has no drama because they’re not good on the girls side other than the 2011 team. And they don’t have a great college recruiting record. So if your DD doesn’t want drama, but also doesn’t want to be the best or play college soccer, then go to Arlington. Unless your DD thinks they can break it into the 2011 team.

2011

They are always strong at the younger ages and by high school they start dropping in rankings. That's always been Arlington.

People love to hate that 2011 Arlington and projecting they will fail in the future. They are 12 years old kids. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We played against them and parents can be very annoying on the sideline but they have a couple of key players that holding the team together that are elite players. Their CB is one of them as when she wasn’t in, they lost to Charlotte a while ago and when they played them again recently, they beat Charlotte 3-0. Their 2 strikers are also very good and gritty.

So unless u see these kids leaving to other clubs, I think the team will continue to do well in this region. The real test is when they go to the playoff. How much these handful of kids will be able to carry the team then if their midfielders can’t hold the ball.

And that's a problem at a LOT of clubs around here that never taught or had the personnel to be able to have the option to confidently play through the middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington has no drama because they’re not good on the girls side other than the 2011 team. And they don’t have a great college recruiting record. So if your DD doesn’t want drama, but also doesn’t want to be the best or play college soccer, then go to Arlington. Unless your DD thinks they can break it into the 2011 team.

2011

They are always strong at the younger ages and by high school they start dropping in rankings. That's always been Arlington.

People love to hate that 2011 Arlington and projecting they will fail in the future. They are 12 years old kids. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We played against them and parents can be very annoying on the sideline but they have a couple of key players that holding the team together that are elite players. Their CB is one of them as when she wasn’t in, they lost to Charlotte a while ago and when they played them again recently, they beat Charlotte 3-0. Their 2 strikers are also very good and gritty.

So unless u see these kids leaving to other clubs, I think the team will continue to do well in this region. The real test is when they go to the playoff. How much these handful of kids will be able to carry the team then if their midfielders can’t hold the ball.

Ok, mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington has no drama because they’re not good on the girls side other than the 2011 team. And they don’t have a great college recruiting record. So if your DD doesn’t want drama, but also doesn’t want to be the best or play college soccer, then go to Arlington. Unless your DD thinks they can break it into the 2011 team.

2011

They are always strong at the younger ages and by high school they start dropping in rankings. That's always been Arlington.

People love to hate that 2011 Arlington and projecting they will fail in the future. They are 12 years old kids. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We played against them and parents can be very annoying on the sideline but they have a couple of key players that holding the team together that are elite players. Their CB is one of them as when she wasn’t in, they lost to Charlotte a while ago and when they played them again recently, they beat Charlotte 3-0. Their 2 strikers are also very good and gritty.

So unless u see these kids leaving to other clubs, I think the team will continue to do well in this region. The real test is when they go to the playoff. How much these handful of kids will be able to carry the team then if their midfielders can’t hold the ball.

yes they used to say this about other arlington teams. What happens is that other teams catch up to them in size and knowledge so they don't do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents here. Sure there are politics but that’s every club and every team has some. More or less. I’ve never seen kids who are outright BETTER than the academy players that haven’t been moving up.

I’ve seen kids who are about the same level as academy players didn’t get move up a lot.

Presumably if a kid without academy training and coaching is already as good as a kid with those advantages, they should be promoted because they have more room to grow and benefit from the better training and coaching than a kid already receiving it, but who isn't noticeably better

What's the criteria to earn the designation of "academy" in this instance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has there been any chaos at Arlington or Bethesda? Seems like business as usual at both

Same with NVA. VDA also seems to be in a good spot.

Only issues with Union and Brave.

Based on one thread on an anonymous messageboard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents here. Sure there are politics but that’s every club and every team has some. More or less. I’ve never seen kids who are outright BETTER than the academy players that haven’t been moving up.

I’ve seen kids who are about the same level as academy players didn’t get move up a lot.

Presumably if a kid without academy training and coaching is already as good as a kid with those advantages, they should be promoted because they have more room to grow and benefit from the better training and coaching than a kid already receiving it, but who isn't noticeably better

What's the criteria to earn the designation of "academy" in this instance?

Ask Arlington

https://arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/development-academy/talent-id-girls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no track record of Arlington keeping their teams together either. Right now their 2011's are the talk of the town for their respective age group. Same probably was said about another, I think people before said they had a talented 08 group years ago, maybe it was another age. Unlikely they keep that team intact for years.

08s never lost players.

Well that's not good either if that's the team that people have said was a good one before a few years ago around U13. They're not very strong now.

They never cut and they don't develop. This is why by age 16, their teams aren't very good.

Their ECNL rosters NEVER change. At most 1-2 kids every few years.

Developing from within is good. We want that. Oh, unless the team becomes less competitive because all the other clubs are recruiting new players every year. Then we should start cutting and recruiting, too. Can't beat them so join them. No, we develop! We'll turn away the better playres who show up at ID sessions because we are loyal and develop our own players.

At the HS ages, you should have the top players--no matter within or outside. By HS, kids SHOULD be fighting for their team spot every.single.day. That's how it works.

U7-U13/14--yes develop. By U15/16+ you need the best players period and the best players playing against one another. Loyalty doesn't exist in the sporting world. Only in the 'every kid gets a trophy' A-town world.

That's precisely why Arlington falls consistently as the age groups get older. They are unwilling to move anyone.

Because the parents are crazy. Well, crazier than most soccer parents and that’s a psychotic subgroup as we all know. And Arlington managers have historically caved to their antics. I know of one tiger mom who got her kid moved up a team through the sheer force of sobbing, berating and demanding. Wore them down I guess. Kid doesn’t even play the sport anymore.

[Anonymous]

It's not all about playing on the top team. Most kids are much happier being one of the best players on a RL team then playing 10 minutes a game on an ECNL team and always worrying about playing time. Its the parents that are more concerned about what team they are on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no track record of Arlington keeping their teams together either. Right now their 2011's are the talk of the town for their respective age group. Same probably was said about another, I think people before said they had a talented 08 group years ago, maybe it was another age. Unlikely they keep that team intact for years.

08s never lost players.

Well that's not good either if that's the team that people have said was a good one before a few years ago around U13. They're not very strong now.

They never cut and they don't develop. This is why by age 16, their teams aren't very good.

Their ECNL rosters NEVER change. At most 1-2 kids every few years.

Very strong parent politics there.

Serious question, what does the parent politics look like? I have a 10u player.

+1

[Anonymous]

*crickets*

[Anonymous]

Hard to sing old tunes when a lot of these clubs have had shake ups of late.

VDA - New director in 2024
TSJ - New director in 2024
McBrave - ??
Arlington - New directors in 2023
NVA - New TD in 2023

I have a feeling all of these clubs are going to be looking different over the next few years with new management and leaderships coming in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard to sing old tunes when a lot of these clubs have had shake ups of late.

VDA - New director in 2024
TSJ - New director in 2024
McBrave - ??
Arlington - New directors in 2023
NVA - New TD in 2023

I have a feeling all of these clubs are going to be looking different over the next few years with new management and leaderships coming in.

Apparently the title of director means nothing at VDA so don't expect BP to create any meaningful changes. The program runs itself, no need for leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington has no drama because they’re not good on the girls side other than the 2011 team. And they don’t have a great college recruiting record. So if your DD doesn’t want drama, but also doesn’t want to be the best or play college soccer, then go to Arlington. Unless your DD thinks they can break it into the 2011 team.

2011

They are always strong at the younger ages and by high school they start dropping in rankings. That's always been Arlington.

People love to hate that 2011 Arlington and projecting they will fail in the future. They are 12 years old kids. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We played against them and parents can be very annoying on the sideline but they have a couple of key players that holding the team together that are elite players. Their CB is one of them as when she wasn’t in, they lost to Charlotte a while ago and when they played them again recently, they beat Charlotte 3-0. Their 2 strikers are also very good and gritty.

So unless u see these kids leaving to other clubs, I think the team will continue to do well in this region. The real test is when they go to the playoff. How much these handful of kids will be able to carry the team then if their midfielders can’t hold the ball.

yes they used to say this about other arlington teams. What happens is that other teams catch up to them in size and knowledge so they don't do well.

If you really look at the 2011 everyone loves to hate, the majority of the players aren’t big, some have grown and some have not and some will not grow much more. They aren’t just big kids team playing kick ball since U9. I would think Charlotte SA kids are much bigger in general. That said only time will tell how that team will turn out to be. I’m assuming they have pretty much secured their spot at the playoff. But same with VDA, Union, Charlotte SA last year and none of them did well at the playoff while dominated in the area.

Also what happened to 2010 VDA? Their performance didn’t look great in the fall. Maybe BP will shake things up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington has no drama because they’re not good on the girls side other than the 2011 team. And they don’t have a great college recruiting record. So if your DD doesn’t want drama, but also doesn’t want to be the best or play college soccer, then go to Arlington. Unless your DD thinks they can break it into the 2011 team.

2011

They are always strong at the younger ages and by high school they start dropping in rankings. That's always been Arlington.

People love to hate that 2011 Arlington and projecting they will fail in the future. They are 12 years old kids. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We played against them and parents can be very annoying on the sideline but they have a couple of key players that holding the team together that are elite players. Their CB is one of them as when she wasn’t in, they lost to Charlotte a while ago and when they played them again recently, they beat Charlotte 3-0. Their 2 strikers are also very good and gritty.

So unless u see these kids leaving to other clubs, I think the team will continue to do well in this region. The real test is when they go to the playoff. How much these handful of kids will be able to carry the team then if their midfielders can’t hold the ball.

yes they used to say this about other arlington teams. What happens is that other teams catch up to them in size and knowledge so they don't do well.

If you really look at the 2011 everyone loves to hate, the majority of the players aren’t big, some have grown and some have not and some will not grow much more. They aren’t just big kids team playing kick ball since U9. I would think Charlotte SA kids are much bigger in general. That said only time will tell how that team will turn out to be. I’m assuming they have pretty much secured their spot at the playoff. But same with VDA, Union, Charlotte SA last year and none of them did well at the playoff while dominated in the area.

Also what happened to 2010 VDA? Their performance didn’t look great in the fall. Maybe BP will shake things up.

Yes and their size is okay for now. But when the girls get bigger, if you don't grow or have significant speed, you will not do well. Just look at the 09s.