What would you think if...

[Anonymous]

Do any of you Achilles parents see this same attitude at the summer camps? We've heard good things about it so DC is registered, but I'm now wondering if only the top Achilles kids get all the attention even at camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wise soccer community...what would you think and do if your child’s B team had a semifinal match and none of the coaches showed up because they were coaching other games (it’s academy style club so any one of them coaches any given match) AND the team was under-rostered because a few of the players had to leave for another match halfway through (different age group playing up)? My own son is crushed. Thoughts?

There are some real pros in the soccer world in the DMV, and there are a lot of coaches who are inattentive to detail and spread too thin. This is likely not a case of intentional neglect, but a very disorganized coach or two, or three. I'd listen to the explanation and then, make a judgment. My daughter's team at U9 was coached by a guy who had so many teams he literally would come running onto the sideline while the girls were set up for the kickoff (manager put them out on the field per coach's instruction while he was driving to the field). Then, at the final whistle, you could see him running for the parking lot and burning rubber on his way out to the next match. He was a really good teacher in training, and did a nice job on the sideline during the games, but he had a few teams too many and was trying to make $$. Club replaced him the following year and I am sure he went off and tried his system again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wise soccer community...what would you think and do if your child’s B team had a semifinal match and none of the coaches showed up because they were coaching other games (it’s academy style club so any one of them coaches any given match) AND the team was under-rostered because a few of the players had to leave for another match halfway through (different age group playing up)? My own son is crushed. Thoughts?

There are some real pros in the soccer world in the DMV, and there are a lot of coaches who are inattentive to detail and spread too thin. This is likely not a case of intentional neglect, but a very disorganized coach or two, or three. I'd listen to the explanation and then, make a judgment. My daughter's team at U9 was coached by a guy who had so many teams he literally would come running onto the sideline while the girls were set up for the kickoff (manager put them out on the field per coach's instruction while he was driving to the field). Then, at the final whistle, you could see him running for the parking lot and burning rubber on his way out to the next match. He was a really good teacher in training, and did a nice job on the sideline during the games, but he had a few teams too many and was trying to make $$. Club replaced him the following year and I am sure he went off and tried his system again.

Too bad that if he was a good teacher in training and in games that the club didn't do more to help him out, either by paying him more per team so that he would coach fewer, or hiring him in another capacity to allow him to coach a manageable number of teams while still making a living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - What club? Shouldn't back at this point since they already sent you a clear message that they don't care about this team.

Has to be Achilles. The founder, Sal, is a major, Class A narcissist. He is only interested in a few of the EDP teams through which he is hoping to build his "brand". Despite paying the same amount of money (not cheap), the rest of the teams have started to get fewer/inferior practices.

The B teams all play Sam Select (not sure if other leagues would be better). Since the games all take place in one location (Soccerplex), one coach can cover them all, which is very cost effective. I must say that the training is very good, the location convenient for some, and the other coaches are great, but they have little say in operations. Because the B teams are so neglected there are few new players for certain age groups and they end up wilting on the vine.

To top it off, Sal feels no need or obligation to communicate with parents about what is really going on. His attitude is "I know best, take it or leave it" and has, in fact, very directly, stated as much in a number of emails to them. "Where else are they going to go?"

In summary, if OP was referring to an Achilles team, Sal does know about what happened but doesn't care. No way would he send out an email with an apology or make much of an effort to rectify things.

Yikes. We chose not to try out with them for other reasons, but I'm glad we didn't!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Yes indeed it is Achilles. Obviously several of the PPs obviously understand all too well what the environment is like there. It’s really too bad because it doesn’t need to be that way. The problems flow from the top and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it will ever change.

To the PP who asked about summer camp, it’s attended mainly by committed and skilled players (majority Achilles but also many kids who play for other top clubs and return every year), so your kid should know that scrimmages can be intense. They do try to match kids of similar ability though. None of the kids really get much individualized attention, it’s more like group drills, plus scrimmages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never have been a fan of the "academy style". I think "academy style" is marketing for small clubs that want to have multiple teams without losing your 'B' players. They know exactly who they plan on playing on A and B on day 1. However, they string the B families along by giving them hope of making the 'A' team at some point. Let me tell you, there maybe 1 kid from the 'B' team that shifts to 'A' because someone is sick or someone on 'A' is struggling. Concept sounds good but it sucks to be on 'B' end. Don't expect much movement.

If the academy style was run as advertised, it would be a lot better.
My experience is that its a lie designed to suck people in with the promise of playing on better team if your child performs better, however, that rarely happens.

The basic math of the academy style doesn't work. There have to be the same number of kids moving up as moving down. The premise is that everyone is above average.

We didn’t choose academy style for the possibility of moving up. We just wanted the same quality coaching and training the A team got. Personally, I had no illusions about the (in)frequency kids get invited to play up with another team. Plus, I think scrimmaging with the ‘better’ player in small side games at practice is much more valuable than the (likely) few minutes a kid playing up in a game would get on the field. But our club changed practices and there is one academy style practice for the A teams, and one for everyone else. For that set up, I agree cons of academy our weight pros.

Not sure how you protect against something like we experienced. We asked all the questions, got all the commitments in writing. People are leaving my club in droves so it will catch up with them. The club won’t care about losing all the kids but will miss the $$ they provide because they won’t be able to enter their favored teams in a zillion tournaments like they did this year (paid for by kids they have made clear they don’t give a crap about).

Any idea of where to go for great coaching and a club that actually does give a crap about lower than A team kids? Does this even exist?

https://olympiacosdc.com/

I can only speak as a parent that they have a really good system. It is a small club (starting our second year on June 1) so league is ODSL, but we are playing up a division. European style offense, very active defense. Coach is top notch. No teams over 05 at this point. Worth considering.

[Anonymous]

what does European style offense mean ? Just off that statement alone Im out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes indeed it is Achilles. Obviously several of the PPs obviously understand all too well what the environment is like there. It’s really too bad because it doesn’t need to be that way. The problems flow from the top and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it will ever change.

To the PP who asked about summer camp, it’s attended mainly by committed and skilled players (majority Achilles but also many kids who play for other top clubs and return every year), so your kid should know that scrimmages can be intense. They do try to match kids of similar ability though. None of the kids really get much individualized attention, it’s more like group drills, plus scrimmages.

Ok, good to know, thanks. How many kids are there usually? Mysteriously, none of the sports camps we've tried over the years ever seem to fill up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - What club? Shouldn't back at this point since they already sent you a clear message that they don't care about this team.

Has to be Achilles. The founder, Sal, is a major, Class A narcissist. He is only interested in a few of the EDP teams through which he is hoping to build his "brand". Despite paying the same amount of money (not cheap), the rest of the teams have started to get fewer/inferior practices.

The B teams all play Sam Select (not sure if other leagues would be better). Since the games all take place in one location (Soccerplex), one coach can cover them all, which is very cost effective. I must say that the training is very good, the location convenient for some, and the other coaches are great, but they have little say in operations. Because the B teams are so neglected there are few new players for certain age groups and they end up wilting on the vine.

To top it off, Sal feels no need or obligation to communicate with parents about what is really going on. His attitude is "I know best, take it or leave it" and has, in fact, very directly, stated as much in a number of emails to them. "Where else are they going to go?"

In summary, if OP was referring to an Achilles team, Sal does know about what happened but doesn't care. No way would he send out an email with an apology or make much of an effort to rectify things.

+1

[Anonymous]

European style - they play a 2-1-2-1-2-1-1

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry for your Achilles experience last weekend, OP. That is really disheartening. My son is one of the really little guys at Achilles so I think he's oblivious to any preferential treatment. He LOVES the club: the coaches have a great balance of loving on him and being hard on him. He's improved tremendously, has made good friends, the coaches all know him well and give him high fives and hugs, and they've offered really constructive feedback about his progress. I don't know a ton about soccer but the training seems top-notch. I get the sense that the club went from being a really small, tight-knit group of soccer families to something much bigger and more diverse, and it seems like it has grown too big too fast. There is so much to love about the club that I hope they figure out a way to self correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry for your Achilles experience last weekend, OP. That is really disheartening. My son is one of the really little guys at Achilles so I think he's oblivious to any preferential treatment. He LOVES the club: the coaches have a great balance of loving on him and being hard on him. He's improved tremendously, has made good friends, the coaches all know him well and give him high fives and hugs, and they've offered really constructive feedback about his progress. I don't know a ton about soccer but the training seems top-notch. I get the sense that the club went from being a really small, tight-knit group of soccer families to something much bigger and more diverse, and it seems like it has grown too big too fast. There is so much to love about the club that I hope they figure out a way to self correct.

That's great that your son is having a good experience, that is the most important thing. (But didn't Sal withdraw all the young guys from league games after the fall without warning? I've heard some parents were pretty upset about that, although perhaps the weekend scrimmages have turned out to be ok. The fees you paid to Achilles included league fees so curious if there was any acknowledgement of that. I assume not.)

I do have respond to your suggestion that the issues with Achilles described here and in other threads in this forum are one time events (not true by a long shot), or are the result of growing too big too fast. If that were the case, you would not expect the issues to continue. You also would expect an apology or explanation, or at least acknowledgement. That does not happen and the issues continue to occur. I can't think of any explanation for the club not acknowledging the repeated and ongoing issues for certain teams other than that it (he) does not care. That certainly is the impression given. It is really outrageous that some teams' practices were reduced from 3 (in the fall) to 2 for the rest of the year (despite what was is stated in the offer and what continues to be stated on the website) and that winter indoor practices were cancelled with no acknowledgement or indication of what will be done to make it right (since fees presumably are calculated based on 3 practices; certainly they were paid on that basis). Even outside Achilles, I now understand Sal has a pretty terrible reputation as a person and businessman. Treating players and families like this eventually will catch up to him at both Achilles and SJC.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the Achilles honeymoon phase is ending, eh? A year ago it this board was all about how amazing Sal is, so we went to check out the club. DS had a brief and unpleasant experience, which was so disappointing after all the praise we'd read here. I hope the club is able to receive feedback and make some improvements, because it seems like the work they do on the pitch is perfectly fine. Unfortunately that's a necessary but not sufficient criterion for managing a successful youth soccer club.

Total aside, but are there any other all boys clubs in the area? Drawing a blank .. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry for your Achilles experience last weekend, OP. That is really disheartening. My son is one of the really little guys at Achilles so I think he's oblivious to any preferential treatment. He LOVES the club: the coaches have a great balance of loving on him and being hard on him. He's improved tremendously, has made good friends, the coaches all know him well and give him high fives and hugs, and they've offered really constructive feedback about his progress. I don't know a ton about soccer but the training seems top-notch. I get the sense that the club went from being a really small, tight-knit group of soccer families to something much bigger and more diverse, and it seems like it has grown too big too fast. There is so much to love about the club that I hope they figure out a way to self correct.

That's great that your son is having a good experience, that is the most important thing. (But didn't Sal withdraw all the young guys from league games after the fall without warning? I've heard some parents were pretty upset about that, although perhaps the weekend scrimmages have turned out to be ok. The fees you paid to Achilles included league fees so curious if there was any acknowledgement of that. I assume not.)

I do have respond to your suggestion that the issues with Achilles described here and in other threads in this forum are one time events (not true by a long shot), or are the result of growing too big too fast. If that were the case, you would not expect the issues to continue. You also would expect an apology or explanation, or at least acknowledgement. That does not happen and the issues continue to occur. I can't think of any explanation for the club not acknowledging the repeated and ongoing issues for certain teams other than that it (he) does not care. That certainly is the impression given. It is really outrageous that some teams' practices were reduced from 3 (in the fall) to 2 for the rest of the year (despite what was is stated in the offer and what continues to be stated on the website) and that winter indoor practices were cancelled with no acknowledgement or indication of what will be done to make it right (since fees presumably are calculated based on 3 practices; certainly they were paid on that basis). Even outside Achilles, I now understand Sal has a pretty terrible reputation as a person and businessman. Treating players and families like this eventually will catch up to him at both Achilles and SJC.

Op here - I’m glad your son enjoys it. I hope this continues as he gets a few seasons under his belt. And I also understand the outrage of some of the posters, from both a morale and financial standpoint. I can’t say that all of our experience there has been all negative. We love the coaches and our son has gotten great technical training. But this can only get you so far - there are many talented coaches in this area despite what you may have heard from Achilles management. There are certainly clubs where parents are treated with less disdain and committed players are not completely ignored. The disparity between how the couple of favorite teams and everyone else has been treated is inexcusable and myopic. As PP noted this will catch up and has already started to do so as players begin to leave for other clubs. The coaches do their best within the current framework but unless something changes at the top, I really wonder whether the club can survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry for your Achilles experience last weekend, OP. That is really disheartening. My son is one of the really little guys at Achilles so I think he's oblivious to any preferential treatment. He LOVES the club: the coaches have a great balance of loving on him and being hard on him. He's improved tremendously, has made good friends, the coaches all know him well and give him high fives and hugs, and they've offered really constructive feedback about his progress. I don't know a ton about soccer but the training seems top-notch. I get the sense that the club went from being a really small, tight-knit group of soccer families to something much bigger and more diverse, and it seems like it has grown too big too fast. There is so much to love about the club that I hope they figure out a way to self correct.

Easy to treat the little guys this way (assuming this goes for all of them and not just the favorites). Harder to manage older kids with hugs and high fives