Achilles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a new Achilles family. My 10 yr old joined the club in July and our experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The training stresses individual skill and creativity and the style of play mirrors what the majority of posters on these boards seem to be clamoring for. Kids are encouraged to connect passes, keep possession, and show their skill when 1v1. The ball should stay "on the floor." There are no punts or goal kicks. The parents and coaching staff have been welcoming and encouraging. Does Sal have an ego? Definitely. But to say that he doesn't know how to coach or run a club is a bit ridiculous. The club is only four years old and has multiple nationally relevant teams and is one of only three clubs in the immediate DC area to be invited into MLS Next. The other two, Bethesda and Alexandria, have vastly superior resources and talent pools. I believe each fields at least 4 teams at my son's age group where Achilles has one. In his short time with the club, my son has been coached by each of the three coaches. I've seen at least part of every practice and every game. I have never seen a kid bullied or berated. I asked my son before posting to make sure that he hasn't either. He hasn't. Sal has high expectations of the kids. Practices are fairly intense, but nothing grueling or abusive, just good hard work and competition. My son loves the training, his teammates, and all of the coaches. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone whose son is serious about training and improving. Coaches and players are not leaving at the first chance they get. A popular coach did leave to start their own club and took some talented players. I'm finding this to be a fairly common occurrence as it also happened at our last club. It seems like a couple folks have an axe grind or had a bad experience. I'm sorry things didn't work out for them, but we've been happy and look forward to growing with the club.

This sounds like us at the beginning. Give it a year or two and you may feel differently. I hope not though. If your kid ends up being on a favored team you’ll be fine.

Is that the story Sal’s circulating about the coach who left? That’s not even close to what happened. You also might want to dig into how the nationally recognized team was formed.

Please share!

MLS players started playing part time for this club. MLS team got fed up and removed the age group. These players started playing full-time with Sal. This was two years ago and many players (non-MLS) in this age group have left.

Got it, makes sense now on how they got the MLS slots. What's with these parents having their kids play for 2-3 clubs at once. I get it that they are trying to get their kid exposure but burn out is a real thing no matter how good you are or how much you love the game. At some point the kid gets fed up. At older ages, the lack of recovery is only going to hurt their body and ability to develop as a player.

Those kids mainly just played in tournaments as what amounted to a DC/VA all star team. Paying Achilles kids sat out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a new Achilles family. My 10 yr old joined the club in July and our experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The training stresses individual skill and creativity and the style of play mirrors what the majority of posters on these boards seem to be clamoring for. Kids are encouraged to connect passes, keep possession, and show their skill when 1v1. The ball should stay "on the floor." There are no punts or goal kicks. The parents and coaching staff have been welcoming and encouraging. Does Sal have an ego? Definitely. But to say that he doesn't know how to coach or run a club is a bit ridiculous. The club is only four years old and has multiple nationally relevant teams and is one of only three clubs in the immediate DC area to be invited into MLS Next. The other two, Bethesda and Alexandria, have vastly superior resources and talent pools. I believe each fields at least 4 teams at my son's age group where Achilles has one. In his short time with the club, my son has been coached by each of the three coaches. I've seen at least part of every practice and every game. I have never seen a kid bullied or berated. I asked my son before posting to make sure that he hasn't either. He hasn't. Sal has high expectations of the kids. Practices are fairly intense, but nothing grueling or abusive, just good hard work and competition. My son loves the training, his teammates, and all of the coaches. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone whose son is serious about training and improving. Coaches and players are not leaving at the first chance they get. A popular coach did leave to start their own club and took some talented players. I'm finding this to be a fairly common occurrence as it also happened at our last club. It seems like a couple folks have an axe grind or had a bad experience. I'm sorry things didn't work out for them, but we've been happy and look forward to growing with the club.

This sounds like us at the beginning. Give it a year or two and you may feel differently. I hope not though. If your kid ends up being on a favored team you’ll be fine.

Is that the story Sal’s circulating about the coach who left? That’s not even close to what happened. You also might want to dig into how the nationally recognized team was formed.

Please share!

MLS players started playing part time for this club. MLS team got fed up and removed the age group. These players started playing full-time with Sal. This was two years ago and many players (non-MLS) in this age group have left.

Got it, makes sense now on how they got the MLS slots. What's with these parents having their kids play for 2-3 clubs at once. I get it that they are trying to get their kid exposure but burn out is a real thing no matter how good you are or how much you love the game. At some point the kid gets fed up. At older ages, the lack of recovery is only going to hurt their body and ability to develop as a player.

Those kids mainly just played in tournaments as what amounted to a DC/VA all star team. Paying Achilles kids sat out.

Sat out as in didn't attend tournament or just sat on the bench. If they didn't attend, did they contribute to tournament fees? Even if little playing time and mostly on the bench I would be p-off if paying while guest players played.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know who Coach Mitch is, but I can't believe there is another coach like coach Sal out there. Thanks for the warning!

He runs DCYFC - not as competitive as Achilles, but same idea. Yelly coach who is focused only on one small group and is generally defensive about everything.

Here’s a vote for DCYFC. I agree coach Mitch is yelly, but he has backed down from coaching teams a bit. He has 2 other coaches who run the girls and boys programs respectively and they’re great. We moved from Achilles to DCYFC and it’s been like night and day. DCYFC might not be as competitive as Achilles but they do focus on player development across all of their teams and don’t give special privileges or attention to specific players. They don’t just stack a team to creat an all stars team so they can compete in a local tournament. I pulled my DS from Achilles due to all the reasons listed in this thread regarding Sal. Plus based on $ Achilles is highway robbery compared to DCYFC.

[Anonymous]

The soccer community is really a small one and players/parents left because of his abrasive style and sharing their experiences. He has made these comments to players ..."Are you f*****g kidding me?, "Did you kick that ball with your purse?" and when a tournament win was on the line, "Run you SOBs, run!!" Enough said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The soccer community is really a small one and players/parents left because of his abrasive style and sharing their experiences. He has made these comments to players ..."Are you f*****g kidding me?, "Did you kick that ball with your purse?" and when a tournament win was on the line, "Run you SOBs, run!!" Enough said.

so the soccer community shared their experiences and came up with these three quotes? you're right, he's a monster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The soccer community is really a small one and players/parents left because of his abrasive style and sharing their experiences. He has made these comments to players ..."Are you f*****g kidding me?, "Did you kick that ball with your purse?" and when a tournament win was on the line, "Run you SOBs, run!!" Enough said.

so the soccer community shared their experiences and came up with these three quotes? you're right, he's a monster.

It’s so much more than this, read the other comments and threads.

[Anonymous]

It's not for everyone! My son just joined from a big club and never has worked so hard and improved so much in all his years playing. People questioned us leaving such an established program but once he attended one training he wanted to join. Sal and Vinny develop players unlikely many other clubs that have the luxury of hand picking from a large group. Happy son happy dad!

[Anonymous]

If the comments are abhorrent enough, to make you think twice, indeed read the other threads on Achilles and St John's/SJC soccer. Like a PP, it started out okay. After about a year in, there was inconsistencies in coaching at games, less development, rare tournament participation and, of course, the comments. Players from many of the teams left in mass this year even after offers to play up, which most just saw as a desperate attempt to keep the spots filled. Glad we have moved on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the comments are abhorrent enough, to make you think twice, indeed read the other threads on Achilles and St John's/SJC soccer. Like a PP, it started out okay. After about a year in, there was inconsistencies in coaching at games, less development, rare tournament participation and, of course, the comments. Players from many of the teams left in mass this year even after offers to play up, which most just saw as a desperate attempt to keep the spots filled. Glad we have moved on.

+1

[Anonymous]

Ok. Im happy your kid is happy. Playing time is important and if a better kids shows up to guess play and your kid is bench or don't make the roster you should leave....or you can train harder because every kid is not beached. I love that a spot is not guaranteed each week.....like I said not for everyone. Love that the parents actually follow the game!

[Anonymous]

One last thing....it says a lot about you because I would never speak poorly of any club that wasn't a good fit for my kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a new Achilles family. My 10 yr old joined the club in July and our experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The training stresses individual skill and creativity and the style of play mirrors what the majority of posters on these boards seem to be clamoring for. Kids are encouraged to connect passes, keep possession, and show their skill when 1v1. The ball should stay "on the floor." There are no punts or goal kicks. The parents and coaching staff have been welcoming and encouraging. Does Sal have an ego? Definitely. But to say that he doesn't know how to coach or run a club is a bit ridiculous. The club is only four years old and has multiple nationally relevant teams and is one of only three clubs in the immediate DC area to be invited into MLS Next. The other two, Bethesda and Alexandria, have vastly superior resources and talent pools. I believe each fields at least 4 teams at my son's age group where Achilles has one. In his short time with the club, my son has been coached by each of the three coaches. I've seen at least part of every practice and every game. I have never seen a kid bullied or berated. I asked my son before posting to make sure that he hasn't either. He hasn't. Sal has high expectations of the kids. Practices are fairly intense, but nothing grueling or abusive, just good hard work and competition. My son loves the training, his teammates, and all of the coaches. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone whose son is serious about training and improving. Coaches and players are not leaving at the first chance they get. A popular coach did leave to start their own club and took some talented players. I'm finding this to be a fairly common occurrence as it also happened at our last club. It seems like a couple folks have an axe grind or had a bad experience. I'm sorry things didn't work out for them, but we've been happy and look forward to growing with the club.

This sounds like us at the beginning. Give it a year or two and you may feel differently. I hope not though. If your kid ends up being on a favored team you’ll be fine.

Is that the story Sal’s circulating about the coach who left? That’s not even close to what happened. You also might want to dig into how the nationally recognized team was formed.

Please share!

MLS players started playing part time for this club. MLS team got fed up and removed the age group. These players started playing full-time with Sal. This was two years ago and many players (non-MLS) in this age group have left.

Got it, makes sense now on how they got the MLS slots. What's with these parents having their kids play for 2-3 clubs at once. I get it that they are trying to get their kid exposure but burn out is a real thing no matter how good you are or how much you love the game. At some point the kid gets fed up. At older ages, the lack of recovery is only going to hurt their body and ability to develop as a player.

Those kids mainly just played in tournaments as what amounted to a DC/VA all star team. Paying Achilles kids sat out.

Email director

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One last thing....it says a lot about you because I would never speak poorly of any club that wasn't a good fit for my kid!

That's noble but not particularly relevant. Most people are interested in hearing about the range of experiences so they can make informed choices.

[Anonymous]

Completely agree. I wish I knew of this thread before we signed up. Would not have wasted time and $ with Achilles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One last thing....it says a lot about you because I would never speak poorly of any club that wasn't a good fit for my kid!

That's noble but not particularly relevant. Most people are interested in hearing about the range of experiences so they can make informed choices.

If this thread is any indication, this is not a 'good club, bad fit' kind of situation with most families. I appreciate those sharing their experiences with this team.