BRYC Girls TD Larry Best leaving for Washington Spirit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If WS-VA has been struggling, even with the pro-affiliation and name to draw in players, Ican't see a GFR DA being able to hang.

Makes more sense to just have one WS DA, on the MD side.

Girls DA should focus on quality first - to make a credible claim it has the best players/teams - and then slowly expand. Scarcity is a plus at this point.

That's the thing, it hasn't been "struggling" other than in results in several age groups. In terms of players, they had more than sufficient rosters in most of the age groups. This is your interpretation of what should happen, based on results vs FCV, not an actual business case against. Outside of the agenda of thinning out the DA (while the ECNL remains in the majority in NOVAO to "concentrate talent," WS-VA was not struggling.

Good results without quality of play .. for me would not be impressive.
Good quality of play without results, ... I'm willing to call it a work in progress.

IMO, WS-VA has struggled with both, in relation to FCV and Arlington.

I say that as someone with a strong dislike for both Arl and FCV. I was rooting for Spirit. I think their culture is better. But their coaching wasn't.

There’s room for disagreement on that point. Let’s just leave it there.

Fair enough.

[Anonymous]

Let’s not forget Spirit VA has only been around for a year and half. I think the club has done amazingly well considering that they started from scratch and without a direct pipeline to their DA. If any other area club started from the ground up they’d be in the same situation from a win/loss results based evaluation after a year and half. The other area DA teams have had their top players in their pipeline which allowed for consistency in training via shared club philosophy at all age levels. Every year there are players added and let go but this allows for little disruption in their overall playing system. Spirit hasnt had that benefit yet. Currently they have good players that came from multiple systems and simply need time to gel under a unified club training philosophy. Growing a program takes time and I hope the new leadership will invest in giving these players some more time to develop.

Some have said we are in a diluted area for soccer with too many elite options to play. I would agree with that for this year and maybe next couple of years. However looking ahead, Northern VA is still growing & growing. More and more single family homes are being built everyday in Fairfax and especially Loudoun County. This means more and more potential players will be in search for an elite club opportunity. Look at Loudoun County alone and how many high schools are opening in the next few years or have recently just opened. The population isn’t decreasing it’s only getting bigger and the market will be there. I really believe it would be a long term mistake for Spirit to even consider giving up DA slot in such a fast growing pocket of the country.

[Anonymous]

^^^^Some great points above! Let’s hope the Spirit administration is listening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s not forget Spirit VA has only been around for a year and half. I think the club has done amazingly well considering that they started from scratch and without a direct pipeline to their DA. If any other area club started from the ground up they’d be in the same situation from a win/loss results based evaluation after a year and half. The other area DA teams have had their top players in their pipeline which allowed for consistency in training via shared club philosophy at all age levels. Every year there are players added and let go but this allows for little disruption in their overall playing system. Spirit hasnt had that benefit yet. Currently they have good players that came from multiple systems and simply need time to gel under a unified club training philosophy. Growing a program takes time and I hope the new leadership will invest in giving these players some more time to develop.

Some have said we are in a diluted area for soccer with too many elite options to play. I would agree with that for this year and maybe next couple of years. However looking ahead, Northern VA is still growing & growing. More and more single family homes are being built everyday in Fairfax and especially Loudoun County. This means more and more potential players will be in search for an elite club opportunity. Look at Loudoun County alone and how many high schools are opening in the next few years or have recently just opened. The population isn’t decreasing it’s only getting bigger and the market will be there. I really believe it would be a long term mistake for Spirit to even consider giving up DA slot in such a fast growing pocket of the country.

I doubt the player dilution factor weighs very heavily into this decision. More significant I think is the dilution of focus and resources that comes with it, and that it is more difficult to control your struggling brand with this dilution. The business of an NWSL franchise probably needs to be centered on the pro team. When that team is struggling, and has two DA franchises, one of which is also struggling and is likely to take years to mature for reasons beyond your control, it seems natural to want to prune that limb.

With regard to the local crowding in the WS VA area, population growth is unlikely to provide many more players for the club. The Reston area they are in has very little new construction, and the commute times there from the growing areas are getting longer by the day. The 4x practice commute plus home games in Md is untenable for many. They would be better off locating themselves further out to capture that.

[Anonymous]

WS-VA plays in VA not MD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s not forget Spirit VA has only been around for a year and half. I think the club has done amazingly well considering that they started from scratch and without a direct pipeline to their DA. If any other area club started from the ground up they’d be in the same situation from a win/loss results based evaluation after a year and half. The other area DA teams have had their top players in their pipeline which allowed for consistency in training via shared club philosophy at all age levels. Every year there are players added and let go but this allows for little disruption in their overall playing system. Spirit hasnt had that benefit yet. Currently they have good players that came from multiple systems and simply need time to gel under a unified club training philosophy. Growing a program takes time and I hope the new leadership will invest in giving these players some more time to develop.

Some have said we are in a diluted area for soccer with too many elite options to play. I would agree with that for this year and maybe next couple of years. However looking ahead, Northern VA is still growing & growing. More and more single family homes are being built everyday in Fairfax and especially Loudoun County. This means more and more potential players will be in search for an elite club opportunity. Look at Loudoun County alone and how many high schools are opening in the next few years or have recently just opened. The population isn’t decreasing it’s only getting bigger and the market will be there. I really believe it would be a long term mistake for Spirit to even consider giving up DA slot in such a fast growing pocket of the country.

I doubt the player dilution factor weighs very heavily into this decision. More significant I think is the dilution of focus and resources that comes with it, and that it is more difficult to control your struggling brand with this dilution. The business of an NWSL franchise probably needs to be centered on the pro team. When that team is struggling, and has two DA franchises, one of which is also struggling and is likely to take years to mature for reasons beyond your control, it seems natural to want to prune that limb.

With regard to the local crowding in the WS VA area, population growth is unlikely to provide many more players for the club. The Reston area they are in has very little new construction, and the commute times there from the growing areas are getting longer by the day. The 4x practice commute plus home games in Md is untenable for many. They would be better off locating themselves further out to capture that.

LOL. Loudoun County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country and is the wealthiest. There will be plenty of players that live 15 minutes away from Reston with a reverse commute to practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s not forget Spirit VA has only been around for a year and half. I think the club has done amazingly well considering that they started from scratch and without a direct pipeline to their DA. If any other area club started from the ground up they’d be in the same situation from a win/loss results based evaluation after a year and half. The other area DA teams have had their top players in their pipeline which allowed for consistency in training via shared club philosophy at all age levels. Every year there are players added and let go but this allows for little disruption in their overall playing system. Spirit hasnt had that benefit yet. Currently they have good players that came from multiple systems and simply need time to gel under a unified club training philosophy. Growing a program takes time and I hope the new leadership will invest in giving these players some more time to develop.

Some have said we are in a diluted area for soccer with too many elite options to play. I would agree with that for this year and maybe next couple of years. However looking ahead, Northern VA is still growing & growing. More and more single family homes are being built everyday in Fairfax and especially Loudoun County. This means more and more potential players will be in search for an elite club opportunity. Look at Loudoun County alone and how many high schools are opening in the next few years or have recently just opened. The population isn’t decreasing it’s only getting bigger and the market will be there. I really believe it would be a long term mistake for Spirit to even consider giving up DA slot in such a fast growing pocket of the country.

I doubt the player dilution factor weighs very heavily into this decision. More significant I think is the dilution of focus and resources that comes with it, and that it is more difficult to control your struggling brand with this dilution. The business of an NWSL franchise probably needs to be centered on the pro team. When that team is struggling, and has two DA franchises, one of which is also struggling and is likely to take years to mature for reasons beyond your control, it seems natural to want to prune that limb.

With regard to the local crowding in the WS VA area, population growth is unlikely to provide many more players for the club. The Reston area they are in has very little new construction, and the commute times there from the growing areas are getting longer by the day. The 4x practice commute plus home games in Md is untenable for many. They would be better off locating themselves further out to capture that.

LOL. Loudoun County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country and is the wealthiest. There will be plenty of players that live 15 minutes away from Reston with a reverse commute to practice.

Plenty of Loudoun players at Spirit VA already. The OP did a good job explaining the reasons that Spirit VA would need a few years to grow the talent to be on par with FCV and Arl. They aren't that far behind and with a pipeline in GFR and several years of stability it's very conceivable they could become the better option in the area.

[Anonymous]

WS is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a few years behind Arlington...and please please please...stop putting Arlington next to FCV. They are not even is the same room let alone conversation. The only thing they have in common is the state they reside in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WS is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a few years behind Arlington...and please please please...stop putting Arlington next to FCV. They are not even is the same room let alone conversation. The only thing they have in common is the state they reside in.

^^^ This WS and ARL basher (FCV parent) always has to have the last word on these boards. Always talking doomsday with regard to other DA clubs. So funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WS is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a few years behind Arlington...and please please please...stop putting Arlington next to FCV. They are not even is the same room let alone conversation. The only thing they have in common is the state they reside in.

^^^ This WS and ARL basher (FCV parent) always has to have the last word on these boards. Always talking doomsday with regard to other DA clubs. So funny.

Not bashing anyone. WS and Arligton are comparable. Arlington and FCV are not. The argument that WS is a few years behind Arlington and FCV is not true. A few years behind FCV..yes. A few years behind Arlington..no. That's what I'm saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WS is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a few years behind Arlington...and please please please...stop putting Arlington next to FCV. They are not even is the same room let alone conversation. The only thing they have in common is the state they reside in.

^^^ This WS and ARL basher (FCV parent) always has to have the last word on these boards. Always talking doomsday with regard to other DA clubs. So funny.

Not bashing anyone. WS and Arligton are comparable. Arlington and FCV are not. The argument that WS is a few years behind Arlington and FCV is not true. A few years behind FCV..yes. A few years behind Arlington..no. That's what I'm saying.

If Spirit VA continues and the GFR partnership begins to click Spirit could quickly catch up to FCV. Spirit VA desperately needs a feeder club and having a pathway for GFR can improve overall interest level in GFR overall. If a steady pipeline of core players could be developed then Spirit is well situated to be an option for McLEan, BRYC, Loudoun etc. Arlington is pretty much the big dog where they are and mostly have what they're going to get by U12 from the likes of LMVSC, Gunston, perhaps Stoddart etc. There is some swapping between them and McLean too.

[Anonymous]

Spirit needs to merge with McLean and its game over.

3 distinct areas in Nova. FCV (west), Spirit (mid), Arlington (east).

VDA and BRYC would remain strong ECNL options while Loudoun ECNL would suffer because of the squeeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spirit needs to merge with McLean and its game over.

3 distinct areas in Nova. FCV (west), Spirit (mid), Arlington (east).

VDA and BRYC would remain strong ECNL options while Loudoun ECNL would suffer because of the squeeze.

If a merge was to happen it would be BRYC not McLean. But either one would make a strong program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spirit needs to merge with McLean and its game over.

3 distinct areas in Nova. FCV (west), Spirit (mid), Arlington (east).

VDA and BRYC would remain strong ECNL options while Loudoun ECNL would suffer because of the squeeze.

Not a Loudoun parent, but I think you are discounting them too much. To me, they have always seemed to have the best youth program in VA up through the U12s. Once those teams reached the U13 age group, they were historically picked clean by the ECNL and DA options in the area. However, now that they have ECNL, I would be very surprised if they do not become the top ECNL/DA program in NoVa as the 07, 08, 09, etc. age groups continue to age up and go through ECNL.

Granted, time will tell, and I could definitely be wrong on this. But if I had to make a bet on whether Loudoun will be top dog in NoVa in 5 years among all the ECNL/DA teams, then I'd bet on Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spirit needs to merge with McLean and its game over.

3 distinct areas in Nova. FCV (west), Spirit (mid), Arlington (east).

VDA and BRYC would remain strong ECNL options while Loudoun ECNL would suffer because of the squeeze.

Not a Loudoun parent, but I think you are discounting them too much. To me, they have always seemed to have the best youth program in VA up through the U12s. Once those teams reached the U13 age group, they were historically picked clean by the ECNL and DA options in the area. However, now that they have ECNL, I would be very surprised if they do not become the top ECNL/DA program in NoVa as the 07, 08, 09, etc. age groups continue to age up and go through ECNL.

Granted, time will tell, and I could definitely be wrong on this. But if I had to make a bet on whether Loudoun will be top dog in NoVa in 5 years among all the ECNL/DA teams, then I'd bet on Loudoun.

The only real problem with Loudoun is their style of play is more conducive to success at younger ages than it is able to maintain success in higher levels of play at the older ages like ECNL. If Loudoun can be more patient with a club wide consistent possession style then I agree with you. They always have a large and talented pool of players but they tend to take the easy wins at younger ages through brute force.