Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Psss.....I have a secret to tell you

This is all a scam. Stealing a bunch of clubs from the ECNL League and putting them in the DA league only achieved in transferring the flow of money from US Club Soccer to US Soccer.

The DA will not be anymore elite or special than ECNL. In some cases, DA will actually be a whole lot worse for development.

Interesting conspiracy theory, but please explain what money will flow from DA clubs to US Soccer?

Conspiracy?.....Maybe I'm confused and you can educate me. How does USSF generate revenue?

My guess was that USSF generated money from people...more paying people = more money...more money = more investments....more investments = more money...No?

Did I wrongfully assume that revenue is generated via profit? OR is the USSF a federally subsidized agency being propped up by the Federal Gov't? Lets ask Sean Spicer at the next WH press conference

In Layman's terms: The bigger the paying customer base the bigger the profits.

I'm not an expert, but I believe the vast majority of USSF's funding comes from its share of TV rights and ticket sales for FIFA and CONCACAF events, plus sponsorship deals like it has with Nike. I think they do receive fees from referee licensing and player registration, but that's a very small part of the total. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can clarify, but I believe player registration fees would come from players registered for USYSA and US Club, not just DA.

I don't think USSF is motivated by a desire to make money from new DA players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Not pp but the club pays to relocate the entire family to Spain. They are investing in the player to make money down the line when the player is worth millions. It is a business.

For the pp above, how did they scout your son on a C team? Did someone recommend him as worth a look?

I can't imagine a European club would pay to relocate the entire family of an American 11 year old with no Eoropean passport. Even if they did, how would they get around FIFA rule 19? It seems likely either that the family of this particular 11 year old has Euro passports, or they have misunderstood what the club is offering, or they have been mislead.

Also truly cannot imagine a kid who is so good that he is getting serious looks from overseas scouts being stuck on a C team in this area. If that is true, seems like the family could parlay the info about the overseas interest into a spot on one of the local DAs.

NP. I don't know about the rest of it, but the part about being on the C team but being one of the most promising players is certainly possible. Just look at the comparative sizes of the kids on A versus C teams. For most clubs, size and speed and not ball control, game sense, etc. are what gets kids onto the top teams at under U14 or so. It's not really as much about ball skills and game sense, at least for most clubs. There are exceptions, but just looking at the average kid sizes should tell you something. If it were really mostly about soccer skills, there would be a more even size distribution.

I sometimes think if you can get a good C team coach who works on teaching a love of the game and skills, you're better off there than on the A team for under u14 or so. The parents aren't as crazy so the kids get a chance to experiment with complex touches rather than getting yelled by a nutty parent for not "sending it" or other terrible sideline coaching. You aren't spending the time traveling all over the place. It's more relaxed and so for the kid who is driven and interested in soccer, you can get more of a chance to focus on learning. I've also found that some of the best coaches I've encountered are the younger C team coaches -- they aren't as tied to the system so don't care as much about what the parents think. The A team coaches are often just the ones who have been around the longest.

Anyhow I don't know about the rest of what PP wrote, but I certainly can believe that the C team players could be the most promising.

I won't dismiss this entirely but, in most cases, a C team player is a C team player except for the U littles. As long as your kid is in the "top 40" at their club anything can happen and often does. But, if you are on the C team at 11v11, sorry but there are at least 40 kids better than you at that point.

It's true up to about U14/15. Perhaps even U17/18. On average, size and strength matters most to most US soccer clubs. If that wasn't the case, there wouldn't be such a noticeable size difference between A and C team average sizes. When you say there are 40 kids better at 11v11, what you really mean mostly is that there are 40 kids who are on average bigger and stronger.

I mean, come on, you can hardly argue that club teams on average are good at early identification and development of star talent in the US, right? Surely we can all agree on that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

Not sure that this changes anything for Loudoun kids overall and the older ages in particular. Those kids who presumably were interested in ECNL previously had already tried out and either were selected or they were not. I do not see any of the current ECNL rosters at FCV being severely disrupted by this partnership. There may be a handful of Loudoun kids that crack the older DA (former ECNL) teams but that would be due to combined age groups, kids who would rather remain in ECNL in order to play in HS sports etc.

The fruits of this partnership will be in the younger age groups. I see the 05 group as the first age group where the impact will be felt first. Possibly the 04's will be affected but the 03s and older will likely only see some token changes. And since FCV has DA they own the right to first refusal. As with any player in the past who came into Loudoun, if you were going to make Red you had to be better than most of the current Red players. Simply being "as good" was not enough. If you are "as good" then there is a spot on Black for you until but preference is always given to kids already in the club.

I feel this is really about ensuring the next crop of players primarily from 05 and younger where it is possible to hit a bit of a reset button and have a system and process established in order to move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Not pp but the club pays to relocate the entire family to Spain. They are investing in the player to make money down the line when the player is worth millions. It is a business.

For the pp above, how did they scout your son on a C team? Did someone recommend him as worth a look?

I can't imagine a European club would pay to relocate the entire family of an American 11 year old with no Eoropean passport. Even if they did, how would they get around FIFA rule 19? It seems likely either that the family of this particular 11 year old has Euro passports, or they have misunderstood what the club is offering, or they have been mislead.

Also truly cannot imagine a kid who is so good that he is getting serious looks from overseas scouts being stuck on a C team in this area. If that is true, seems like the family could parlay the info about the overseas interest into a spot on one of the local DAs.

NP. I don't know about the rest of it, but the part about being on the C team but being one of the most promising players is certainly possible. Just look at the comparative sizes of the kids on A versus C teams. For most clubs, size and speed and not ball control, game sense, etc. are what gets kids onto the top teams at under U14 or so. It's not really as much about ball skills and game sense, at least for most clubs. There are exceptions, but just looking at the average kid sizes should tell you something. If it were really mostly about soccer skills, there would be a more even size distribution.

I sometimes think if you can get a good C team coach who works on teaching a love of the game and skills, you're better off there than on the A team for under u14 or so. The parents aren't as crazy so the kids get a chance to experiment with complex touches rather than getting yelled by a nutty parent for not "sending it" or other terrible sideline coaching. You aren't spending the time traveling all over the place. It's more relaxed and so for the kid who is driven and interested in soccer, you can get more of a chance to focus on learning. I've also found that some of the best coaches I've encountered are the younger C team coaches -- they aren't as tied to the system so don't care as much about what the parents think. The A team coaches are often just the ones who have been around the longest.

Anyhow I don't know about the rest of what PP wrote, but I certainly can believe that the C team players could be the most promising.

I won't dismiss this entirely but, in most cases, a C team player is a C team player except for the U littles. As long as your kid is in the "top 40" at their club anything can happen and often does. But, if you are on the C team at 11v11, sorry but there are at least 40 kids better than you at that point.

It's true up to about U14/15. Perhaps even U17/18. On average, size and strength matters most to most US soccer clubs. If that wasn't the case, there wouldn't be such a noticeable size difference between A and C team average sizes. When you say there are 40 kids better at 11v11, what you really mean mostly is that there are 40 kids who are on average bigger and stronger.

I mean, come on, you can hardly argue that club teams on average are good at early identification and development of star talent in the US, right? Surely we can all agree on that?

To an extent, sure. But the idea that the first American to start at Barcelona is currently hiding out on Chantilly's U14 C team is a bit far-fetched.

I know I'm taking the extremes here -- maybe there's a kid on Loudoun's C team who's good enough to play in "Europe" as long as "Europe" is a club in the Romanian third division. But the Romanian third division clubs aren't going to be scouting here a lot.

If I were the parent of an NCSL mid-division player (which, actually, I am), and some guy came up to me saying he wanted to bring my son to his European club, I'd be about as skeptical as I would be if a "Nigerian prince" wrote me and asked for a bit of cash to get out of a jam.

And you may think THAT scenario is far-fetched, but there are a LOT of shady people out there in the soccer world who are not what they claim to be. Caveat emptor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Not pp but the club pays to relocate the entire family to Spain. They are investing in the player to make money down the line when the player is worth millions. It is a business.

For the pp above, how did they scout your son on a C team? Did someone recommend him as worth a look?

I can't imagine a European club would pay to relocate the entire family of an American 11 year old with no Eoropean passport. Even if they did, how would they get around FIFA rule 19? It seems likely either that the family of this particular 11 year old has Euro passports, or they have misunderstood what the club is offering, or they have been mislead.

Also truly cannot imagine a kid who is so good that he is getting serious looks from overseas scouts being stuck on a C team in this area. If that is true, seems like the family could parlay the info about the overseas interest into a spot on one of the local DAs.

NP. I don't know about the rest of it, but the part about being on the C team but being one of the most promising players is certainly possible. Just look at the comparative sizes of the kids on A versus C teams. For most clubs, size and speed and not ball control, game sense, etc. are what gets kids onto the top teams at under U14 or so. It's not really as much about ball skills and game sense, at least for most clubs. There are exceptions, but just looking at the average kid sizes should tell you something. If it were really mostly about soccer skills, there would be a more even size distribution.

I sometimes think if you can get a good C team coach who works on teaching a love of the game and skills, you're better off there than on the A team for under u14 or so. The parents aren't as crazy so the kids get a chance to experiment with complex touches rather than getting yelled by a nutty parent for not "sending it" or other terrible sideline coaching. You aren't spending the time traveling all over the place. It's more relaxed and so for the kid who is driven and interested in soccer, you can get more of a chance to focus on learning. I've also found that some of the best coaches I've encountered are the younger C team coaches -- they aren't as tied to the system so don't care as much about what the parents think. The A team coaches are often just the ones who have been around the longest.

Anyhow I don't know about the rest of what PP wrote, but I certainly can believe that the C team players could be the most promising.

I won't dismiss this entirely but, in most cases, a C team player is a C team player except for the U littles. As long as your kid is in the "top 40" at their club anything can happen and often does. But, if you are on the C team at 11v11, sorry but there are at least 40 kids better than you at that point.

It's true up to about U14/15. Perhaps even U17/18. On average, size and strength matters most to most US soccer clubs. If that wasn't the case, there wouldn't be such a noticeable size difference between A and C team average sizes. When you say there are 40 kids better at 11v11, what you really mean mostly is that there are 40 kids who are on average bigger and stronger.

I mean, come on, you can hardly argue that club teams on average are good at early identification and development of star talent in the US, right? Surely we can all agree on that?

Oh, they absolutely get kids wrong at U9 and U10. And 3rd and 4th team kids absolutely do move up and make the A teams. In many cases that requires changing clubs just to find a coach who gets it. The key is in understanding why your kid was placed on the C team in the first place. If, as a parent, you understand the reason then it is easier to go out and correct the players shortcomings. In many cases the shortcoming is in fact being short. So work on footskills, find a good coach and get to work while you simply wait for your kid to grow. But by 12-13 is the age that you will see the kids begin to make their move up the ranks, so to speak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

Not sure that this changes anything for Loudoun kids overall and the older ages in particular. Those kids who presumably were interested in ECNL previously had already tried out and either were selected or they were not. I do not see any of the current ECNL rosters at FCV being severely disrupted by this partnership. There may be a handful of Loudoun kids that crack the older DA (former ECNL) teams but that would be due to combined age groups, kids who would rather remain in ECNL in order to play in HS sports etc.

The fruits of this partnership will be in the younger age groups. I see the 05 group as the first age group where the impact will be felt first. Possibly the 04's will be affected but the 03s and older will likely only see some token changes. And since FCV has DA they own the right to first refusal. As with any player in the past who came into Loudoun, if you were going to make Red you had to be better than most of the current Red players. Simply being "as good" was not enough. If you are "as good" then there is a spot on Black for you until but preference is always given to kids already in the club.

I feel this is really about ensuring the next crop of players primarily from 05 and younger where it is possible to hit a bit of a reset button and have a system and process established in order to move forward.

I agree... there will be significant impact to the 04 and 05 ages groups.

For example...FCV 04 plays an ecnl schedule....Loudoun red 04 plays a Region 1 schedule. Both teams are probabley top in the state in their age group. Each team has about 17 kids...34 total with merger. 20 will probabley get offered DA spots. Where do the other 14 go? It's unlikely they stick around . And what about the bottom 6 kids on the 20 man roster....how much playing time will they get anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

Not sure that this changes anything for Loudoun kids overall and the older ages in particular. Those kids who presumably were interested in ECNL previously had already tried out and either were selected or they were not. I do not see any of the current ECNL rosters at FCV being severely disrupted by this partnership. There may be a handful of Loudoun kids that crack the older DA (former ECNL) teams but that would be due to combined age groups, kids who would rather remain in ECNL in order to play in HS sports etc.

The fruits of this partnership will be in the younger age groups. I see the 05 group as the first age group where the impact will be felt first. Possibly the 04's will be affected but the 03s and older will likely only see some token changes. And since FCV has DA they own the right to first refusal. As with any player in the past who came into Loudoun, if you were going to make Red you had to be better than most of the current Red players. Simply being "as good" was not enough. If you are "as good" then there is a spot on Black for you until but preference is always given to kids already in the club.

I feel this is really about ensuring the next crop of players primarily from 05 and younger where it is possible to hit a bit of a reset button and have a system and process established in order to move forward.

I agree... there will be significant impact to the 04 and 05 ages groups.

For example...FCV 04 plays an ecnl schedule....Loudoun red 04 plays a Region 1 schedule. Both teams are probabley top in the state in their age group. Each team has about 17 kids...34 total with merger. 20 will probabley get offered DA spots. Where do the other 14 go? It's unlikely they stick around . And what about the bottom 6 kids on the 20 man roster....how much playing time will they get anyways.

The numbers are true but how this is all going to play out gets very muddled with a poor description of the relationship between the two clubs. This is NOT a "merger". Calling it a merger only adds confusion. The 04 Loudoun Red and FCV ECNL team are not going to be forcibly "merged".

I think it would be a stretch to assume that the makeup of the 04 DA group would be a 50/50 split. To believe that a 50/50 split will happen is to believe that somehow CCL is the equal to ECNL. Are there kids on Red as good as the current ECNL girls? Absolutely, but they would have to be "better thans" to be added.

That said, FCV can use the development player status to include more players beyond the actual active roster and this benefits those players in that they are guaranteed to play in up to 7 DA games a year, note not spring or fall season, but the full calendar season. This would also allow the kids to attend practices with the DA anytime as well.

So will Red 04 kids make the DA out of the gate? Sure, but more likely to the tune of 2-4 will likely stand out but the rest will likely be given a longer look and be tagged as Developmental Players. I could legitimately see Red players getting this status perhaps over FCV's NPL squad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

Details are still sketchy on how FCV will handle this, but I would think only a handful of current FCV ECNL girls are likely to be displaced from DA. Seems like movement will be from Loudoun red to FCV DA, and perhaps FCV ECNL if they allow that, but no movement for girls from FCV to Loudoun. The boys situation should be the opposite probably. The good thing (for the clubs at least) about the merger is FCV is likely now to retain their ECNL squad since they've gained alot of talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree...some very talented girls from Loudoun and FCV will be displaced with this merger because the level of talent will be high along with the politics that comes with taking kids from both clubs....and there will also be those kids who get cut who are actually better than the kids who made the Academy team (There is always one or two kids every year that get shafted is this regard). In some case, you may just be replacing a good player for a good player...without even making the team better.

At the end of the day, the remaining top level kids who do not get picked for the DA will leave their clubs and head for another DA or ECNL club.

Details are still sketchy on how FCV will handle this, but I would think only a handful of current FCV ECNL girls are likely to be displaced from DA. Seems like movement will be from Loudoun red to FCV DA, and perhaps FCV ECNL if they allow that, but no movement for girls from FCV to Loudoun. The boys situation should be the opposite probably. The good thing (for the clubs at least) about the merger is FCV is likely now to retain their ECNL squad since they've gained alot of talent.

It is unclear if FCV is retaining ECNL or not. The thought was that BRYC was given FCVs ECNL spot.

[Anonymous]

FCV was tossed by ECNL. BRYC occupies that spot in the Mid Atlantic conference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Kids and I have Irish passports. My mother is an Irish citizen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Kids and I have Irish passports. My mother is an Irish citizen.[/quote

You know what the difference between paying for a camp and a trial is right. I get ID clinic emails from colleges every week and my daughter graduated college 3 years ago.

[Anonymous]

If your son can't make a 2nd team in a youth club in this country I'm pretty sure he won't be anywhere close to the level to play in a European pro club youth set up. Time to come back down to earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Euro soccer academies do recruit in the U.S. Have they "taken" any families in NOVA lately to anyone's knowledge?

Yes. My 11-year old. He was there 2 weeks this Fall after getting Id' last summer and they contacted and want to fly him back to Spain for an official tryout this Spring.

Plays for a C team in this area. At least they know what to look for.

Btw, yes he can easily juggle over 1,000.

Are you citizens of Spain or another European country?

Kids and I have Irish passports. My mother is an Irish citizen.[/quote

You know what the difference between paying for a camp and a trial is right. I get ID clinic emails from colleges every week and my daughter graduated college 3 years ago.

Yes. Thanks. My brother had a soccer career in Europe. Well aware.