Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

If the kid was a Fall Bday he could have been a U10 that had to make the jump to U12 v U11. That is young and team placement means nothing at these ages. Our big club doesn't move any players around until U13 at 11v11. In fact --they don't even look at players on lower teams until the coaching staff switch after U9-u12. All of the big changes happen at u13. The mistake people make around here is thinking any club does proper early player identification. Truthfully, it's pretty awful at the older ages too.

Good for that kid. It sounds like the parents could care less about the club scene--especially if their club isn't even aware. Many parents that were elite or know soccer only really worry about what the kids are doing on their own. We've been known to skip team practices to get in sessions 1v1 and it's a benefit of not being on an A team. Most of their improvement happens here. That and freedom of development. Not being hindered by some guy just trying to up his gotsoccer rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the kid was a Fall Bday he could have been a U10 that had to make the jump to U12 v U11. That is young and team placement means nothing at these ages. Our big club doesn't move any players around until U13 at 11v11. In fact --they don't even look at players on lower teams until the coaching staff switch after U9-u12. All of the big changes happen at u13. The mistake people make around here is thinking any club does proper early player identification. Truthfully, it's pretty awful at the older ages too.

Good for that kid. It sounds like the parents could care less about the club scene--especially if their club isn't even aware. Many parents that were elite or know soccer only really worry about what the kids are doing on their own. We've been known to skip team practices to get in sessions 1v1 and it's a benefit of not being on an A team. Most of their improvement happens here. That and freedom of development. Not being hindered by some guy just trying to up his gotsoccer rating.

+1. We did not accept offer to move up a team for our kid in the younger years for the training opportunities we wanted outside of the club and for a less-pressured environment in his early development. We wanted him to have the ability to try things out during games, make mistakes and not be pigeon-holed into a specific position. It was wise as we look back and see how the kids of his year turned out.

[Anonymous]

^^we've found the parents and kids are a lot less douchey too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well not saying anything but check out this list for la liga
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_La_Liga_players

Under the US three players are listed, none of which are current. Look at the South American countries and it will give you a good idea of where the scouts spend their time. I bet for every one player listed there were 20 very promising prospects who never made it the the senior team. I am not saying they don't scout or subscribe to scouting services(the internet has changed a lot in that regard) for US based player, but where would you spend you time and money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well not saying anything but check out this list for la liga
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_La_Liga_players

Under the US three players are listed, none of which are current. Look at the South American countries and it will give you a good idea of where the scouts spend their time. I bet for every one player listed there were 20 very promising prospects who never made it the the senior team. I am not saying they don't scout or subscribe to scouting services(the internet has changed a lot in that regard) for US based player, but where would you spend you time and money?

You do know about the kid from California, Ben Lederman, that was accepted into La Masia at 11? There have been news articles all over about him.

He was having trouble since he did not have an EU passport. Apparently, they were able to secure him a Polish passport. I think he's 15-16 now?

Some of you are clueless. There has been a surge in tapping into the US market by FIFA--yes, some is a $-grab, but when they like something they see they do take it. They know we have great athletes, huge player pool---and idiots running are entire Soccer Federation.

They have to get them very young here before we destroy them with our shitty system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well not saying anything but check out this list for la liga
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_La_Liga_players

Under the US three players are listed, none of which are current. Look at the South American countries and it will give you a good idea of where the scouts spend their time. I bet for every one player listed there were 20 very promising prospects who never made it the the senior team. I am not saying they don't scout or subscribe to scouting services(the internet has changed a lot in that regard) for US based player, but where would you spend you time and money?

Missing the point. The opportunity and ride is what matters. You don't think even if he doesn't make a senior team that won't make a kid one of the best US players in the future.

Any time training away from this Country is valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?[/quote

It not a club merger....but it is a player pool merger....without a doubt....they can call the leftover kids "Developmental Players" all they want...that's just a selling point to keep kids from leaving the club.

[Anonymous]

It not a club merger....but it is a player pool merger....without a doubt....they can call the leftover kids "Developmental Players" all they want...that's just a selling point to keep kids from leaving the club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well not saying anything but check out this list for la liga
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_La_Liga_players

Under the US three players are listed, none of which are current. Look at the South American countries and it will give you a good idea of where the scouts spend their time. I bet for every one player listed there were 20 very promising prospects who never made it the the senior team. I am not saying they don't scout or subscribe to scouting services(the internet has changed a lot in that regard) for US based player, but where would you spend you time and money?

You do know about the kid from California, Ben Lederman, that was accepted into La Masia at 11? There have been news articles all over about him.

He was having trouble since he did not have an EU passport. Apparently, they were able to secure him a Polish passport. I think he's 15-16 now?

Some of you are clueless. There has been a surge in tapping into the US market by FIFA--yes, some is a $-grab, but when they like something they see they do take it. They know we have great athletes, huge player pool---and idiots running are entire Soccer Federation.

They have to get them very young here before we destroy them with our shitty system.

Not sure how the Ben Lederman example refutes what the poster before you said. If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted. A lot of the kids from that Kleiban team received the same early exposure and are on their way to being pros. There are lots of scouts keeping track of players on all our youth national teams too, and an ever increasing number of those kids are going pro before they finish high school. Same is true for top players at top DAs regardless of whether they are called into the national team.

All of these things can be taken as signs that the soccer system in our country is improving, and none of these things make it likely that scouts from Europe will be spreading out across the US in numbers sufficient to allow them to evaluate promising C team 11year olds. If you have a Euro passport, you don't need the scouts to come here. You can head over there to tryout at any team that will let you.

[Anonymous]

"If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted."

There are opportunities in the DMV for kids to make teams that play in European tournaments (including Barcelona) over spring break and the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted."

There are opportunities in the DMV for kids to make teams that play in European tournaments (including Barcelona) over spring break and the summer.

Yes, agree. My child has been invited on some of those trips. You certainly have a better chance of being scouted there than you do sticking around your local lower level team team, but it's still not going to do you much good as a younger child if you don't have a European passport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted."

There are opportunities in the DMV for kids to make teams that play in European tournaments (including Barcelona) over spring break and the summer.

Yes. I do not think it was said anywhere that the kid was scouted/identified at a Club game.

For all we know he might not have been on US soil.

I love how the vultures, dick heads and naysayers come out of the woodwork though.

[Anonymous]

I am a Loudoun parent and I would take my daughters to anyone but FCV. I don't want anything to do with that club. Some of the stories coming from FCV parents are unbelievable. Coaches not showing up for games. Not helping players improve their game after committing to colleges. No thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted."

There are opportunities in the DMV for kids to make teams that play in European tournaments (including Barcelona) over spring break and the summer.

Yes. I do not think it was said anywhere that the kid was scouted/identified at a Club game.

For all we know he might not have been on US soil.

I love how the vultures, dick heads and naysayers come out of the woodwork though.

Yeah, I'm not sure why this is even a topic. A kid from a club's C team may or may not have an opportunity to train with a European team. Great. I think it's time we can move along from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If you are on the top team in SoCal and your very good coaches have the ability to arrange for your team to participate in tournaments with Barcelona's youth squads, you are in an excellent position to be scouted."

There are opportunities in the DMV for kids to make teams that play in European tournaments (including Barcelona) over spring break and the summer.

Yes. I do not think it was said anywhere that the kid was scouted/identified at a Club game.

For all we know he might not have been on US soil.

I love how the vultures, dick heads and naysayers come out of the woodwork though.

Yeah, I'm not sure why this is even a topic. A kid from a club's C team may or may not have an opportunity to train with a European team. Great. I think it's time we can move along from that.

Agree. I think it's tragic that (what I assume are travel coaches and TDs) basically saying any 11-year old on a lower team is a shit player with zero future. Tells you they don't develop. Some stupid US ranking by a US youth club coach holds zero weight abroad.

Carry on.