DC Soccer Club

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to understand why/how ECNL gave DCSC a RL "badge" and maybe the answer is they will take all regional comers. They just moved some of their younger Blue Teams to EDP this Spring. Most of their boys 2nd-3rd teams are in NCSL 4 and below. Their 08-09 etc teams are in NCSL low divisions. Is this a shiny objects thing? To be fair the girls are in higher NCSL divisions but still getting beat there and in low EDP divisions.

Right now people are traveling more than they need to for RL. It’s just not necessary to go to NJ from MD for that 2nd tier, for example. Maybe stuff like this helps that.

Those Jersey trips can be tenuous especially after tough losses to NJ teams and another 3-4hrs back in the car, but if you don't get off the bench at least the car doesn't spell bad too

[Anonymous]

I am from a competing club. The 2014 blue boys are good and I was impressed but they won’t play anybody.

The 2013 red boys were meh…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy to say there should be more competitive clubs in the dc area. If you live in dc or surrounding areas like pg county your options are Md united, Achilles, or go to Arlington or Alexandria. Dcsc is a big club in terms of numbers, but they have the same problem as every other dc club- their better players will likely leave at u14 level for SYC DCU Bethesda or one of the clubs I named above.

It’s a shame as someone who grew up playing in pg county 30+ years ago and have coached in dc last 3. The facilities in dc are a huge problem, there are good up clubs in the area like Dc sporting and futures in pg for kids soccer, similar to Bmore where rec clubs in surrounding cities help develop kids, but based on the current landscape once kids hit u14 if they have ambition they will jump to an MLSNext club or play ECNL hoping to keep moving up the ladder, so all of these clubs outside of the privileged ones (PPA, DCXI, DCYFC, Futures, Wash Capital united) who don’t have ECNL or MLSNext status suffer. Teams break up, kids change teams every other season. It’s a shame that, at the end of the day, kids from u15-19 don’t really have that many more options for competitive soccer in the general pg and dc areas within a 45 min drive than they had 30+ years ago.

So what can be done?

New poster here, but one who is a DC resident and has faced all of this - one of the biggest issues, maybe the biggest issue, is facilities. There just aren't enough fields and especially not enough lit fields, to supply the practice time needed. DCSC manages this but squeezing 6+ teams on one field at a time, PPA uses a lot of crappy grass fields or has teams travel to far flung places multiple times a week. DCYFC is very small, and they have one main field, but you need to be bigger to support top teams etc.

I read a survey ages ago that said while DC has among the most greenspace per acre of any city, the overwhelming majority of it is NPS land. It has among the least recreation and field space of any city per acre. (That said, I can't find the link to it. Maybe someone else can.) Also something like 40-50% of all playing fields are baseball fields in the city. That doesn't help either.

[Anonymous]

Isnt the new director the coach from IN10SITY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy to say there should be more competitive clubs in the dc area. If you live in dc or surrounding areas like pg county your options are Md united, Achilles, or go to Arlington or Alexandria. Dcsc is a big club in terms of numbers, but they have the same problem as every other dc club- their better players will likely leave at u14 level for SYC DCU Bethesda or one of the clubs I named above.

It’s a shame as someone who grew up playing in pg county 30+ years ago and have coached in dc last 3. The facilities in dc are a huge problem, there are good up clubs in the area like Dc sporting and futures in pg for kids soccer, similar to Bmore where rec clubs in surrounding cities help develop kids, but based on the current landscape once kids hit u14 if they have ambition they will jump to an MLSNext club or play ECNL hoping to keep moving up the ladder, so all of these clubs outside of the privileged ones (PPA, DCXI, DCYFC, Futures, Wash Capital united) who don’t have ECNL or MLSNext status suffer. Teams break up, kids change teams every other season. It’s a shame that, at the end of the day, kids from u15-19 don’t really have that many more options for competitive soccer in the general pg and dc areas within a 45 min drive than they had 30+ years ago.

So what can be done?

New poster here, but one who is a DC resident and has faced all of this - one of the biggest issues, maybe the biggest issue, is facilities. There just aren't enough fields and especially not enough lit fields, to supply the practice time needed. DCSC manages this but squeezing 6+ teams on one field at a time, PPA uses a lot of crappy grass fields or has teams travel to far flung places multiple times a week. DCYFC is very small, and they have one main field, but you need to be bigger to support top teams etc.

I read a survey ages ago that said while DC has among the most greenspace per acre of any city, the overwhelming majority of it is NPS land. It has among the least recreation and field space of any city per acre. (That said, I can't find the link to it. Maybe someone else can.) Also something like 40-50% of all playing fields are baseball fields in the city. That doesn't help either.

Incorrect. As a DC resident and familiar with DC Soccer and a few of the DC clubs, there is a shortage of turfs fields in NW DC at the rates they want to pay. DC Soccer was called out by DC Gov. last fall because they were consuming so much space at super cheap rates and needed to increase the rates.

If they had a serious operation, people would easily drive to NE, SW and SE for practice as I have met DCSC parents at SoFive in Rockville.

This facility thing is a lazy excuse. There are 6 unused fields within 2 miles of my door in NW DC and MANY MORE through the city.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad someone resurrected this thread. DD is trying out with DCSC next week (U13). She’s coming from a bigger club where she’s on a lower team and was hoping for a top-team offer from DCSC. Has the situation improved at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad someone resurrected this thread. DD is trying out with DCSC next week (U13). She’s coming from a bigger club where she’s on a lower team and was hoping for a top-team offer from DCSC. Has the situation improved at all?

I am not sure. I think they should be able to prevent the exodus that previously occurred at U13 with ECNL RL. If you get the offer, I would definitely go check out the training to ensure it is a fit for your DD.

[Anonymous]

The RL teams on the girls side are awful this year. It looks like only the 2012 girls have won a match. One age group hasn't even scored a goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The RL teams on the girls side are awful this year. It looks like only the 2012 girls have won a match. One age group hasn't even scored a goal.

This is true and embarrassing. None of their teams had even made the two NL/EDP brackets previously, so it’s not a shock. But their girls side is strikingly poor. The boys side is much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The RL teams on the girls side are awful this year. It looks like only the 2012 girls have won a match. One age group hasn't even scored a goal.

This is true and embarrassing. None of their teams had even made the two NL/EDP brackets previously, so it’s not a shock. But their girls side is strikingly poor. The boys side is much better.

This poster is closer to the truth. In the city with a pre-ecnl age kid so watching to see if things change and develop.

Boys:
06/07 1-5-2 -16GD
08 1-7-0 -22 GD
09 1-6-1 -26 GD
10 1-5-2 -17 GD
11 3-6-1 -27 GD
12 6-2-3 +10 GD

Girls:
06/07 0-7-0 -40 GD (4 GF Total)
08 No Team?
09 0-7-0 -44 GD (0 GF Total)
10 0-7-0 -40 GD (2 GF Total)
11 0-7-0 -28 GD (1 GF Total)
12 2-3-2 -2 GS (7 GF Total)


I assume the bleed will stop, or do girls move more aggressively before ECNL/GA full sided ages?

[Anonymous]

I thought that one of the older teams recently won a tournament. Is it just taking time for teams to gel? I heard that the 2012 girls team was mostly the same as the previous year. Wondering if they will stay,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought that one of the older teams recently won a tournament. Is it just taking time for teams to gel? I heard that the 2012 girls team was mostly the same as the previous year. Wondering if they will stay,

Winning a girls tournament the same weekend as Jefferson Cup is not the flex they need. I assume the 2012/2011 results show that building is possible and hope ECNLR gives them time. The next MLSN2 and GA2/GA expansion will continue to water down an already saturated landscape. It is starting to feel like AAU basketball with all the levels/division and national teams.

[Anonymous]

I agree with one PP that these leagues (ECNL, MLS Next) host so many average clubs who seem so far away from high level. That surely just indicates that the business and financial side of youth sport is the real priority. We had exposure to both sides of DC Soccer, and it is clear that the quality is nowhere near top league competition standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current Executive Director is lacking in effectiveness within the business, influenced by the fact that he placed the presidents son in the top team, despite the son's lack of qualities. The coaches that were making differences were no longer there due to conflicts with the ED. The assistant ED's (MA)relationship (inappropriate relationship) with the ED (GA)has been an issue that is going to become public due to complaints from other coaches . Although the board is aware of the situation, they have chosen not to take any action. It is advisable to avoid involvement in this club.

Interesting. By matter do you mean the club? How are their top teams doing this year with the switch to ECNL-R?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to understand why/how ECNL gave DCSC a RL "badge" and maybe the answer is they will take all regional comers. They just moved some of their younger Blue Teams to EDP this Spring. Most of their boys 2nd-3rd teams are in NCSL 4 and below. Their 08-09 etc teams are in NCSL low divisions. Is this a shiny objects thing? To be fair the girls are in higher NCSL divisions but still getting beat there and in low EDP divisions.

The Virginia RL league is run by VPSL and not by ECNL. So it has a lot of quirks. They don't follow the ECNL rule on non resubstitution within a half. The don't require you to field a team in all six age groups. I think DSCS did not field all six this last fall. VPSLK allows in way too may non-quality teams into the "RL". Also reason why Virginia RL only gets two spots in the RL playoffs and then has to have a min-playoff to determinee who gets them.