Lots of underage girl 500s on Black. |
^Arl is notorious for fielding "too many" girls teams per age group. There have been several years where they were begging girls to play - dropping by the elementary schools during tryout weeks and such. So it doesn't surprise me. |
I am with BRYC... BRYC has started to bring over some of the rec-side ODSL teams to the travel side under their bridge program. Those NCSL and ODSL black teams on the girls' side that you're referring to would fall under the bridge program I would guess. Bridge teams usually have volunteer coaches, which is some of the teams have lower costs. There are bridge program teams on the boys' side as well (that's where I am). |
+1 Most Clubs will only take girls that our travel level and form fewer teams if the # of those aren't there. Arlington instead determines 6 teams and then fills them with anyone. These 1st graders (only 2nd next year) would be better off playing Rec with their teammates and maybe a day of Arl academy training. However, every Arlington resident just tries to keep up with the Joneses and word has gotten out in recent years that of you start them a full year early--you can get them into a higher team the following year when they drop back down. This is why 7year olds now do travel in this County. |
And why most of them have zero interest in soccer by middle school. 2nd graders need play and down time. |
Unfortunately no, its not good news. The best players get offers within 6-24 hours at most, starting after the very first try-out. The clubs want to lock those players down so they can't try out at other clubs. New kids on the cusp of making a team at all need to attend all the try-outs to get viewed as much as possible, and if the coaches get responses from the initial top set, it makes it easier to fill in the rest of the team following the 2nd and 3rd try-outs. Most kids who were on the team previously have already been basically placed by the first night of try-outs unless they are on the bubble between 2 teams, and strong players moving clubs usually get offers right away for top teams so they can get locked in. |
2nd grade was by far the most fun Rec year for my kids back in the day. $75 total (jersey included). They start sorting teams by record in 2nd. You have rival ( ![]() After practice, everyone ran to the playground. Many of my kids' friends from those days are on top tops all over the DMV now at 14/15 so it certainly didn't 'hinder' their development. In fact, looking at the recent burn outs around me, the kids that started later seem to be doing better now. I am so glad my kids didn't start when travel tryouts were happening in first and K and rec was still relevant. Now--few kids are left in the good 'ol rec leagues anymore so people feel forced into travel. |
^^ and dad coaches![]() |
Not necessarily. There were a handful of players on my son's U9 team that got cut after the tryout for U10. It depends on the turnout at tryouts. If your son is struggling on his current and a better player shows up at tryouts, why would the coach not cut the struggling player? |
No idea, but our club keeps sets of multiples on the same team. They don't have identical abilities. |
Went to SYC boys last night. Seemed like good turnout, but I am not clear on how many teams they are putting together. Definitely did not seem like enough kids to field 3 teams unless they take everyone. |
It depends on the club. To my knowledge, no one was cut in my son's age group from U9 to U12 at our smaller club (though there was a lot of turnover, people moving and going to different clubs). |
Depends. Some clubs don't require people to come to every tryout, so it wouldn't make much sense to offer someone an A-team slot after Day 1 when better players might come in for Day 2. At bigger clubs, they'll *usually* make a few offers right away. But not always. You can still get to the last tryout and make an A or B team. |
Let me guess, Arlington? |
+2 100% correct. Our tryout was full of very young? girls, some who had no business on travel (kindergarten/1G) Because 2010s are not allowed to play on silver or gold (due to some league rule), they put all the 2010s on higher teams this year |