Talk to me about travel soccer like im stupid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far away do you actually travel for soccer in this area?

1 - 1.5 hours with traffic on average. Loudoun and Baltimore area teams are the outliers for major clubs. Sometimes keystone in PA. Now many dmv clubs 2nd teams are in NAL (league) with clubs such as pa classics, pda or fc delco so they have to travel to PA or NJ for an away game.

According to rankings, this area has the most dense population of nationally ranked teams with great competition. I would say more than 90 minutes isn't necessary unless you are mls next/ecnl level.

(This is for boys, I know ecnl girls travel to NC, etc but I'm not familiar.)

I should have clarified that 20-30 minutes was average. 1.5 hours was the maximum.

Lol. That’s cute that you all call that “travel”. We’re in Colorado. For non-ECNL/RL games we sometimes have to go from the front range to Grand Junction, Vail, Steamboat Springs or Laramie WY (I guess Wyoming isn’t big enough so they compete with Colorado). For RL, our region includes Utah and that’s a 9 hour drive in good weather but our games there are scheduled for January so we’re flying to avoid driving though winter storms. Our region for ECNL includes Texas and Oklahoma—up to 15 hours to drive but everyone usually flies.

Congrats on having to spend more time and money to travel greater distances because of a lack of local talent? 🤷‍♀️

Not a big difference between them and kids traveling to DE, NY, PA, NJ etc to play ECNL and NAL
Its unnecessary expenses and time and effort to travel to play competition that can easily be found in the DMV.

if you are a parent that grew up in the DMV, it used to be NCSL and WAGS. Then Virginia clubs started their own league and created the mess we are in. So blame Virginia, whether it's CCL or ECNL, they started leaving WAGS and NCSL to create a club v. club.

[Anonymous]

OP, I second the earlier suggestion about playing futsal in the winter. It's great for teaching foot skills, but your kid has to want to make an effort to work on those. At young ages, some of the fast and athletic kids simply rely on their natural abilities instead of honing soccer skills that will set them apart as they get older. Also, futsal is really fun and fast-paced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lower teams at the big clubs are basically expensive rec teams. They take everyone who tries out, and just make more teams.

I see this sentiment often, and it is inaccurate.

We have two kids playing for a big club (5 teams per age group), and every year, at most 60% of kids even make a team. I hate this, I wish more kids could make a team, but coaching and field space constrains it.

The third-fifth teamers are still absolute stand-outs in rec (which I also coach).

Whether or not you think the coaching is better, the competition definitely is, club soccer practices more, and gets better field space.

My former fifth team DD who now plays ECNL is happy she didn’t stick with rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far away do you actually travel for soccer in this area?

1 - 1.5 hours with traffic on average. Loudoun and Baltimore area teams are the outliers for major clubs. Sometimes keystone in PA. Now many dmv clubs 2nd teams are in NAL (league) with clubs such as pa classics, pda or fc delco so they have to travel to PA or NJ for an away game.

According to rankings, this area has the most dense population of nationally ranked teams with great competition. I would say more than 90 minutes isn't necessary unless you are mls next/ecnl level.

(This is for boys, I know ecnl girls travel to NC, etc but I'm not familiar.)

I should have clarified that 20-30 minutes was average. 1.5 hours was the maximum.

Lol. That’s cute that you all call that “travel”. We’re in Colorado. For non-ECNL/RL games we sometimes have to go from the front range to Grand Junction, Vail, Steamboat Springs or Laramie WY (I guess Wyoming isn’t big enough so they compete with Colorado). For RL, our region includes Utah and that’s a 9 hour drive in good weather but our games there are scheduled for January so we’re flying to avoid driving though winter storms. Our region for ECNL includes Texas and Oklahoma—up to 15 hours to drive but everyone usually flies.

Congrats on having to spend more time and money to travel greater distances because of a lack of local talent? 🤷‍♀️

Not a big difference between them and kids traveling to DE, NY, PA, NJ etc to play ECNL and NAL
Its unnecessary expenses and time and effort to travel to play competition that can easily be found in the DMV.

Np. You must not know the area well.

Fc delco PA 2h20m
Pa classics 2h
Sporting in DE 1h45m
Keystone in PA 1h20m

Not a big difference?

Not a big difference as in the same flawed philosophy.
Why drive 2hrs or almost 2hrs one-way to play against competition no different than many clubs locally?

The labels mean nothing at these levels. Hardly any separation between the decent teams in whatever league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far away do you actually travel for soccer in this area?

1 - 1.5 hours with traffic on average. Loudoun and Baltimore area teams are the outliers for major clubs. Sometimes keystone in PA. Now many dmv clubs 2nd teams are in NAL (league) with clubs such as pa classics, pda or fc delco so they have to travel to PA or NJ for an away game.

According to rankings, this area has the most dense population of nationally ranked teams with great competition. I would say more than 90 minutes isn't necessary unless you are mls next/ecnl level.

(This is for boys, I know ecnl girls travel to NC, etc but I'm not familiar.)

NAL must be one of the greatest middle fingers to parents yet.
But kudos to the clubs who know some parents fall for anything.

[SocAnon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lower teams at the big clubs are basically expensive rec teams. They take everyone who tries out, and just make more teams.

I see this sentiment often, and it is inaccurate.

We have two kids playing for a big club (5 teams per age group), and every year, at most 60% of kids even make a team. I hate this, I wish more kids could make a team, but coaching and field space constrains it.

The third-fifth teamers are still absolute stand-outs in rec (which I also coach).

Whether or not you think the coaching is better, the competition definitely is, club soccer practices more, and gets better field space.

My former fifth team DD who now plays ECNL is happy she didn’t stick with rec.

Thats great you daughter went from the 5th team to ECNL! Gives me some hope!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lower teams at the big clubs are basically expensive rec teams. They take everyone who tries out, and just make more teams.

I see this sentiment often, and it is inaccurate.

We have two kids playing for a big club (5 teams per age group), and every year, at most 60% of kids even make a team. I hate this, I wish more kids could make a team, but coaching and field space constrains it.

The third-fifth teamers are still absolute stand-outs in rec (which I also coach).

Whether or not you think the coaching is better, the competition definitely is, club soccer practices more, and gets better field space.

My former fifth team DD who now plays ECNL is happy she didn’t stick with rec.

It is definitely true for Valor. Their lower teams are worse than rec teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

DC United scouting department apparently does not share your sentiment about the quality of "small clubs".
Seen at several small clubs games this season.

[SocAnon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

DC United scouting department apparently does not share your sentiment about the quality of "small clubs".
Seen at several small clubs games this season.

You haven't seen my small club. Lots of individual coaches, all doing separate practices, club leadership not quality checking practices, but yet the club charges premium fees. Clinics are few and not very effective. However, I absolutely think there are some great small clubs.... just not in my neck of the woods.

[Anonymous]

SocAnon wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it common for a club to have two teams per age group? For example, two teams in U10 girls? Can anyone speak to the dynamics about this?

Also, if the club only has 1 or 2 teams per age group, this is considered a small club…. And growth a development might be limited if are serious about soccer. We are stuck in a small club now, our eyes are open to how bigger vs small clubs operate. We are crushed by the bigger clubs regularly. We are run over at all tournaments also. With more kids, it allows the club to pay for better coaching staff and run better clinics and eventually develop higher level teams in higher leagues that the small clubs won’t even compete in. (There may be exceptions.) I’m starting to develop the opinion that small clubs are like glorified Rec programs.

DC United scouting department apparently does not share your sentiment about the quality of "small clubs".
Seen at several small clubs games this season.

You haven't seen my small club. Lots of individual coaches, all doing separate practices, club leadership not quality checking practices, but yet the club charges premium fees. Clinics are few and not very effective. However, I absolutely think there are some great small clubs.... just not in my neck of the woods.

Not sure your personal gripe based on your narrow experience constitutes a legitimate argument for or against.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I just looked up that ECNL girls' "Texas" conference. Shouldn't calling a conference Texas mean it's only in Texas? Even that is a big geography.

Anyway, the Texas conference spans from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado. Houston to Denver. What in the world . . .

[Anonymous]

SocAnon wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lower teams at the big clubs are basically expensive rec teams. They take everyone who tries out, and just make more teams.

I see this sentiment often, and it is inaccurate.

We have two kids playing for a big club (5 teams per age group), and every year, at most 60% of kids even make a team. I hate this, I wish more kids could make a team, but coaching and field space constrains it.

The third-fifth teamers are still absolute stand-outs in rec (which I also coach).

Whether or not you think the coaching is better, the competition definitely is, club soccer practices more, and gets better field space.

My former fifth team DD who now plays ECNL is happy she didn’t stick with rec.

Thats great you daughter went from the 5th team to ECNL! Gives me some hope!

Excuses to validate your spending big bucks for a level-5 team