Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny. My son's VYS team is playing and beating those boys now in high school. It varies by age, so let your son play where he is most comfortable. The super-talented ones will be recruited by more competitive clubs, some who are bright lights from U-9 to U12 will return to Vienna from lofty perches or be burnt out and no longer playing soccer. Another group will club-shop for years and still end up at the same place as kids who stayed local from U-8. Most will be lucky to play for their high school.

Please tell more, as all of BRYC's A teams and most of McLean's A teams are in different (and better) leagues than the VYS boys. I did see where earlier this season, VYS' U15 A team beat BRYC's B team; is that what you're referring to, because if so, you're really missing the point.

[Anonymous]

I feel so sorry for these kids.

So much pressure from the parents. I can see the emotional investment. I bet these "elite" kids will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon before they can legally drink.

So much vicarious living going on. I see it here and I see it on the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel so sorry for these kids.

So much pressure from the parents. I can see the emotional investment. I bet these "elite" kids will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon before they can legally drink.

So much vicarious living going on. I see it here and I see it on the field.

Agreed. I watched freaked out parents over 8-year olds last night.

They are EIGHT. Travel soccer is not the end of the world and burn out factor is high.

Do you want to have every 3-day weekend in 3rd grade taken up by 4+ tournament soccer games? This early ??

What are your ultimate goals ?

[Anonymous]

My child truly loves the game. I enjoy watching her develop a passion for a game that keeps her physically fit, develops her confidence, and puts her in the company of other really great girls who share this passion. She is learning about discipline and commitment, and that results come from working hard. Travel soccer is a major commitment for the whole family but it's not always fueled by parents' bad intentions. The second my child doesn't want to be there it stops. As long as she enjoys it, and her grades and health don't suffer, I happily support her involvement in travel soccer. We're not all crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child truly loves the game. I enjoy watching her develop a passion for a game that keeps her physically fit, develops her confidence, and puts her in the company of other really great girls who share this passion. She is learning about discipline and commitment, and that results come from working hard. Travel soccer is a major commitment for the whole family but it's not always fueled by parents' bad intentions. The second my child doesn't want to be there it stops. As long as she enjoys it, and her grades and health don't suffer, I happily support her involvement in travel soccer. We're not all crazy.

I have both genders playing. The boy has so many more crazies on the sidelines of the games than the girl.

Dads living vicariously through their sons. There were also many, many more kids trying out than in our girl group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel so sorry for these kids.

So much pressure from the parents. I can see the emotional investment. I bet these "elite" kids will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon before they can legally drink.

So much vicarious living going on. I see it here and I see it on the field.

not if their coach focuses on conditioning just as mich as they do the game. Our coach does 50/50 with the kids. at first a lot fo the parents were like WTH, this is soccer, they need to practice the skills but then they saw the results, less injuries, in better shape, and thier skills improved by using the proper tecniques.

a differnet approach that we lke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child truly loves the game. I enjoy watching her develop a passion for a game that keeps her physically fit, develops her confidence, and puts her in the company of other really great girls who share this passion. She is learning about discipline and commitment, and that results come from working hard. Travel soccer is a major commitment for the whole family but it's not always fueled by parents' bad intentions. The second my child doesn't want to be there it stops. As long as she enjoys it, and her grades and health don't suffer, I happily support her involvement in travel soccer. We're not all crazy.

I have both genders playing. The boy has so many more crazies on the sidelines of the games than the girl.

Dads living vicariously through their sons. There were also many, many more kids trying out than in our girl group.

Based on our many years of boy and girl travel soccer experience, I think the dynamic you are seeing is just a quirk of your kids' particular teams. We have seen no difference in the level of craziness between boy and girl team parents, and definitely do not think dads are the only culprits. There are lots of yelling-prone moms as well. Regardless of the kids' gender, for some reason New York teams always have seem to have the loudest, most obnoxius parents.

I don't always think that the bad sideline behavior comes from living vicariously through kids. Often I think the parents are just really into sports and competition and treat the games like they would a game they were watching on TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child truly loves the game. I enjoy watching her develop a passion for a game that keeps her physically fit, develops her confidence, and puts her in the company of other really great girls who share this passion. She is learning about discipline and commitment, and that results come from working hard. Travel soccer is a major commitment for the whole family but it's not always fueled by parents' bad intentions. The second my child doesn't want to be there it stops. As long as she enjoys it, and her grades and health don't suffer, I happily support her involvement in travel soccer. We're not all crazy.

I have both genders playing. The boy has so many more crazies on the sidelines of the games than the girl.

Dads living vicariously through their sons. There were also many, many more kids trying out than in our girl group.

Based on our many years of boy and girl travel soccer experience, I think the dynamic you are seeing is just a quirk of your kids' particular teams. We have seen no difference in the level of craziness between boy and girl team parents, and definitely do not think dads are the only culprits. There are lots of yelling-prone moms as well. Regardless of the kids' gender, for some reason New York teams always have seem to have the loudest, most obnoxius parents.

I don't always think that the bad sideline behavior comes from living vicariously through kids. Often I think the parents are just really into sports and competition and treat the games like they would a game they were watching on TV.

HA!!! I have flashbacks of traveling to tournaments to Massapequa, NY in the 80s. This is back when kids stayed with host families in the hometown for the weekend. Dads in wife-beaters getting red cards and screaming from the sidelines. The girls were 'old' for their years---smoking, tied up shirts, etc...It was like Meadow and Hunter's soccer game on the Sopranos. We did kick their ass though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel so sorry for these kids.

So much pressure from the parents. I can see the emotional investment. I bet these "elite" kids will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon before they can legally drink.

So much vicarious living going on. I see it here and I see it on the field.

Agreed. I watched freaked out parents over 8-year olds last night.

They are EIGHT. Travel soccer is not the end of the world and burn out factor is high.

Do you want to have every 3-day weekend in 3rd grade taken up by 4+ tournament soccer games? This early ??

What are your ultimate goals ?

Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel so sorry for these kids.

So much pressure from the parents. I can see the emotional investment. I bet these "elite" kids will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon before they can legally drink.

So much vicarious living going on. I see it here and I see it on the field.

Agreed. I watched freaked out parents over 8-year olds last night.

They are EIGHT. Travel soccer is not the end of the world and burn out factor is high.

Do you want to have every 3-day weekend in 3rd grade taken up by 4+ tournament soccer games? This early ??

What are your ultimate goals ?

Arlington?

Waiting to hear....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny. My son's VYS team is playing and beating those boys now in high school. It varies by age, so let your son play where he is most comfortable. The super-talented ones will be recruited by more competitive clubs, some who are bright lights from U-9 to U12 will return to Vienna from lofty perches or be burnt out and no longer playing soccer. Another group will club-shop for years and still end up at the same place as kids who stayed local from U-8. Most will be lucky to play for their high school.

Please tell more, as all of BRYC's A teams and most of McLean's A teams are in different (and better) leagues than the VYS boys. I did see where earlier this season, VYS' U15 A team beat BRYC's B team; is that what you're referring to, because if so, you're really missing the point.

What would the "point" be? Judging your soccer experience by whether you beat BRYC's A team? Playing in Club Champions League, which touts the idea of seeing your kids grow up through the age groups within the club but in reality recruits players (if not entire teams) to replace your kids at the older age groups?

I think the VYS poster's point is that club-shopping tends to get silly. Yay -- now I can say my kid plays at McLean. Of course, we're on the C team, getting the dregs of the staff's attention, while his buddies are thriving on Vienna's A team, but ... but ... we're at McLean!

Vienna had a team in the regional Colonial League, and it has sent players directly to D.C. United's Academy. And this is before seeing the fruits of a recent emphasis on development at the younger ages. You probably won't see Vienna playing for national titles any time soon, but unless your kid is Andy Najar, there's no reason to turn up your nose at it.

[Anonymous]

Wanted to ask something about tryouts (which we're not supposed to do before age 12, but that's the reality) -- what's a typical ratio of players to available spaces? Vienna had about 130 (for 44 spaces) last year. This year, it's a cozy 90. I don't think that's a sign of dissatisfaction -- I think more families this year have a healthy dose of reality.

So is that typical elsewhere?

[Anonymous]

There are always fewer kids after the first year. Not clear that fewer kids means fewer good kids. When my son made a team at 9 (he did not make the cut at 8) only a handful of new faces made it across all the club's teams.

This can all be a lot of fun. Just be sure to keep your perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are always fewer kids after the first year. Not clear that fewer kids means fewer good kids. When my son made a team at 9 (he did not make the cut at 8) only a handful of new faces made it across all the club's teams.

I was actually referring to the same age group -- rising U9 last year, rising U9 this year.

I was wondering if those numbers are typical -- 90-130 people trying out for 44 slots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are always fewer kids after the first year. Not clear that fewer kids means fewer good kids. When my son made a team at 9 (he did not make the cut at 8) only a handful of new faces made it across all the club's teams.

I was actually referring to the same age group -- rising U9 last year, rising U9 this year.

I was wondering if those numbers are typical -- 90-130 people trying out for 44 slots.

Depends on the club.