Achilles

[Anonymous]

"new Achilles family" poster again. I appreciate everyone's comments in the thread and don't doubt that people have had negative experiences. But, I'd hate for someone thinking about joining club to close the book on it based on the comments here.

We joined the club in the middle of a pandemic, when the club did not have access to their normal home facilities. The club has scrambled to find practice space and we've still had three training sessions a week, a full slate of games (all on the road), and a tournament. I honestly don't know what more the staff could be expected to do under these most adverse conditions.

My son's team is made up of talented and dedicated kids who get along extremely well. The coaching has been enthusiastic and hands on.

Good lord, this sounds like an ad. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to try to balance out the comments that don't match our, albeit short, experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"new Achilles family" poster again. I appreciate everyone's comments in the thread and don't doubt that people have had negative experiences. But, I'd hate for someone thinking about joining club to close the book on it based on the comments here.

We joined the club in the middle of a pandemic, when the club did not have access to their normal home facilities. The club has scrambled to find practice space and we've still had three training sessions a week, a full slate of games (all on the road), and a tournament. I honestly don't know what more the staff could be expected to do under these most adverse conditions.

My son's team is made up of talented and dedicated kids who get along extremely well. The coaching has been enthusiastic and hands on.

Good lord, this sounds like an ad. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to try to balance out the comments that don't match our, albeit short, experience.

Like all clubs, give it a year or two. Everything mentioned will come to light. If Sal is coaching your DC, then I wish you all the best...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"new Achilles family" poster again. I appreciate everyone's comments in the thread and don't doubt that people have had negative experiences. But, I'd hate for someone thinking about joining club to close the book on it based on the comments here.

We joined the club in the middle of a pandemic, when the club did not have access to their normal home facilities. The club has scrambled to find practice space and we've still had three training sessions a week, a full slate of games (all on the road), and a tournament. I honestly don't know what more the staff could be expected to do under these most adverse conditions.

My son's team is made up of talented and dedicated kids who get along extremely well. The coaching has been enthusiastic and hands on.

Good lord, this sounds like an ad. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to try to balance out the comments that don't match our, albeit short, experience.

Like all clubs, give it a year or two. Everything mentioned will come to light. If Sal is coaching your DC, then I wish you all the best...

Like I said, I understand you had a bad experience, and I'm not discounting it. I just don't think anyone should assume it will definitely be their's or that things "will come to light." The majority of the players on our team have been there for one or two years. My son is one of only a few new players. So either their experience is improving, or has been good all along. Not everyone who made a different choice than you is wrong, ignorant, or ill-informed. Good luck with everything and your new situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"new Achilles family" poster again. I appreciate everyone's comments in the thread and don't doubt that people have had negative experiences. But, I'd hate for someone thinking about joining club to close the book on it based on the comments here.

We joined the club in the middle of a pandemic, when the club did not have access to their normal home facilities. The club has scrambled to find practice space and we've still had three training sessions a week, a full slate of games (all on the road), and a tournament. I honestly don't know what more the staff could be expected to do under these most adverse conditions.

My son's team is made up of talented and dedicated kids who get along extremely well. The coaching has been enthusiastic and hands on.

Good lord, this sounds like an ad. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to try to balance out the comments that don't match our, albeit short, experience.

Like all clubs, give it a year or two. Everything mentioned will come to light. If Sal is coaching your DC, then I wish you all the best...

Like I said, I understand you had a bad experience, and I'm not discounting it. I just don't think anyone should assume it will definitely be their's or that things "will come to light." The majority of the players on our team have been there for one or two years. My son is one of only a few new players. So either their experience is improving, or has been good all along. Not everyone who made a different choice than you is wrong, ignorant, or ill-informed. Good luck with everything and your new situation.

Thanks Sal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"new Achilles family" poster again. I appreciate everyone's comments in the thread and don't doubt that people have had negative experiences. But, I'd hate for someone thinking about joining club to close the book on it based on the comments here.

We joined the club in the middle of a pandemic, when the club did not have access to their normal home facilities. The club has scrambled to find practice space and we've still had three training sessions a week, a full slate of games (all on the road), and a tournament. I honestly don't know what more the staff could be expected to do under these most adverse conditions.

My son's team is made up of talented and dedicated kids who get along extremely well. The coaching has been enthusiastic and hands on.

Good lord, this sounds like an ad. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to try to balance out the comments that don't match our, albeit short, experience.

Like all clubs, give it a year or two. Everything mentioned will come to light. If Sal is coaching your DC, then I wish you all the best...

Like I said, I understand you had a bad experience, and I'm not discounting it. I just don't think anyone should assume it will definitely be their's or that things "will come to light." The majority of the players on our team have been there for one or two years. My son is one of only a few new players. So either their experience is improving, or has been good all along. Not everyone who made a different choice than you is wrong, ignorant, or ill-informed. Good luck with everything and your new situation.

Some parents don't have a problem with his behavior and the climate he creates. Those are the ones that have stayed. The ones, such as the boy who went all the way across the country to play in a tournament and not get any playing time, those will realize there are better places for your kid to play.

[Anonymous]

2+ years in and we're still fans of Achilles. My son is a good athlete (fast, aggressive, persistent) but I wouldn't consider him gifted. Yet the growth in his technical skills and soccer IQ has truly been impressive.

[Anonymous]

Our son is in his 4th year with Achilles and we love the club. As others have said, Achilles really does feel like a family. Practices are not broken out by "team" so the kids train with across various ages, and it's heartwarming to see how the older boys take the younger ones under their wings (and it's not uncommon for the kids to organize mixed-age pick-up games in their free time where 7 year olds are playing alongside 15 year olds... often times the parents join in the fun as well). I have always liked that the club is not focused on winning; it's focused on developing technical players and learning a particular style of play, and that may mean losing a lot in the short term, particularly as our teams are often younger and smaller than the team they are playing, but the coaches are equally proud of a lost game where the kids gave it their all and showed their skills, development, and teamwork. Just another voice to the "not for everyone but may be exactly the right fit for your family/kid" responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son is in his 4th year with Achilles and we love the club. As others have said, Achilles really does feel like a family. Practices are not broken out by "team" so the kids train with across various ages, and it's heartwarming to see how the older boys take the younger ones under their wings (and it's not uncommon for the kids to organize mixed-age pick-up games in their free time where 7 year olds are playing alongside 15 year olds... often times the parents join in the fun as well). I have always liked that the club is not focused on winning; it's focused on developing technical players and learning a particular style of play, and that may mean losing a lot in the short term, particularly as our teams are often younger and smaller than the team they are playing, but the coaches are equally proud of a lost game where the kids gave it their all and showed their skills, development, and teamwork. Just another voice to the "not for everyone but may be exactly the right fit for your family/kid" responses.

Great that you love the club and I think their approach is a good addition to the area. But, seriously, at least be honest--they grabbed the best kids from every other club for tournaments for one reason only. To win. Quick and dirty way to get the club on the map.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son is in his 4th year with Achilles and we love the club. As others have said, Achilles really does feel like a family. Practices are not broken out by "team" so the kids train with across various ages, and it's heartwarming to see how the older boys take the younger ones under their wings (and it's not uncommon for the kids to organize mixed-age pick-up games in their free time where 7 year olds are playing alongside 15 year olds... often times the parents join in the fun as well). I have always liked that the club is not focused on winning; it's focused on developing technical players and learning a particular style of play, and that may mean losing a lot in the short term, particularly as our teams are often younger and smaller than the team they are playing, but the coaches are equally proud of a lost game where the kids gave it their all and showed their skills, development, and teamwork. Just another voice to the "not for everyone but may be exactly the right fit for your family/kid" responses.

If that was the case they wouldn't bench the inhouse players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son is in his 4th year with Achilles and we love the club. As others have said, Achilles really does feel like a family. Practices are not broken out by "team" so the kids train with across various ages, and it's heartwarming to see how the older boys take the younger ones under their wings (and it's not uncommon for the kids to organize mixed-age pick-up games in their free time where 7 year olds are playing alongside 15 year olds... often times the parents join in the fun as well). I have always liked that the club is not focused on winning; it's focused on developing technical players and learning a particular style of play, and that may mean losing a lot in the short term, particularly as our teams are often younger and smaller than the team they are playing, but the coaches are equally proud of a lost game where the kids gave it their all and showed their skills, development, and teamwork. Just another voice to the "not for everyone but may be exactly the right fit for your family/kid" responses.

Come on Sal, this was a bit much.

[Anonymous]

There is NO negative commentary about any other coach for any other club DS has for played on this site. That says a lot about how many players/families have been so disgusted not only by his personality and low-level comments but by the lack of delivery on what is offered to players -- x number of tournaments and consistent coaching, that they are willing to offer their experience. Any coach can round up top players, stack teams to win (yes, it is about winning to Sal) that's easy and doesn't really require that much effort. Touting the emphasis on the serious, elite player seems to be the new strategy for Achilles to survive after so many said, "No thank you." As a PP commented, DS also got the 'special' follow-up offer to play up, which I liken to those received from the car dealer, and found laughable. It's the coaches that have integrity, respect for all players and actually work to develop skills of players with potential, in addition to having soccer knowledge and experience who are the greats and whose shadow we'd like to be cast on our son.

[Anonymous]

For the 2007 age group...does Sal coach the A and the B team? How is the A team SOOOOO much stronger than the B team? Do they train together?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the 2007 age group...does Sal coach the A and the B team? How is the A team SOOOOO much stronger than the B team? Do they train together?

Not sure about training, but the A team has players that used to play for DC united. They also picked up several players from Cerritos. If you're looking to play the age group look around at multiple clubs in the area.

[Anonymous]

Not sure who is coaching 2007, but I would put money on the A team getting most if not all of Sal's attention. The 2007B team is probably in existence because they were willing to give him their money. They have lost a LOT of players in other age groups.

[Anonymous]

Our son has played for Sal for 2 years now. Previously played at DC United and left DCU to play for Sal. What we found is that Bethesda, Potomac, Pipeline, and every other club in the play the same style of soccer. Kick the ball far upfield and see who runs faster. Talk about a money grab!

Sal and Vinny are awesome coaches, training is intense and they have a great 07 team. Not sure why all the complaints, but hey you can't please everyone. I recommend to anyone who loves soccer and wants to see your child progress in possession based soccer. Hope this helps and open to any questions or comments!