Soccer for 8yo girl in Bethesda. Can someone break it down for me?

[Anonymous]

I'm confused about soccer teams and leagues! My 8yo DD started playing soccer this year and loves it. She's on an MSI team and wants to keep playing. Her father wants her to be on a team/league with more rigor. I do not want her to be involved in something that requires driving all over to far-flung locations. We live in Bethesda. Can someone please explain the options to me? Thanks.

Signed,
Clueless

[Anonymous]

She can try out for MSI "select" in the summer before 4th grade I believe. It's more rigorous, but also not a travel team.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda Soccer Club is excellent for girls, but you will have to do some driving...most of the games are in a 45 minute radius or so.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if you're at the right age quite yet, but I suggest you look into one of the MSI classic academies: Brit Am or Champions United or PPA jump to mind. This is the middle ground - professionally coached, but not huge parent committment. Or if you want super competitive attitude, excellent professional coaching, but 40+ minutes to "home" games, ever changing practice times and fields, you can register for tryouts for Bethesda Soccer Club at U9 at a ticket price of over $2k for a year of U9. I'm not sure about Potomac's situation for home games and practices or coaches, but you would also have to register for try-outs. I don't think the Spirit are reaching down this young yet for their youth programs, but I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, if this is her first year of soccer I might wait another year to make sure her love of soccer is solidified and will stay. As a satisfied BSC-mom, I think it is still fairly intense at age 8. Kids who do not come in with an established love of the game can burn out. If she's going in to 3rd grade next year, I'd keep her in MSI rec for one more year. If she's going into 4th, MSI Classic is an option. Search thread in this forum on classic - finding the right classic team is a pain.

Another middle option that requires some detective work is to determine if there is a MSI rec team in your general area with "better" coaching that would be interested in adding a player. The rec teams are parent coached so the quality varies widely.

[Anonymous]

You're daughter is 8, so I think it depends on whether she is a '08 (summer/fall) birthday and will soon turn 9, or whether she is an '09 spring birthday. For the former, if you think she will want to jump to travel, do it now because she is a U10 in the fall, and she will fall behind the travel-coached kids. If the latter, you can take another year as the PP suggested.

[Anonymous]

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