Travel-Type Soccer Teams - DC Area

[Anonymous]

Would love to get some opinions on soccer clubs in the DC area. My son works with someone who is a very good trainer, but not a great coach. I am looking for him to get some other games in, which involve great coaching. They don't have to even be super competitive--just very educational/fun.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Age? Neighborhood? How far are you willing to drive for practices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Age? Neighborhood? How far are you willing to drive for practices?

We live in NW DC - Cleveland Park and would love to be as close as possible. We did a program in Montgomery County, but with traffic, the # of practices and increasing homework it got really difficult. In terms of ages, 10-14 would be ideal. Thanks for any ideas.

[Anonymous]

Look into www.salsoccer.com Team is Achilles but they do summer and winter training sessions too at St Johns College HS in NW. Best coaching around according to quite a few people who know a lot about coaching.

[Anonymous]

Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

Yup, everything you said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

Yup, everything you said.

Sounds like they can't make the tough decisions that in the long run will help make the players first, teams next, and then club better. I would hate to pay money to such a club and this is another part of the reason why our youth soccer system struggles to develop players for the older ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

Yup, everything you said.

Sounds like they can't make the tough decisions that in the long run will help make the players first, teams next, and then club better. I would hate to pay money to such a club and this is another part of the reason why our youth soccer system struggles to develop players for the older ages.

I don't know. I don't believe a kid should be forever guaranteed a spot on a top team, but I would hate to pay money to a club that shows no loyalty to kids that it has trained for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

No, players do move around. And players who aren't doing well are moved down, which sometimes effectively gets rid of them because they don't like the results. A player who doesn't put in the effort should not expect to stay. And of course some teams have lots of skilled players but just can't get it together as a team. It's not always easy to solve that problem.

That said, there are plenty of clubs around here happy to toss out current players to chase after the shiny new kid. Sounds like there's a market for it, which is fine. Clearly there's more than one possible philosophy re how to develop your skills of your players and the strength of your club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stoddert is the biggest travel program in DC, and most of the kids live in NW. Practice locations are across the city, mostly in NW but not necessarily close to where you are. It can be hard to break into Stoddert boys' travel after U9/U10, but it's worth a try.

There are a number of smaller clubs now, including PPA. Might want to look into those as alternatives. Not sure of exactly the commitment you're looking for, but I've heard that PPA is much more flexible regarding the number of practices attended, etc.

Why would they be hard to make after U10? Looking at CCL standings at U12 top team is ok, second not so much and NCSL team is D6. Are you saying that because teams are maxed out? I'm sure if they are not, any talented player should be able to make it.

That's the reality. Few new kids get in.

Reality, but why? Do they not want to hurt parents feelings that have kissed up to coaches in prior year? Do they guarantee that once you're on a team you don't get moved? Why? What is it that makes it hard for a player not be able to get in? Are the players really good but just can't win games as a team? Hope for the future? They don't want to break the friendship between player A & B? Why? What's the points of having tryouts if you are not really looking to add to what you already have? Why can't they get in?

No, players do move around. And players who aren't doing well are moved down, which sometimes effectively gets rid of them because they don't like the results. A player who doesn't put in the effort should not expect to stay. And of course some teams have lots of skilled players but just can't get it together as a team. It's not always easy to solve that problem.

That said, there are plenty of clubs around here happy to toss out current players to chase after the shiny new kid. Sounds like there's a market for it, which is fine. Clearly there's more than one possible philosophy re how to develop your skills of your players and the strength of your club.

No one is saying to toss anyone for the shiny new kid but not being able to make a spot for one player also does not make much sense. Especially if he was to come in and deserve a spot on a top team. Based on what you said there is most likely space for 1 or 2 new players if those being moved down and eventually leaving are no longer taking a roster spot.

[Anonymous]

I had heard the same thing. I think that there are a number of kids with Bethesda who would love to move to Stoddert in DC, but seems like you need an in to get noticed at the tryouts because they are inundated at those sessions and most kids who are there stay put.

Any thoughts on Washington Soccer Club or Capital FC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had heard the same thing. I think that there are a number of kids with Bethesda who would love to move to Stoddert in DC, but seems like you need an in to get noticed at the tryouts because they are inundated at those sessions and most kids who are there stay put.

Any thoughts on Washington Soccer Club or Capital FC?

Why would kids playing for Bethesda want to move to Stoddert? Just to be closer to practice fields?