Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

My daughter plays ECNL. She has never watched one of her games on film. Next year she will be DA. She will watch every single game. She will be required to critique herself and be held accountable for the decesions she makes during the games. She will also be shown a better alternative.

That's development

She will be given a personal development plan

That's development

She will also have a trainer and fitness instructor

That's development

ECNL did none of that

Don't blame ECNL, blame the club for not doing any of that. Our club does much of that already.

Not blaming ECNL...it was/is a good competition platform. BUT, they don't have standards for training. The clubs are in charge. With the DA, they must meet a standard. That's why I believe the developmental platform will be better. However, I do have some issues with the DA as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Are you saying these VDA coaches are worthless, running a worthless program?

Academy Director: Mike Cullina
Coaching Director: Matt Lacey
Player Development: Oscar Feliu
Talent Identification: Quan Phan
Goalkeeper Coach: Lloyd Yaxley
Goalkeeper Coach: Dustin Butcher

I will say this. They stayed loyal to their base of kids. Their DA teams are almost entirely from their Alliance clubs. None of which are high level...but at least they stayed loyal. Gotta respect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Are you saying these VDA coaches are worthless, running a worthless program?

Academy Director: Mike Cullina
Coaching Director: Matt Lacey
Player Development: Oscar Feliu
Talent Identification: Quan Phan
Goalkeeper Coach: Lloyd Yaxley
Goalkeeper Coach: Dustin Butcher

I will say this. They stayed loyal to their base of kids. Their DA teams are almost entirely from their Alliance clubs. None of which are high level...but at least they stayed loyal. Gotta respect that.

And by what standard is VDA being judged as sub-par as compared to the other DAs? What is the desired outcome of playing DA? That you are signed as a National Team pro at age 16, and if that doesn't happen for every player then the program is crap and the parents were hornswoggled into paying $$$$ for nothing? Because it's GoPro or nothing? Is that it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Are you saying these VDA coaches are worthless, running a worthless program?

Academy Director: Mike Cullina
Coaching Director: Matt Lacey
Player Development: Oscar Feliu
Talent Identification: Quan Phan
Goalkeeper Coach: Lloyd Yaxley
Goalkeeper Coach: Dustin Butcher

I will say this. They stayed loyal to their base of kids. Their DA teams are almost entirely from their Alliance clubs. None of which are high level...but at least they stayed loyal. Gotta respect that.

And by what standard is VDA being judged as sub-par as compared to the other DAs? What is the desired outcome of playing DA? That you are signed as a National Team pro at age 16, and if that doesn't happen for every player then the program is crap and the parents were hornswoggled into paying $$$$ for nothing? Because it's GoPro or nothing? Is that it?

Because PWSI-VSA girls barely hang on now in VPL. That's their track record. What happens when they face Tophat, Surf, PDA, ETC. Some of you are not grasping the level of competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Are you saying these VDA coaches are worthless, running a worthless program?

Academy Director: Mike Cullina
Coaching Director: Matt Lacey
Player Development: Oscar Feliu
Talent Identification: Quan Phan
Goalkeeper Coach: Lloyd Yaxley
Goalkeeper Coach: Dustin Butcher

Washington Spirit Development Academy’s Virginia Staff (So Far)
U-18/19 Head Caoch – George Hales
U-16/17 Head Coach – Tom Torres
U-15 Head Coach – Gary Malebranche
U-14 Head Coach – Tom Torres
Strength and Conditioning Director / Assistant Coach – Lori Lindsey
Assistant Coach – Kayley Sullivan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Club DAs have Club coaches. The DA coaches at our club used to coach the A teams. They get middling reviews from all the clubs they've worked for in the past. Not sure what people think will be different. And when almost every medium-big size in the area has a Club which is happening it certainly isn't the pathway to mls DA.

The Race to Nowhere. Soccer edition.

FCV and Spirit have strong coaching resumes. More than just "club coaches". VDA? I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Are you saying these VDA coaches are worthless, running a worthless program?

Academy Director: Mike Cullina
Coaching Director: Matt Lacey
Player Development: Oscar Feliu
Talent Identification: Quan Phan
Goalkeeper Coach: Lloyd Yaxley
Goalkeeper Coach: Dustin Butcher

On that list is one GDA Head Coach.

[Anonymous]

Yaxley is gone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yaxley is gone

Yep -- went to the Orlando Pride to be reunited with Ashlyn Harris.

[Anonymous]

WS taking basically anyone now for summer superY .... got an email solicitation that no need to tryout anymore .... desperate to fill rosters with paying customers?

"We are accepting all qualifying players without a need to tryout. "Qualifying" players are those who have at least 1 year experience playing on a travel team in one of the following leagues or competitions: ECNL, CCL, NPL, Region I, NCSL D1 or D2. Other qualifying play would be to have made an ODP roster via tryouts in the past year, to have finished in the top 8 in the most recent State Cup or in the top 2 of the most recent State Presidents Cup."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these Club DAs mean nothing. They aren't MLS-clubs (not that I think those are the way to go)...they are your typical travel soccer club. They just found a way to give more parents the feeling their kid is truly 'elite' and will pay $. Now you have an "A" team and a "DA" team in these Clubs so now you have more happy parents that puff their chests out and act like their kid has really made it to the big times.

I can't even count on one hand the number of people that truly know how to train and develop players in this area...and they ain't affiliated with any of this sh*t.

You people worry about the wrong things. All this team-centric nonsense in the younger ages is stupid. A player needs to develop and perfect their technique (highly perfect their technique) and they need to take risks, be challenged and not have their creativity squashed. That doesn't happen in Club DA or travel DA. The system doesn't work. What have the past decades upon decades told you about this model?

And, no Pulisic, wasn't a product of this. Bob Lilly and his parents protected him from having his game changed. They didn't want his creativity stifled and they wanted him to take on bigger, faster kids in older age groups without changing his game or playing 'somebody's" way.

Are you one of the 4-5 people in this area who truly know how to train and develop players? Where can we find you or one of your brethren if so?

Well actually he said he couldn' t count them on one hand so there are apparently zero qualified coaches in the area. I stopped reading the post there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WS taking basically anyone now for summer superY .... got an email solicitation that no need to tryout anymore .... desperate to fill rosters with paying customers?

"We are accepting all qualifying players without a need to tryout. "Qualifying" players are those who have at least 1 year experience playing on a travel team in one of the following leagues or competitions: ECNL, CCL, NPL, Region I, NCSL D1 or D2. Other qualifying play would be to have made an ODP roster via tryouts in the past year, to have finished in the top 8 in the most recent State Cup or in the top 2 of the most recent State Presidents Cup."

You are associated with WS... that's why you got the email. You tell us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these Club DAs mean nothing. They aren't MLS-clubs (not that I think those are the way to go)...they are your typical travel soccer club. They just found a way to give more parents the feeling their kid is truly 'elite' and will pay $. Now you have an "A" team and a "DA" team in these Clubs so now you have more happy parents that puff their chests out and act like their kid has really made it to the big times.

I can't even count on one hand the number of people that truly know how to train and develop players in this area...and they ain't affiliated with any of this sh*t.

You people worry about the wrong things. All this team-centric nonsense in the younger ages is stupid. A player needs to develop and perfect their technique (highly perfect their technique) and they need to take risks, be challenged and not have their creativity squashed. That doesn't happen in Club DA or travel DA. The system doesn't work. What have the past decades upon decades told you about this model?

And, no Pulisic, wasn't a product of this. Bob Lilly and his parents protected him from having his game changed. They didn't want his creativity stifled and they wanted him to take on bigger, faster kids in older age groups without changing his game or playing 'somebody's" way.

Are you one of the 4-5 people in this area who truly know how to train and develop players? Where can we find you or one of your brethren if so?

Well actually he said he couldn' t count them on one hand so there are apparently zero qualified coaches in the area. I stopped reading the post there.

I think they actually have a point--even if the delivery was bad. Over the past 30 some years that since I started playing, and then coaching, in this area--the number of leagues and clubs has exploded. It has caused a serious dilution in the talent pool. The talent pool is spread so thin at this point. It has allowed for people to take advantage of parents that don't know much about the sport or the scene and fooled by people that don't have their player's development in mind or truly care about helping them reach their best.

All of these announcements that are "coming soon...big news" are just a battle for one Club to try to draw the areas players over----then the Club that is one-step behind has to announce or create something that sounds even better. In a type-A area where parents really only care about what they can tell other parents about who their kid is playing for and how that reflects on them and their gene pool.

If the same players are being spread all over the place---how good is anything? When Clubs can't fill teams, nobody is doing Super Y anymore and we solely care about winning titles---and picking players that might fit a cog in a wheel---how is that developing the whole player?

We also have a system where all age groups practice at different places and times. Some kids only ever practice against kids on teams below them. Some kids are only in leagues with unmatched talent.

Nobody is going pro and very few area getting college scholarships worth anything. Everyone is just wasting a ton of $ and creating worse traffic all over the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Most popular 3 words used by clubs in last two months: "Town Hall Meeting" lol. It's trending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these Club DAs mean nothing. They aren't MLS-clubs (not that I think those are the way to go)...they are your typical travel soccer club. They just found a way to give more parents the feeling their kid is truly 'elite' and will pay $. Now you have an "A" team and a "DA" team in these Clubs so now you have more happy parents that puff their chests out and act like their kid has really made it to the big times.

I can't even count on one hand the number of people that truly know how to train and develop players in this area...and they ain't affiliated with any of this sh*t.

You people worry about the wrong things. All this team-centric nonsense in the younger ages is stupid. A player needs to develop and perfect their technique (highly perfect their technique) and they need to take risks, be challenged and not have their creativity squashed. That doesn't happen in Club DA or travel DA. The system doesn't work. What have the past decades upon decades told you about this model?

And, no Pulisic, wasn't a product of this. Bob Lilly and his parents protected him from having his game changed. They didn't want his creativity stifled and they wanted him to take on bigger, faster kids in older age groups without changing his game or playing 'somebody's" way.

Are you one of the 4-5 people in this area who truly know how to train and develop players? Where can we find you or one of your brethren if so?

Well actually he said he couldn' t count them on one hand so there are apparently zero qualified coaches in the area. I stopped reading the post there.

I think they actually have a point--even if the delivery was bad. Over the past 30 some years that since I started playing, and then coaching, in this area--the number of leagues and clubs has exploded. It has caused a serious dilution in the talent pool. The talent pool is spread so thin at this point. It has allowed for people to take advantage of parents that don't know much about the sport or the scene and fooled by people that don't have their player's development in mind or truly care about helping them reach their best.

All of these announcements that are "coming soon...big news" are just a battle for one Club to try to draw the areas players over----then the Club that is one-step behind has to announce or create something that sounds even better. In a type-A area where parents really only care about what they can tell other parents about who their kid is playing for and how that reflects on them and their gene pool.

If the same players are being spread all over the place---how good is anything? When Clubs can't fill teams, nobody is doing Super Y anymore and we solely care about winning titles---and picking players that might fit a cog in a wheel---how is that developing the whole player?

We also have a system where all age groups practice at different places and times. Some kids only ever practice against kids on teams below them. Some kids are only in leagues with unmatched talent.

Nobody is going pro and very few area getting college scholarships worth anything. Everyone is just wasting a ton of $ and creating worse traffic all over the DMV.

That's a very big problem where the competition across leagues is diluted. One of the issues is entry access. They try to be exclusive. Even NCSL who is falling behind puts difficult entry requirements for small clubs where they end up having to compete in lower level leagues where they don't have competition. This topic has been discussed many times it needs to be brought up again. Many of those clubs are from the latino communities who can't afford to play the big travel fee at higher clubs and because those clubs don't get in, the leagues miss out on very good talent and it makes the growth or survival of these clubs difficult.

[Anonymous]

Our child wanted to do Spirit Super Y this year, went to one try-out and never heard from them, and couldn't make the next couple dates due to vacation, tournament, etc. So in April we sent an email to another club's coach, practiced once with their team's regular season team, and were immediately offered a Super Y team spot there. Not a big deal, its only the summer.

Now - Spirit says they would accept child without even a try-out? Thanks Spirit Super Y, you seem so well organized that you couldn't even get back to us and child would easily qualify for your no-try-out rule.