VYS Soccer - better or worse?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don't have a kid at VYS any more but given their decision to not implement the new birth year mandates in rec, their decision makes sense. For the person who asked how competitive a rec tournament is, you obviously have never been to one. Many clubs do have tryouts early in the season and then have practices for those select teams in order to "win" an All-Star tourney. VYS has traditionally only selected their all-star teams near the end of the house season and then only had a few practices with those teams before the tourney. This approach always struck me as the right way to do an "All-Star" tournament but since other clubs place more emphasis on winning, VYS' approach has resulted in VYS teams being disadvantaged. That approach in combination with the birth year decision makes the decision to skip the tournament at the younger age group imminently reasonable.

Of course kids would like to win, and it will be as competitive as a rec tournament can be, but the bigger point is that being selected for and playing in it is what matters most to the kids. It is a reward for working and playing hard. To take that away because some dolt is afraid they won't be "competitive" is missing the point of the tournament.

Rumor is that VYS is having their own internal All-star tournament.
Which will probably work better.

Why would it be better? The kids might like to play against other teams.

My own kid played in this tournament. They didn't win but they had a blast. It gives kids a taste of a tournament environment versus a club based "festival". I don't get why you feel hiding the kids from this is better for them. It is just a day event after all.

It is actually a weekend thing. But that is neither here nor there.
VYS was stuck between a rock and hard place. Send their younger teams of U8 house players against U9 experienced players and get blown out. Then they have to deal with the parents about how horrible VYS is or they try to isolate the teams and fix it for the future. Really, VYS is still feeling the "Gunney effect".

You select kids based on the birth year mandate. You are not sending 6 year olds to the slaughter. This isn't that hard. It would take some explaining, and perhaps some kids would miss a age cutoff but they could still tryout and if good enough could be selected as a playup.

I think what is really going on here is that VYS might have a little bit of "every kid gets a trophy" and they would rather have a feel good festival that all the kids can play in. Not sure why both can't happen but worrying about kids losing in a competitive environment I think tells people all they need to know about VYS.

You make valid points but it didn't work out that way this year. I'm sure they are working to fix it just like they did with "Friday night lights".
Obviously, you have axe to grind with that little dig at the end.

Um the title of the thread "VYS Soccer - better or worse". Dumb things like this tell me worse.

I've never had a kid in VYS, ever. I don't live close enough for it to even be an option. Literally I could give two craps. I happen to think, based on the theme of the thread, that dumb things like not playing in a rec all star tournament make for an experience that is not as good as it could be.

"Literally I could give two craps."

Yet, you post.

[Anonymous]

That one VYS troll escaped from his "Silence of the Lambs" face cage again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That one VYS troll escaped from his "Silence of the Lambs" face cage again

+1000

[Anonymous]

Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

How would it be an administrative nightmare? You have your coaches in each rec division select the players that have performed well over the course of the season (on their own team or teams they play against), then throw them all on a spreadsheet and sort by birth year. Figure out if you have the right number of kids per birth year for the number of teams you want to send, and add or subtract as needed. Seems easy enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

How would it be an administrative nightmare? You have your coaches in each rec division select the players that have performed well over the course of the season (on their own team or teams they play against), then throw them all on a spreadsheet and sort by birth year. Figure out if you have the right number of kids per birth year for the number of teams you want to send, and add or subtract as needed. Seems easy enough.

How do you fit the 2008's that played house U8 into the U9 All-star team? Obviously, they didn't play each other. How do you compare players that just missed the all-star cut in house U9 against a U8 2008 player that did??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

How would it be an administrative nightmare? You have your coaches in each rec division select the players that have performed well over the course of the season (on their own team or teams they play against), then throw them all on a spreadsheet and sort by birth year. Figure out if you have the right number of kids per birth year for the number of teams you want to send, and add or subtract as needed. Seems easy enough.

How do you fit the 2008's that played house U8 into the U9 All-star team? Obviously, they didn't play each other. How do you compare players that just missed the all-star cut in house U9 against a U8 2008 player that did??

Have your U8 coaches nominate their best players, just like the U9 coaches. Then have all the nominated players come together for a couple training sessions/scrimmages to see how they stack up against each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

How would it be an administrative nightmare? You have your coaches in each rec division select the players that have performed well over the course of the season (on their own team or teams they play against), then throw them all on a spreadsheet and sort by birth year. Figure out if you have the right number of kids per birth year for the number of teams you want to send, and add or subtract as needed. Seems easy enough.

How do you fit the 2008's that played house U8 into the U9 All-star team? Obviously, they didn't play each other. How do you compare players that just missed the all-star cut in house U9 against a U8 2008 player that did??

Have your U8 coaches nominate their best players, just like the U9 coaches. Then have all the nominated players come together for a couple training sessions/scrimmages to see how they stack up against each other.

Field space is already an issue. "Try-outs" will just make it worse. Then you have the selection process, which will add another few days.
There might be some standouts from the 2008 U8s but they will be at a severe disadvantage with difference in field space and keepers. Not sure some parents would appreciate that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's examine the VYS options and the reactions to each one on this thread:

1. VYS skips the tournament rather than try to piece together All-Stars by birth year. "Oh, look at stupid VYS, skipping the All-Star tournament. Everyone should go elsewhere."

2. VYS puts together All-Stars by birth year (an administrative nightmare given the lack of tryouts). "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. No cohesion whatsoever, they looked clueless in the five minutes I saw, and they got blown out. Everyone should go elsewhere."

3. VYS puts together All-Stars by where they stand in VYS age groups, which would mean a lot of kids playing up. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. Their All-Star teams stunk. Just couldn't keep up with the speed of play. Everyone should go elsewhere."

4. VYS starts a wildly successful All-Star tournament for the area clubs that did not go to birth-year age groups for rec leagues. "Oh, look at stupid VYS. All they care about is money. Everyone should go elsewhere."

We miss you too, coach. Hope your new club is treating you well.

How would it be an administrative nightmare? You have your coaches in each rec division select the players that have performed well over the course of the season (on their own team or teams they play against), then throw them all on a spreadsheet and sort by birth year. Figure out if you have the right number of kids per birth year for the number of teams you want to send, and add or subtract as needed. Seems easy enough.

How do you fit the 2008's that played house U8 into the U9 All-star team? Obviously, they didn't play each other. How do you compare players that just missed the all-star cut in house U9 against a U8 2008 player that did??

Have your U8 coaches nominate their best players, just like the U9 coaches. Then have all the nominated players come together for a couple training sessions/scrimmages to see how they stack up against each other.

Field space is already an issue. "Try-outs" will just make it worse. Then you have the selection process, which will add another few days.
There might be some standouts from the 2008 U8s but they will be at a severe disadvantage with difference in field space and keepers. Not sure some parents would appreciate that.

OK, you clearly have a lot of reasons why it couldn't possibly work. Maybe someone from the VYS "administrative" side is reading this and will commit to making it work for the spring. As someone up-thread already said, too late for this all-star season anyway....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That one VYS troll escaped from his "Silence of the Lambs" face cage again

Yes literally. I just threw out some suggestions but apparently picking some kids to play in a all star tournament is just to hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a kid at VYS any more but given their decision to not implement the new birth year mandates in rec, their decision makes sense. For the person who asked how competitive a rec tournament is, you obviously have never been to one. Many clubs do have tryouts early in the season and then have practices for those select teams in order to "win" an All-Star tourney. VYS has traditionally only selected their all-star teams near the end of the house season and then only had a few practices with those teams before the tourney. This approach always struck me as the right way to do an "All-Star" tournament but since other clubs place more emphasis on winning, VYS' approach has resulted in VYS teams being disadvantaged. That approach in combination with the birth year decision makes the decision to skip the tournament at the younger age group imminently reasonable.

No it does not. All it does is encourage competitive parents and children to find a different program for the U8 year.

I'm calling BS. I've been at VYS for just under a decade and I've never heard of that. I was there for the 2015 debacle and the "mass exodus" but I never heard of parents leaving at U8 because there weren't any competitive experiences for their child. I have seen U8 parents have their kid try out for U9 travel. So there is always that option.
You sound like you want people to leave VYS. Ex-VYS disgruntled parent, coach perhaps?

Well I have and know people who did precisely that. Ok with you?

[Anonymous]

Looks like VYS isn't the only organization that does things a little differently:

http://vsaonline.org/home/926811.html

VSA still has four teams in the Herndon tournament as well. Arlington, Alexandria, Lee Mount Vernon and Gunston have none.

[Anonymous]

I understand that it's too late but this is not difficult. Have each house coach select his/her best two or three 2009 players and 2008 players, etc. You send out offers to those parents. Let the parents decide whether or not to accept the offer. If you get 14-16 kids, enter two teams. If everyone says NO, then you enter none. But give kids opportunities. Once you get all the kids that accepted the offers, bring the kids together for a few sessions to get to know each other, understand the new format, etc and let them play. A few people making excuses for the whole lot is ridiculous. I really, really understand that getting the 2008 who are playing U8 rec to play U9 format is a big jump. I understand that, but I'm sure there are 10 kids out that get it and would still like the opportunity. I agree with the poster that said that we are only kicking the can down the road. Let the kids play and stop worrying about what others think. Rule #1. Get kids to love to play soccer and let them play! These rec all-star tournaments are great. I'm shocked at the responses of...this is too hard. Our kids aren't ready for this. People will make fun of VYS. Let's have a little internal festivals so no one can see us. Frickin Pathetic! You all should be embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it's too late but this is not difficult. Have each house coach select his/her best two or three 2009 players and 2008 players, etc. You send out offers to those parents. Let the parents decide whether or not to accept the offer. If you get 14-16 kids, enter two teams. If everyone says NO, then you enter none. But give kids opportunities. Once you get all the kids that accepted the offers, bring the kids together for a few sessions to get to know each other, understand the new format, etc and let them play. A few people making excuses for the whole lot is ridiculous. I really, really understand that getting the 2008 who are playing U8 rec to play U9 format is a big jump. I understand that, but I'm sure there are 10 kids out that get it and would still like the opportunity. I agree with the poster that said that we are only kicking the can down the road. Let the kids play and stop worrying about what others think. Rule #1. Get kids to love to play soccer and let them play! These rec all-star tournaments are great. I'm shocked at the responses of...this is too hard. Our kids aren't ready for this. People will make fun of VYS. Let's have a little internal festivals so no one can see us. Frickin Pathetic! You all should be embarrassed.

VYS did this in other age groups. I can't speak to why they didn't do it at U8-U10.

I'm the one who merely pointed out that there are people in this thread who will rip VYS no matter what they do. If VYS tried to appease the people on this message board, they'd go broke in a month.

What do Arlington and Alexandria do? Worth starting a thread on All-Stars since that's not specifically a VYS question?

[Anonymous]

Arlington has an internal rec tournament called ART (Arlington Rec Tournament) same weekend as Herndon Tournament. Not sure what Alexandria does. VSA is basically a dog an pony show anyway...I wouldn't follow any models coming out of there.