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Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss
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Anonymous
| At FPYC U9 yesterday, there were between 35-40 kids for 20 spots. |
Anonymous
For Stoddert there are apparently 150+ kids for 40-something spots for U9. Tough odds, lots of good players. |
Anonymous
| He's 9, dude. I didn't play select until I was 11 and then I was on a B team until I was 13 and then I played D1 on a scholarship. Just do whatever you can for him to enjoy the sport or he'll give it up. |
Anonymous
Seriously???? In Arlington there were about 130 kids for 40 spots. U-9 |
Anonymous
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We have been doing the try out thing in MD, I have found kids who started the club route as early as 6.
In doing some research and talking to some experienced trainers and coaches, none of them started club until u11 |
Anonymous
The counter to that is that lots of kids love playing with and against good players at 9 or younger, and starting younger helps them build skills that will give them more options for playing at top levels if they continue to love the game. Also, even if you are a recent graduate, the soccer landscape has changed considerably since you were growing up--presumably you didn't have to navigate the path to ECNL or the Development Academy en route to playing at the D1 level. |
Anonymous
That's one of the reasons we don't live in Arlington. Everything is more crowded and cut-throat. |
Anonymous
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We're new to club soccer. I don't quite get the distinction between NCSL and ODSL. Our club (CYA) has teams in both leagues for the same age group. Is NCSL really that much more competitive? DS's ODSL team will be playing NCSL teams in an upcoming tournament - wondering if it will be an embarrassing defeat?
BTW, had a rough start in the fall with a coach that was largely absent - had that feeling PP's mentioned about subsidizing the "A" teams. But we complained and got a partial refund and a new coach for spring - he rocks! |
Anonymous
Here's the thing: it used to not be offered until then!! I played when WAGS first started in the very early 80s...travel teams didn't start until end of 4th grade, for my older siblings (both D1 players--travel teams started around 5th-6th grade this was in NoVA). These coaches/trainers are all my age now. You can't really compare the age they started club to current play. I also think we start to young with the focus on travel clubs today. However, if you don't start when they are first forming (U-9) you can run the risk of not getting onto a good team. I had a nephew not become interested in playing until 6th grade and at that age there would be only 1 spot or so available on the good teams. There are always exceptions and you run the risk of a kid just burning out from starting young. You need to keep it fun and the intensity light. If it is kid-driven and you shield your kid from the crazies---they can enjoy it and continute to enjoy it. I do see some yelling at their kids at tryouts at 8. Freaking out that their kid has to be on the 'A' team at 8. These are the kids I worry about. Just let them have fun in the U-9/10/11 ages, etc. It's about learning. If they stick you on the 'D' team so be it...just work on your skills and if you have talent you can always move clubs later if you feel you are getting a bum rap. |
Anonymous
Yes. Sigh. Even shit you don't have to 'try out' for is a major ordeal--things fill up so quickly. On the plus side--there are a lot of kids to play with  .
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Anonymous
I will agree that it has changed. Holy shit has it changed. My siblings and I all played on top teams at top clubs, Div 1 in college, All-American, State teams, etc.. My first kid is just at the age to start travel and the way things are run is incredibly different than when I was a kid. I was actually scouted at at Rec game and asked to be on the team--that was it. I played with it for the next 7 years and we didn't have to tryout each year--though kids were occassionally cut and we'd have kids from other clubs vying to get on. I certainly wasn't trying out at the tender age of 8 against 130 kids like my daughter .
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Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
It was certainly simpler in the good old days, and tryouts aren't particluarly fun for parents or kids. I bet if you and your daughter stick with it though, you'll come to really enjoy the modern soccer culture around here. Many of the top area teams, even in age groups as young as U10, are able to keep possession of the ball a lot of the time and play some pretty attractive soccer, which definitely was not the case even a decade ago. And if you are on a good team around here, you are very likely to do quite well against good teams from most other parts of the country. We don't have the soccer culture of Texas or California yet, but everything seems to be moving in the right direction. |
Anonymous
NCSL is generally more competitive than ODSL. NCSL teams in the top divisions can be nationally ranked and can play very well. However, a lower-division NCSL team vs an ODSL team can certainly be a competitive match. Tournament organizers try hard to seed the brackets so they are competitive and they try to minimize the chance of "blowouts" - that's not fun or instructive for anyone, and they want teams to come back to their tournament year after year. Also, the geographic "footprint" of NCSL is slightly different than ODSL. NCSL covers DC/MD/VA, while ODSL is just VA and extends to the Piedmont area, whereas I think the furthest we ever played in NCSL was maybe Warrenton. There are other leagues as well - VYSA.com has a list of the Virginia leagues, and there are Maryland-only leagues as well. We are lucky in this area to have a wide range of leagues and teams, from national powerhouses to more laid-back organizations that exist to provide kids a venue in which to simply play a game they love, without too much competitive pressure. |
Anonymous
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So a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of tryout attendees to available spots is typical?
I love FPYC's program for younger kids, by the way. |