How competitive is ASA travel soccer team? Is it hard to make the team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A NASA vs SASA Derby would be great!

Maybe Fairfax County should form only one Club. It would kick the shit out of Arlington County and Loudoun County if all the players were forced into only one choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I hear your grievances, I am not sure I understand how ASA is supposed to solve them. Their mission, vision and goals is probably totally antithetical to your non-soccer desires. If ASA is getting permits or has some shared burdens with the county, what stops others from getting permits too?

Are no school campuses available to go have free play? even if its a half field size?

Field space is often allocated to clubs based on the number of player registrations. It can be very difficult for smaller clubs to grow when large clubs like ASA or Loudoun can monopolize field allocation. It becomes feedback loop.

Yep. It leaves no choices for those that don’t like the factories. Some diversity and choice within the county would be a good thing. The “if you don’t like it, leave” mentality that predominates would stop if there were actual nearby choices and force these places to stop being so arrogant. They know they can always find a sucker to fill an empty spot. The only reason they are what they are is sheer numbers of players in the pool. They are behemoth.

I really do not like you terming everyone as a sucker who plays at a big club. Just because it does nit work out for you, does not mean it does not work for everyone. There are clubs around that are very anti industrial soccer complex. Guess what? They have the same problems as the big clubs, but more so - uniforms not fitting, quality of coaching hit or miss, crazy parents demanding changing leagues, not being able to get into leagues or tournaments, no field space, don’t like the u9 girls playing against the u12 boys hit the road, etc, etc etc.

[Anonymous]

Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

Alexandria is known for their possession style play, their teams compete in futsal over winter, and they are not as expensive as ASA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I hear your grievances, I am not sure I understand how ASA is supposed to solve them. Their mission, vision and goals is probably totally antithetical to your non-soccer desires. If ASA is getting permits or has some shared burdens with the county, what stops others from getting permits too?

Are no school campuses available to go have free play? even if its a half field size?

Field space is often allocated to clubs based on the number of player registrations. It can be very difficult for smaller clubs to grow when large clubs like ASA or Loudoun can monopolize field allocation. It becomes feedback loop.

Yep. It leaves no choices for those that don’t like the factories. Some diversity and choice within the county would be a good thing. The “if you don’t like it, leave” mentality that predominates would stop if there were actual nearby choices and force these places to stop being so arrogant. They know they can always find a sucker to fill an empty spot. The only reason they are what they are is sheer numbers of players in the pool. They are behemoth.

I really do not like you terming everyone as a sucker who plays at a big club. Just because it does nit work out for you, does not mean it does not work for everyone. There are clubs around that are very anti industrial soccer complex. Guess what? They have the same problems as the big clubs, but more so - uniforms not fitting, quality of coaching hit or miss, crazy parents demanding changing leagues, not being able to get into leagues or tournaments, no field space, don’t like the u9 girls playing against the u12 boys hit the road, etc, etc etc.

Not PP and agree that those problems do exist. DC was at a smaller club because coach was great and he did a great job in developing the players. Unfortunately as the kids got older the opposition at only league club could get in became weaker and weaker and we had to move DC to another club that would offer the opportunity to play vs stronger opposition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

What club are you at now? ASA and McLean are both CCL but they are also NCSL unless you already know that your kid will be on a top team. Alexandria also does EDP. I assume that you're already at a CCL club since you're not happy w competition but If going to ASA which is one of the top clubs in CCL then you will find the current opposition even weaker. Is it your club that leaves you disappointed or the league competition?

[Anonymous]

ASA teams also play in the ODSL, at least on the girls side at the lower levels.

If you're already disappointed in the CCL competition, I'm not sure where you are going to find better - they tend to have the top teams from every club, right? Maybe your son/daughter is in a weak year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

The league doesn't mean crap until the kids are aged 13/14. The most important thing prior is the training and the coach.

What club are you at now? ASA and McLean are both CCL but they are also NCSL unless you already know that your kid will be on a top team. Alexandria also does EDP. I assume that you're already at a CCL club since you're not happy w competition but If going to ASA which is one of the top clubs in CCL then you will find the current opposition even weaker. Is it your club that leaves you disappointed or the league competition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

What club are you at now? ASA and McLean are both CCL but they are also NCSL unless you already know that your kid will be on a top team. Alexandria also does EDP. I assume that you're already at a CCL club since you're not happy w competition but If going to ASA which is one of the top clubs in CCL then you will find the current opposition even weaker. Is it your club that leaves you disappointed or the league competition?

The league doesn't mean crap until the kids are aged 13/14. The most important thing prior is the training and the coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

What club are you at now? ASA and McLean are both CCL but they are also NCSL unless you already know that your kid will be on a top team. Alexandria also does EDP. I assume that you're already at a CCL club since you're not happy w competition but If going to ASA which is one of the top clubs in CCL then you will find the current opposition even weaker. Is it your club that leaves you disappointed or the league competition?

We've been a CCL family for years and I don't get all the criticism about the competition. League play is pretty strong across the board and I've watch CCL teams roll through other teams in tournaments. Arlington, Loudoun, SYA, Beach FC, Potomac, and SOCA are all competitive and have done well in tournament play and state level. Is there really a magical league that has top talent at every level at every club? Let's be realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

What club are you at now? ASA and McLean are both CCL but they are also NCSL unless you already know that your kid will be on a top team. Alexandria also does EDP. I assume that you're already at a CCL club since you're not happy w competition but If going to ASA which is one of the top clubs in CCL then you will find the current opposition even weaker. Is it your club that leaves you disappointed or the league competition?

We've been a CCL family for years and I don't get all the criticism about the competition. League play is pretty strong across the board and I've watch CCL teams roll through other teams in tournaments. Arlington, Loudoun, SYA, Beach FC, Potomac, and SOCA are all competitive and have done well in tournament play and state level. Is there really a magical league that has top talent at every level at every club? Let's be realistic.

Again, the league doesn't mean crap until the kids are aged 13/14. The most important thing prior is the training and the coach.

[Anonymous]

I can say with confidence that outside of the girls 2001 red team, the coaching at ASA is lacking. As has been noted here, Arlington county is smaller than its neighbors and ASA is essentially the only major player. As a result they are able to pool in and discard whomever they want, which is upsetting since the coaching is not really great. They have first choice of nearby talent and based on the demographics, they "attract" or should I say heavily skewed towards the upper class privileged class. I prefer the coaching and team dynamics at McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A NASA vs SASA Derby would be great!

Maybe Fairfax County should form only one Club. It would kick the shit out of Arlington County and Loudoun County if all the players were forced into only one choice.

Why would I care about world domination if my kid couldn't even make the team. I don't feel better about myself or my parenting because the ASA Red teams are great.