Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

I'd heard U.S. Club Soccer was starting its own State Cup in Virginia, as it has in other states. Haven't seen confirmation of that, but not many VPL teams have entered the traditional State Cup.

And Braddock Road entered its boys but not girls. So did FC Virginia for some reason.

Might as well just have Loudoun and Arlington declare the winners of their CCL matchup the "State Cup" winners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the Presidents Cup for VA, it is a hodgepodge of teams, some from clubs some private teams. The cup is now irrelevant, it used to be a solid statewide tournament for the B teams. DA, NPL, EDP, take a lot teams to their own tournaments so scheduling games for State Cup becomes hard which means B and C teams enter State Cup. CCL teams still compete in State cup and other leagues, but that's mostly because their CCL games are glorified scrimmages.

Yep.

Ok we get it, it's not DA. But it may be the next best thing since you are playing against those clubs top teams or 2nd if they have DA. Any other league would be 3rd or 4th teams of those clubs and top teams of non-CCL clubs. What would you call those? Non-glorified scrimmages. The competition is still good. There are multiple levels of competition in this area.

So let's say that your child's teammates along with your child are good soccer players that can improve, love the sport, and have other interests as well. NCSL would be the best league for them, they get the competitive competitions that pit them against other teams attempting to win their division for the season and have a chance of being promoted or the other way around and trying to avoid relegation. If their practices keep them fit, their trainer is still teaching them tactics and still reinforcing Zone 1 skills, they are on fine and, for most of the players, the right path in their academic pursuits as they enter HS with all its college application craziness, not too mention sex, drugs, and the other things we as teens experimented with but swear our children are/will be different. I understand that for some families paying for DA and the 5-6 days per week commitment isn't an issue, for those others though Select is fine. Personally I think the different leagues has made NCSL be a bit more mindful of their scheduling and flexibility with club passes. I really don't have an issue with the NPL/CCL spinoffs, just don't like to hear that there leagues are somehow promoting or providing better competition than their counterparts. I for one think traveling to the same fields to face the same teams would get very tiring, very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard U.S. Club Soccer was starting its own State Cup in Virginia, as it has in other states. Haven't seen confirmation of that, but not many VPL teams have entered the traditional State Cup.

And Braddock Road entered its boys but not girls. So did FC Virginia for some reason.

Might as well just have Loudoun and Arlington declare the winners of their CCL matchup the "State Cup" winners.

FCV is a NPL club so if VPL/NPL is having its own State Cup then FCV will not be entering teams.

BRYC is now a ECNL club and therefor its older ECNL teams will also not play in State Cup as ECNL teams do not participate in State Cups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the Presidents Cup for VA, it is a hodgepodge of teams, some from clubs some private teams. The cup is now irrelevant, it used to be a solid statewide tournament for the B teams. DA, NPL, EDP, take a lot teams to their own tournaments so scheduling games for State Cup becomes hard which means B and C teams enter State Cup. CCL teams still compete in State cup and other leagues, but that's mostly because their CCL games are glorified scrimmages.

Yep.

Ok we get it, it's not DA. But it may be the next best thing since you are playing against those clubs top teams or 2nd if they have DA. Any other league would be 3rd or 4th teams of those clubs and top teams of non-CCL clubs. What would you call those? Non-glorified scrimmages. The competition is still good. There are multiple levels of competition in this area.

So let's say that your child's teammates along with your child are good soccer players that can improve, love the sport, and have other interests as well. NCSL would be the best league for them, they get the competitive competitions that pit them against other teams attempting to win their division for the season and have a chance of being promoted or the other way around and trying to avoid relegation. If their practices keep them fit, their trainer is still teaching them tactics and still reinforcing Zone 1 skills, they are on fine and, for most of the players, the right path in their academic pursuits as they enter HS with all its college application craziness, not too mention sex, drugs, and the other things we as teens experimented with but swear our children are/will be different. I understand that for some families paying for DA and the 5-6 days per week commitment isn't an issue, for those others though Select is fine. Personally I think the different leagues has made NCSL be a bit more mindful of their scheduling and flexibility with club passes. I really don't have an issue with the NPL/CCL spinoffs, just don't like to hear that there leagues are somehow promoting or providing better competition than their counterparts. I for one think traveling to the same fields to face the same teams would get very tiring, very quickly.

There really is nothing wrong with NCSL as it is. The league fills a niche and fields teams from nearly every club currently. The promotion/relegation allows teams to be grouped by accordingly as there is a wide variance of quality teams that are in the league since large CCL clubs will have their 3rd and 4th teams entered while other quality small clubs will have their A and B teams entered.

[Anonymous]

Well stated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the Presidents Cup for VA, it is a hodgepodge of teams, some from clubs some private teams. The cup is now irrelevant, it used to be a solid statewide tournament for the B teams. DA, NPL, EDP, take a lot teams to their own tournaments so scheduling games for State Cup becomes hard which means B and C teams enter State Cup. CCL teams still compete in State cup and other leagues, but that's mostly because their CCL games are glorified scrimmages.

CCL clubs participate in other leagues, CCL Teams do not. Glorified scrimmages? Is that why CCL teams do so well in tournaments as well? Stupid comments....

[Anonymous]

NCSL is a fantastic soccer league and youth sports organization generally. It's a semi-legendary DMV institution at this point. Greater professionalism by the referee corps would be very welcome, but the scarcity of fit, well-trained, and otherwise expert officials is being driven by factors beyond any one league's control. One doable reform would be to acknowledge the issues with the STARS program. NCSL should be proud overall of the quality it delivers season after season. They even have the fall schedule up already

[Anonymous]

The only problem with STARS is that it's beyond stupid to give parents control over the outcome of games. The way it's implemented is fine. The training is good. The pay is decent LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the Presidents Cup for VA, it is a hodgepodge of teams, some from clubs some private teams. The cup is now irrelevant, it used to be a solid statewide tournament for the B teams. DA, NPL, EDP, take a lot teams to their own tournaments so scheduling games for State Cup becomes hard which means B and C teams enter State Cup. CCL teams still compete in State cup and other leagues, but that's mostly because their CCL games are glorified scrimmages.

CCL clubs participate in other leagues, CCL Teams do not. Glorified scrimmages? Is that why CCL teams do so well in tournaments as well? Stupid comments....

Don't some CCL teams also do National League, Region 1 League and so forth?

Or in some cases, I know the CCL teams is actually the B team.

Frankly, it's an idea that's run its course. Completely unnecessary now. Just play EDP if NCSL isn't enough for you for whatever reason (though for most teams, NCSL is just fine -- it's funny to see all the NCSL D1 teams move to EDP and keep playing each other, just in a new league. Yippee.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard U.S. Club Soccer was starting its own State Cup in Virginia, as it has in other states. Haven't seen confirmation of that, but not many VPL teams have entered the traditional State Cup.

And Braddock Road entered its boys but not girls. So did FC Virginia for some reason.

Might as well just have Loudoun and Arlington declare the winners of their CCL matchup the "State Cup" winners.

FCV is a NPL club so if VPL/NPL is having its own State Cup then FCV will not be entering teams.

BRYC is now a ECNL club and therefor its older ECNL teams will also not play in State Cup as ECNL teams do not participate in State Cups.

That's what I thought, but take a look: http://www.vysa.com/teams/Fall/accepted88800890.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd heard U.S. Club Soccer was starting its own State Cup in Virginia, as it has in other states. Haven't seen confirmation of that, but not many VPL teams have entered the traditional State Cup.

And Braddock Road entered its boys but not girls. So did FC Virginia for some reason.

Might as well just have Loudoun and Arlington declare the winners of their CCL matchup the "State Cup" winners.

FCV is a NPL club so if VPL/NPL is having its own State Cup then FCV will not be entering teams.

BRYC is now a ECNL club and therefor its older ECNL teams will also not play in State Cup as ECNL teams do not participate in State Cups.

That's what I thought, but take a look: http://www.vysa.com/teams/Fall/accepted88800890.html

This is the first year for ECNL for males, at U15 even though the team in labeled "ELITE", they may not be that elite. Also, not sure how the HS soccer is involved, I think they play in Spring in Fairfax. The Fall State cup may be easier to schedule around since half their league games are out of the state, they might use the competition as a way of distributing playing time.

[Anonymous]

What are odds of getting back on a DA after being cut? Do they give you a fair "new"look at tryouts ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are odds of getting back on a DA after being cut? Do they give you a fair "new"look at tryouts ?

My guess would be if you didn't address any of the issues of why the player was cut then the odds are nill getting back on that team. Especially at older ages where age groups are combined and the number of clubs are reduced.

But the first thing to do is talk to the coach about why your kid was cut and work towards improving those deficiencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are odds of getting back on a DA after being cut? Do they give you a fair "new"look at tryouts ?

My guess would be if you didn't address any of the issues of why the player was cut then the odds are nill getting back on that team. Especially at older ages where age groups are combined and the number of clubs are reduced.

But the first thing to do is talk to the coach about why your kid was cut and work towards improving those deficiencies.

Agree with this, but keep in mind that a lot of kids cut from one DA team end up getting spots at another club's DA team. Sometimes it just depends on the team's positional needs. You may be the third best center mid on one team, but the best or second best on another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are odds of getting back on a DA after being cut? Do they give you a fair "new"look at tryouts ?

My guess would be if you didn't address any of the issues of why the player was cut then the odds are nill getting back on that team. Especially at older ages where age groups are combined and the number of clubs are reduced.

But the first thing to do is talk to the coach about why your kid was cut and work towards improving those deficiencies.

There is a glaring misconception of what DA should be by having a parent actually asking this question. If all DA, in this area anyway, is a club's first team that bestows bragging rights to to both parent/child, then yes treat DA like trying to get promoted within a club rising through the ladder of teams.

My assumption, at this point is that if DA technical coaches saw what they liked at tryouts, but after a FULL season of training and matches decided they were going to give other players opportunities and no longer wanted that player on their DA roster, I can't imagine what a player would do over the course of one year, that wasn't
already addressed during their time at DA, that would convince the technical staff to again take a chance and offer the player a spot.

If I were in the same spot, I would go for another club's DA.