Bethesda SC girls program
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Anonymous
| Hello - we will be moving to the area in the next few months and we're considering having our daughters try out for Bethesda SC. Our youngest is 7 and our oldest almost 10. Anyone out there willing to share their experience with the Bethesda SC U8 and U11 girls teams? How are the coaches? Parents? Players? How often do they practice? Are practice locations fairly easy to get to from the Bethesda area? I noticed that the girls side has two teams while the boys side has many more, is that due to fewer girls trying out, or something else? Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
Anonymous
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Don't limit yourself to Bethesda. It is a great club but not the only one. Also, since it is a try-out, you want to make sure you have other options.
If you are looking for your player to develop, I personally think there are better options. I had kids in Bethesda at the ages referenced above but looking back, I wish I would have tried other programs. For example, FC Bordeaux is a fairly new club that is affiliated with a French Ligue 1 club. The program focuses 100% on development at the early stages. The coaches don't care about wins and losses until U16. DC Stoddert is solid. MSI/MSC has a classic program that is not as competitive as travel but also does not have the logistical issues. Re: parents and coaches, each team is different. Go visit a few clubs and find the right fit. There is no rule that says travel needs to start at u8. |
Anonymous
| BSC girls in that age group is a love it or hate it with many girls being turned off from soccer. As the other poster said lots of other options. |
Anonymous
There is some decent info about the club and the current U10 team in the "Frostburg Camp" thread, which is worth a read if you are interested in hearing from some some pro- and anti-BSC posters. Please remember that (a) BSC is a big club, with the pros and cons of any of the other big clubs in the area, and (b) if you read enough on this site, you will read many negative posts about every single club, whether travel/rec, etc., and every single league those clubs play in. There is definitely some good information to be gleaned from some of these posts, but you have to be aware of posters with negative agendas about certain clubs and take some of the posts with a grain of salt. As you may have guessed, we are at BSC on the girls side and have had a very positive experience. Our daughters' coaches have all been excellent and greatly improved them over their time with the club, which began with the U8s. Others may disagree, but I think BSC's girls program has the best staff in the area. Many of those coaches are also women, and several have been role models to our daughters. I would not have thought that was an important factor when our girls started as U8s, but I have come to appreciate it over the years and have realized its importance in our girls development, both on and off the field. BSC, just like any other big club, is not for everybody. As a PP mentioned, I think it would be a good idea to look at some other options in the area, just to get your bearings and get a feel for the various clubs. Maybe try to attend a couple practices at different clubs, as that is usually the best way to get a feel for the club, including the coaches, players, parents, commute times, etc. Good luck. |
Anonymous
BSC girls is equal to a small club. The boys side is big, not the girls side. |
Anonymous
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What?!!!
The girl's side is one of the biggest in the area. The field fields two elite teams at most age groups - One playing ECNL and the other playing EDP National League/State Cup. Some of the other age groups still have a 3rd team. I don't know of another local club which fields so many competitive teams at each age group above u14. My recommendation for younger groups is to develop elsewhere and then come to Bethesda as you enter HS. Before that, I don't believe you will get value. |
Anonymous
| Anyone know when Bethesda ECNL starts having tryouts/ID sessions? Seems like a lot of other clubs are starting them soon. |
Anonymous
They have been holding “winter ID sessions,” which technically are not official tryouts or ID sessions for next year, but some prospective players are clearly using it as such. A number of girls are also attending practices right now. On the ECNL/DA thread, several posters noted that the best way to tryout was to contact the team and attend several practices, well before the “official” tryout or ID session, as most of the roster of a DA or ECNL team is already decided by the coaches before the official tryouts. Not saying that is how BSC does it, but it would not surprise me if it was. |
Anonymous
| Unless you a true standout, it is difficult to get noticed at an ECNL tryout. Most likely, the coaches will see something they like and invite you back for additional practices. |
Anonymous
I agree, but only if your daughter showed up for the first time at the tryout and did not reach out to the club and attend practices before the tryout. If you are interested in potentially joining a club for their ECNL or DA team, I would personally encourage you to have your daughter attend practices with the club now and in early Feb., in part to get a feel for the club, but also because these practices are the tryout. Decisions are generally made before the official tryout, whose primary benefit is not to miss accidentally a player who shows up out of the blue and who is a standout. In that rare situation, the standout may be asked to attend other practices to confirm she is a standout. For the vast majority of players at an official tryout, the coaches have already seen those players a number of times and have already formed an opinion. |
Anonymous
| Anyone know the current 06 ECNL coach at Bethesda? Email? |
Anonymous
| On the BSC website. |
Anonymous
So just looking through the rankings. Got soccer ranking in the for state of Maryland. The first number is the regional ranking. I think you have to be in the top three in your state(specially a small state like Maryland) to be considered elite. In the region maybe top 20 or being generous top 50? I am not a huge fan of these rankings but 100 point ranking difference is significant. So maybe the ‘05, but the second team? Just remember this area should be viewed as the DMV. So you should factor in the Va teams also. If you do it would push BSC further down the list. ‘02 16 pipeline 150 SAC 165 FC Frederick 226 BSC Freedom 263 BSC threat ‘03 18 ST. MARY'S SOCCER (SMS) POWER 23 OPSA MAGIC '03 27 SAC PREMIER BLUE 03 51 MARYLAND UNITED FC 2003 GIRLS NPL 112 BALTIMORE UNION SC ELITE 03 138 MARYLAND UNITED FC 2003 ECNL 142 MARYLAND RUSH MONTGOMERY BLUE '03G RAMPA 143 FC FREDERICK '03 148 BETHESDA SC ECNL FURY 03 179 FC GIRONDINS DE BORDEAUX USA FC BORDEAUX 192 PREMIER SC NAVY 03 250 BETHESDA SC LEGACY 03 ‘04 6 BALTIMORE UNION SC ELITE 04 31 SOCCER OF COLUMBIA PREMIER BLUE 04 50 PIPELINE SC PRE-ACADEMY 52 MARYLAND UNITED FC 2004 ECNL 74 OLD LINE FC 04 BLACK 96 BETHESDA SC ECNL FORCE 04 136 BALTIMORE CELTIC SC 04 ELITE 143 BETHESDA SC BETHESDA ELITE 04 (FORMERLY ‘05 1 PIPELINE SC PRE-ACADEMY 3 MARYLAND RUSH MONTGOMERY BLUE '05G COYOT 43 BETHESDA SC ECNL REAL 05 .... 1230 BETHESDA SC HAWKS 05 ‘06 16 MARYLAND RUSH MONTGOMERY BLUE '06G COYOT 45 BALTIMORE UNION SC ELITE 06 91 SOCCER OF COLUMBIA PREMIER BLUE 06 103 PIPELINE SC PRE-ACADEMY 159 ELLICOTT CITY CITY 2006 GIRLS BLACK 182 SOCCER OF COLUMBIA PREMIER WHITE (06) 215 BETHESDA SC ECNL 06 298 MARYLAND UNITED FC 2006 ECNL 372 BETHESDA SC RAPIDS 06 |
Anonymous
Another poster with little knowledge of what they're saying. ECNL and DA clubs don't get ranked highly because their leagues don't accumulate the points that go into the rankings. Please don't rely on anonymous posters on these boards to make your decisions. Most of them are ignorant. |
Anonymous
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Whoever posted the rankings is a fool. Sorry, that person is not just a fool but a damn fool.
As stated above, DA and ECNL don't get credit from league competition and none of those teams play in the state cup. What matters is what tournaments you are invited to and where you are placed. Bethesda's ECNL teams are competitive and their state cup teams do very well. And as I stated, I don't know of any other team that fields two competitive teams with one being elite and the other being semi-elite. |