Bethesda vs Stoddert vs. PPA vs. DC United for 10 year old

[Anonymous]

Our son is on one of the Stoddert travel teams at a competitive level. We have always been with Stoddert and don't know about other teams and clubs. For a kid who dreams about playing in college or beyond, how does one go about assessing area clubs and rankings? We have tried to search for a post that compared the various travel teams but no luck yet.


Any tips or comparisons would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

At 10, getting great training is the most important consideration (along with how much money and time you want to spend as a family). Stoddert doesn't really have much of a reputation for providing great training or, down the line, placing very many kids in college. I like their rec program a lot though.

For our family, 10 would be way too young to think about DC United unless it was in our backyard, and they have a lot of coaching turnover so the training situation can be unpredictable. PPA has some good coaches, but not a very high level player pool, and we have found it extremely expensive for what you get. Bethesda has a solid boys program and does very well with college placements. I imagine it's more expensive than Stoddert, though it's in line with most area clubs. I'd recommend that you reach out to the program and see if your son can attend some practices with one of the teams in his age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 10, getting great training is the most important consideration (along with how much money and time you want to spend as a family). Stoddert doesn't really have much of a reputation for providing great training or, down the line, placing very many kids in college. I like their rec program a lot though.

For our family, 10 would be way too young to think about DC United unless it was in our backyard, and they have a lot of coaching turnover so the training situation can be unpredictable. PPA has some good coaches, but not a very high level player pool, and we have found it extremely expensive for what you get. Bethesda has a solid boys program and does very well with college placements. I imagine it's more expensive than Stoddert, though it's in line with most area clubs. I'd recommend that you reach out to the program and see if your son can attend some practices with one of the teams in his age group.

Our son played PPA's top team this year around that age group. They were solid. Not Bethesda first team at all but much better than the Stoddert team we've played. Achilles and Total Futbol are options for elite players as well, not quite at Bethesda's top team level but right behind them as top teams in that age range.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it comes down to where you live, and where the practices are.
The big clubs don't have a monopoly on talent or good training anymore.
I'd say that BSC, DC United, Achilles and Total Futbol are all good options, with PPA still a little behind.
But yes, move on from Stoddard if you're serious.

[Anonymous]

Can one of the PPs offer cost info for other clubs to compare? PPA premier is I think $185/mo, year round.

[Anonymous]

It is really hard to get on to DC United. Last year's tryouts were extremely competitive. It would be great to hear from parents who have kids in the program though most of the time folks on here are not the happy ones!

FWIW a few of the Stoddert travel teams beat Bethesda this past year but there are a lot of people here that are sour on Stoddert for a variety of reasons.

My neighbor is with PPA and they love it. They came from Stoddert. They said the playing level on PPA premier is not as competitive as Stoddert but the coaching is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can one of the PPs offer cost info for other clubs to compare? PPA premier is I think $185/mo, year round.

Stoddert is about 2500 for the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can one of the PPs offer cost info for other clubs to compare? PPA premier is I think $185/mo, year round.

How many practices per week, and where are they?

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you live Arlington or Mclean might be closer. Most clubs are running practices now. You can contact the club and attend a few practice. See which club fits your son and you. Find out where the teams practice is very important. Some of BSC’s younger ages practice in northern montgomery county.
You should not worry about college till your son is past puberty. Till u12, it’s all about individual skill development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to get on to DC United. Last year's tryouts were extremely competitive. It would be great to hear from parents who have kids in the program though most of the time folks on here are not the happy ones!

FWIW a few of the Stoddert travel teams beat Bethesda this past year but there are a lot of people here that are sour on Stoddert for a variety of reasons.

My neighbor is with PPA and they love it. They came from Stoddert. They said the playing level on PPA premier is not as competitive as Stoddert but the coaching is great.

I think you need to look specifically at the age group and teams. DCU is U14 up. I think we're talking about a 10-year-old here. At his age group, there is a substantial difference between Bethesda's first team and PPA's first team as is true for almost every other really good team in the area - the Bethesda first team that year is really exceptional), and an even bigger difference between PPA's top team and Stoddert's top team. If PPA keeps that group together, it will be a competitive environment.

[Anonymous]

If he's really serious about soccer I would consider Achilles. They have excellent training. Second would be Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he's really serious about soccer I would consider Achilles. They have excellent training. Second would be Bethesda.

Achilles is not a serious development program. They have some good sides but others are dismal and the coaching/club run very poorly. They are not interested in developing your kid to their full potential.

[Anonymous]

And this is why asking a serious question on a forum is waste of time. The prior two replies say
-Achilles has excellent training
-Achilles is not a serious development program

I have no dog in this fight as I live in VA and know nothing about Achilles. Just funny to me how two comments back to back can be so clearly opposing. Makes me think you only true path to the truth is to do your own homework and roll the dice with what your gut tells you. He is 10, chances are his interests will change in life anyway so dont over think it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is why asking a serious question on a forum is waste of time. The prior two replies say
-Achilles has excellent training
-Achilles is not a serious development program

I have no dog in this fight as I live in VA and know nothing about Achilles. Just funny to me how two comments back to back can be so clearly opposing. Makes me think you only true path to the truth is to do your own homework and roll the dice with what your gut tells you. He is 10, chances are his interests will change in life anyway so dont over think it.

I think for finding the one universal truth the internet might be a waste of time, but for demonstrating there is a difference of opinion the posts did just that.

I think also it's worth noting that in Youth Soccer, the experiences of different years / teams is vastly different even within a club. There is no club that is 100% the best team in every age bracket. There are multiple clubs doing 'the best development' across different years (i.e. U8 at club 1, U9s at club 2, etc). When the OP is talking to parents, they'll need to understand that what worked for the U10s might not be the same for the U11s as coaches and teammates change, and even the rules and pitch sizes change as the kids get bigger and hit puberty. Some parents "rave" about a club because there kid gets more playing time, when in reality it's just the other club had a few extra players in that same position and vs. that kid at the original club theirs wasn't as strong.

Just take what you hear with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is why asking a serious question on a forum is waste of time. The prior two replies say
-Achilles has excellent training
-Achilles is not a serious development program

I have no dog in this fight as I live in VA and know nothing about Achilles. Just funny to me how two comments back to back can be so clearly opposing. Makes me think you only true path to the truth is to do your own homework and roll the dice with what your gut tells you. He is 10, chances are his interests will change in life anyway so dont over think it.

Achilles is the most cut throat program I've seen...the better the kid is, the better training he'll get.
If the kid isn't good, you'll hate the program.
Even at the younger ages, the best players play the whole game, and the other kids sit on the bench the whole game.
So just consider if this is the kind of club you want or not...some it'll be great, others awful.