Boys development academies - I'm clueless and need help
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| My son's current club does NOT have a development academy so I am trying to do research on which clubs do in the DMV and at what age as we want to try out in the first years if possible. I know of Arlington, DC United, and I think one in Prince William. I have sent emails and made phone calls but no one at these clubs have responded so I am hoping DCUM can help me. What clubs have DA and what age group do they start? Thanks in advance. |
Anonymous
VDA, Arlington and DCU. Thats it |
Anonymous
| Just go for DCU don't bother with Arlington and VDA is terrible |
Anonymous
|
DC United - RFK, Loundon (soon)
Arlington - Arington Virginia Development Academy - Woodbridge area I think. Bethesda - Bethesda / Rockville / Gaithersburg Baltimore Armor - Columbia Richmond United - Richmond and a couple in Pennsylvania. At the moment, U13 is the first year of Development Academies nationwide, though there are heavy rumors U13 programs will be dropped (U12 was dropped last year). DC United does not start until U14. Arlington, for the moment, ends at U15. You need to google when these clubs have identification sessions. Arlington had one last week and will again this weekend. DCU had one last month. The ID sessions followed by tryouts are ongoing in the next few months. Please note a DA player cannot play for his high school or any other team. Boys will practice 4 days a week, a game on the weekend (with some travel frequently) along with a showcase tournament in another state probably twice a year. They may also have a voluntary fitness session once a week. It is a considerable time commitment. |
Anonymous
This was a good summary. Couple additions from a parent with two kids in DA... U13 is NOT getting dropped for next year (tho DC United still won't have it); most of them have a U12 team that is classified as "pre-academy" but functions substantially the same as a DA team; and Arlington is trying to expand to U19, but not known yet if they will. Here's a link to the US Soccer DA site that shows all the clubs (tho the map mis-locates Armour; they train/play in Ellicott City); You can also read more about the program and some of the annual events: http://www.ussoccerda.com/all-clubs (note that it shows both Girls and Boys DAs, by default) The questions for the OP are: -Where do you live? (No one lives in reasonable rush hour driving range of more than 2 DAs, probably) -How old is your son now? (i.e. what birth year) -Where do they play now, and on what team? (and in what league does that team play, if it's not obvious) Based on those, you can figure out next steps. But the answers make a big difference in the advice. Feel free to post back and I'll try to give a more customized response. |
Anonymous
The U12 teams do not function as DA teams. DA teams draw from a much, much broader area with a significantly higher level of talent reflecting substantially more competition during tryouts. These U12 teams are mostly U11 teams from these clubs that are one year older. Some are good, just like their U10 and U11 top teams. Some are not. None will be nearly as good as DA teams at U13, and nobody but top players on these U12 teams should assume they are likely to get selected for U13 DA. Can we please stop misleading people about these teams? |
Anonymous
| Op here, thank you thank you thank you to everyone that has posted. I find this so very helpful and I promise I really did spend hours researching online before I even started this thread but just got so incredibly confused. |
Anonymous
Let's put it this way: your best chance to make any DA team is to be a good player already with that club. But even so, there is more year-to-year turnover at younger ages. They might replace half the team U12->U13, then maybe 30% the next year, then just 4-5 guys the next year, and so on. So if you think you want to play on Bethesda's U13 DA team in 18 months, your best bet is to play for their U12 pre-academy next year; you have the inside track--if you actually perform. |
Anonymous
What is missing from all of this is 'where will your kid develop the best'? Just because it is "DA" does not mean it is great at player development and all of them vary a great degree on how well they do this. I do not like the idea that others subscribe to...get the kids into a Club at the youngest ages so they will be a 'feeder'. A lot of these kids end up stunted players down the road and get cut at U15 and above by kids that cared less about DA in the younger years and more on what worked for them. It could be a really great coach strong Club team near home and a great outside trainer. Also, there isn't much time to practice hours on your own (which most great players do) when you are at DA practice almost every night. That is just food for thought. It's like the private school forum---the perception of what you will get out of a 'name school' may not be better instruction that you would get out of a very good public school. But--that's this area. It's easy to get people to flock to something. |
Anonymous
This is a reasonable argument (though the name of the thread was "Boys Development Academies..." so I think we were trying to answer their question, not beg their question). Just like you shouldn't send your kid to an Ivy just because of the name, you shouldn't try to get your kid on a DA just because of the name. However, for the right kid who is prepared and motivated, Ivy League schools have excellent professors and a cohort of students who are also prepared and motivated--and that combination makes for a great learning environment. To some extent, this is analogous to DAs. By and large, they have better coaches. If you've never looked at what it takes to become a USSF A Licensed coach, here is the course structure (only after you already got your "D", then "C" then "B"): https://learning.ussoccer.com/coach/courses/available/6/course-info Every DA coach is A or B licensed. Many non-DA clubs don't have an A or B on their entire staff. This is underrated by most non-coaches who don't think of "soccer coach" as a legitimate profession (I'm a parent, not a coach, to be clear). These coaches have more drills and tactics and ideas in their bag of tricks than less educated coaches. And the DA "name" and those coaches attract better players. And a group of top players will all get better faster together. So it creates a virtuous cycle where top players at a DA get better faster than they would outside. Now, there are great coaches not at a DA, bad coaches at DAs, good players outside DA, mediocre players in DA. But they are exceptions. DA coaching and the DA system is more predictably, consistently good, year after year, than outside it. |
Anonymous
Yes, you might have an inside track but, in my experience, kids that deserve to get selected do get selected at least for 07, 06, and 05s that I know. The kids that I know that have tried out and deserve to make the DA, actually made the DA. This is for Arlington, DCU, and Bethesda at least. ... also Loudoun when they had the DA. Now, if it's a tough choice for the DA between 2 or 3 kids, then I think the DAs go with their home club kid....and I think that's OK. Go with the kid that you are more familiar with. But if the kid really deserves to be on the team...meaning he is truly one of the best players out there, my experience is that they get identified and selected. Some kids knew someone in the club and got opportunities to join training sessions and was selected that way. Most just went through the ID sessions and then were asked to join team training sessions. And no, they were all big, tall, fast, aggressive kids. Some were and still are small, technical kids. |
Anonymous
While the A and B license may take time to get, there is no evidence anywhere that they make a coach a better coach. US Soccer doesn't offer enough courses and gives preference to coaches from DA clubs making the licensing system more useful for protecting the status quo than for improving coaching. Acceptance into A/B license courses is not based on the merit of the individual coach. Saying DA coaching and the DA system is better is one person's opinion and can't be backed up by any evidence. Since the DA was created to support the USMNT, the quality of the USMNT should be a pretty good indicator of the quality of the DA--a country of over 300 million that can't qualify for the world cup. If anything the evidence suggests DA coaching is subpar, not "consistently good." |
Anonymous
It is also an incredibly expensive and lengthy process. I do not believe the end result is better. Our worst coach has been a USSF A license. Ironically, one of our best had the very lowest level (was a former D1, National team player outside the US) and coached the lowest team in the age group. He did not last, nor did many of the better coaches because they could not believe how horrible the coaching/training was and they saw the games being played (tds ignored all of the lower coach's recommendations on players). We searched him out for private training even though he no longer coaches. My kids have been training with him for 5 years and are now on top first teams. If you know nothing about soccer, looking for accreditation isn't a bad thing because there are some really bad coaches out there. However, if you know the sport very well and been around it yourself, you should never go solely be papers or a website singing accolades of wins. |
Anonymous
There also has been a lot of buzz about doing away with boys' DA completely. |
Anonymous
OK, many have UEFA A or B Licenses. Does that satisfy you? UEFA sent 14 teams to the last World Cup, including all four semifinalists. What is the evidence you use to judge the competency and professionalism of a youth soccer coach? More importantly, what evidence do you use to judge the competency and professionalism of coaching at an entire club, since individual coaches come and go? My guess is that your answer is some version of "you know it when you see it". But people--like the OP--need something they can look at from outside, before they join a club. So you need something objective. Licenses are objective. Who has good facilities is objective. Who retains their top players is objective. Who sends players to college soccer is objective. To some degree who wins big competitions is objective. It is possible to assess a club and their system fairly accurately without having to experience it first. You seem to imply that it isn't actually possible--or at least don't give any alternatives about how you'd suggest doing it. |