DC Soccer Club
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Anonymous
I think this is really about what your kid does after school and how they get home (and relatedly, their age). Our WOTP team has several EOTP families whose kids go to school WOTP and so they found it easier because they can put the kid in after school programming and then pick them up from school and take them to practice. That might make sense for you as well. Or if you'd rather have your kid go home after school and then to practice from there, trying out for DCSC East may make more sense. As kids get older the practices generally get later, so the kids might be more likely to need to come home first. Plus as they get older they gradually become less likely to do after school programming, and also more able to get themselves home, if there are decent buses to you. So those factors also probably factor in. You can try out for both, btw, and then decide later as well. |
Anonymous
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I think this thread shows the very frustration with soccer in DC proper. If every club leader, entrenched and new, could drop their egos, focus on development, and create one District Club, no matter the name, it could be a powerhouse, or at least have the chance to be one.
Until that point, you have DCSC, DCYFC (or whatever its new name is), PPA (except for the spendy parts in MOCO), DCXI, City, DC Way, WCU, and whatever the new Brookland FC is going to be competing for talent and field space. I am sure I missed a few. The number of times my now 16 year old who plays with his school team with kids across a bunch of clubs says if we could take the top 3-4 kids from each club for our travel team, we could be gangsta. Until then, we will drive to the outside the beltway netherlands. He is not wrong. |
Anonymous
I agree. It's odd to see how much hostility there is by some (or one?) posters here insisting that if you're not at what they consider the most elite club, it's useless. Especially at younger ages, it seems best to just go with a club that's close by. Stick with that club until/unless a) your kid is on the top team and is way better than others and not being challenged, b) you're not getting good coaching, or c) they stop wanting to play soccer. I suspect (a) is the least likely of the 3 reasons people would switch, actually, but good for you if your kid is in that group. But if they really are such a great talent, they can switch clubs later on. Clubs are going to take the best players and it's not going to matter that you didn't start there at age 8. Meanwhile, enjoy the shorter travel times to go play soccer. Depends where you live, of course, but Bethesda practices much farther out than Bethesda, right? So for someone in DC the proximity for DCSC is pretty compelling as long as it works for the kid. But is DCSC really "lower level" anyway? They recently joined ECNL-RL and who knows where it will be in a few years. Again, if your kid is already too good for DCSC or any other club at their age group, yeah go to a club that's got kids at the same level, but I think 99% of people aren't in that situation and so DCSC is a great place to be. Anecdotally I heard people feel it's more organized and well managed than some other clubs, and the coaching has been good for us anyway. We plan to stay there until and unless it's not meeting our needs. |
Anonymous
This extrapolates into the rec and to use Arlingtons term ADP model. Having a unified pipeline or at least structure of 12 rec teams to 8 in between (ADP) teams to 4 Club/Travel teams with a top team to aspire to (ECNL/ENCLR/MLSN whatever) creates a healthier pipeline and field allocation process. Until then, clubs are going to rely on old friend sin DPR, legacy permits and overspending on Fields at RFK permits for half a field and six teams. Kids lose. Directors win. |
Anonymous
Correct. I was told their are two problems with doing this: DC has not official governing body like MD and VA As a result, DCSC is the de facto mob boss and does not give up control. The current egos are huge in management. This is for each club I have dealt with. They all are guilty that I have encountered thus far. |
Anonymous
| How was turnout at tryouts for ECNL-R teams? |
Anonymous
+ 1 I am also curious about this |
Anonymous
| Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012. |
Anonymous
How does DSCS extend its ECNL RL offers? Only for known open spots in each Ave group? Rolling as offers are extended and then either accepted or rejected? |
Anonymous
If you get an rl offer ask about roster size. My kids u13 team this year was over rostered and not everyone got to play every week. They also play way less games than regular ecnl teams. I think we are heading towards 12 or 13 total foe the year |
Anonymous
That’s a good reminder for all clubs/offers, PP. FWIW, at the 2012 tryout they said the roster size would be 18. |
Anonymous
If you check the ECNL/RL web page you can see the the boys teams are mostly around 20-22 on rosters. They add over the summer. |
Anonymous
Well, apparently you were right and I was wrong, as my kid now has an offer for the second-tier team for next year, a big jump up. (I would still bet heavily against his chances of playing in college.) |
Anonymous
| Well we were with DC Soccer for 6 years with multiple children with a wide spectrum of experiences. We had our first experience with DC Soccer Brookland this past year and it was phenomenal. The cohesiveness and growth of our team and friends' kids' teams were very evident. Need more coaches in the city who put the kids first. |
Anonymous
Brookland soccer parent here. A lot of promises were made by DCSC in terms of more field space, better field space, better access to better tournaments, more support for coaches, and a larger soccer community. 6 pop up lights at Fort Stevens for 3 hours is not going to cut it. The promises that were made were not upheld it seems like. The idea was a great one but I like the idea of Brookland Coaches joining a more communal soccer club. A lot of their coaches are just good people and very transparent, which is hard to find in the youth sports industry in today's world. Maybe they join forces with WCU or DC Way!!! |