How competitive is ASA travel soccer team? Is it hard to make the team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a pretty small county - 1/5th the size of Fairfax. So it's not that surprising that there's really only one club in town. There are several clubs in neighboring towns (Falls church, McLean, Alexandria) if you don't like ASA.

I've had experience with all three levels of play (rec, ADP, travel) and have coached at the rec level. For the most part, I think ASA does a pretty good job, especially at the rec level. But as a parent, you do have to do a cost-benefit analysis. It probably doesn't make sense to accept a spot on a lower-tier travel team anywhere if you think that money would be better spent elsewhere.

If you don't like the training you have to go elsewhere. I found ASA to be hit or miss even on the upper teams. This is compounded by the fact they don't have a philosophy of play and the coaches aren't on the same page. Kids get dumped year to year and sometimes what one coach told them is completely contradictory to the previous one. There is also no way the Club can even contemplate a possession-style of play because in order to do that everyone in the Club has to be on the same page and it needs to start at the ground up---pre-academy. All coaches need to be working the same drills progressively as kids age up. I don't think they care about the style though--just winning trophies. It really can be frustrating for players with more soccer IQ to be thrown into a long-ball, boot it out and get the fastest kid chasing it down environment. I think this is where CHOICE within the County would really be appreciated. ASA pre-academy/travel does do a fantastic job getting the kids learning foot skills. I found the training just went downhill as the kids moved into and up the travel system. If they stayed there in the formative years, by 15/16 they would have not developed into well-rounded players.

We're thinking about trying out next year at Alexandria and McLean, as well as ASA. Are one of those 2 other programs (Alexandria and McLean) markedly better than the other? McLean is CCL - which I'm a bit disappointed in the CCL competition, and Alexandria is NCSL - so hit or miss in terms of competition. Which of those two would have a better possession style training for younger ages and good competitive games.

Better possession style training? No question, hands-down Alexandria. Better in general? That is hard to define... McLean and Arlington are bigger and get a lot of amazing athletes. Play is strong but I don't think training seems as good.

[Anonymous]

Is it better to do ADP for a year or two if you don’t make the top travel team initially and then try out for travel in a couple of years once DD has developed more skills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to do ADP for a year or two if you don’t make the top travel team initially and then try out for travel in a couple of years once DD has developed more skills?

So it depends on the age of your dd.

[Anonymous]

^^currently 8 years old.

[Anonymous]

Re: PPs Qs -

ASA doesn't spend much time on technical skill or touch.

You probably have to train individually for that.

The focus seems to be: team speed of play - effort - winning.

It is not kick & run but it is not possession focused either.

Half of the players try to control and use touch to extend possession under pressure, and the other half go direct and boot it to solve their problems.

Just basic youth soccer in this country. No need to overreact one way or the other. Not ideal development but lots of players do have lots of fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: PPs Qs -

ASA doesn't spend much time on technical skill or touch.

You probably have to train individually for that.

The focus seems to be: team speed of play - effort - winning.

It is not kick & run but it is not possession focused either.

Half of the players try to control and use touch to extend possession under pressure, and the other half go direct and boot it to solve their problems.

Just basic youth soccer in this country. No need to overreact one way or the other. Not ideal development but lots of players do have lots of fun.

Sounds like a hot mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: PPs Qs -

ASA doesn't spend much time on technical skill or touch.

You probably have to train individually for that.

The focus seems to be: team speed of play - effort - winning.

It is not kick & run but it is not possession focused either.

Half of the players try to control and use touch to extend possession under pressure, and the other half go direct and boot it to solve their problems.

Just basic youth soccer in this country. No need to overreact one way or the other. Not ideal development but lots of players do have lots of fun.

Sounds like a hot mess.

For better or worse I've been through travel soccer 4 times now. When I was a youth player it was called Select and there was no internet so I watched old videos of world cup games to get a glimpse of how it should/could be played. Not a lot of fancy dribbling, just fast running and passing. My older son played with Albion on the west coast and they focused on ball mastery until U11ish and game play IQ was a secondary lesson that taught more in a realtime fashion as opposed to practices. Seemed to work well given the high level of competition vs their performance. We then moved here and now all 3 of my kids play for a local club who I think has it set up as good as any. Not perfect, but the top 2 teams are good enough to keep each other on their toes.

In my opinion there are some key over arching themes to successful development.

- Coach must stay age appropriate (my youngest has amazing foot skills, but gets lost on the larger pitch. Don't get too complicated with the terminology.)
- Team chemistry. Team that trains well together and laughs together can beat any team. It's about trust and selfless playing because the faster player will always be slower than the ball. These teams tend to stick together for a long time and after a few years, they just destroy opponents.
- Over doing it. Let the kids play and train hard, but let them do other things. I found a few weeks off over the winter gets them real hungry to get back into soccer. I don't force them to juggle non-stop daily, get their "touches" in so to speak.
- Technical training outside the club. I can tell which players train outside the club. Crisp touches, exciting dribbling, and calmness during pressure situations.

Last observations. Those that bitch about CCL, NCSL, etc. Does not matter!!! Play who they put in front of you! You you beat everyone by 10 weekly then your team needs a harder league, if you are loosing by 10 every week you are playing too high and should go to a lower division. Bottomline, to develop you need to play at a skill appropriate level. Don't over generalize an entire club/league. ASA will have good coaches and teams, they will have some average ones as well, that's just how it is.
-

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: PPs Qs -

ASA doesn't spend much time on technical skill or touch.

You probably have to train individually for that.

The focus seems to be: team speed of play - effort - winning.

It is not kick & run but it is not possession focused either.

Half of the players try to control and use touch to extend possession under pressure, and the other half go direct and boot it to solve their problems.

Just basic youth soccer in this country. No need to overreact one way or the other. Not ideal development but lots of players do have lots of fun.

Sounds like a hot mess.

For better or worse I've been through travel soccer 4 times now. When I was a youth player it was called Select and there was no internet so I watched old videos of world cup games to get a glimpse of how it should/could be played. Not a lot of fancy dribbling, just fast running and passing. My older son played with Albion on the west coast and they focused on ball mastery until U11ish and game play IQ was a secondary lesson that taught more in a realtime fashion as opposed to practices. Seemed to work well given the high level of competition vs their performance. We then moved here and now all 3 of my kids play for a local club who I think has it set up as good as any. Not perfect, but the top 2 teams are good enough to keep each other on their toes.

In my opinion there are some key over arching themes to successful development.

- Coach must stay age appropriate (my youngest has amazing foot skills, but gets lost on the larger pitch. Don't get too complicated with the terminology.)
- Team chemistry. Team that trains well together and laughs together can beat any team. It's about trust and selfless playing because the faster player will always be slower than the ball. These teams tend to stick together for a long time and after a few years, they just destroy opponents.
- Over doing it. Let the kids play and train hard, but let them do other things. I found a few weeks off over the winter gets them real hungry to get back into soccer. I don't force them to juggle non-stop daily, get their "touches" in so to speak.
- Technical training outside the club. I can tell which players train outside the club. Crisp touches, exciting dribbling, and calmness during pressure situations.

Last observations. Those that bitch about CCL, NCSL, etc. Does not matter!!! Play who they put in front of you! You you beat everyone by 10 weekly then your team needs a harder league, if you are loosing by 10 every week you are playing too high and should go to a lower division. Bottomline, to develop you need to play at a skill appropriate level. Don't over generalize an entire club/league. ASA will have good coaches and teams, they will have some average ones as well, that's just how it is.
-

not always best situation for player growth. kids that only stay in comfort zone may win trophies, but without constant challenge and experiencing different teammates, different styles of play and varied coaching don't grow as much individually. I've seen kids that will only do a camp or training if every single kid from their team is doing it. They can't function outside of that 'set' group. They are used to being prima donnas. Growth comes from having to prove yourself and learn to fit in time and time again. The players I've seen stay on these set teams over time may function together, but individually they are stagnant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: PPs Qs -

ASA doesn't spend much time on technical skill or touch.

You probably have to train individually for that.

The focus seems to be: team speed of play - effort - winning.

It is not kick & run but it is not possession focused either.

Half of the players try to control and use touch to extend possession under pressure, and the other half go direct and boot it to solve their problems.

Just basic youth soccer in this country. No need to overreact one way or the other. Not ideal development but lots of players do have lots of fun.

Sounds like a hot mess.

For better or worse I've been through travel soccer 4 times now. When I was a youth player it was called Select and there was no internet so I watched old videos of world cup games to get a glimpse of how it should/could be played. Not a lot of fancy dribbling, just fast running and passing. My older son played with Albion on the west coast and they focused on ball mastery until U11ish and game play IQ was a secondary lesson that taught more in a realtime fashion as opposed to practices. Seemed to work well given the high level of competition vs their performance. We then moved here and now all 3 of my kids play for a local club who I think has it set up as good as any. Not perfect, but the top 2 teams are good enough to keep each other on their toes.

In my opinion there are some key over arching themes to successful development.

- Coach must stay age appropriate (my youngest has amazing foot skills, but gets lost on the larger pitch. Don't get too complicated with the terminology.)
- Team chemistry. Team that trains well together and laughs together can beat any team. It's about trust and selfless playing because the faster player will always be slower than the ball. These teams tend to stick together for a long time and after a few years, they just destroy opponents.
- Over doing it. Let the kids play and train hard, but let them do other things. I found a few weeks off over the winter gets them real hungry to get back into soccer. I don't force them to juggle non-stop daily, get their "touches" in so to speak.
- Technical training outside the club. I can tell which players train outside the club. Crisp touches, exciting dribbling, and calmness during pressure situations.

Last observations. Those that bitch about CCL, NCSL, etc. Does not matter!!! Play who they put in front of you! You you beat everyone by 10 weekly then your team needs a harder league, if you are loosing by 10 every week you are playing too high and should go to a lower division. Bottomline, to develop you need to play at a skill appropriate level. Don't over generalize an entire club/league. ASA will have good coaches and teams, they will have some average ones as well, that's just how it is.
-

not always best situation for player growth. kids that only stay in comfort zone may win trophies, but without constant challenge and experiencing different teammates, different styles of play and varied coaching don't grow as much individually. I've seen kids that will only do a camp or training if every single kid from their team is doing it. They can't function outside of that 'set' group. They are used to being prima donnas. Growth comes from having to prove yourself and learn to fit in time and time again. The players I've seen stay on these set teams over time may function together, but individually they are stagnant.

I don't agree. Cream always rises to the top, if you are driven and have talent it will happen. Hard work only gets you so far and at some point pure natural talent takes you to the next level. I think the poster talking about team chem has a good perspective that if you are going to take you kid on this journey, mine as well make it fun. It's a healthy approach that isn't so focused on becoming the next Messi.

[Anonymous]

Getting better and becoming the cream requires being faced with adversity and lots of challenge.

These suburban teams that carry over year to year with set teams aren’t even having true tryouts. It does nothing for these players. They are way too comfortable. Potential wasted. That is fine if HS is the dream.

You can see why we will never be a country on the World stage because everyone is okay with shitty soccer “a mix of kids that boot and run and a few kids that pass”. These are our top teams? Christ. Kids that can’t use both feet and have a crappy first touch and no soccer IQ.

But, I guess if you are going to succeed in the US, your kid should learn shitty US soccer. It is a disadvantage in the US to have them developed properly because that requires time and bucking the “super” teams to learn it and these “super” teams are the only path to our shitty non-qualifying USMNT or crappy MLS. I don’t know about cream, but the turd floats and stays on top.

Gotta be able to boot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting better and becoming the cream requires being faced with adversity and lots of challenge.

These suburban teams that carry over year to year with set teams aren’t even having true tryouts. It does nothing for these players. They are way too comfortable. Potential wasted. That is fine if HS is the dream.

You can see why we will never be a country on the World stage because everyone is okay with shitty soccer “a mix of kids that boot and run and a few kids that pass”. These are our top teams? Christ. Kids that can’t use both feet and have a crappy first touch and no soccer IQ.

But, I guess if you are going to succeed in the US, your kid should learn shitty US soccer. It is a disadvantage in the US to have them developed properly because that requires time and bucking the “super” teams to learn it and these “super” teams are the only path to our shitty non-qualifying USMNT or crappy MLS. I don’t know about cream, but the turd floats and stays on top.

Gotta be able to boot!

Very true.

[Anonymous]

19:25 PP - ADP vs. Travel - Depends on the kid and how much you're ok spending.

My daughter played for a lower-level Travel team last year. She didn't do well enough in try-outs the second time around to STAY in travel, unfortunately. (new coach preferred new incoming kids over her.) So she tried out for ADP for this year and made a team.

I initially thought the year of Travel was a real waste of money, but then I watched her play with her ADP and Rec teams and she is a much stronger player this year than she was before Travel. After one season of ADP, I can say that I don't think she would have learned as much in ADP as she did in Travel. ADP has one pool session with a paid coach and one with a volunteer coach, and that doesn't always compare to 3 weekly sessions with paid coaches. And our Rec coach is a great guy who never played at a high level himself, and this was his first season coaching a format (7x7) and positions that she had already played for a year. So she knew a lot vs. most of her teammates on either team, and became a leader on both teams. She get a ton of playing time on both teams and loves playing and practicing.

We're considering going back to Travel next year because our ADP coach will be moving out of the area and he's a big reason we like the team. Plus ADP only goes for one more year for us, so if she wants a higher level of play, she'd have to go back to Travel anyway.

So to recap, I personally think the training in Travel is superior to that of ADP and Rec. But if your kid isn't one of the better kids on one of the better teams, they might not get enough playing time or recognition to advance. And the difference in fees is significant - $700 v. $2400 for us. That can make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19:25 PP - ADP vs. Travel - Depends on the kid and how much you're ok spending.

My daughter played for a lower-level Travel team last year. She didn't do well enough in try-outs the second time around to STAY in travel, unfortunately. (new coach preferred new incoming kids over her.) So she tried out for ADP for this year and made a team.

I initially thought the year of Travel was a real waste of money, but then I watched her play with her ADP and Rec teams and she is a much stronger player this year than she was before Travel. After one season of ADP, I can say that I don't think she would have learned as much in ADP as she did in Travel. ADP has one pool session with a paid coach and one with a volunteer coach, and that doesn't always compare to 3 weekly sessions with paid coaches. And our Rec coach is a great guy who never played at a high level himself, and this was his first season coaching a format (7x7) and positions that she had already played for a year. So she knew a lot vs. most of her teammates on either team, and became a leader on both teams. She get a ton of playing time on both teams and loves playing and practicing.

We're considering going back to Travel next year because our ADP coach will be moving out of the area and he's a big reason we like the team. Plus ADP only goes for one more year for us, so if she wants a higher level of play, she'd have to go back to Travel anyway.

So to recap, I personally think the training in Travel is superior to that of ADP and Rec. But if your kid isn't one of the better kids on one of the better teams, they might not get enough playing time or recognition to advance. And the difference in fees is significant - $700 v. $2400 for us. That can make a difference.

To continue on the PP question, and for those of us that would like to see the player receive the best training by joining the the 1st or 2nd team. In my experience as a parent at the U9-U12 travel teams for a club in VA, it is highly unlikely a player will try out and be offered a 3rd team or lower spot in an age group, and come back the following year without joining travel at all and be offered a 1st team spot at the same club. The vice versa also applies, if a child is placed on a first team, for whatever reason, and joins that club, I have not seen however poorly the player plays to be demoted to 3rd team if available.

The coaches viewing the players are humans, and may rationalize why a player with 'so much potential' is not achieving it. Also, “iron sharpens iron” so the player that probably didn't belong on the 1st team after playing with the better kids will improve, significantly. That is a tried and true approach that applies to all sports, and other non-physical activities as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting better and becoming the cream requires being faced with adversity and lots of challenge.

These suburban teams that carry over year to year with set teams aren’t even having true tryouts. It does nothing for these players. They are way too comfortable. Potential wasted. That is fine if HS is the dream.

You can see why we will never be a country on the World stage because everyone is okay with shitty soccer “a mix of kids that boot and run and a few kids that pass”. These are our top teams? Christ. Kids that can’t use both feet and have a crappy first touch and no soccer IQ.

But, I guess if you are going to succeed in the US, your kid should learn shitty US soccer. It is a disadvantage in the US to have them developed properly because that requires time and bucking the “super” teams to learn it and these “super” teams are the only path to our shitty non-qualifying USMNT or crappy MLS. I don’t know about cream, but the turd floats and stays on top.

Gotta be able to boot!

Hey, I recognize you! You're the "shitty soccer" poster. Your MO is to take a sentence or two from someone's post about their family's experience (or whatever) and then immediately extrapolate to your favorite theme of This is Why US Soccer is Shitty and We Will Never Achieve Anything on the World Stage.

I do agree that it's not good for a players' development for a team to have the same coach and players for years on end for the adversity and challenge reasons you note, and also because a new coach might be able to help you overcome weaknesses in your game that your prior coach was blind to. That's not to say that these type of teams uniformly lack skills and ability though. There a couple of teams playing in the U18 National League this year with a core group of kids who have had the same coach since they were 8 or 9, and in both cases the coaches are knowledgeable and most of the kids are skilled and talented and know how to play possession soccer. I will be curious to see how they fare when they are in a new environment.

[Anonymous]

i'd be more curious to see how Usain Bolt fares...