| Asking for a friend who just moved to the area. She has 9 and 11 year old boys. I see the thread about clubs being short players. Any clubs near Vienna that still need players? She knows about VYS. Any other recommendations? Thanks. |
Since they’re so young, I recommend shortest drive times. See if competitive soccer is their thing, spend the next year checking out coaches and clubs. |
| McLean and Great Falls/Reston |
| Herndon. Don’t know if they need players, but not too far and solid coaching and teams. |
PAC as well. |
second this, or they can try Arlington/Alexandria if commute is not an issue. |
| Mclean is solid and has Ecnl. Great Falls/Reston partners with the Metro United GA academy. |
This is about boys. See op. VYS is solid and at younger ages is solid on top teams and competes well against the listed boys clubs. For boys, McLean is not worth the trip, Arlington not worth the drama. |
You are right, just did a quick search and was impressed by Vienna teams. |
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Also depends on level - (e.g. A team vs C team) and where you are in Vienna. Some McLean fields are closer to parts of Vienna than Vienna fields. My suggestion is attend a practice of each (and probably Great Falls-Reston as well) and then decide from there.
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I don’t know much about Vienna, McClean coaches seem good to me, but who knows. The only coach I’ve every seem scream at their team like an unhinged lunatic was a great falls U10 girl’s coach |
Do you really live in Northern Virginia? McLean and Arlington are far superior to Vienna in coaching, leagues played in and talent. ....it's not even a discussion. |
If the kid doesn’t make one of the top teams, they may be better off at a smaller club rather than somewhere permanently forgotten by a bigger club |
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Are you asking about travel teams, or they are just looking to play in a soccer program? If they just want to play soccer and are not playing "travel" then just sign up for Vienna or the whatever is closest where they will have kids from the same schools on their teams.
For people that live in Vienna whose kids play elsewhere - for boys, the list includes: Great falls-Reston Mclean Premier Athletic Club (falls church area) Fairfax Police Youth Club Arlington is a stretch. Maybe if they were a former DA player, a kid in Vienna would play for Arlington, but that's about the only reason why. If you don't know what that means, don't even worry about it. Great Falls-Reston and Mclean have deep boys travel programs, with 4 teams ranging from so-called "elite" teams to a just a level or two above rec. PAC usually has 2 teams per age group or so, one more competitive team and one less competitive team but still a level above rec. Fairfax has more competitive boys rec teams that play in SFL (the local rec league), so you get a more competitive environment with less $ and time commitment, but they do not have travel teams in every age group. |
Nonsense at these boys ages. McLean is not better at those ages on the boys side and Arlington milks an enormous player pool. There is no development there before U12 and everybody who knows boys soccer in this area is aware of that (unless they are at Arlington). Please. There are 1-2 coaches for boys in this area at those ages worth traveling for. The rest aren’t making much difference. |