Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely agree, and hope your kid is able to find a good situation for next season.

Thank you.

I am always about playing at the highest level you can. Our hurdle is going to be travel time to Practices and such with 2 younger kids playing football in the fall and then wrestling in the winter. It's going to play a big role in which club we choose and we know that it's going to take some time to mentally get that with not maybe not being Able to play on the better or best team because of the area

Well- you certainly have the confidence. I think you'll find this area very different than other soccer towns.

He has played club In Virginia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Those areas had one or two clubs MAX.
I have confidence because he's done it many places. And soccer is very different here.... There seem to be more opportunities to go around with The various clubs in a general area.

VSA
SYA
PWSI

Are the 3 clubs that have offered him a chance for a late tryout. Anyone have insight on those clubs? And relation to the Haymarket area? Which club by opinion has better soccer?

How old is he? U-9 and U-10 IMO are the hardest to get a spot. Things are wide open by middle school age. There are usually many more spots and by HS he could walk on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely agree, and hope your kid is able to find a good situation for next season.

Thank you.

I am always about playing at the highest level you can. Our hurdle is going to be travel time to Practices and such with 2 younger kids playing football in the fall and then wrestling in the winter. It's going to play a big role in which club we choose and we know that it's going to take some time to mentally get that with not maybe not being Able to play on the better or best team because of the area

Well- you certainly have the confidence. I think you'll find this area very different than other soccer towns.

He has played club In Virginia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Those areas had one or two clubs MAX.
I have confidence because he's done it many places. And soccer is very different here.... There seem to be more opportunities to go around with The various clubs in a general area.

VSA
SYA
PWSI

Are the 3 clubs that have offered him a chance for a late tryout. Anyone have insight on those clubs? And relation to the Haymarket area? Which club by opinion has better soccer?

How old is he? U-9 and U-10 IMO are the hardest to get a spot. Things are wide open by middle school age. There are usually many more spots and by HS he could walk on.

This is my opinion as a paid coach for over a decade in this area in a "large" club that is not in the list. Out of those three? Pwsi is hands down the best club in terms of coaching, player technical ability, playing style, coaching staff, and opportunity on the boys side (USDA). If you are in Haarlem they are likely the least convenient (howison in Woodbridge). SYA is in CCL, so he would get decent match competition, but the coaching there is hit or miss and the club is all about squeezing each and every dollar out of the families with little in actual development in return. VSA is the most convenient but really has nothing to offer beyond that.

One additional option would be NVSC. They are not the level of PWSI, but have some good coaches and player pools in certain age groups. They are more convenient to you than PWSI and SYA.

This area is a nightmare, there are so many clubs and egos they spend so much time fighting each other that there are a lot of opportunities lost. The positive is that if you have a checkbook you can find your kid a travel team, but there is not as much accountability, consistency, and development as there should be.

[Anonymous]

^^ Haarlem = haymarket somehow, at least according to my phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely agree, and hope your kid is able to find a good situation for next season.

Thank you.

I am always about playing at the highest level you can. Our hurdle is going to be travel time to Practices and such with 2 younger kids playing football in the fall and then wrestling in the winter. It's going to play a big role in which club we choose and we know that it's going to take some time to mentally get that with not maybe not being Able to play on the better or best team because of the area

Well- you certainly have the confidence. I think you'll find this area very different than other soccer towns.

He has played club In Virginia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Those areas had one or two clubs MAX.
I have confidence because he's done it many places. And soccer is very different here.... There seem to be more opportunities to go around with The various clubs in a general area.

VSA
SYA
PWSI

Are the 3 clubs that have offered him a chance for a late tryout. Anyone have insight on those clubs? And relation to the Haymarket area? Which club by opinion has better soccer?

How old is he? U-9 and U-10 IMO are the hardest to get a spot. Things are wide open by middle school age. There are usually many more spots and by HS he could walk on.

This is my opinion as a paid coach for over a decade in this area in a "large" club that is not in the list. Out of those three? Pwsi is hands down the best club in terms of coaching, player technical ability, playing style, coaching staff, and opportunity on the boys side (USDA). If you are in Haarlem they are likely the least convenient (howison in Woodbridge). SYA is in CCL, so he would get decent match competition, but the coaching there is hit or miss and the club is all about squeezing each and every dollar out of the families with little in actual development in return. VSA is the most convenient but really has nothing to offer beyond that.

One additional option would be NVSC. They are not the level of PWSI, but have some good coaches and player pools in certain age groups. They are more convenient to you than PWSI and SYA.

This area is a nightmare, there are so many clubs and egos they spend so much time fighting each other that there are a lot of opportunities lost. The positive is that if you have a checkbook you can find your kid a travel team, but there is not as much accountability, consistency, and development as there should be.

Thanks for the post! He was invited by the club he worked with this evening. Have 2 more clubs scheduled to work with but i think PWSI is going to be a bit much for commute so we will see what comes of the training session with the next club and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ Haarlem = haymarket somehow, at least according to my phone.

I was wondering about that. I may not know all the towns in the exurbs, but I would've remembered a Haarlem.

[Anonymous]

Is the VPL any good? My boy has just joined a U9 team and I was wondering what people know about this league, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering did McLean lose a significant number of talented players to other clubs, as was predicted

I think no. Most of the kids were still at tryouts. Not tons of kids trying out but definitely different leagues of kids also trying out

[Anonymous]

Madison vs. Langley for Virginia state championship tonight. Not bad.

Madison has a lot of VYS kids, plus one who had been playing Development Academy but opted to come back to play high school ball his senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madison vs. Langley for Virginia state championship tonight. Not bad.

Madison has a lot of VYS kids, plus one who had been playing Development Academy but opted to come back to play high school ball his senior year.

Where is the game taking place?

Also how does one get to a development academy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering did McLean lose a significant number of talented players to other clubs, as was predicted

I think no. Most of the kids were still at tryouts. Not tons of kids trying out but definitely different leagues of kids also trying out

I know several that tried out at different clubs but most ended up staying at McLean.

[Anonymous]

I heard some Vienna girls moved to McLean this year to play in CCL instead of WAGS. Threw off some McLean girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard some Vienna girls moved to McLean this year to play in CCL instead of WAGS. Threw off some McLean girls.

What age group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard some Vienna girls moved to McLean this year to play in CCL instead of WAGS. Threw off some McLean girls.

CCL or ECNL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely agree, and hope your kid is able to find a good situation for next season.

Are the 3 clubs that have offered him a chance for a late tryout. Anyone have insight on those clubs? And relation to the Haymarket area? Which club by opinion has better soccer?

How old is he? U-9 and U-10 IMO are the hardest to get a spot. Things are wide open by middle school age. There are usually many more spots and by HS he could walk on.

This is my opinion as a paid coach for over a decade in this area in a "large" club that is not in the list. Out of those three? Pwsi is hands down the best club in terms of coaching, player technical ability, playing style, coaching staff, and opportunity on the boys side (USDA). If you are in Haarlem they are likely the least convenient (howison in Woodbridge). SYA is in CCL, so he would get decent match competition, but the coaching there is hit or miss and the club is all about squeezing each and every dollar out of the families with little in actual development in return. VSA is the most convenient but really has nothing to offer beyond that.

One additional option would be NVSC. They are not the level of PWSI, but have some good coaches and player pools in certain age groups. They are more convenient to you than PWSI and SYA.

This area is a nightmare, there are so many clubs and egos they spend so much time fighting each other that there are a lot of opportunities lost. The positive is that if you have a checkbook you can find your kid a travel team, but there is not as much accountability, consistency, and development as there should be.

This is a good example of why you should not believe everything you read on an anonymous message board. VSA has had a complete change of leadership, management and coaching staff in the past year. They have brought some experienced, young, smart and qualified talent in to run the club. Quite different then some of the older, stale coaching and management that seems to proliferate the other clubs mentioned. This is coming from a parent with 8+ years experience in NOVA soccer travel and with kids who have played in the clubs mentioned. We left one of the other clubs last year for VSA and are happy with our experience so far.

[Anonymous]

First time back at the FPYC Tournament in a few years, with our youngest. What hasn't changed is that there are ringers all over the place (clearly, some players are too old). And that many of the refs can barely walk, let alone run, so they're forced to make some rather unusual, creative decisions. Bully for them for refusing to let go of the beautiful game until the grave.

In talking with an opposing coach, what I think has changed (and that is why I'm posting this here) is that a lot of the supposed rec teams had been coached by travel coaches and supported in different ways by travel programs. Also, they play a lot of tournaments (this coach told me his team did). That's right: these "rec" teams travel around seeking high-level competition.

Any opinions about the blurring of travel, all-stars, and rec?

Also, I would not necessarily consider the FPYC tournament to be a rec tournament anymore, so does anyone know of tournaments that actually are for just house-level kids? My team is terrible, to be honest. Good kids, but not elite athletes by any measure!