New to the area - BRYC or other local travel clubs

[Anonymous]

I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

You've opened a can of worms! Best thing to do is once you get a list, call each one and ask them come to one of their practices to get an idea if it's a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

If you live in Fairfax, and she’s serious: McLean, SYC, TSJFCV

[Anonymous]

Depending on where in fairfax, add Arlington and McLean to the mix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

If you live in Fairfax, and she’s serious: McLean, SYC, TSJFCV

In addition to BRYC.

[Anonymous]

BRYC not a bad option either, I agree

[Anonymous]

You are in the middle of a lot of clubs, where they all claim to be the top of the pyramid but none of them are actually consistently better than the others. When you feel safe with her mingling with others start calling coaches/managers in their age group and schedule some practice visits. None of the clubs here are good from top to bottom so in order to make a good decision you have to put in the legwork to shop around and find the team and coach that is the best fit for her regardless of which club. Do not let anyone fool you into believe there is a working pyramid in this area and some club or set of clubs are the best because they play in one league or another--that's BS. Tournaments and winter futsal/leagues are also good opportunities to guest play with potential teams in addition to attending open practices, this can give you an even better idea of how good a fit that team may be for her.

Once you find something that fits keep in mind the clubs in NOVA do not show any loyalty to players if a better one comes along so there is absolutely zero reason for you to feel any loyalty to the club you first choose. If things change and another club becomes a better fit for her keep your options open. Not saying you should jump ship the first time the grass looks a little greener but if she is not having fun or making the progress she wants to make don't let some misguided sense of club loyalty stop you from doing what's best for her.

My daughter who is currently playing college D1 played for parent coach until U12 so I wouldn't write off all parent coaches. Around here there is often just as much drama around club coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

Depending on where you are in Fairfax, your closest club and best club could be the same, there's any number of options. I have a 2011 daughter at SYC and we really like our coach so I'll put that simple plug out there, but agree with the posts suggesting going to a couple practices - call or email a couple programs and ask to attend a couple practices once you're comfortable doing that, now or later. There are good coaches all around. The websites are all going to say similar things, hence the go to a couple practices. It's a little bit of a dead time right now, but it seems like most clubs will start gearing back up in mid-January, so this is a good time to reach out to the coach and figure out how far you area from different practices.

Your answer to the where in fairfax part might help you narrow down a little bit, based on your neighbors suggestion I'd venture a guess you're in the Burke/Fairfax City area, in which case you're close to FPYC (fairfax city), BRYC (Burke), and Vienna (VYS) in addition to SYC (Springfield) and maybe SYA (Centreville area). If you're in the southern side of the county, you're close to PWSI and SYC, maybe NVSC. If you're on the eastern side of the county, you're not far LMVSC (Lee Mount Vernon), Gunston, or even Alexandria. If on the Western side of the county, you're near Herndon, Chantilly, Great Falls Reston (GFR) and possibly Mclean. BRYC/FPYC/VYS/SYA/SYC are probably the most "central" from a geographic county location standpoint, but depends on where you are. I'm sure I've missed other smaller clubs too, although in my limited experience, those clubs are a little less competitive, at least at the 2011 girls age, so the way you described the situation, I'm not sure that's the first direction I'd point you. Most of those will be a similar drive for you.

Those teams mentioned above all vary wildly in terms of competitiveness, team size, etc, but I believe all of them with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions have paid professional coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

Depending on where you are in Fairfax, your closest club and best club could be the same, there's any number of options. I have a 2011 daughter at SYC and we really like our coach so I'll put that simple plug out there, but agree with the posts suggesting going to a couple practices - call or email a couple programs and ask to attend a couple practices once you're comfortable doing that, now or later. There are good coaches all around. The websites are all going to say similar things, hence the go to a couple practices. It's a little bit of a dead time right now, but it seems like most clubs will start gearing back up in mid-January, so this is a good time to reach out to the coach and figure out how far you area from different practices.

Your answer to the where in fairfax part might help you narrow down a little bit, based on your neighbors suggestion I'd venture a guess you're in the Burke/Fairfax City area, in which case you're close to FPYC (fairfax city), BRYC (Burke), and Vienna (VYS) in addition to SYC (Springfield) and maybe SYA (Centreville area). If you're in the southern side of the county, you're close to PWSI and SYC, maybe NVSC. If you're on the eastern side of the county, you're not far LMVSC (Lee Mount Vernon), Gunston, or even Alexandria. If on the Western side of the county, you're near Herndon, Chantilly, Great Falls Reston (GFR) and possibly Mclean. BRYC/FPYC/VYS/SYA/SYC are probably the most "central" from a geographic county location standpoint, but depends on where you are. I'm sure I've missed other smaller clubs too, although in my limited experience, those clubs are a little less competitive, at least at the 2011 girls age, so the way you described the situation, I'm not sure that's the first direction I'd point you. Most of those will be a similar drive for you.

Those teams mentioned above all vary wildly in terms of competitiveness, team size, etc, but I believe all of them with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions have paid professional coaches.

Ok, at the risk of outing myself for poor geography skills regarding club locations, I’m the respondent from above, if it’s helpful to you, feel free to reach out to me. [e-mail]. I’ve got coworkers at a number of programs (mostly not 2011, but a couple 2011’s) and depending on where you are, am happy to help you get connected to them or help with other answers from a local parent perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

Depending on where you are in Fairfax, your closest club and best club could be the same, there's any number of options. I have a 2011 daughter at SYC and we really like our coach so I'll put that simple plug out there, but agree with the posts suggesting going to a couple practices - call or email a couple programs and ask to attend a couple practices once you're comfortable doing that, now or later. There are good coaches all around. The websites are all going to say similar things, hence the go to a couple practices. It's a little bit of a dead time right now, but it seems like most clubs will start gearing back up in mid-January, so this is a good time to reach out to the coach and figure out how far you area from different practices.

Your answer to the where in fairfax part might help you narrow down a little bit, based on your neighbors suggestion I'd venture a guess you're in the Burke/Fairfax City area, in which case you're close to FPYC (fairfax city), BRYC (Burke), and Vienna (VYS) in addition to SYC (Springfield) and maybe SYA (Centreville area). If you're in the southern side of the county, you're close to PWSI and SYC, maybe NVSC. If you're on the eastern side of the county, you're not far LMVSC (Lee Mount Vernon), Gunston, or even Alexandria. If on the Western side of the county, you're near Herndon, Chantilly, Great Falls Reston (GFR) and possibly Mclean. BRYC/FPYC/VYS/SYA/SYC are probably the most "central" from a geographic county location standpoint, but depends on where you are. I'm sure I've missed other smaller clubs too, although in my limited experience, those clubs are a little less competitive, at least at the 2011 girls age, so the way you described the situation, I'm not sure that's the first direction I'd point you. Most of those will be a similar drive for you.

Those teams mentioned above all vary wildly in terms of competitiveness, team size, etc, but I believe all of them with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions have paid professional coaches.

Ok, at the risk of outing myself for poor geography skills regarding club locations, I’m the respondent from above, if it’s helpful to you, feel free to reach out to me. [e-mail]. I’ve got coworkers at a number of programs (mostly not 2011, but a couple 2011’s) and depending on where you are, am happy to help you get connected to them or help with other answers from a local parent perspective.

yahoooooooooooooo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

If she’s serious about soccer, TSJFCV or McLean. Period. There isn’t another club in the area that compares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told this is a good forum to post a question. My daughter is a 2011 birthday, and we just moved here. She is very serious about soccer and played on a top travel team in her area. We live in Fairfax and a neighbor told us BRYC was a local travel soccer program. When doing a little research on their girls side, it seems like many of the coaches on their U9/U10/U11 teams are players parents. Is that normal for all travel soccer programs in this area? It would be great from a location of practice, but where we came from, all the coaches were certified and were not parents to any players on the team. As I know that leads to drama / special treatment.

Is that the case at all clubs in this area? Other then BRYC, any other suggestions?

If she’s serious about soccer, TSJFCV or McLean. Period. There isn’t another club in the area that compares.

Depending on where you live, Arlington is a similar commute and is better than either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she’s serious about soccer, TSJFCV or McLean. Period. There isn’t another club in the area that compares.

Funny that I've been here several years and never heard of TSJFCV (I assume this is The St. James Football Club ... um, V?) until recently, when my kid started playing futsal there. Is their soccer team considered pretty good in the area?

We're thinking about changing clubs next year, but struggling to find the right club in terms of location. Alexandria, Arlington, McLean ... these were the clubs we were thinking about. Not sure though. We've been happy with the St. James futsal so far, but it's a different sport and it's still early days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she’s serious about soccer, TSJFCV or McLean. Period. There isn’t another club in the area that compares.

To clarify on TSJFCV, if she can make it onto a GA team, then it's worth your time to consider. But do not confuse their GA teams with their travel (aka, "United" or "Elite") teams. With very few exceptions, you are virtually guaranteed to regret the latter. Heck, you might even regret the former unless you can stomach the douchey little turd that runs their GA program but that's a different matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny that I've been here several years and never heard of TSJFCV (I assume this is The St. James Football Club ... um, V?) until recently, when my kid started playing futsal there. Is their soccer team considered pretty good in the area?

We're thinking about changing clubs next year, but struggling to find the right club in terms of location. Alexandria, Arlington, McLean ... these were the clubs we were thinking about. Not sure though. We've been happy with the St. James futsal so far, but it's a different sport and it's still early days.

Yes, it's *that* Saint James. They "acquired" FC Virginia (aka FCV) back in mid-2019. FCV's teams are primarily based in Loudoun County and they usually practice at Evergreen Sportsplex among other parks in LoCo (Bles Park, for example). FCV was in the US Soccer Development Academy program until that shut down and they joined the Girls Academy (GA). Their GA teams are generally good but, as the poster above suggested, their non-GA travel teams don't seem to get the same level of coaching, exposure, care/feeding, etc. For a while, there were rumors of TSJ moving the FCV teams down to their location in Springfield but that seems not to have happened thus far, anyway (although from what I understand, some of the FCV teams do practice at TSJ from time to time).