SDC wrote:

NotMessi wrote:Did Rae Ann Taylor leave Loudoun? Don't see her on the website anymore.

She was fired.

Blutarski wrote:

soccer4life wrote:We did what research we could when selecting which club/coach our daughter wanted to commit too but no matter what you find out you never really know how that coach will be with your daughter and team until after you've accepted and season begins. You'll see what you want to see you'll hear what you want to hear and then season begins. We are trying to "trust the process" as we are often told but it's hard to do that when you've been trying to give this club the benefit of the doubt lacking in direction, leadership, COMMUNICATION. The biggest disappointment has been in the lack of support, experience, leadership and communication from her coach. We don't know if in-experience blindsides leadership decisions or what? We want our daughter to develop, be pushed if that takes stern/harsh coaching tactics/tell it like it is direction and leadership. At least then she'll know what strengths she excels at and what weaknesses to work harder on rather than playing the guessing game with her coach wondering/questioning her own development, confidence, being an asset to the team. We are currently attending other club practices to see their coaches in action. The hard thing about that is you don't know if coaching slate will change.

Sigh. And to really ruin your day, lest you think that it gets better in college... it doesn't. The coaches and/or programs at the college level, generally speaking, are only of slightly better quality or integrity than at the club level. Making it even tougher, your player has less ability to scout the situation in advance, and even worse options to get out after you get a taste that freshman year. It's no wonder that the fallout rate in college soccer is so high.

C3PO wrote:My 14 year old is interested becoming a ref through the Metro DC/Virginia program to earn some money. However, the process looks fairly tedious, from what I can see on the website. If anyone has experience with it, how was it? My son loves and plays soccer, but it looks like a lot of it is an online course.

Manodedios wrote:

soccer_dc wrote:

Manodedios wrote:

Pepe wrote:Obviously everyone still must "develop". Even pros still practice and get better... but it's not the supreme goal of a ECNL U16+ coach. These girls are being scouted and competing at the USYNT level! When they see issues, they address them, but we need a coach to coach to win (mostly). Girls are learning nuances for extreme talent, not developing skills they don't already know very well.
I think the difference is developing seems to mean early years vice later. No one stops learning and growing, but certainly done developing.

It still should be. Based on my experience with VDA, it definitely wasn’t even on the radar for the coach and ECNL Director, but hopefully your experience is better.

At the u16+ ages, development becomes somewhat self guided and motivated. Certainly things like development of strength and conditioning and nutrition come mainly from the player and people outside the coaching staff. I do see club coaches working with players at these ages on "classroom" development...pre and post game video analysis, tactical planning for upcoming opponents, mental preparation.

Agree that development is going to be entirely self-motivated and the work done individually, but not primarily self-guided. A player might know some things they need work on, but likely need direction on others. I see where some coaches (not from this area, unfortunately) mark up Veo for the “classroom” development (which is primarily what I’m talking about) but also to point out technical deficiencies/mistakes individual players are making. I don’t think coaches should be expected to have any role in S&C/SAQ training, but the better clubs at least offer some form of general programming for their players…Doesn’t seem that common in the clubs in our area, though.

Manodedios wrote:

Pepe wrote:Obviously everyone still must "develop". Even pros still practice and get better... but it's not the supreme goal of a ECNL U16+ coach. These girls are being scouted and competing at the USYNT level! When they see issues, they address them, but we need a coach to coach to win (mostly). Girls are learning nuances for extreme talent, not developing skills they don't already know very well.
I think the difference is developing seems to mean early years vice later. No one stops learning and growing, but certainly done developing.

It still should be. Based on my experience with VDA, it definitely wasn’t even on the radar for the coach and ECNL Director, but hopefully your experience is better.

DMVParent wrote:

soccer_dc wrote:

MadridFan wrote:For girls college placement, McLean ECNL is the top club by a fairly large margin.

By what metric do you measure college placement? Not saying McLean isn't the top but I'm curious how do you score it.

Isn't a good part of college placement the players/students/families/high schools you happen to have in your geographic area? I mean, McLean is probably tops in sending students to top colleges outside of sports due to their highly educated, highly affluent parents. Is McLean ECNL doing something different or just benefitting from the players they can land who live near McLean

The clubs all publish their player commitments.

McLean - https://mcleansoccer.org/college-commitments/
Arlington - http://www.arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/travel/college-placement/college-commitments
VDA -
Loudoun - https://www.loudounsoccer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2666305

MadridFan wrote:For girls college placement, McLean ECNL is the top club by a fairly large margin.

FPYCparent wrote:As long as we (families/players) remain consumers, I think it is reasonable to assess the value we get from the clubs we patronize. For better or for worse, evaluating a club's overall win/loss record is just one way to assess that value. (I don't want to imply that's the only thing that matters.)

If an entire club is coming up short in terms of on-field performance against other top-tier clubs, I am hoping that its customers are getting something they value out of the experience.

Let's me say it another way, Club A costs $2K a year for your great player. Nearby Club B costs $5K. If the top teams at each club are in the same league (or an equivalent), and Club B simply doesn't perform as well as Club A, then I think it is reasonable for Club B to offer something that makes its experience worth the additional $3K. If two shops sold the same burger, would you go out of your way to pay $50 more for that burger? Maybe if you got something else that helped justify the difference.

FPYCparent wrote:Relying on PPG can get tricky if a team has only played one or two matches. Total number of wins may be more interesting at this point.

Meanwhile, in the other league ... there is one DMV club with 4 wins and 3 draws after 28 matches (covering six age groups). I'm not a scholar (... or maybe I am), but I hope those players/families are getting the return on their investment.

Mdmom22 wrote:Hi! OP here.

Has anyone had any luck contacting Achilles or practicing with Achilles? Every major club we’ve contacted has been very responsive (within 24 hours) but I’m getting crickets from Achilles and I emailed Coach Sal directly on the email he has on their website. Should I try their social media? It just seems weird not to be as responsive esp when they’re not as big as other clubs but are competing for the same kids.

Thanks!