I don't disagree with the PP but I'm just going to throw my hat in for going to the smaller club, assuming the smaller club is playing in the same or similar league and division as the current club.

We moved our boys to a club where they could play in a more competitive league where the bigger clubs played. Previously, they both were the best players on their teams playing in a rec-level league. In their new club, the training is the same but there are more great players. My superstar child got decent playing time immediately but has gotten even more as he has noticeably improved and benefited from competing against better teammates at practice and against better players in a more competitive league. While he is not the best player on the team yet, he's not far off.

My average child did not get much playing time at first but he now gets a lot (which is significant as there are a lot of reserves on his team) and has clearly become a player that the team relies on. He too has noticeably improved.

My point is that both came into the new club confident in their skills and it didn't matter if one was a superstar and the other was average. Both also knew that they were not playing against the best they could at their previous club and I think that knowledge contributed to their willingness to work hard and fight for more playing time. If that is what you want your son to get out of the smaller club, then I would move him.

Based on where the major clubs are playing their pre-ECNL/MLSNEXT A teams, yes.

Regardless of age group, my kids do all drills one day, mostly scrimmages another day, and if there is third practice (depends on age group), there is a combo of drills and scrimmages. It was also like this at another club they were at, although at that previous club, it was usually drills, then scrimmages at every practice. Like the previous poster above, the drills consisted of both individual technique development as well as drills to develop team play (pass, defend, attack, etc.). Occasionally, some fitness training seems to be incorporated in (suicides, etc.) but at the top levels, it seems as it's a given that the kids are maintaining a certain level of fitness outside of soccer.

Has anyone gone through the permitting process for a basement renovation in Maryland? I'm curious as to ceiling height. From my understanding, it's 7 feet (84 feet) for sleeping rooms (bedrooms), otherwise, it's at least 6 feet, 8 inches (80 inches) for the rest of the basement. I'm assuming there is no wiggle room? My house is a 100 years old so I was hoping there was some grandfathered options. What happens if your basement does not meet code? Thanks!

Yeah, I like it better now. Previously, it was just a dumpster fire, probably just a handful (or less) responding to each other, and a lot of wading through garbage to get to helpful feedbacks and insights. The tone of the threads are also less arrogant. That said, if a separate, anonymous Girls ECNL/GA forum were to be created, that would be fine. I suspect a lot of the threads that went wayward would fall under that forum.

Anonymous wrote:Most people who don't get permits do so to save a small amount of money and time. Whether any risks associated with doing that outweigh the savings is a judgment call.

When permits are required, the process is meant to ensure that the work meets the requirements of applicable construction codes. That is, the work being done implicates safety and/or habitability issues which are addressed by the codes. Otherwise, no permit would be required.

Another consideration is that when selling a home buyers or their inspectors may check that any work done was permitted. In the current real estate market that might not be much of a concern, but in the future it could pose a real obstacle to a sale.

But if neither are those are concerns, why bother? For example, a contractor I use goes above and beyond code, years of experience, and countless happy customers. But I can definitely understand if you're using someone who you have not used before and don't quite trust, the permitting process def is your friend. I don't think unpermitted work in this area is a real obstacle to a sale. There's too much demand in this area. Out of curiosity, I looked up whether the houses on my block has pulled permits (for renos that I'm aware of and which I'm sure would have required a permit) and one has. But a few of those houses have sold recently for crazy amounts despite no work permitted on the renos.

I think one poster was right in that the difficulty of getting permits vary in our area. A contractor I have used who hates dealing with permits tells me a story of a client who was adamant about getting her renovation permitted and ADA compliant and the process took 7 months, lots of time, and money, and sadly, the person who was supposed to benefit from the renovation, passed away shortly after the reno passed inspections and was completed. I'm sure this is an extreme case but I don't doubt the permitting process can be quite difficult, particularly in DC. The DCRA does not make things easy.

I think the biggest obstacle that unpermitted work creates is when you want to airbnb or rent out your space. Your ability to rent out a room in your house requires those spaces to be up to code so you would likely face an inspection. Also if you want to advertise your home with certain rooms, you would not be able to advertise a room as a bedroom if it was not code compliant.

mdsoccerdad wrote:

SDSoccerDad wrote:

Last option, would be playing EDP with 2010 Boys with her first coach, someone's perspective I trust above all, and he believes if my DD is good enough the ECNL clubs will still be an option 2-3 years from now when it really matters what club you are at from a college id/recruiting stand point. At this age, working on technique daily and challenging yourself with the increased speed and physicality of the boys game will be more impactful for my DD. I really don't know...?

So what is the 2010 Girls soccer landscape shaking out like as the u-12 year is wrapping up?

Plenty of good EDP girls teams in this area as well.

And yeah- no crazy rush to get her on an ECNL team now. Also, be prepared for her to be a star right now and 2nd team material in a few years. not saying that will happen but too many think talent now means talent forever.

I would put her on an excellent EDP girls team first (at least top 2 EDP divisions) if playing with 2010 boys is at a lower level of play, that is (below the top 2 EDP divisions). There are a couple of girls that play in my boys EDP divisions who are as good or better than some of the boys and would be shoeins for ECNL teams (if they were interested). At less competitive boy levels, the increased speed and physicality isn't really much of a challenge for more skilled and smart soccer players. At least that has been our experience with one kid playing up, and that's what you'll read here on this board - playing up is not worth it unless you're playing up on a very good team. Or applied to your scenario, playing with boys would not be worth it unless it's on a very good team as well.

Most clubs around that area play in EDP. Premier levels are travel soccer competitive and the championship levels are more rec. Not sure what age your child is but I’d go with the team that is playing at the higher level.

These are the Maryland International teams in EDP right now: https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/13255/clubs/4966

And this is Cerritos: https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/13255/clubs/18919

I’m sure you can just come to a practice with either one or both and see which one your son is most comfortable with.

I think they are pretty similar in that they are small Latino/Hispanic clubs. Can usually only field one or two teams per age group and both play in EDP don’t think they have girls teams so you’ll see a girl or two in most of their teams. Were you looking at anything in particular? And how did you learn about those clubs? They tend not to advertise much, mostly they are word of mouth. Cerritos is more familiar bc of the name recognition.

Similar to the recommendation of the poster above, I'd also look at the EDP schedule and check out the smaller clubs (or non-ECNL/MLSNEXT clubs) that have teams playing at the Premier I or II levels and try out for those teams.

If you share the boys ages and preferred location, I'm sure people here can recommend specific clubs.

SoccerSkeptic wrote:

Mdmom22 wrote:Just wanted to point out that from my understanding, if an MLSNext student is getting a scholarship to play soccer in high school, MLSNext allows that student to play both in MLSNext and in high school. Of course this is irrelevant to MLSNext kids playing in public school but I think there is a possibility to do both (play MLSNext and in high school) without violating any MLSNext rules.

There is a waiver process for this situation, but I don’t think this scenario is too common, especially in this area.

May I ask why it wouldn't be common in the area? There's a lot of soccer in the area as well as kids who are in private schools that have robust soccer programs.

Just wanted to point out that from my understanding, if an MLSNext student is getting a scholarship to play soccer in high school, MLSNext allows that student to play both in MLSNext and in high school. Of course this is irrelevant to MLSNext kids playing in public school but I think there is a possibility to do both (play MLSNext and in high school) without violating any MLSNext rules.

Why do you want to move him (or maybe it's him that wants to move)? If he is one of the best on his current team, isn't that a good place to be? Good enough to get regular playing time and make a noticeable different but still playing with teammates who he can learn from or chase?

Is he great? That is, is he already talented or can he only be great if he does all the things he wants to do? What does it say about this skill level if he's already concerned about being left behind? FWIW, I don't believe all the extra training (on top of regular club practices, etc.) is going to make a huge difference if the talent is not there. And also, are his grades solid? If he has aspirations for going pro and he has the talent to do so, I would let him do what he wants but will make him cut down if his schedule imposes on his parent's ability to get him to places or because of finances. If he only has aspirations for playing in college, I don't think cutting back would hurt. He needs to be a solid player of course to play in college but he also needs the grades, being well rounded, etc. Good luck!

NoYou wrote:The camp that sucks one week is killer the next.
The camp that has some friends in it is great, the camp with random kids from another team is awful.
The camp with this coach is atrocious and the camp with that one is amazing.

Basically--it's really too hard to say "this camp is great". You'll find much better luck finding a camp with something like "all of our friends are there" or "our team is there" or "we really like this coach" than a specific camp brand name.

I also agree with this. Your kids experience is going to vary a lot on their situation and what they (or parents) want/expect out of it. To add to what I shared above, my kids have not gone to any camps where they had friends either from their team or from school or with a coach they knew before. But soccer has always been very separate from their social and school life. None of their close friends from school or in the neighborhood play at their level. And their teammates don’t do summer camps. That said, none of my kids have given me any feedback abt negative interactions from other kids at the camps they’ve been at. I imagine part of it is that my B player has good social skills while my A player is good and clearly plays at a higher level than his age group. As I mentioned above, the easiest observation that my kids can make is the skill level of the camp participants. And for me, I like the exposure to other players and coaching, I think it helps them to learn to quickly play well with different players and situations. So that’s kind of what I would look for mostly these days for soccer camps. Hope that helps!