$3,500 for an 8 year old? WTH? At our club, they are like drug dealers. They start the price low and get you hooked then increase it at older age groups. $3,500 is more expensive than our ECNL team. Plus at 8, each kid should be playing at least a half a game.

Because everyone else was doing it

VDA - PWSI, VSA, and Herndon

Virginia Union - Mclean and SYC

Fairfax BRAVE - BRYC and Vienna

Richmond United - Kickers and Strikers

lojack74 wrote:

soccer197 wrote:A club in Virginia is now offering free rec soccer. I hope this catches on and more clubs do it. I would be glad to have my kids wear uniforms covered with corporate logos in order to reduce costs. Bravo

What's with the tease? Who is this club, and where are they??

I saw that same ad, it was FCV and free rec was sponsored by a car dealer.

westsidesoccer wrote:

SoccerSkeptic wrote:

Size5Balls wrote:

soccer197 wrote:Looks like the youth soccer games site has added rankings now. https://youthsoccergames.com

That site's rankings are all over the place. Looks worse than Got Soccer.

I agree this site's rankings are terrible, but so is gotsoccer, so I'd say about equably terrible.

I am using the site created by the former creator of YSR. It is much better and different than the site to which you are referring. It is simply called "Soccer Rankings" in the AppStore.

Yes, the app is good, but not that website that was referenced earlier.

Size5Balls wrote:

soccer197 wrote:Looks like the youth soccer games site has added rankings now. https://youthsoccergames.com

That site's rankings are all over the place. Looks worse than Got Soccer.

I agree this site's rankings are terrible, but so is gotsoccer, so I'd say about equably terrible.

I feel for you and your DC. Some coaches and TDs are like car salesman. They will say whatever to get the deal done, but reading the fine print, it might be something different than what they tell you. I've known kids that have been offered spots on the "purple" team and then as soon as tryouts are done at all nearby clubs, get moved down to the "cyan" team. Some kids get to stay on purple, but never see more than 10-20 minutes in a game. At least the cyan coach seems honorable and not sleezy. I'd stick with cyan for the year and move on to a new club if not happy on cyan next year.

Check the state's listings:

https://www.vysa.com/tournaments

https://www.msysa.org/tournaments/sanctioned-tournaments/

If its another state just google [state] soccer tournaments and it will probably be the first hit.

When you say pick a club for next year, is that the 2022/23 year or 2023/24 year? If you already committed to a team, there could be financial repercussions to you switching teams.

Sounds like your son is an 08, but maybe he is an 07, so I will leave this generic.

MLSNext rules say no HS soccer, so that is out.

ECNL has 7 month clubs and 10 month clubs. The 7 month clubs front load their schedule to make it easy to play HS soccer. The 10 month clubs allow HS soccer, but make it as difficult as they can manage. Not only do they spread out their games to conflict with HS season, they add the Mid Atlantic Cup, which is basically playing the same teams they normally play an extra time.

7 Month clubs are Fairfax BRAVE, Loudoun, and Virginia Union. 10 month clubs are Arlington and VDA. I'd recommend going onto the ECNL website, which still shows the schedules and records from last year, but show the current roster. So if your kid is U15 this year, look up the U14 team. Some teams look like they have spots to fill, whereas others have 20 or more. A team with 20 or more may accept you, but only 18 can dress for a game, so that might mean your son is sitting at home many weekends.

Fiarfax BRAVE is BRYC and VYS combined. They haven't been strong the last couple years and their coaches left to go form youth teams for NVU. With that, most of their players left, either to NVU or other nearby clubs. So odds are they will be even worse this year. ECNL is a lot of traveling to lose badly every week.

Nova2Euro wrote:

SoccerSkeptic wrote:

Nova2Euro wrote:Regardless of what kids' leagues they're in, NVU is doing something really important by introducing to the area a European-style club construct that previously only existed at DC United.

They have two adult teams (4th and 5th tier, IIRC) that their advanced teenagers can train with and even possibly get game minutes with. It's hard to overstate how valuable this is if you want to have a career playing soccer.

Isn't that what some people touted on here about Barca? Learn the Barca way! That didn't last long. The difference between NVU and DC United is DC United takes the best of the best from the area so when they are looking for someone for their pro team, they don't need to look farther than their own academy team. NVU is in EDP. Players from other clubs are most likely better so they would 100% consider them for their semi-pro team.

Did Barca (assuming you're talking about NV Barca at Evergreen) ever have a senior-level team to which they could promote their players?

I'm gonna disagree with your statement that DC United not needing to look beyond their own Academy for players. I think DCU would also disagree with you. But it's great that they have Loudoun United, a lower-level senior team where players can break into the seniors without the pressure that comes at the highest level. And that's exactly what I'm talking about NVU offering. The shame is that in the NOVA area (and much of the US) there simply isn't enough opportunity for senior-level exposure.

Regarding NVU, what they're offering is extremely valuable. I state without hesitation that for just about any 16-year-old, training with an adult team will help them develop better than training with any MLS Next/ECNL in their age group.

I guess that's not quite as valuable to players whose goal is to get shoveled into the manure truck that is NCAA soccer. If you want to make that 30-person college roster, then MLS Next/ECNL is probably the way to go.

You want to be a pro footballer--train with adults.

Your post just reminded me of the very enthusiastic Barca Academy parents from several years ago. This is totally different! Barca is going to be the destination club! No one else trains the Barca way! The problem with Barca, much like NVU, is a lack of talent. There is a lack of talent because its not in a top league. How often will players train with the pro team? I'm guessing not that often because the pro players won't get anything out of training with a bunch of kids. Its a marketing gimmick. And you fell for it hook line and sinker.

Kids in the area dream about playing for DC United. None of them dream to play for NVU. So to compare the two is really silly.

The coaches mostly came from BRYC, who were bottom of the barrel ECNL. So why would a kid from a good MLSNext or ECNL team go to NVU? I'd rather have my kid play with better teammates and against better opponents than occasionally training with semi-pro players.

But you do you, and I'll do me.

Nova2Euro wrote:Regardless of what kids' leagues they're in, NVU is doing something really important by introducing to the area a European-style club construct that previously only existed at DC United.

They have two adult teams (4th and 5th tier, IIRC) that their advanced teenagers can train with and even possibly get game minutes with. It's hard to overstate how valuable this is if you want to have a career playing soccer.

Isn't that what some people touted on here about Barca? Learn the Barca way! That didn't last long. The difference between NVU and DC United is DC United takes the best of the best from the area so when they are looking for someone for their pro team, they don't need to look farther than their own academy team. NVU is in EDP. Players from other clubs are most likely better so they would 100% consider them for their semi-pro team.

Is Northern Virginia United a non-profit?

Futbol6 wrote:

SoccerSkeptic wrote:What support and administrative duties are you referring to?

Registering for the tournament, collecting money/arranging training/finding field space/paying club coach, booking airfare/hotel/,car for coach.

While we expected to be paying for all that, we were a bit surprised to find out we were responsible for all the legwork. But also new to this, so wasn't sure if that was how things usually worked.

No, parents at our club don't do any of that.

What support and administrative duties are you referring to?

There are so many factors. Which one is the closest, do you prefer one coach over the other, how good is the team, etc. All other things being equal, I'd do ECNL-R as long as it isn't Vilarreal and possibly new clubs joining next year. For 2008s in ECNL-R, Vilarreal is terrible and Stafford isn't good (but I'm guessing that isn't one of the teams you are considering). The others a pretty competitive with each other. Not too sure about new teams joining. The good thing about ECNL-R is all the league games are within northern virginia.

So Divisions 3 and 4 are EDP, but 1 and 2 are not? But Div 1 and 2 are on the EDP website, just in some random spot on the website. Foolproof!