$25 to try out for Bethesda apparently

tell that to your realtor - that your choice is going to be based on which rec league your DD is able to play in.

soccer_dc wrote:

novasoccer15324 wrote:The higher the socio-economic demographic is, the worse the boys teams get and the better the girls teams get.

The lower the socio-economic demographic is, the better the boys teams get and the worse the girls teams get.

This is why the girls are doing OK and the boys aren't.

That's an interesting take and seems at first glance to have some merit. What would you speculate as possible reasons for this difference?

Boys in families and neighborhoods of mid- to lower socioeconomic standing tend to come from multi-ethnic / multicultural households where soccer is part of their culture and accepted as a lifestyle or a way to spend a lot of free time... built-in peer group to play with constantly, family members, friends, neighbors, and community members who encourage it, local men's league games at the park all the time... as an example, there may be a low income housing set-aside area right next to a turf field, which is constantly filled with teens/kids playing constantly with adults who also live in the community. Thomas Jefferson Middle School (TJMS) in Arlington is a perfect example of this. These kids generally know their options as they get older and graduate high school, the path and the options are fairly straightforward and not that complicated. These kids do not need to spend time with extra academics, tutoring, test prep, and extensive college visits. Many will graduate, maybe go to community college or vocational school, or just start working as teens and continue in the same careers and just keep playing soccer in adult leagues on the weekends and enjoy life working for a small business in the local community or a family business of someone they know.

Boys in families of higher-mid or high income areas are busy being multi-sport athletes to hang out with their friends, watching their favorite NCAA college basketball teams, NFL, NBA, playing different sports in different seasons, summer internships, taking a language class, meeting with guidance counselors, taking SAT prep classes, checking off boxes of extracurricular activities, and checking off all the boxes needed to apply to competitive colleges in VA, DC, or elsewhere. Spending all summer playing Futbol on a turf field somewhere in Arlington is not something that adds to your college application unfortunately. So, how did you enrich yourself this summer? Uhhh... I played soccer the whole summer with random people.... that's not gonna happen. Unless its the rare player whose obsessive parent signed them up for every single HP Elite clinic ever offered and has an individual trainer for their kid 2-3x a week. I'm sure there are a few kids like that in the area.


So which kid do you think is going to end up a better soccer player, hmmmm

the nothing burger alliance AKA the doo doo alliance.

The higher the socio-economic demographic is, the worse the boys teams get and the better the girls teams get.

The lower the socio-economic demographic is, the better the boys teams get and the worse the girls teams get.

This is why the girls are doing OK and the boys aren't.

Metro united has always had issues from the time it started. Let's not pretend like this is a one-off problem.

perhaps BRAVE needs to incorporate BAC, FPYC, and PAC.

This is because BRYC only focuses on developing its very top players at the young ages. If that top group of players leaves or trickle out a few here a few there each year, BRYC is left with players who were not prepared for the level they are now competing on.

BRYC has never really had to develop players, it was always a big destination club that drew in talent from surrounding areas with mom and pop coaching. Now they are surrounded by other clubs that also have effective coaching below the top teams. Their competition in ECNLR is against clubs that have effective coaches at that level.

you will just have to ask word of mouth. there are over 100 coaches who coach at those age groups. If the coach has been around a while and is a veteran, they are likely better than someone who just started coaching.

arlington is a revolving door for coaching directors if they are from outside the club. nothing really invested in the club, will stay for a bit then move on.

Loudon isn't doing well enough apparently so trying to vacuum up more talent around them.

If you want yelling coaches on the girls side, just go to Maryland. From my experience most of the worst offenders of yelling girls coaches in northern VA have been flushed out, aged out, or moved on.

here today gone tomorrow

at some point, you have to let your player own their own individual improvement. This should happen sometime during freshman year - if it clicks, it clicks. They should be asking their club and high school coach what they need to improve on individually. Practice is only a couple of times a week and you don't become a higher level player just by showing up and doing what everyone else is doing.

Greg Andrulis hired a bunch of Arlington coaches to come to DC Stoddert (dc soccer club). Arlington will be fine.