Watch DC United’s U16 play in the Cup finals tonight. MLSNext is proving to set itself apart from ECNL by streaming Cup games and having sports announcers discuss the games.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2022-mls-next-cup-streaming-schedule

Anonymous wrote:Doubt it. Mclean is known as toxic. 30+ kids on rosters. Many no play time. If your a top player - you get love. Otherwise, enjoy the wood. Bethesda has strong teams and longer drive to get to. ASA parents wont sit in traffic.

Agree, definitely a toxic environment with questionable ethics and morals. Glad for my kid to have moved on from there.

AnonymousNOT wrote:Interesting...

We moved from MLSNext to ECNL because we found it toxic. Lots of favoritism and lots of new kids coming in constantly. Lots of the part-time kids (play for other clubs) were starters. Practices were overcrowded and repetitive. My kid didn't regressed but didn't progressed either. A few kids left too. We're glad to be out that environment as well.

PS: The grass is not always greener.

This is what happened at my son’s ECNL team. The parent who played soccer with the coach really made it a toxic environment. But that parent got what he wanted having his C team level son playing on an ECNL team as well as a group of his friends that the coach favored because of the parent. The main thing holding the team back is the kids are not very smart. They might have some athletic ability and are big for their age, but don’t take direction well or execute what the coach is teaching. And then the parents of those kids on the sideline are out of control yelling at players when they make a mistake or aren’t performing. The only reason the team won some games in the spring is because of the guest and trap players were able to play with the team. Again, very happy for my son to move on from that team and the club/coaches didn’t have much morals or ethics.

You’re right though, the grass may not be greener on the other side, but ECNL wasn’t a great (actually pretty sh!tty) experience and I feel bad for you if you’re going to the ECNL club my kid left.

Mainly just glad to move on cause there are kids on the team that are only there cause the parent knows the coach. The kid isn't ECNL caliber but because of the relationship with the coach he's still on the team. This conflict of interest are what club's need to police. Then again life isn't fair so I guess clubs and coaches will do as they please which is unfortunate.

Happy for my kid to move on from ECNL to MLSNext. The ECNL team was just toxic with too much parent involvement to the point where some players were only on the team because a parent and the coach played soccer in college together. This parent would recommend B/C players from other clubs to workout with the team and some were brought on. There was definitely lots of favoritism and double standards. For example, prior to this season, one kid was injured half the season and the coach moved him to the b team the next season. The same thing happened this season to one of the favored kids who was injured the 2nd half of the season. The coach kept him on the ECNL team for next season. Both boys were about the same skill level, but yet somehow the favored kid is still on the team. So glad to get my kid out of that environment and move on cause he regressed under this coach.

Novafam wrote:

Dcum1300 wrote:We have a U10/11 DC that plays at one of the more competitive and successful clubs in the area for their age group. We were wondering what thoughts anyone had regarding staying with the current team next year and playing as a reserve with less playing time vs. playing on a top team for a smaller club and helping to lead that team with unlimited playing time. Practices and tournaments would be less competitive but gaining confidence and playing time are intriguing.

Had to reply as my DC was in this same exact situation. After a year of moving from a top team in a top club to a smaller club for the purpose of more playing time and "leadership," I can confidently say it was a VERY bad move. Similar to some of the comments, the main difference was the quality of players on the small club team vs big club team. I can also say after seeing this first hand, it is 100% correct that your DC will only develop based on teammate ability during PRACTICE. More game time (Played almost every minute of every game) did absolutely nothing for development. Now at the end of season, it is clear that my DC's skills has tremendously suffered while teammates that were not as skilled at the beginning of the year significantly improved. It was as if they absorbed my DC's skills and my DC was worse for it. To see my DC play at a level that is below what is was before the season started is very frustrating. It is like wasting a year and now having to redevelop over the summer and catch up with their new team for next year. Save yourself the frustration and use avoid the pitfall we went through.

This is exactly what happened to my kid but he is on the top team. New kids joined because the coach has a college soccer teammate that has a kid who was on VDAs b or c team and wanted to be on an ECNL team. Then this parent identified some more players to the coach to join the team who were all on VDAs b and c teams. They have no idea how to play soccer and they hold the the ball too long. its been a whole year and those kids still don't know how to play in the system the coach wants them to play. Its as if the coach is using my kid to show these kids how to play in his system. My kid is pretty technical, knows when to dribble and knows when to release, knows how to fill space, etc. Because my kid plays the way the coach wants he's regressed. Yet he lets these new kids dribble away and force the ball up the field. There's definitely a double standard. What a waste of a year. The coach is not very good, some of the kids after two years still don't know how to play the style the coach wants. And then the club decides my kid will be better off on the b team. Good thing I had my son work out with another club and he will be moving over to their top team for next year.