any hope of extending Arlington's ADP program to older ages?
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Arch
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I'm no Heloise, but I have seen Arlington coaches actively recruiting U9 and U10 players from other clubs at their games. Not just observing/scouting players--they had already done that homework--but actively talking to parents of these players offering them spots and recruiting over their existing players basically. As someone else mentioned, the "Arlington" is just a label and does not mean they have to serve the Arlington community and residents. |
personanongrata
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Does Arlington still have middle school soccer ? I know there are other counties that have no middle school soccer because the local soccer club runs an ADP style program through middle school age groups. The county and club could work together to use middle school fields to provide soccer in fall and spring for an expanded ADP program. |
RedCard
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Yes, Arlington offers a middle school soccer league. I know little about this league and will investigate. From what I can gather online, the league only offers a fall season. There is no spring season. But I could be mistaken. I know nothing about the level-of-play. Hopefully it is more competitive than rec soccer. |
S0ccerdad
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Arlington has a very large middle school rec program with 10-12 teams per grade on both the girls and boys side. Teams have both a fall and spring season. Season is 8 games and includes at least 1 practice per week. I'd also add the one of the unique features of Arlington is that they also have a self-contained (i.e., not part of the Suburban Friendship League) with 20+ teams on the boys side and 16 on the girls side. |
RedCard
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Thanks for the info. How is the level-of-play? Better than rec? |
RedCard
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I just found this article indicating that Arlington's middle school sports program could potentially be eliminated due to budget constraints: [url] https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/budget-cuts-could-imperil-arlington-middle-school-sports/article_db250602-8714-11eb-b396-0fa81fd8b40e.html [/url] Hopefully this won't happen. |
Heloise
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Two things: 1. I think the previous poster may have been confusing Arlington Soccer Association and the Arlington Public Schools middle school athletics program. 2. That article is over a year old and refers to the budget process for the current school year. Middle school athletics were not eliminated for this year, and I am not aware that eliminating them was even mentioned in the recent budget process for next school year (which passed earlier this month). |
RedCard
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The text of my previous post somehow got intermingled with the prior person's post. So I'm repeating my post, but without any quotes referencing the prior post:
---------------------------- Ah, yes, the article is stale. Thx for pointing that out. I understand that ASA and Arlington's middle school sports program are entirely separate. To sum up the entire thread, I expressed a desire for the ASA's ADP program to be extended upwards to age 13. But then another poster pointed out that Arlington's middle school sports program might be a reasonable substitute for the ADP program. The middle school soccer program would be a good substitute for ADP if the level-of-play is above the ASA's rec league. If the level-of-play is the same, then it isn't what I'm looking for. I'm trying to find an option for my kids, when they reach ages 12 and 13, that will allow them to play competitive soccer without joining a travel league. ADP is a perfect fit for us: all games are local, the coaching is good, and the level-of-play is good. Do you think Arlington's middle school soccer offers a decent level-of-play? And who coaches these teams? |
novasoccer15324
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Hi OP,
I don't know if you are aware of this, but arlington's rec league has different divisions for each age group. If your son is on the more competitive side, you should try to join a team that is in a high division when he finishes ADP. The divisions are posted here: https://arlingtonsoccer.demosphere-secure.com/programs/recreation/schedules-scores By the time players finish up ADP, all of the ADP players will filter out to Arlington's internal rec league, so the league will be more competitive anyway because the same players from ADP will be in it. If you're looking for a less intense travel program than arlington eventually, check out PAC. Premier Athletics Club. It is based in Falls church with practices at Luther Jackson middle school, falls church high school, and maybe some other nearby locations. Middle school soccer is extremely competitive in Arlington. The middle schools have several hundred students in each grade, and many, many players who play on Arlington's travel teams all want to try out and be on the team. Making the middle school roster is a big accomplishment just by the sheer number of players who try out. It is not a place to learn soccer, it is just 2 months of the year, the coaches are more like PE teachers, and some of them coach for Arlington Soccer in some capacity or another. So, I would not worry about Arlington middle school soccer at all. When ADP ends, just try to find a higher division team to join, and if you feel like taking it a step further, check out PAC. Also, by the high school age groups, all of the less serious, less motivated players have moved on. The high school divisions of Arlington's internal league are very competitive, especially division 1, which has former travel players who dropped out, and talented players who should be playing travel but never did. The high school age group teams offer plenty of competition. |