Is FPYC recreational all star tournament a scam???
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socalsori1980
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At the risk of outing myself, my 2010 daughter and 2011 son were selected as rec all stars from their rec teams and are playing in this tournament.
The fields listed on the schedule are a joke. We went to find them tonight. Stringfellow field 2-3 is just grassy hills in the middle of woods, and Greenbriar field 4 is just a patch of grass covered in deep ruts all over the grass and poison ivy right next to the field and there is gravel and rocks all over the field. No goals, no lines. They are also scheduled to play at some elementary school which I doubt is a real field either. What the hell? (And there is a nice turf field at this same Greenbrier park that they aren't using?) This tournament was more expensive than travel tournaments our teams played in our old state and I have no interest in watching my kids break their ankles playing on these sh!t excuses for fields. There is no way these fields can be made safe for play by Saturday. Is it common knowledge around here to avoid participating in this clown show? No one warned us they wouldn't be playing on real fields. How do they get away charging $800/team for this? |
socalsori1980
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I think that cannot be correct--that they are using the same fields other tournaments use. I have never seen soccer games for U11 and up played on elementary school fields. (Practices yes, but games for big kids?)
And the fields we saw--Greenbriar 4 and Stringfellow----are in disrepair and have clearly not been used for any sport for several seasons. Why are't they using the turf field at the same park? To save money? Are you saying they are going to come install proper goals and line the fields and fill in the holes and remove the poison ivy and rocks by Saturday? They would need a fleet of full time employees! |
soccerVA1
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| It sounds like the clear answer is to not have your kids play in the tournament. You have scoped out the fields and you aren’t satisfied. Nothing anyone says here is going to change your mind. |
socalsori1980
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If these fields are acceptable, why are no games ever played on them? Would you be fine with your 11 and 12 year old kids playing on fields in this condition? |
soccerVA1
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I am not disagreeing with you about the quality of the fields. My kid played in a tournament a few weeks ago on uncut grass and a goalie box that was a mud pit. It was a messy game but it wasn’t unsafe. If the field doesn’t look safe, pull your kids from the tournament. |
socalsori1980
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Not sure what the referees have access to, but the official schedules have U11-boys games scheduled for Greenbriar 4, which is a patch of grass next to Greenbriar 5 (the actual turf soccer field)
U11 and U12 boys are also playing only on elementary fields at Little Run, Olde Creek. U12 girls are playing at Stringfellow meadows. U11 girls are scheduled for turf, oddly, considering U12 boys are not even on soccer fields. A parent I spoke with who played in this tournament last year said her U11 boy played on turf fields. No rec leagues played U11 and up games on any of these fields this season. Our rec league wouldn't practice on a field as bad as Greenbriar 4. The amount of work FPYC is going to have to put into lining all this random grass, installing goals, cleaning up weeds and rocks, is tremendous. I can't believe they have the volunteer manpower for that. https://soccer.sincsports.com/schedule.aspx?tid=FDAS&tab=4&sub=0 |
retiredref
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I've coached in that tournament and reffed in it too and always found it to be well-run and a great experience for the kids, though I have not been around it in a few years and things could have changed. For a tournament in Fairfax county the county decides what fields they want to allow that tournament to use. FPYC seems to have a good relationship with both Fairfax City for their fields and the county as well so if they are not getting allocated adequate fields this year it could be that there is something else bigger going on in the county competing for fields that weekend.
I wouldn't discount a field just because it is an elementary school field either. There are multiple elementary schools in Fairfax county with very good fields and some with artificial fields that aren't too bad either. |
SoccerCzar
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Little Run and Olde Creek are in very good shape. BRYC Rec uses them. It sounds like your kids are playing on the worse fields of them all. Like the previous poster said, these two fields do not represent the quality of all the fields. With that said, if you don't want your kids playing on them, back out. |
DaniRojas
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Perhaps you would prefer to travel to Battle in the Blue Ridge and save a few bucks on tournament entry fee? https://www.vysa.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2734777&showpageeditor=1
I don't know what state you lived in previously and what your travel teams paid for tournaments nearby, but it sounds like you moved to the DC metro area recently, and so you need to compare apples to apples. |
SoccerCzar
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How were these fields come game time? Was the entry fee really $800? |
DaniRojas
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Entry fees shown on link I posted. |