Soccer Coach in Northern VA - Ask me anything
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asksoccernova
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To the U8 parent - I know Maryland well and if you are in Anne Arundel county, the cause of having to drive for travel soccer 50% because its travel soccer, and 50% because you live in Anne Arundel County.
If you lived on the Eastern Shore of MD, you would have to drive 30 - 60 minutes just to get to a mall, unless you live in Salisbury. On the eastern shore, a lot of competitive sports go across MD and DE boundaries, and all the way up and down the Delmarva peninsula. Just to compete against better teams in tournaments, they have to "cross the bridge" or go up to Dover / Philly. You are lucky enough to already live "over the bridge" - so you have it better than a lot of people, trust me. This is what I tell people - If your son/daughter is actually good enough to be part of a travel team (and they are enthusiastic), sign on for 1 year. Worst case scenario, they don't like it and you can leave after the year is up. If they still want to play without all of the commitment, you can find a weekly skills clinic locally or if the rec league offers some type of supplementary training during the season, plus there are summer soccer camps everywhere these days. Being part of a more committed team is a big deal for the kids and it helps their social development, confidence, and many other things if the program is run well. Hey, if they go back to the rec league after 1 year of training, they should be one of the better players, or at least contribute to their team more, which will be a confidence booster. After 1 year, if your child really didn't like the experience, then at least you know for certain instead of not signing up based on preconceived notions about over-the-top parents and coaches. The purpose of U9 soccer is developmental. The purpose of U10, U11, and U12 is still developmental, even though it gets a little more competitive each year. Once U13 hits, it starts to be a more competitive environment (even though its actually supposed to be developmental, because a 12 year old is not a finished product). If a child is capable of learning in a school setting, then they should be capable of learning to play a sport. Why do we send kids to pre-school? b/c it preps them for kindergarten. Why kindergarten? preps for elementary.... preps for middle school.... preps for HS... preps for college... preps for the real world We could argue that pre-school or kindergarten is unnecessary and a waste of time to drive them to and from school every day, because the kids are too young to do anything academic. But, it's obvious that they learn and develop during those years. Same with the mini-kicks soccer programs, U8, or whatever - except parents don't really know what improvement looks like because they may not have any experience with the sport. This is why asking questions on a board like this is a good thing and what coaches are here for - to answer your questions. |
Anonymous
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COACH -
You have a lot of insight into the landscape for younger players. What do you have about older kids, U14 and up? What do you think of DA in this area, and the new Girls DA? When HS-age kids are trying to play for college, what are their best options club-wise? |
Anonymous
| At what age is it appropriate to work on the left/weak foot? |
Anonymous
Not coach, but the answer is: As soon as they are Out of the womb. As early as possible. |
Anonymous
And study after study shows that a "play-based" preschool is better for development than a "structured, specialized/academic' preschool environment. Kids that are in play-based preschool where learning is by the way they naturally move and discover life don't go into Kindergarten reading and knowing all of the their math facts--but by 3rd grade they start outpacing the kids raised with rote memorization and structure. The kids that were sitting doing worksheets and Kumon start dropping off the curve. It is the same in soccer. Kids develop best by natural play in the earliest years. I never put my kids in soccer programs at age 2, 3, 4...it's ludicrous and half of them go running for the playground instead. I did go to the park with my boys and start kicking it around in the backyard-- playing keep away with them when they were very small. Dad worked late and I had all boys and was a soccer player--so instead of throwing a baseball or football in the backyard--we were playing 'monkey in the middle/keep away' with a soccer ball and they naturally learned soccer triangles and movement. They played a lot in unstructured environments with other kids at the park. I added basics about how to get ball where you wanted to go with resting foot--but no pressure. By 6, they were light years ahead of the mini-kickers. It's a $-maker these days. |
Anonymous
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NP here. I really appreciate everyone's input. I've been following intently as I'm a parent who may be new to the travel soccer world soon, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I really liked the question from the PP asking about why travel teams have to travel so far for regular games, and I guess I'm still not understanding the answer. Based on all of the tryout information that I've been sifting through, there seem to be so many competitive clubs right here in the DC area. Why don't the elite teams just compete against each other locally? What is the need to play a team as far away as Richmond or PA, unless it's some kind of a regional tournament?
Also, I've seen a lot of complaining about what the travel programs have become, but what is the alternative? Are there non-travel programs that are competitive and further development? |
Anonymous
No ravel program will tell you they suck at developing kids. Most people due to them choosing the club that they're with will tell you their club has a good track record. I guess aftwr a few years in travel for my son im asking the same question you are. What club/training out there supplies excellent training, with local league games at an affordable price($1,500/yr). Let me know if you find one. The kicker here is that the program would not put a requirement on the physical aspets of your child, such as speed, strength, stature, maturity(young age). The child should be interested in learning, however. Anyone care to share? |
Anonymous
You should add what age group. Many things influence cost. What do you want for $1,500? For example, how many training sessions per week in season? out of season? How many tournaments per year? Winter futsal included? Uniform included? What is the age of the kid? |
Anonymous
Well that only covers cost. What do you mean by local? Every league has teams that are far away. ODSL, NCSL, CCL, VPL, etc. |
Anonymous
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Question: If my U9 son gets an Arlington Bid for it's 3rd or 4th team - trying to figure out my options. Stay with Arlington, or tryout somewhere else where it may not be as competitive and maybe get onto a higher team?
How would you rank the competitiveness between Arlington, Mclean, Alexandria, Vienna, Fairfax Police? Who seems to have more talented players / better development? Which divisions are stronger, such as CCL, CCL2, ODSL, etc...? Are Arlington's top 2 teams in CCL, and it's next tiers in ODSL ? If given a choice, should a player choose to play on a top CCL team over a top ODSL team ? New to travel, and just trying to figure out options and paths. |
Anonymous
Arlington's 1st team is in CCL, 2nd team is in CCL2. 3rd and 4th should be in NCSL. |
Anonymous
At U9 1st and 2nd team are CCL, 3rd CCL II and then NCSL > ODSL |
Anonymous
First, I’d ask where you live. Those places are geographically wide-spread and you are completely focused on the wrong thing for your 1st/2nd grade child. The goal at U9 isn’t to get on the “highest team”. Look for how your kid will be personally developed and how the team trains. Most important, the actual leagues mean absolutely NOTHING at the age group you are talking about. It’s the practices you should be concentrating on, not the games. With the size of Arlington’s player pool it will still be competitive even at the 3rd-4th team level. Lastly, I wouldn’t make the assumption it would be easier for your child to get on an A or B team at any one of the Clubs you listed. Some of those Clubs have A teams that play up an entire age group and are incredibly competitive. I know A team players from Arlington that didn't make the A team at a few of the Clubs you listed. Coaches look for different things. But, again, at U9 if you shouldn't be thinking team-centric, you should be assessing what your player will be doing the 99% of time outside of the 1 weekly game. |
Anonymous
NPP: If they live in Arlington, it is actually not too difficult to get out to places like Vienna and McLean since the I-66 HOV lanes during rush hour are your friend (if you have easy access it I-66). Depending on where you are in Arlington, Alexandria can take much longer to drive to during rush hour. I don't know anything about the Fairfax Police location. |
Anonymous
You have to remember that every club has some good coaches and bad coaches. Every club has some good players and bad players. Good teammates and bad teammates. Good parents and bad parents. These are the things that create the environment for your child to play and train in. No club can promise you that environment. It's usually luck to find a great environment. So it has nothing to do with the club really. Can you find a coach that inspires YOUR SON to challenge himself on and OFF the pitch? with teammates that won't jump on him if he makes a mistake? with parents who won't scream from the sideline and create a pressure cooker? This is the hard stuff to know. Screw CCL vs NSCL debates. Doesn't mean S. What matters is you do your best to find the best environment for your kid. If the kid isn't excited to train and get better, it's a waste of time for everyone. You need to be able to handle the commute too. As to who has the more talented players/better development??? Remember team training is about half of what your kid should be doing. You kid needs to work outside of team training. Clubs don't control what kids do outside of team training, so you can find talent and development everywhere. Again, it's often luck. The thing with these big clubs is that they are destination clubs so people tend to want to take their kids there to get more exposure, but that doesn't mean that they developed them. At U9, I would not worry too much about anything except finding a team where your kid wants to play. For that year, you should watch other teams, other players, other coaches, talk to parents, get supplemental training, encourage your kid to work on footskills, juggling, wall passing at home both feet), and follow your gut for U10. |