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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Re Bethesda Girls at U9:  A lot of players are trying out for new teams for next year.  If I were at the Bethesda Club management level, and I heard the parents' discussions, I would conclude that this past U9 year was essentially an unmitigated disaster.  The kids who love soccer won't notice this stuff, but the parents do, and many are at the point of the "my head is going to explode if I have to deal with this sh** any more" level of frustration.  Observations about this past U9 year at Bethesda:  (1) I personally question whether Bethesda values its girls program.  From all appearances, the girls get 2nd tier coaches, fields, scheduling, etc. at the lower ages of youth play.  You will see a Bethesda U-8 boys team (single team) happily practicing on the turf at WJ in the fall while the girls (all 50 of them) have to languish on the baseball outfield; (2) This year's head coach from U9 Michelle R, is moving up to the high school age group for next year, which is good, because she seems better suited for older players who don't need any sort of "good job" type of comments and don't have a lot of parents who ask annoying questions; (3) I think the new Admin staff on the girls side has good intentions, but that said, they don't seem to have the ability to plan and execute very well - they need an executive who is an organizational pro.   Re: the empty U9 coaching slot, that went on for MONTHS - this is a great example. They wanted an excellent coach (good intention, not just any coach, an excellent one), but then had trouble finding one and most importantly did not communicate to the parents about what the heck was going on.  And then, through no fault of their own, another coach got traded to Boston.  The DOC, Shannon C., played on the national team, has tremendous coaching experience.  However, she seemed to get herself involved in the large planning task of a scholarship fundraising gala and (4) Parents raise issues with the coaches, director of youth Emily J., ALL THE TIME.  Emily seems to blame the team managers for every miscommunication, although having someone to proofread her emails would help everyone out, and nobody on staff seems to understand that one should bother to respond to an email from a parent.  Not every parent is a raving soccer lunatic.  Some try to provide constructive advice.  --CRICKETS-- either way.      [/quote]

That does sound very frustrating.  I'll offer a few comments on your points that may or may not be helpful.

I think Bethesda actually does value their girls program quite a bit; in fact, once upon a time it was known more for its girls' program.  I have a son in the younger age groups at Bethesda, and I don't at all think the younger boys have better practice spots than the younger girls.  We often practice at Tilden MS with about 10 other teams, many of which are girls (granted that's a giant space, but still).  The times are mostly done by age.  I have the impression Bethesda tries to get the little kid practices in earlier, regardless if means using some questionable fields.  The DA teams practice on nice fields, but sometimes aren't done until 9:30 pm.  Some of the issues you mention are logistical ones that all big clubs with lots of teams face.

I do think there are a lot more good coaches on the boys' side than the girls' side, including some really exceptional ones.  For the girls program, I have heard raves about Haroot Hakopian (who is the Churchill girls coach) and know that Dave Green (the Whitman boys coach) is supposed to know what he is doing.  Perhaps the new TD will be able to attract some more qualified people once she settles in, though it does seem like the reviews have been mixed at best for the initial crew she brought on board.  I haven't heard anything about Michelle R, but your comment made me laugh.  There are coaches who are very dedicated to soccer and good at training kids but have no interest in dealing with what they see as silly soccer newbie parent issues.  This sort of person can drive your typical high achieving Bethesda dwelling parent insane.  Not suggesting that is your issue, but I've seen good coaches get trashed by groups of parents who don't know a lot about soccer and have unrealistic expectations about how much time the coach should spend communicating with them, and what issues (like playing time) the coach is going to be willing to discuss.

I think there may be one or more board members who have young daughters in the program.  Since it doesn't sound like your efforts to communicate about the problems so far have been very successful, you may want to try that route as well if you are sticking around.[/quote]

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