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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pay to play.[/quote]

Capitalism!  If it's not worth it to you, don't do it.  The market sets the price.

...so sick of all of the 'money grab' commenters.  [/quote]

If it was straight capitalism, I’d agree with you.

I know a couple of coaches who’ve looked into starting clubs - and one who did - as well as another guy who runs a (disintegrating) one. The way that many localities dole out public field space makes it very difficult to get a new club off the ground. The club needs to be a non-profit, which limits the profit motive...If you do go the for-profit route (Barca, St. James), non-profit clubs may block you from joining their leagues. If you were to try to start a club tomorrow, in many jurisdictions (such as Fairfax and PW), a new applicant has a 6 month waiting period before being eligible to receive field space. Many places a club also needs at least 5 teams and to have a rec program, in order to get space. Hard to have 5 teams signed up when your only near-term option may be renting private space, which is limited and expensive. The reality is, trying to start up a viable competitor in a lot of places is extremely difficult (Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun) and why those local ‘flagship’ clubs have run virtually unchecked since the 70s.[/quote]

I played in this area in the 80s, and the top clubs were BRYC, FPYC, Bethesda, SAC, McLean, Annandale and LMVSC.  And there were about one-tenth the number of teams in any age group. Barely heard a thing about Alexandria or Arlington. Things change. [/quote]

Arlington and Alexandria were established in 1970; When I played (90s), they both were solid, but my main point is that they both now have the field space in their county/city locked down. I’ve never heard of any other club from either of those places in the last 30 years and doubt anyone could successfully start up an in-County competitor. Loudoun Soccer is in a similar position and all of their in-county ‘competitors’ (FCV, Barca, VRSC, Leesburg) have to resort to paying to use the same private soccer park (Evergreen).[/quote]

I know when they were founded. But they were not significant for a long time. Arlington has grown astronomically over the past 25 years, and the club has benefited and made a lot of moves that cemented growth and leadership in the area.  Alexandria was not doing anything a decade ago but embarked upon a very aggressive expansion that obviously hit LMVSC hard. So the narrative you are developing is simply not complete, and is in someways misleading. They weren’t dominant 40 years ago and they are not large clubs today simply because they were a long time ago. But the field space point today is undoubtedly a barrier to expansion for some clubs. No question about it. [/quote]

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