Anonymous wrote:As you may know, MSI travel has been around awhile, but had fallen off and is revamped this year also with what was left of MRM. Many new staff, teams, coaches. So it’s new for all intents and purposes.

The rest of your question is going to depend a lot on age, gender and the level of play of your kid. MLSNext and ECNL are a very different level than any MSI team, and that includes the top teams at those clubs at the younger ages as well before those start u13. Lower teams not so much.

As to the Latino part, Bethesda is the most “established” club in the area and TBH, has extremely low Latino representation. That’s not to say there aren’t Latino families perfectly happy there, but you just have to click through the staff and coaches to see what I mean. No leadership or staff, only several coaches all who have low teams, and the player % is fairly low but of course varies by team. My kids age group never had a Latino coach for any team in 5+ years and only a handful of players across teams. Potomac is probably the second most “established” club in MSIs market and I know less about them. They’ve had a lot of coaching turnover it seems.

There’s some Latino-centric and/or heavy clubs in MD and PP named some.

There's more diversity in team photos from Iceland and Finland than many of Bethesda SC team photos

Sorry but it will be challenging for MSI to ever become a top development program. Clubs come and clubs go but MSI has succeeded only in maintaining a travel program because of its rec program. It will also have a product inferior to the other programs.

Re: Latino, please explain what you mean. Argentina (3 WC titles) and Uruguay (2 WC titles) are not the same as Mexico (0 WC Titles) or Guatemala (Maybe participated in 2 WC tournaments). Not sure Brazilians consider themselves Latinos but they probably have the best soccer globally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MSI, under the new leadership of Gus Delgado, will become a competitive club in the "travel" soccer space in 2-5 years. He has completely changed MSI for the better in the last 12 months. The trouble with MSI is its reputation as a rec organization. Kids who play well do not want to be associated with rec or MSI so they go to Bethesda or Potomac even though teams there are no better and often MSI travel teams beat them (Bethesda anything over Academy 2 is rec ).

MSI is definitely a better deal and less expensive for travel teams. They just need to change the way talented soccer kids see the club. If they can build a couple of solid teams and beat the top teams of local clubs then the top players from other clubs will come.

In any club, it all depends on the coach. I have seen coaches at Bethesda and Potomac who look like they are tired and sick of coaching kids and are there just to collect. No tactical training and little in terms of development, although they sell that to the parents. All they do is run scrimmages during all practices and just sit back, relax and collect. Poor kids and parents who know little about soccer and think this development).

If MSI and Gus continues with this strategy it will put many of these local "good" clubs to shame.

The bottom Bethesda club in U8-U12 is rec, agreed. Academy 3 would beat the best MSI rec teams by 15 goals, and the Blue/4th teams would similarly beat the best MSI rec teams by 5-7 goals.

As for a prior poster, agree that there aren't many Latino BSC coaches, but disagree about players - Latino players on BSC teams (top 2) are decently represented.

I’m that PP and will qualify my experience re Latino players was a certain girls age, and knowing a fair amount of players one year up and down. I also wholeheartedly agree with you that the poster who said below Academy 2 is rec is nonsense. Boys side goes 3-4 deep at those ages, easily, that’s well above rec.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on the pros/cons of MSI travel vs more established programs? Currently at MSI and see some benefits, but also some downsides. Would love to hear others' thoughts as we start thinking ahead to next year.

Also, we are a Latino family and would love to have some Latino coaches and/or teammates. Any MD clubs with strong futbolista presence?

There are lot of heavily Latino clubs in MD. Cerritos, Total Futbol, Maryland International. Maryland United and Pipeline and many other larger clubs have Latino coaches too.

Plus Takoma park and Achilles

I would add in Liverpool DC Metro - they used to be Xenezies MD

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on the pros/cons of MSI travel vs more established programs? Currently at MSI and see some benefits, but also some downsides. Would love to hear others' thoughts as we start thinking ahead to next year.

Also, we are a Latino family and would love to have some Latino coaches and/or teammates. Any MD clubs with strong futbolista presence?

My son practiced with a few teams this past fall. The kids are Maryland International were really friendly, but it wasn't the best fit for my kid - otherwise we'd be there now. Total Futbol has almost all Latino coaches, I think. They are looking for 2010s and 2011s, I heard. I don't think they are big enough to have separate teams for the young age groups so like 2012 and 2013s play together I think. They play at a much higher level, so the kids are more intense.

Anonymous wrote:MSI, under the new leadership of Gus Delgado, will become a competitive club in the "travel" soccer space in 2-5 years. He has completely changed MSI for the better in the last 12 months. The trouble with MSI is its reputation as a rec organization. Kids who play well do not want to be associated with rec or MSI so they go to Bethesda or Potomac even though teams there are no better and often MSI travel teams beat them (Bethesda anything over Academy 2 is rec ).

MSI is definitely a better deal and less expensive for travel teams. They just need to change the way talented soccer kids see the club. If they can build a couple of solid teams and beat the top teams of local clubs then the top players from other clubs will come.

In any club, it all depends on the coach. I have seen coaches at Bethesda and Potomac who look like they are tired and sick of coaching kids and are there just to collect. No tactical training and little in terms of development, although they sell that to the parents. All they do is run scrimmages during all practices and just sit back, relax and collect. Poor kids and parents who know little about soccer and think this development).

If MSI and Gus continues with this strategy it will put many of these local "good" clubs to shame.

The bottom Bethesda club in U8-U12 is rec, agreed. Academy 3 would beat the best MSI rec teams by 15 goals, and the Blue/4th teams would similarly beat the best MSI rec teams by 5-7 goals.

As for a prior poster, agree that there aren't many Latino BSC coaches, but disagree about players - Latino players on BSC teams (top 2) are decently represented.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input. We are new to all of this, so this is very helpful. Any thoughts on MSI's potential if we stick around? At first we were pretty happy with the travel team, but we've been disappointed lately. Would love to hear any additional thoughts on their potential, plans, etc., as well as others' experiences to gain some insight and help us make decisions this spring.

This depends on your child's skill level and your goals. If your child is athletic and is picking up the sport quickly, I would move to another travel club on a mid to higher team (not 4th or 5th team).

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input. We are new to all of this, so this is very helpful. Any thoughts on MSI's potential if we stick around? At first we were pretty happy with the travel team, but we've been disappointed lately. Would love to hear any additional thoughts on their potential, plans, etc., as well as others' experiences to gain some insight and help us make decisions this spring.

What has been disappointing? May help in potentially finding the right home for you.

Until MSI gets one of the badges (MLS Next / ECNL) it will difficult for them to retain their top talent for U13 and beyond. Sorry, it's just reality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on the pros/cons of MSI travel vs more established programs? Currently at MSI and see some benefits, but also some downsides. Would love to hear others' thoughts as we start thinking ahead to next year.

Also, we are a Latino family and would love to have some Latino coaches and/or teammates. Any MD clubs with strong futbolista presence?

There are lot of heavily Latino clubs in MD. Cerritos, Total Futbol, Maryland International. Maryland United and Pipeline and many other larger clubs have Latino coaches too.

Plus Takoma park and Achilles

MSI, under the new leadership of Gus Delgado, will become a competitive club in the "travel" soccer space in 2-5 years. He has completely changed MSI for the better in the last 12 months. The trouble with MSI is its reputation as a rec organization. Kids who play well do not want to be associated with rec or MSI so they go to Bethesda or Potomac even though teams there are no better and often MSI travel teams beat them (Bethesda anything over Academy 2 is rec ).

MSI is definitely a better deal and less expensive for travel teams. They just need to change the way talented soccer kids see the club. If they can build a couple of solid teams and beat the top teams of local clubs then the top players from other clubs will come.

In any club, it all depends on the coach. I have seen coaches at Bethesda and Potomac who look like they are tired and sick of coaching kids and are there just to collect. No tactical training and little in terms of development, although they sell that to the parents. All they do is run scrimmages during all practices and just sit back, relax and collect. Poor kids and parents who know little about soccer and think this development).

If MSI and Gus continues with this strategy it will put many of these local "good" clubs to shame.

OP here. Thanks for the input. We are new to all of this, so this is very helpful. Any thoughts on MSI's potential if we stick around? At first we were pretty happy with the travel team, but we've been disappointed lately. Would love to hear any additional thoughts on their potential, plans, etc., as well as others' experiences to gain some insight and help us make decisions this spring.

As you may know, MSI travel has been around awhile, but had fallen off and is revamped this year also with what was left of MRM. Many new staff, teams, coaches. So it’s new for all intents and purposes.

The rest of your question is going to depend a lot on age, gender and the level of play of your kid. MLSNext and ECNL are a very different level than any MSI team, and that includes the top teams at those clubs at the younger ages as well before those start u13. Lower teams not so much.

As to the Latino part, Bethesda is the most “established” club in the area and TBH, has extremely low Latino representation. That’s not to say there aren’t Latino families perfectly happy there, but you just have to click through the staff and coaches to see what I mean. No leadership or staff, only several coaches all who have low teams, and the player % is fairly low but of course varies by team. My kids age group never had a Latino coach for any team in 5+ years and only a handful of players across teams. Potomac is probably the second most “established” club in MSIs market and I know less about them. They’ve had a lot of coaching turnover it seems.

There’s some Latino-centric and/or heavy clubs in MD and PP named some.

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on the pros/cons of MSI travel vs more established programs? Currently at MSI and see some benefits, but also some downsides. Would love to hear others' thoughts as we start thinking ahead to next year.

Also, we are a Latino family and would love to have some Latino coaches and/or teammates. Any MD clubs with strong futbolista presence?

There are lot of heavily Latino clubs in MD. Cerritos, Total Futbol, Maryland International. Maryland United and Pipeline and many other larger clubs have Latino coaches too.

Any thoughts on the pros/cons of MSI travel vs more established programs? Currently at MSI and see some benefits, but also some downsides. Would love to hear others' thoughts as we start thinking ahead to next year.

Also, we are a Latino family and would love to have some Latino coaches and/or teammates. Any MD clubs with strong futbolista presence?