Both of my kids did it for one year: 4th grade and then transitioned to travel the following year. Its a great program.

Longer term: travel at u11 (5th grade) has bigger rosters, so they tend to bring in kids that year. I have heard a few parents say that the level of play in ADP drops off then, too.

Good luck!

Thanks for all this feedback. Yes, I’m talking about Arlington!

[Assuming we are talking about Arlington ADP in case there are others.]

Tryouts - There appeared to be a fairly high acceptance rate (>50%) when my daughter tried out for U9 a few years ago. It was all scrimmaging after warm-ups, with multiple small-sided games (not that different from travel tryouts). They seemed to be looking for engagement on/off the ball and coachability (not that different for what they look for in travel tryouts but with a lower bar since this is a development program).

Experience - We were pleased with the program, in terms of level of play and the quality of the pro and volunteer parent coaches. There are 2 practices per week, one pooled with another ADP team led by a pro coach and another led by a volunteer parent coach. Games were usually on Saturdays on a field in Arlington. Most kids in ADP still play on their rec teams, so it is more like 3 practices/wk and 2 games/weekend. ADP doesn't keep score, and whenever other teams were short players due to illness, etc., there were also opportunities to informally guest play on other ADP teams. My daughter really improved over her 3 years in the program, made lots of friends, encountered different coaching styles, and was ready to make the move to travel at U12 (she wasn't ready at U9).

Also just b/c a kid can kick a ball hard/far does not mean they can pass and be strategic in a game. I'll never forget one ADP tryout this one kid kept punting the ball all the way down the field or out of bounds (with parent cheering nice kick!) and the coach was saying "but WHO was that intended for?". The kid didn't get it and never adjusted.

I have a couples kids who went through the program and one that went on to travel. It was a great program for development and getting extra field time. The coaches want to see a kid who communicates with their teammates (be verbal), is coachable (listens to feedback in the tryouts), not a ball hog (passes) and shows sportsmanship (gets the ball when it goes out of bounds) and looks like they want to be there (paying attention to the players/game and not their parents on the sideline, not sitting down on the field, etc).

Hi, curious on feedback about the tryouts for a rising 4th grader (born 2015) and the program itself. Eg what the tryout looks like, what percentage of kids generally make it, and the benefits of the program if he were to enroll. My son is interested in trying out for the first time but we are not well versed in all of this! Appreciate feedback