Anonymous wrote:ASA pays to play on those fields and probably pays to maintain them as well.

I bet the same rate as everyone else. And they pay more than the people who weren't able to rent a field for their sport because there are 1000 travel teams. Heck, even rec can't get decent practice times.

Anonymous wrote:Wow!i read the whole thing.

I disagree. It is a business. They need to make money. They only do that is their top players are recruited to colleges.

It's a cold world once you hit U15.

I will agree with a county run program intermural program but not a private business for travel soccer.

Yeah, it is a business, but a nonprofit - paid with my tax dollars. Some recruiting is ok, but they take it way WAY too far. OP - there are Arlington kids playing travel in all of the neighboring clubs. Just look elsewhere.

And it is not zero sum, because they monopolize the fields in Arlington (paid for with my tax dollars), which creates problems for rec and for smaller programs competing for the same space.

You are not the first to have this gripe.

I'm stunned that parents just accept this sort of thing as normal -- that being pretty good in a sport means shopping around so you may end up driving 45 minutes to practice instead of 10.

No wonder elite soccer has a reputation as a sport for rich suburbanites who can afford to have a parent take time off work (or a nanny) to drive them all over creation so they can *maybe* make half their money back with a college scholarship.

How about this -- play for your local club unless you're good enough to play for D.C. United's academy, where the lack of fees can offset any extra driving you have to do.

DC's DC stoddert team is majority maryland and we are fine with it.

Its competitive. There are other clubs to look at. I don't think being in Arlington has anything to do with it. In MD some kids move over to MSI classic which is a higher level competitiveness. Check out your options.

Where exactly are you getting your participation data?

Anonymous wrote:ASA pays to play on those fields and probably pays to maintain them as well.

How much do they pay? The same as sports that give priority to Arlington residents?

I think it is frustrating that they would take fields, which are in scare supply and then not have a majority of Arlington players. Plus they utilize some of the best fields (turf).

ASA pays to play on those fields and probably pays to maintain them as well.

I don't think it's a silly complaint at all, but in this era, it's quite common.

It's why the CCL (Club Champions League) model is a bunch of nonsense. Teams can't be promoted or relegated, so if they're getting blown out, what do they do? Recruit.

One of the things I love about Vienna Youth Soccer is that they're dedicated to Vienna first. I wish we had more clubs that felt that way.

There's certainly a place for the elite clubs. But if you're going to call yourself "Arlington," you should probably have a bunch of kids from Arlington.

ASA's Mission Statement:

Arlington Soccer Association provides quality soccer programs to meet the needs of people of all abilities, backgrounds and financial means, and advocates for the advancement of soccer in Arlington and surrounding communities.

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to find something else to worry about, this is just silly.

+1

ASA pays for use of the county facilities.

I think you need to find something else to worry about, this is just silly.

Wow!i read the whole thing.

I disagree. It is a business. They need to make money. They only do that is their top players are recruited to colleges.

It's a cold world once you hit U15.

I will agree with a county run program intermural program but not a private business for travel soccer.

So here's the deal, it was recently brought to my attention that Arlington Soccer Association (ASA) is actively recruiting kids from neighboring soccer clubs for the higher level/older ASA travel soccer teams, and these recruits are displacing many, and in some cases most of the Arlington kids. These are Arlington kids who’ve worked and trained hard for years, and as Arlington’s best players, (I would say) have earned the right to play for Arlington’s travel soccer team.

I know, I know, par for the course, and from what I hear anecdotally, I understand most clubs do some poaching for their older, higher level teams. The ethics of doing so are debatable because it’s essentially a zero sum game, but that's not what's got me irked. It appears that at the older/higher levels it's gotten to the point at ASA where due to excessive recruiting and the success of the ASA program, the majority of the kids on some ASA teams (up to 60-75%) aren't even from Arlington.

I'm fine with allowing some kids from around the NOVA area to try out for and make the Arlington travel teams, it adds to the competition and some local areas don't have competitive clubs of their own, but I think that there should be some sort of limit - a minimum set percentage of the kids (e.g., 50%, 60% or 70%) who must come from the clubs home turf.

As it currently stands, we have Arlington kids who’ve been playing ASA travel soccer successfully for 6-8 years and whose parents have spent $10K+ in travel soccer dues, and through hard work and dedication are arguably some of the best players in Arlington, only to get bumped off their travel teams, not by the normal cycle of some kids getting better and others not keeping up, but instead by groups of kids ASA management and coaches are recruiting and bringing over “in mass” from neighboring clubs.

When ASA management is asked about this policy, they've repeatedly blown parents off, stating that ASA is a private club and since they are not affiliated with Arlington County, ASA can do whatever it wants. ASA management is correct, but also shortsighted.

The residents of Arlington County pay considerable taxes to maintain the dozens of soccer fields that ASA uses for their programs. These fields are a valuable county asset which cost millions each year to build and maintain (the new Long Bridge turf fields being a prime example) and given this huge contribution by the county that makes the ASA travel soccer program possible, I think ASA owes the county some concessions in return. At minimum, I think that at least a majority of each team - at minimum - should concsist of Arlinton residents. I’m guessing the residents of any other county would expect the same.

What are your thoughts? Is it an unreasonable expectation that at least a majority of players on any given Arlington Travel Soccer team be from Arlington? And if you there should be a minimum, what is appropriate? [In case you’re wondering, my kids are younger and haven’t had to face this yet.]