OP here - this is all GREAT information! Thanks so much to all of you for your responses.

The team my son is on now is having some difficulties. He went from having an AMAZING and very experienced coach with great credentials (had this coach for several years) to a coach who is in his first year of coaching something other than house level and has the lowest license you can have for coaching. He's a very nice guy, but just inexperienced. The teams roster is only 13 and we have a hard time getting enough players to the games.

My son truly loves the sport. He doesn't care about winning all the time, but it does upset him if he feels like the team is not committed or is not playing as well as they could.

I just want to try to make sure that the team he's going to has decent players and the coach and team are somewhat experienced and committed to the sport (show up to practice and games), has a decent sized roster, etc. I think my son would be unhappy on a team that was all about winning, incidentally. He'd be happy on a team that was committed to development and improving/growing as both individual players and as a team.

He's a current U-14, FYI. I feel like I shouldn't say which team he's been accepted to, though maybe that's silly. But still, I feel like I've already said too much

We've been with FPYC boys travel for three years now. The Joga thing is old, old news (was the previous trainer and was super ambitious and pissed quite a few people off). The current TD is great and the overall training is great (development focused). The only downside is the size of the club (small) means you lose some top players to bigger clubs that have DA. But if your child is not wedded to D1 college soccer, but wants to play good soccer, you can't go wrong. Because the club is small, your child gets great one-on-one attention (he won't be a 'number' like the big clubs) and the price is FAR less than the big clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They've got a bit of a bad rep for "physical" play and stressing winning over development at a young age. But like all clubs, they have some good coaches and some bad.

I guess they're no longer doing the JOGA thing?

No longer trained by Joga; haven't been for two years. The current TD cares nothing about winning at a young age. Absolutely nothing.

That's good. That mentality doesn't always get through to all the coaches, but they may have improved over the past couple of years.

Anonymous wrote:They've got a bit of a bad rep for "physical" play and stressing winning over development at a young age. But like all clubs, they have some good coaches and some bad.

I guess they're no longer doing the JOGA thing?

No longer trained by Joga; haven't been for two years. The current TD cares nothing about winning at a young age. Absolutely nothing.

They've got a bit of a bad rep for "physical" play and stressing winning over development at a young age. But like all clubs, they have some good coaches and some bad.

I guess they're no longer doing the JOGA thing?

We have been at FPYC for several years (DS is a little younger than yours). DS is happy and we've been pleased with the coaches and training. The Technical Director is relatively new (been there a few years) and is developing the younger age groups into more of an academy. At the older levels, though, it seems to be very team-specific.

FPYC tends to lose some of its best older players over time because they seek out more prestigious clubs/teams, but there are a few older groups that have stuck together and had a lot of success. DS's team has seen a huge amount of turnover since U9, but it has retained a core of 4-5 kids and added a lot of good players as well.

Is your son a rising U14 or a current U14? If a current U14, which team has made an offer? I could tell you a little more about the United 03 and 04; I don't know much about the Storm 03.

Can anyone tell me anything about FPYC boys travel soccer? We anticipate moving this summer and my son is looking for a new soccer club. He has an offer on an FPYC team for the fall, which is great, but we are being asked if my son is committed. I feel like I could use a little bit more candid information from parents. What is the club like? How is the organization? The coaching/training? FWIW, my son is U-14, but I'm interested in anyone's thoughts on the club in general. If you have specifics about that age group, all the better. We aren't looking for a super-competitive club (I know my son won't play college soccer, he just loves the sport and has been playing travel for years and would like to continue).

Thanks in advance!