I went between travel and classic with two of my kids. If you have a strong coach and other kids who want to improve with the goal to play competitive travel, then there is no need to do travel at u10. I agree with PP. Apply your savings from travel to one-on-one training or clinics. $300-500 = 6x sessions with a quality coach. That is much better than following the herd to mentality to Bethesda and other clubs and driving to PA or rural VA for a game. u13/u14 is the age to begin serious travel. If you kid excels in the first two years, you can then move to DA or ECNL. No need to jump in at u10.

For the original poster - the "travel" teams you are referring to would be a "Competitive+" type of program.

For example, MSI also has a level above classic, called MSI Academy or MSI premier, something like that. That would be a Competitive+ program.

It is not looked at as a Premier program in this area compared to what is out there, with the exception of a few of the older girls teams who have gone out of their way to hire coaches with local reputations.

FYI for high school soccer in this area, if you have been in a "Premier" or "Competitive+" program from a young age, then you probably are a shoe-in for your high school team.

If you have been in a "Competitive" program (3rd level on the list), you have to earn your spot and could be a bubble player. If you are lucky, you might make JV if you are lucky but then you are at the very bottom of the roster.

If you have been an academy Academy player, realistically it's hard to play at the high school level unless you go to a small school in the northern reaches of montgomery county or a private school that does not have a big-name soccer program. For example at Good Counsel for girls soccer, you need to be in the top 2 tiers to make the team to have any shot.

It all depends on the quality and dedication of the coach.

There are 5 levels, really. This is specific for girls soccer.

1. Elite / Premier (whatever you want to call it)

An example would be the top team of a club like Bethesda. If you look at Bethesda Blue, you would find dedicated players who have been in training programs since a young age, or who have older siblings or parents who teach them the game at home.

Players generally have some kind of individual improvement plans from their coaches and are working on their skills at home or through extra clinics.

Expect 3x per week practices during the spring and fall, 1-2x per week practices over the winter and a futsal league. Camps/clinics in the summer or offseason.

You definitely have to try out for these types of teams, and they are hard to make if you have not had training the last few years since U8 and younger or are a gifted athlete.

2. Competitive +

An example of this type of team would be Bethesda White. They are still on the same yearly schedule as Bethesda Blue, but you may not see quite as much individual dedication or pure talent from the players outside of the normally scheduled practices to improve on their own. There are still some very good players here, to be sure, but it is not the whole team "top to bottom" as you will find on Blue.

3. Competitive

This would be a team that practices 2x per week and does some type of training in the off-season. This sounds like the Classic team you joined last year. Players may play more than 1 sport competitively, sometimes practices are only 1 hour instead of 1.5 hours. So you're only getting 2 hours per week of practice compared to 4.5 hours at the higher level - less than half.

This also means that players develop at a slower rate. A player who practices for 45 hours per season (10 weeks x 4.5hrs per week) will improve at a rate more than double what a player who practices 20 hours per season.

Most parents are apathetic to this, and players don't know the difference or generally care how many hours they practice per season. However when your player gets to high school age and wants to try out as a 9th grader, guess who you are competing against?

4. Academy

This would be where a group of recreational players are put into some type of training program, and then the kids in the training program play games and match up against equal competition. PPA (Player Progression Academy) is sort of like this. I think they also offer the "competitive" option where there is some type of try-out process. "Academy" level teams typically don't even have tryouts - if you have signed up for the training program, you are in.

Usually the quality of coaching here is so-so, and players are doing it more or less for fun, so not always the most focused group of kids or the most expert of coaches. But still, some training is better than no training.


5. Rec

Playing for fun, usually a volunteer coach, hit or miss on the quality of the training and rate of improvement.
Usually 1 hour practices twice a week during the season, and nothing during the off-season. A lot of turnover rate on the team from season to season and year to year.

Can't do a thing about kids with issues (low motivation level, doesn't try hard, negative attitude, doesn't attend practices) because their parents have paid their fee.

Some coaches stay with their team from year to year (have a kid on it) and actually manage the team well, do a little recruiting, and get a good group together. Other teams not so much - mixed bag.

My DC played on the top teams at big clubs and left for MSI Classic with a professional coach. You put the extra money and time into quality focused extra clinics and trainers instead of more tournaments and the big club stuff. Works very well from U9 through U13. Maybe U14 is when you worry about ODP, DA, ECNL, and the rest of the money suck.

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda and McLean girls in that age range are having a some problems right now. Parents I have talk to describe the same thing at both programs- bully coaches, lots of yelling, etc. It has turned a lot of girls off. So you have to go in with your eye open. Lots of other programs around.

I gather than Bethesda recently fired one of the yellers.

OP here. Thanks for the thoughtful responses. You bring up some things I didn't know and hadn't thought about. Thanks!

Also remember that some strong classic teams move into travel as a team. If your coach and the other parents have this goal in mind then it could make sense to stay put.

Bethesda and McLean girls in that age range are having a some problems right now. Parents I have talk to describe the same thing at both programs- bully coaches, lots of yelling, etc. It has turned a lot of girls off. So you have to go in with your eye open. Lots of other programs around.

It's usually for the coaching. The other reason is because kids want a more consistent team and level of play. The MSI classic teams can be hit or miss in terms of the strength of a team. There are some travel-level players but there are tons that are about the same level as rec players.

The professional coaching groups usually take their better teams to Sam Select or another league. MSI Classic is for their weaker teams.

Personally I would stick with your DD's team if your DD has friends on it and you think the coaching is good. If not, I would consider a Sam Select team before going to something like Mclean or Bethesda.

This isn't a question that can be answered in the abstract. Is the kid in question a very athletic kid who is obsessed with soccer and works out a ton on her own? And does the MSI coach emphasize foot skills above all (can the kids on the team juggle at least 50-100 times without dropping the ball, juggle with both feet, trap the ball well, and do cuts and other moves to get around other players)? Then it won't do her much, if any, harm to stick with MSI Classic for now, though she'll lose out some on development by playing with and against weaker competition than she would in a good travel program. She'll need to eventually move to a better team and league if she wants to progress.

Or is she athletic and passionate about soccer but doesn't really work out on her own or have decent footskills? In that case, if she has ambitions of improving, you need to either start helping her find extra training, whether it's on her own or private lessons or clinics, or moving to travel. Finding a good travel program that is a good fit is not always easy (as you can tell if you read the soccer forums here), but there are plenty of great coaches at almost all clubs in the area. As a counterpoint to a PP's comment, we are very happy with our son's experience on a B team at Bethesda. They practice 3 days a week and play futsal in the winter, and are all about the skills. One of our older kids played MSI Classic for a couple of years and liked it, but it did little to develop her foot work or any real understanding of the game.

If she's neither particularly athletic nor passionate about the game, then I wouldn't see a reason to move from a good MSI Classic team if she's enjoying it.

my kid went form rec to "travel" instead of classic but a very low key team, basically a classic team playing in the old WAGS league that became NCSL, we knew she had talent but we wanted to pace her so she doesn't burn out.

Fast forward to this year where she is now on a top travel team and pushed out some long tenured players.

I feel sorry for those kids who start travel at u8

It is not prior to U13/u14. Don't get caught up in the "Soccer Industrial Complex." Parents in the DMV are like lemmings. If you have a strong coach and dedicated players, Classic/Sam Select is much better than being on a B or C travel team. I have done Bethesda and McLean at the younger age groups. You are better off saving your money and sanity by avoiding these places until u13. Here is why:
1. If you have a good coach, you will get much more personalized attention than you will get at larger clubs where the coach is also coaching older teams;
2. The level of competition is not consistent so you are driving all over the DMV for games that suck;
3. It is more cost efficient. Classic is half the costs of travel. Use that extra cash for clinics and camps.
4. Classic kids consistently show up at travel tryouts at u13/u14 and push out kids who have been playing for the club since u9/u10.

Others may disagree but I think once a kid hits u/14 it is critical to play against stronger competition and that level of competition is in CCL, EDP or NCSL (upper divisions).

On the girls side, it probably makes little difference.

My dd played U10 in MSI classic last year and is planning to stay in next year, as well. She is at soccer camp with girls her age who play travel and she is asking to move to a travel team. The girls at camp seem to have the same number of practices per week (2) during the season. I've seen some of dd's practices last year and they were well coached, and there is a once-a-week winter training to fill the time between fall and spring. So is my dd really falling behind peers by playing Classic versus Travel?