Anonymous
10/25/2018 23:49
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
The OP is in for big surprises based on this thread, and her reactions to it. I think some of the information comes from parents hoping she makes the same choice they did. Travel is a year long committment that disrupts your family. It may be worth it to that child, but unless you find a low level NCSL team, it doesn't sound like a good choice for you if she has any talent. It is a family decision, and the costs are 3K a year easy. We pay over 7K now for DD (not DA or ECNL). Good luck, we used to play MSI classic. We miss those days, but it was the choice we all made because DD wanted the highest level.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 15:46
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
OP here. This is all very helpful. Really helps me understand options as well as what questions to ask clubs. Thanks!
Anonymous
10/25/2018 15:37
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
OBSL not ODSL.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 15:36
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
These are very good summaries but you should call around, OP. I think that at U11 the 3x a week practices and the winter futsal is standard but some clubs do fewer tournaments. Another option might be a club that has teams in "select" leagues that are closer to home. ODSL is technically travel but not too far.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 15:26
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much to all of you for the very specific information! This sounds much more feasible than I'd been imagining. I don't much like the idea of Richmond/Pennsylvania(nice places, but hard with a busy family calendar).
But it sounds like that is only a few times per year and the rest of it isn't so different from what we are doing (fall-winter-spring, 2 practices/week; 1-2 games/weekend at the soccerplex).
Thanks a lot!
I think you are misunderstanding what U11 involves. It is a major committment. Assume you go from MSI to CCL (Potomac).
Practices increase from 2x to 3x a week at CCL clubs.
Away games are not to the SoccerPlex, but to places as far as Roanoke, VA Beach (two clubs down there), and Richmond. You do those drives every other year, so you're guaranteed some every long drives to play a single game. You book hotels for these.
8-10 weekend games in Fall not counting scrimmages. Same for Spring. So that is similar to MSI.
No winter off. Team still exists. It's a year commitment.
Pre-season training in August. Plan vacations for July now. It is mandatory.
3 Tournaments in Fall and 3 in Spring, compared to maybe 1 or even 0 now in MSI. Each tournament is a full weekend and always falls on a holiday, and involves three to four games played over two to three days. You often spend the downtime between games at places like Panera. For any out-of-town tournament, which there are always a few, you are required to book a hotel room with the team.
Anyone telling you that travel soccer at the CCL level is not a commitment is misrepresenting things. Many NCSL teams have the exact same committment.
If she is good and can go to the next level by U13, then practices will increase to four times a week and you will take charter buses to farther away weekend games in other states.
You will also be in a crowd of players that do Super Y in the Summers and ODP on the side.
If she is not good enough and ends up on the bottom team at the club, then your commitment will be very similar, but there will be slightly less tournaments and travel for weekend games. Maybe 4 instead of 6 total Tournaments.
MSI has a travel team too. It’s called MSI Academy. Depending upon the age group, they have teams playing in NCSL, EDP, etc.
Instead of joining Potomac Blue Team playing in CCL, we decided to join MSI Academy playing in NCSL due to limited travel distance. We might change teams in the future if my DD wants to play in a more competitive environment of CCL, EDP, etc.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 14:50
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much to all of you for the very specific information! This sounds much more feasible than I'd been imagining. I don't much like the idea of Richmond/Pennsylvania(nice places, but hard with a busy family calendar).
But it sounds like that is only a few times per year and the rest of it isn't so different from what we are doing (fall-winter-spring, 2 practices/week; 1-2 games/weekend at the soccerplex).
Thanks a lot!
I think you are misunderstanding what U11 involves. It is a major committment. Assume you go from MSI to CCL (Potomac).
Practices increase from 2x to 3x a week at CCL clubs.
Away games are not to the SoccerPlex, but to places as far as Roanoke, VA Beach (two clubs down there), and Richmond. You do those drives every other year, so you're guaranteed some every long drives to play a single game. You book hotels for these.
8-10 weekend games in Fall not counting scrimmages. Same for Spring. So that is similar to MSI.
No winter off. Team still exists. It's a year commitment.
Pre-season training in August. Plan vacations for July now. It is mandatory.
3 Tournaments in Fall and 3 in Spring, compared to maybe 1 or even 0 now in MSI. Each tournament is a full weekend and always falls on a holiday, and involves three to four games played over two to three days. You often spend the downtime between games at places like Panera. For any out-of-town tournament, which there are always a few, you are required to book a hotel room with the team.
Anyone telling you that travel soccer at the CCL level is not a commitment is misrepresenting things. Many NCSL teams have the exact same committment.
If she is good and can go to the next level by U13, then practices will increase to four times a week and you will take charter buses to farther away weekend games in other states.
You will also be in a crowd of players that do Super Y in the Summers and ODP on the side.
If she is not good enough and ends up on the bottom team at the club, then your commitment will be very similar, but there will be slightly less tournaments and travel for weekend games. Maybe 4 instead of 6 total Tournaments.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 14:41
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
I know that MSI Academy lets players participate in their practices. I surely recommend you do that. I also recommend you attend a game or two to see how the coach coaches during a Game. Unfortunately, we didn’t do what I recommended as I didn’t know any better last year....and I only knew about this blog site recently. But fortunately it worked out really well for my DD as she loves her team. We belong to NCSL and the travel hasn’t been too bad at all. Our farthest game was about a 40 minutes drive to La Plata.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 14:19
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Anonymous wrote:This is all really helpful.
In terms of taking her to a practice, will clubs let any player join a practice or two to see fit? And is this done before/in addition to/instead of their normal tryouts?
most reputable coaches would allow that. I would try to do more if I were you, the first 2 it is awkward then they start to feel more comfortable and the coach can get a feel for them and they can for the coach.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 14:13
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
This is all really helpful.
In terms of taking her to a practice, will clubs let any player join a practice or two to see fit? And is this done before/in addition to/instead of their normal tryouts?
In terms of taking her to a practice, will clubs let any player join a practice or two to see fit? And is this done before/in addition to/instead of their normal tryouts?
Anonymous
10/25/2018 13:04
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
BSC u11 top team schedule
https://www.edpsoccer.com/page/show/4377891-2018-fall-schedules
Tournaments
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/team.html?teamId=2168536
Just scroll down and you will see the names of the tournaments. You can look up the tournament if you can not readily see the location.
This is for the top team- blue. The next team down is white. I do not know what league they are in. I think the lower teams(green)plays in the ncsl.
http://www.ncsl-soccer.com/_element_display/#%2F80738%2Fteams%2F92552093%2F91005758-92552243%2FTEAM.html%3Fdummy%3D1540486590591
Practices for BSC can be in upper Montgomery County....depending on the age group. So know where you will practice.
There are a few other teams in the Montgomery county...so shop around. This means take her to practice now and over the winter. Just contact the club.
https://www.edpsoccer.com/page/show/4377891-2018-fall-schedules
Tournaments
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/team.html?teamId=2168536
Just scroll down and you will see the names of the tournaments. You can look up the tournament if you can not readily see the location.
This is for the top team- blue. The next team down is white. I do not know what league they are in. I think the lower teams(green)plays in the ncsl.
http://www.ncsl-soccer.com/_element_display/#%2F80738%2Fteams%2F92552093%2F91005758-92552243%2FTEAM.html%3Fdummy%3D1540486590591
Practices for BSC can be in upper Montgomery County....depending on the age group. So know where you will practice.
There are a few other teams in the Montgomery county...so shop around. This means take her to practice now and over the winter. Just contact the club.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 13:02
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Thanks so much to all of you for the very specific information! This sounds much more feasible than I'd been imagining. I don't much like the idea of Richmond/Pennsylvania(nice places, but hard with a busy family calendar).
But it sounds like that is only a few times per year and the rest of it isn't so different from what we are doing (fall-winter-spring, 2 practices/week; 1-2 games/weekend at the soccerplex).
Thanks a lot!
But it sounds like that is only a few times per year and the rest of it isn't so different from what we are doing (fall-winter-spring, 2 practices/week; 1-2 games/weekend at the soccerplex).
Thanks a lot!
Anonymous
10/25/2018 12:48
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Sounds like your DD would be trying out this spring for u11. My son is with Potomac. For u11, the commitment is 2 mandatory practices a week fall (outdoor), winter (indoor) and spring (outdoor). There may be some teams that have a 3rd. There are a few weeks off in the summer and then a few weeks of summer training that are optional. Outdoor fields are in the Potomac area but indoor can be somewhere less convenient like the Rockville Sportsplex. My son’s team generally plays 1 game a weekend in fall and 1 in spring. Some weekends there are 2. Games can be as close as the Maryland Soccerplex or McLean. Most games are about 45 min away. A few times a year we have to travel several hours. It depends on the level of the team. CCL travels further than CCL2 or NCSL.
Tournaments are 4x a year. The kids plays 3-4 games over a weekend.
My understanding is the club wants all teams to play in a futsal league this winter. These are very local.
Tournaments are 4x a year. The kids plays 3-4 games over a weekend.
My understanding is the club wants all teams to play in a futsal league this winter. These are very local.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 12:43
Subject: Re:Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
BTDT. Going from MSI Classic to a "travel" team would generally mean: about half the games would be farther than going to the Soccerplex, maybe 1 or 2 tournaments not at the Soccerplex, and maybe one additional practice per week.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 12:40
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
Don't let the word "Travel" scare you. It is basically a marketing term and a term parents throw around to make themselves feel like their kid has accomplished something.
We have been in the "travel" world for 4 years, now on 5th season. In NCSL or old WAGS you didn't go more than a half hour away. Same as MSI but higher level of play. We did CCL and that was going as far as Va Beach, Richmond, Roanoke, but they scheduled it so you have two games out that way etc.
EDP now and the travel is in the region, nothing too bad, couple of hours but great time with kid in the car.
the best tournaments are actually in our own backyard but you will go to Richmond, Pennsylvania , NJ and at times have to fly places when they get older. FL, Las Vegas, TX Arizona usually warmer places.
We have been in the "travel" world for 4 years, now on 5th season. In NCSL or old WAGS you didn't go more than a half hour away. Same as MSI but higher level of play. We did CCL and that was going as far as Va Beach, Richmond, Roanoke, but they scheduled it so you have two games out that way etc.
EDP now and the travel is in the region, nothing too bad, couple of hours but great time with kid in the car.
the best tournaments are actually in our own backyard but you will go to Richmond, Pennsylvania , NJ and at times have to fly places when they get older. FL, Las Vegas, TX Arizona usually warmer places.
Anonymous
10/25/2018 12:06
Subject: Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer
I have a U10 dd who currently plays MSI Classic and has begging to try out for travel. For this year, I said no because we have a big family and I didn't want to commit to the 'travel' part for one kid.
Before she starts begging to do spring tryouts, I'd like to know more about what we would be in for if she made a team-- in particular, how far and how often teams travel long distances for games. We live in Bethesda, so I guess she would try out for Bethesda and/or Potomac. I poked around the Bethesda Soccer website and couldn't get a handle on things like how often they have games, and how often the games are distant from Bethesda.
Do these teams have a regular weekend game schedule and ALSO go to tournaments? Or are the games always held within the context of tournaments? Is it only the tournaments that require distant travel, or would we need to drive an hour or two for a single weekend game, as well?
I know the details will depend on the club/team but I'm just looking for general information before I even bother to look into spring tryouts. Right now, I'm really liking Classic with a professional coach but from what I've heard, by U12 we should seriously be looking at Travel if she wants to be serious about soccer.
TIA!
Before she starts begging to do spring tryouts, I'd like to know more about what we would be in for if she made a team-- in particular, how far and how often teams travel long distances for games. We live in Bethesda, so I guess she would try out for Bethesda and/or Potomac. I poked around the Bethesda Soccer website and couldn't get a handle on things like how often they have games, and how often the games are distant from Bethesda.
Do these teams have a regular weekend game schedule and ALSO go to tournaments? Or are the games always held within the context of tournaments? Is it only the tournaments that require distant travel, or would we need to drive an hour or two for a single weekend game, as well?
I know the details will depend on the club/team but I'm just looking for general information before I even bother to look into spring tryouts. Right now, I'm really liking Classic with a professional coach but from what I've heard, by U12 we should seriously be looking at Travel if she wants to be serious about soccer.
TIA!