Anonymous wrote:Why do people keep saying the MU coaches are different. They are the same exact coaches that have coached the existing teams to loosing records all year.

What are you talking about? No one says they are different. No one. What we are saying is the leadership is diferent. Instead of being forced to take as many players as possible regardless of talent level, training environment impact, being told who and how to roster what, the coaches are now free from Spirit to make those decisions. And since they are free, they are helping players that aren't ready for the DA to transition to. More appropriate environment. They are reducing roster sizes to create a more focused group. Finally they are returning to the soccer norm of playing players in their own age group. No one has said anything else.

Why do people keep saying the MU coaches are different. They are the same exact coaches that have coached the existing teams to loosing records all year.

Arlington also has DP players who also play on Red team. At least one girl is likely changing this year from PT to FT DA status. If you like a club, give it a year as a DP and then you can always leave the following year if you don’t make full DA.

Anonymous wrote:The only club offering this is MU. There is no promise of any DA playing time. Just the possibility. You ‘get’ to practice with the DA team. Your DD will be an outsider, with the FT players either seeing her as a threat or just not caring about why she’s even there. Either way it sounds like a tough thing to put your DD thru every week. And the cost is crazy. $1200 for practices only. And then you are required to play at Great Falls Reston. They are not good and some ages don’t even have teams. So that’s another 2500-3000 for your regular travel team.
Upside - practicing
Downside - everything else. Costs more. No promises of DA games. Outsider status at practices.

The reason MU is doing this is because they don’t have a second team. So they need someone to scrimmage against. And they want your money. The FT parents don’t want any of this.

Huh? PT is a DA thing, not an MU thing. FCV had PT players this year, and most of the boy's DAs offer it.

The Ecnl has a similar but somewhat different concept with the discovery player (the difference mostly being that it's more loosely structured.

Anonymous wrote:I do understand and I have see this. These girls are not accepted by the team because they are competition and usually the parents are hoping they can get their kid on and I never see it work. Usually the kid leaves club. Maybe this is not all clubs but this is what I have seen with two kids. Same thing for ecnl. It is better to not have that pressure. Play for a top team and then try out elsewhere the next year.

You sound like an FCV, Loudoun, Arlington, or BRYC parent. The MU staff is different than those places.

Anonymous wrote:I do understand and I have see this. These girls are not accepted by the team because they are competition and usually the parents are hoping they can get their kid on and I never see it work. Usually the kid leaves club. Maybe this is not all clubs but this is what I have seen with two kids. Same thing for ecnl. It is better to not have that pressure. Play for a top team and then try out elsewhere the next year.

I actually completely disagree. $1200 for higher level practices is less than we spend on summer camps, winter futsal, HP Elite, etc. AND you would get additional games. Even if you didn't get a lot of game time, you would theoretically be improving relative to your regular club team teammates and thus be more prepared for a future move to FT or to another club, etc. That actually seems like a pretty good deal to me. Let's you test the waters without all of the commitment, maybe not having to spend on as much travel. Or maybe you turn the corner quickly and get rostered and play a lot. If the FT player roster is not too big, why would sideline parents be against you? The keeper's parents aren't threatened by a midfielder who can get the ball to the other end, etc.

I do understand and I have see this. These girls are not accepted by the team because they are competition and usually the parents are hoping they can get their kid on and I never see it work. Usually the kid leaves club. Maybe this is not all clubs but this is what I have seen with two kids. Same thing for ecnl. It is better to not have that pressure. Play for a top team and then try out elsewhere the next year.

Anonymous wrote:It is a bad deal. I always feel bad for the double roster kids. They play maybe one game if at all. Better to be on a top team and try out for DA next year.

You don’t understand DP then.

You are on a top team and practice with DA. DPs don’t just get the DA games they are occasionally rostered on. They are starters on their regular team.

Anonymous wrote:It is a bad deal. I always feel bad for the double roster kids. They play maybe one game if at all. Better to be on a top team and try out for DA next year.

I really wouldn’t make any generalizations, especially from other club experience. Best to discuss with the coach in question to see how likely it is for the specific player to play. If she is nearing the level of the FT rostered players, she may see 12 games and a conversion to FT.

It is a bad deal. I always feel bad for the double roster kids. They play maybe one game if at all. Better to be on a top team and try out for DA next year.

FYI-text from the US soccer DA rules and regs. Full rules are posted on the US soccer website.



D. Part-Time Players

Clubs may add up to an average of 10 Part-Time (PT) Players, averaged across all club’s age groups (U-13 thru U-18/19), which will count against roster totals, according to the Part Time Player Policy. The 2018- 2019 policy is available at www.ussoccerda.com.

A Part-time Player (PT) player is a player who is rostered with a DA Club or their affiliate Club that is not ready or able to contribute at the Academy level full time. This player is not playing consistently and/or enough minutes in DA games to fully develop; therefore, the player is eligible to play games outside of the DA program. The PT player consistently trains 3-4 times a week (depending on their age group) and must train with both teams; recommended 1-2x a week within the DA and 1-2x a week with the non-DA team.

PT players can play in a maximum of 12 DA games. Note, at U-13/14 age groups, any PT player added to the game day roster will count as a game played. To supplement their Academy game minutes, the PT player is eligible to also play games outside the DA on a non-DA team within the club or in an affiliate club as part of his/her individual development plan. PT players must still follow the Academy play-to-rest ratio.

PT Players may not be registered PT with any two different Academy clubs at the same time during the same Academy season (Sept-July). PT Players may only change their status to Full-time once during the Academy season and they may not return to PT player status. Furthermore, a PT Player does not automatically garner Full-time status after participating in their twelfth game. The club must submit their intentions in writing to the Academy Office to move the player to Full-time status. Players that have played in the maximum twelve (12) games, are not eligible to continue to play in Academy games, unless the club indicates the desire to move the player to full-time status and the player status has been updated to Full-time by the Academy Central Office. Note, Continued usage of a PT player after their 12th game could cause a club to forfeit games due to the use of an eligible player. Additionally, PT players are eligible to participate in the Academy Playoffs or Academy Championships.

Anonymous wrote:The only club offering this is MU. There is no promise of any DA playing time. Just the possibility. You ‘get’ to practice with the DA team. Your DD will be an outsider, with the FT players either seeing her as a threat or just not caring about why she’s even there. Either way it sounds like a tough thing to put your DD thru every week. And the cost is crazy. $1200 for practices only. And then you are required to play at Great Falls Reston. They are not good and some ages don’t even have teams. So that’s another 2500-3000 for your regular travel team.
Upside - practicing
Downside - everything else. Costs more. No promises of DA games. Outsider status at practices.

The reason MU is doing this is because they don’t have a second team. So they need someone to scrimmage against. And they want your money. The FT parents don’t want any of this.

Lots of inaccuracies in the above. Total cost is not to exceed $3600 total DA fee for MU, even including the PT fee plus the GFR or other partner club fee. PT is offered at other clubs as well, it’s regulated by the DA/US Soccer. It’s a similar system, with players playing in other leagues (for example NPL, CCL, or EDP locally) and in up to 12 DA matches. Parents at MU are in general much friendlier than several of the other local “elite” options we have experience with. I think most would welcome the player, as long as they were at level. The poster above must be from one of the more sideline hostile local option focused exclusively on winning at any cost.

Very helpful info. Since FT is not the offer, we are looking at the upsides and downsides of part time.

The only club offering this is MU. There is no promise of any DA playing time. Just the possibility. You ‘get’ to practice with the DA team. Your DD will be an outsider, with the FT players either seeing her as a threat or just not caring about why she’s even there. Either way it sounds like a tough thing to put your DD thru every week. And the cost is crazy. $1200 for practices only. And then you are required to play at Great Falls Reston. They are not good and some ages don’t even have teams. So that’s another 2500-3000 for your regular travel team.
Upside - practicing
Downside - everything else. Costs more. No promises of DA games. Outsider status at practices.

The reason MU is doing this is because they don’t have a second team. So they need someone to scrimmage against. And they want your money. The FT parents don’t want any of this.

What was your experience? Is there a pathway to full time? Also, biobanding or playing down a year while they see if kid grows, this is another possibility. Anyone been through it and what was your experience?

Thanks and if there's another thread or discussion already please point me to it and I'll read up there.