Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Thanks -- and yes, I think that's part of the problem. Whether it drove Barca to enter teams in EDP that might have better off in NCSL or ODSL, I don't know.

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

The problem is that you assume that I'm attacking the club. I'm not sure how many more times I can reiterate that I'm not.

I saw several pages of posts had appeared since my last visit. The impression I got from those pages was people claimed Barca was attracting (I'll use that instead of "luring") talented players from other clubs. To me, those posts seemed boastful.

That's all.

If I have any criticism of Barca, it's that it clearly overreached in the league assignments of a couple of teams. Hopefully, that'll get sorted out over time -- maybe as soon as this spring. And they're certainly not the only people in the area who think their players are ready for a level of competition that's actually beyond them at the moment. Over time, maybe the teams that lost big in the fall will work their way back up and do pretty well.

I have no reason to think they won't. And no reason to think they will. We're talking about kids here. They're unpredictable.

It isn't about attacking the club, it is about misrepresenting the point a PP was making by exaggerating the "facts". It was misleading and discrediting of the PP's claim through "harmless hyperbole" that is the problem. The PP simply stated that some VDA (among other clubs) players came to Barca. YOU made it boastful by turning that into "TONS". They were not being boastful, simply stating that over the course of two years some talented players are beginning to move to Barca. You then claimed that their records would be better if "TONS" of players truly came over. Well, on that point you are right, because TONS of players never did come over and it was never claimed that TONS of players in fact did.

Well said. He clearly made a mistake. RSD should just give it a mea culpa and own it. I misread statements too sometimes. When I do, I just say ok, I misunderstood, misread, misremembered. Nothing wrong with being human.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

And this where the spin starts. EDP - in Fall - only has a handful of HS age teams since most states in EDP's area play HS soccer in the Fall. So you have a handful of teams, barely making up a division or two. So touting your results in "EDP's top division" is EXTREMELY misleading when there was actually only 1 or 2 divisions. I'm not sure Barca's 03s and 01s are (relatively) better than their 04s and 05s. The 04s and 05s struggled in EDP, but they were playing 'legit' EDP competition.

The 01s are very good. It’s not spin. You starting a sentence with “I’m not sure”, is.

So (overly) defensive. My point is that last season's EDP results shouldn't be used to make that case; your team's results against teams from outside this area are probably more impressive than EDP league play, correct? On the flip side, I don't think it's fair to say Barca's 04s and 05s are awful because they struggled against some tough EDP competition, because there aren't a lot of teams in the area who would fair much better.

I was not being defensive at all. Just found it funny how you accuse someone of “spinning”, then did so yourself.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Haven't checked in for a while -- is the basic gist of the last several pages that Barca has lured tons of players away from VDA and other programs because the training is better? And yet those players go to Barca and don't get great results? So Barca lured all these great players away for better training -- and they don't win much, even after a year or two with Barca?

I know -- you can't judge solely by results. But if you're claiming to attract players who've won elsewhere, and now they're losing, it's awfully difficult to call that progress."

I'm pretty sure that is critical

Yes. Critical of the claim, which I found implicit in all those pages, that Barca's kicking butt with all these players they've attracted from elsewhere.

Kicking butt? Can you please link to that or quote it? This is yet another statement that when I read it, I almost feel I need to double check and make sure I'm still on the Barca thread. Who said they are kicking butt?

The closest I recall and can find is that the teams are at varying levels with varying success, with some teams and players that are very good (my paraphrase).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

And this where the spin starts. EDP - in Fall - only has a handful of HS age teams since most states in EDP's area play HS soccer in the Fall. So you have a handful of teams, barely making up a division or two. So touting your results in "EDP's top division" is EXTREMELY misleading when there was actually only 1 or 2 divisions. I'm not sure Barca's 03s and 01s are (relatively) better than their 04s and 05s. The 04s and 05s struggled in EDP, but they were playing 'legit' EDP competition.

The 01s are very good. It’s not spin. You starting a sentence with “I’m not sure”, is.

So (overly) defensive. My point is that last season's EDP results shouldn't be used to make that case; your team's results against teams from outside this area are probably more impressive than EDP league play, correct? On the flip side, I don't think it's fair to say Barca's 04s and 05s are awful because they struggled against some tough EDP competition, because there aren't a lot of teams in the area who would fair much better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

And this where the spin starts. EDP - in Fall - only has a handful of HS age teams since most states in EDP's area play HS soccer in the Fall. So you have a handful of teams, barely making up a division or two. So touting your results in "EDP's top division" is EXTREMELY misleading when there was actually only 1 or 2 divisions. I'm not sure Barca's 03s and 01s are (relatively) better than their 04s and 05s. The 04s and 05s struggled in EDP, but they were playing 'legit' EDP competition.

The 01s are very good. It’s not spin. You starting a sentence with “I’m not sure”, is.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Haven't checked in for a while -- is the basic gist of the last several pages that Barca has lured tons of players away from VDA and other programs because the training is better? And yet those players go to Barca and don't get great results? So Barca lured all these great players away for better training -- and they don't win much, even after a year or two with Barca?

I know -- you can't judge solely by results. But if you're claiming to attract players who've won elsewhere, and now they're losing, it's awfully difficult to call that progress."

I'm pretty sure that is critical

Yes. Critical of the claim, which I found implicit in all those pages, that Barca's kicking butt with all these players they've attracted from elsewhere.

And the funny thing is that my response would've been long forgotten except that people insist on insisting that I'm attacking the club. So where you had no serious attack on the club, you now have tons of posts that are trying to turn it into one.

Seems just a little counterproductive to me.

And your criticism of the claim is unwarranted because you exaggerated the claim to begin with. Had the person tons or dozens you would have a point but they made no such claim. Your criticism was based on something you misconstrued and completely made up. Own it.

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

Several DA players? Who said that? I've been following this thread and never saw that anywhere. What I did see was someone said that Barça was filled with second string B and C team players, and someone else said, no, it has players from all levels and cited one example that people have abused, distorted and deliberately misconstrued.

Who really gives a crap? I check in every once in awhile to see what's going on, but this is crazy. This is kids' soccer. We put our kids here because we really liked the concept and we stayed because of the fantastic coaching/training. If people think it's crap, I don't care. I'm happy. If people think it is wonderful. That's great too. I don't get validation through my kids or really care what anyone else thinks about where they are playing. I have been around this rodeo since the 70s and it.just.doesn't.matter. Virtually nobody's kid (yes this includes the DA players too) is going to be the next pro star. There is a lot of delusion that if you only have them in the right place they will be discovered. Cream will find a way to rise to the top and where you played little kid soccer wouldn't really matter. 99% of it is dependent outside of what I Club can do for you. It's how much your kid wants it and how hard they work on their own every.single.day. So go where the Coaches are decent people and will help cultivate developing a 'good kid'. I don't care if that's here or elsewhere. If somebody posts that everyone sucks here, wtf does it matter to you? Let them get validation from trashing kids. It says a lot about who they are and why they are going to spend all day on a website doing it.

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Thanks -- and yes, I think that's part of the problem. Whether it drove Barca to enter teams in EDP that might have better off in NCSL or ODSL, I don't know.

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

The problem is that you assume that I'm attacking the club. I'm not sure how many more times I can reiterate that I'm not.

I saw several pages of posts had appeared since my last visit. The impression I got from those pages was people claimed Barca was attracting (I'll use that instead of "luring") talented players from other clubs. To me, those posts seemed boastful.

That's all.

If I have any criticism of Barca, it's that it clearly overreached in the league assignments of a couple of teams. Hopefully, that'll get sorted out over time -- maybe as soon as this spring. And they're certainly not the only people in the area who think their players are ready for a level of competition that's actually beyond them at the moment. Over time, maybe the teams that lost big in the fall will work their way back up and do pretty well.

I have no reason to think they won't. And no reason to think they will. We're talking about kids here. They're unpredictable.

You're so full of s**t.

Your post was basically saying Barca sucks because even though they supposedly attracted all these top players their results still suck.

Then you follow that attack with a statement saying you are not attacking the club (even though you just did) so when you are accused of doing so, you can say "but I said I wasn't".

Not fooling anyone.

This is completely unnecessary. RSD's point that a couple of Barca teams may have been placed too high and did not do well in EDP is valid, but makes his observation out of context without understanding the underlying reasons (e.g. first season in a competitive league, where you play against teams that were together for several years, high number of play ups, early puberty effect at certain age groups, etc). It is not a big deal. As for attracting/luring players from other clubs, I am sure every single club in our area does it. Players move either because they are unhappy at their current club or to pursue what they believe is a better opportunity elsewhere.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Thanks -- and yes, I think that's part of the problem. Whether it drove Barca to enter teams in EDP that might have better off in NCSL or ODSL, I don't know.

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

The problem is that you assume that I'm attacking the club. I'm not sure how many more times I can reiterate that I'm not.

I saw several pages of posts had appeared since my last visit. The impression I got from those pages was people claimed Barca was attracting (I'll use that instead of "luring") talented players from other clubs. To me, those posts seemed boastful.

That's all.

If I have any criticism of Barca, it's that it clearly overreached in the league assignments of a couple of teams. Hopefully, that'll get sorted out over time -- maybe as soon as this spring. And they're certainly not the only people in the area who think their players are ready for a level of competition that's actually beyond them at the moment. Over time, maybe the teams that lost big in the fall will work their way back up and do pretty well.

I have no reason to think they won't. And no reason to think they will. We're talking about kids here. They're unpredictable.

The following are your words:

"Haven't checked in for a while -- is the basic gist of the last several pages that Barca has lured tons of players away from VDA and other programs because the training is better? And yet those players go to Barca and don't get great results? So Barca lured all these great players away for better training -- and they don't win much, even after a year or two with Barca?

I know -- you can't judge solely by results. But if you're claiming to attract players who've won elsewhere, and now they're losing, it's awfully difficult to call that progress."

I'm pretty sure that is critical

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Thanks -- and yes, I think that's part of the problem. Whether it drove Barca to enter teams in EDP that might have better off in NCSL or ODSL, I don't know.

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

The problem is that you assume that I'm attacking the club. I'm not sure how many more times I can reiterate that I'm not.

I saw several pages of posts had appeared since my last visit. The impression I got from those pages was people claimed Barca was attracting (I'll use that instead of "luring") talented players from other clubs. To me, those posts seemed boastful.

That's all.

If I have any criticism of Barca, it's that it clearly overreached in the league assignments of a couple of teams. Hopefully, that'll get sorted out over time -- maybe as soon as this spring. And they're certainly not the only people in the area who think their players are ready for a level of competition that's actually beyond them at the moment. Over time, maybe the teams that lost big in the fall will work their way back up and do pretty well.

I have no reason to think they won't. And no reason to think they will. We're talking about kids here. They're unpredictable.

You're so full of s**t.

Your post was basically saying Barca sucks because even though they supposedly attracted all these top players their results still suck.

Then you follow that attack with a statement saying you are not attacking the club (even though you just did) so when you are accused of doing so, you can say "but I said I wasn't".

Not fooling anyone.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Thanks -- and yes, I think that's part of the problem. Whether it drove Barca to enter teams in EDP that might have better off in NCSL or ODSL, I don't know.

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

The problem is that you assume that I'm attacking the club. I'm not sure how many more times I can reiterate that I'm not.

I saw several pages of posts had appeared since my last visit. The impression I got from those pages was people claimed Barca was attracting (I'll use that instead of "luring") talented players from other clubs. To me, those posts seemed boastful.

That's all.

If I have any criticism of Barca, it's that it clearly overreached in the league assignments of a couple of teams. Hopefully, that'll get sorted out over time -- maybe as soon as this spring. And they're certainly not the only people in the area who think their players are ready for a level of competition that's actually beyond them at the moment. Over time, maybe the teams that lost big in the fall will work their way back up and do pretty well.

I have no reason to think they won't. And no reason to think they will. We're talking about kids here. They're unpredictable.

It isn't about attacking the club, it is about misrepresenting the point a PP was making by exaggerating the "facts". It was misleading and discrediting of the PP's claim through "harmless hyperbole" that is the problem. The PP simply stated that some VDA (among other clubs) players came to Barca. YOU made it boastful by turning that into "TONS". They were not being boastful, simply stating that over the course of two years some talented players are beginning to move to Barca. You then claimed that their records would be better if "TONS" of players truly came over. Well, on that point you are right, because TONS of players never did come over and it was never claimed that TONS of players in fact did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

And this where the spin starts. EDP - in Fall - only has a handful of HS age teams since most states in EDP's area play HS soccer in the Fall. So you have a handful of teams, barely making up a division or two. So touting your results in "EDP's top division" is EXTREMELY misleading when there was actually only 1 or 2 divisions. I'm not sure Barca's 03s and 01s are (relatively) better than their 04s and 05s. The 04s and 05s struggled in EDP, but they were playing 'legit' EDP competition.

And in the spring VA teams play HS soccer. You can only play who is on the schedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

And this where the spin starts. EDP - in Fall - only has a handful of HS age teams since most states in EDP's area play HS soccer in the Fall. So you have a handful of teams, barely making up a division or two. So touting your results in "EDP's top division" is EXTREMELY misleading when there was actually only 1 or 2 divisions. I'm not sure Barca's 03s and 01s are (relatively) better than their 04s and 05s. The 04s and 05s struggled in EDP, but they were playing 'legit' EDP competition.

Anonymous wrote:For those that care to face reality, there are plenty of DA kids that leave and go back to regular club play or even leave soccer. 4 practices a week can be a bit much.

Therefore, it could be 2 VDA today and tons tomorrow...or perhaps none. But let's not try to pretend that there isn't movement in all directions.

Is "plenty" more or less than "tons"?