Anonymous wrote:It seems like Herndon has some decent u-little boys teams that they also put a lot of resources into (best coaches, field space, etc)… but then as they get older it changes either because some of the kids leave or because whatever was working for them when they were little stops working at 11v11? And then the club doesn’t care as much about the older boys teams because they aren’t as good anymore, thus continuing to favor the younger teams? Is this accurate?

Coach last year brought in a lot of players for the 2015 and 2016 boys age group. Half of them left, and a lot of the current crop is looking to leave because the coach that was in charge and brought them in left last summer. The TD took over as their coach and parents/kids arent' happy.
Those 2 teams get everything they want, hence one of them being in Spain right now for a tournament and the other one getting enough field space and scrimmages during winter.
This is the time of the year where HYS steps up to get parents and families to sign up and then it all goes downhill from there.

So in short, if NA is the "coach" for your team, you'll get what was promised most of the time, if you aren't on one of his teams, best of luck getting ANYTHING!

It seems like Herndon has some decent u-little boys teams that they also put a lot of resources into (best coaches, field space, etc)… but then as they get older it changes either because some of the kids leave or because whatever was working for them when they were little stops working at 11v11? And then the club doesn’t care as much about the older boys teams because they aren’t as good anymore, thus continuing to favor the younger teams? Is this accurate?

Anonymous wrote:JLC lol, one of the worst for a team coach, decent as an individual coach, overall not a good coach for u littles. His ego gets in his way.

How u expect a dude who can’t keep his affairs in order with 3 baby mamas to be organized wit soccer? lol

JLC lol, one of the worst for a team coach, decent as an individual coach, overall not a good coach for u littles. His ego gets in his way.

Anonymous wrote:How’s this org doing since JLC named director after being fired from SYC and VR$C?

Do not go to Herndon. HS aged DS accepted an offer last spring and it was a nightmare. He was blatantly lied to about everything that would be happening. One of the biggest issues was the lack of tournaments. Then there was the awful field situation. Fields are dangerous and overcrowded. The club was disorganized. The coach was checked out. He was on his phone instead of coaching. The coach sometimes left early leaving the team with an assistant who couldn’t communicate due to a language barrier. Oh and if your player has any interest in goalkeeping, forget it. The GK coaching is the worst of any club he has played at. The entire place is a train wreck. We aren’t a family who complains - ever. This was truly just so awful that I feel like we need to warn others. We had only heard good things before joining and I have no idea how that was possible.

How’s this org doing since JLC named director after being fired from SYC and VR$C?

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Anonymous wrote:We have an offer from a neighboring club with an assigned coach and team. Any clue when they will post the coaches for next year? We can't wait until try outs to decide.

Usually that gets posted before tryouts so should be soon. But they're pretty far behind at this point and the fact that they're even offering a pathway through union right now is interesting, those tryouts were a month ago.

They don’t mean a pathway to Union for next year. Anyone from Herndon that was wanted by Union has already gotten an offer. They mean “pathway” in an abstract sense like maybe your kid will possibly get considered at some point in the future.

Anonymous wrote:We have an offer from a neighboring club with an assigned coach and team. Any clue when they will post the coaches for next year? We can't wait until try outs to decide.

If you would prefer to stay with Herndon as long as you’re OK with the coach for next year, you should reach out to someone at Herndon and tell them your situation. If the club wants to keep you, they will probably tell you the coach for next year and maybe go ahead and send you an offer. Of course, this tends to work better if you are already on a top team.

Ideally there is someone you can talk to that isn’t your current coach, such as a different coach in the club that you trust. They might be able to give you inside info without your current coach finding out just yet. This worked out well for us in the past. It was really helpful to get info and advice from our child’s former coach from when they were younger. We knew we could trust that coach to keep things confidential, and that the coach truly wanted what was best for their former players.

Tryouts don't start until the middle of april. That's tough to wait on the coaching list when other nearby clubs have been sending offers in early-mid march.

Anonymous wrote:We have an offer from a neighboring club with an assigned coach and team. Any clue when they will post the coaches for next year? We can't wait until try outs to decide.

Usually that gets posted before tryouts so should be soon. But they're pretty far behind at this point and the fact that they're even offering a pathway through union right now is interesting, those tryouts were a month ago.

We have an offer from a neighboring club with an assigned coach and team. Any clue when they will post the coaches for next year? We can't wait until try outs to decide.

Anonymous wrote:Inspite all the problem we would consider staying--my son likes his teammates and coach and the location is very good for us-- but only if son's team next year has 3 team practices a week. Its sad you have to ask for things that should be for sure like ----one team practicing with one coach-----. My other child never has this problem.

We were at HYS the past couple of years and that never happens with the littles. It's always 1 coach taking 2 or even 3 teams to "train together" and you have a mess and scrimmaging for the whole practice. I don't pay $2500+ for my kick to play pickup soccer.

Inspite all the problem we would consider staying--my son likes his teammates and coach and the location is very good for us-- but only if son's team next year has 3 team practices a week. Its sad you have to ask for things that should be for sure like ----one team practicing with one coach-----. My other child never has this problem.

Anonymous wrote:Back to the topic of this thread, which is Herndon. We have two younger boys, one of whom is more serious about soccer. Is this a stable club? What do parents of older boys think at this point? I thought Herndon had a good reputation for boys a few years ago. Is this no longer the case? Is this a club people are trying to join, or one more people are trying to leave?

I'd stay far far away if I were you. The good coaches left in the Fall.
The path to ECNL is a lure. Your $$ will be better spent somewhere else. Take my advice and run, we did and never looked back.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:It’s a shame that all the clubs feel like they need to chase the pathway thing. I have one kid who wants to play as high level as they can, and another for whom low level NCSL is perfect. Smaller community based clubs are having a hard time competing with the big ones in terms of resources and positioning. At the same time it sucks to be on the 5th or 6th team at a large club. Feels like my two kids may need to be at two different clubs to get what we need do one and not overpay/be totally ignored for the other.

Coming from someone with one kid at Sterling and one kid who has left, I disagree with the previous pp who said they're doing it for the money. I think you're right that they're trying to stay relevant. They're great for the smaller kids, but they have a hard time keeping their talent and forming teams at the older age groups when many of those kids want a pathway. With every club in the area now getting MLSN2/GA Aspire/etc. they're having an identity crisis trying to figure out what their next step is.

It seems like Herndon and Sterling should just fully merge at this point and either be ECNL RL or apply for MLSN2/Aspire together. The latter would probably make more sense. Other travel clubs popping up in the area have really eaten into their player pool. I know Herndon has lost some older boys to VRSC for example. Being a "feeder" into FVU doesn't seem to serve Herndon well at all. I don't think Herndon coaches communicate or advocate for their players with FVU coaches (talking about boys side) the way other coaches do. Sterling being partnered with West Virginia for boys doesn't make sense either -- too far away.

Lmvsc is a similar situation. Doesn't really seem like it's about the money. They aren't attracting any outside talent due to RL, just like Herndon is not, but the club is totally down with the sheep to the slaughter approach.

Don't they direct compete with Alexandria for players field space etc? Tough spot to be in the shadow of a mega club.