Anonymous wrote:They are building an excellent program. The only way to really understand is to contact the club and have your kid go to one training session.

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of this club. Are they reputable?

Anonymous wrote:This is super helpful. What about 2012 in the girl side?

Anonymous wrote:They are building an excellent program. The only way to really understand is to contact the club and have your kid go to one training session.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to hear more about VIVA. How do they run things during the season? How drastic are changes from year to year? How is coaching? Do they have good teams? Are kids happy there in the long run? Or do kids use it as a platform to get into large clubs?

I can only speak to the U8-U10 boys side. Practices are 3x a week during the season and 1-2x a week in the winter and summer "off season." Most of the teams play indoor or futsal during the winter. Our coaches always schedule make-up practices if they have to cancel a practice for weather (which only happens on the days when we're stuck with a grass field and it rains - this is really a younger age group issue, as older teams get better fields). The younger kids were on turf two days a week this spring and grass one daIt's a small club in a very urban area.

Coaches are very welcoming and the focus is on footskills, 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 drills. Lots of small space drills, which is very different than what we saw at other larger clubs. At the younger ages, you have to be comfortable with "European" or "Spanish" soccer, which like a PP said is more focused on building soccer IQ and not on winning. I cannot stress enough how little the coaches care if the team wins or loses. Every kid is getting at least 30 minutes of playing time in the game, even if it means a huge loss. I think that is very challenging. You will not be posting about your kid's epic tournament wins on Facebook, but you will see him or her grow a ton as a player.

Our coach plays to win. Kids are definitely not getting equal playing time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to hear more about VIVA. How do they run things during the season? How drastic are changes from year to year? How is coaching? Do they have good teams? Are kids happy there in the long run? Or do kids use it as a platform to get into large clubs?

I can only speak to the U8-U10 boys side. Practices are 3x a week during the season and 1-2x a week in the winter and summer "off season." Most of the teams play indoor or futsal during the winter. Our coaches always schedule make-up practices if they have to cancel a practice for weather (which only happens on the days when we're stuck with a grass field and it rains - this is really a younger age group issue, as older teams get better fields). The younger kids were on turf two days a week this spring and grass one daIt's a small club in a very urban area.

Coaches are very welcoming and the focus is on footskills, 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 drills. Lots of small space drills, which is very different than what we saw at other larger clubs. At the younger ages, you have to be comfortable with "European" or "Spanish" soccer, which like a PP said is more focused on building soccer IQ and not on winning. I cannot stress enough how little the coaches care if the team wins or loses. Every kid is getting at least 30 minutes of playing time in the game, even if it means a huge loss. I think that is very challenging. You will not be posting about your kid's epic tournament wins on Facebook, but you will see him or her grow a ton as a player.