Yes! 11-year veteran with two kids, and multiple clubs.

Love all the coaches, the program, the care for the kids, the college recruiting attention, etc. Great, knowledgeable coaches. Your level of play does determine playing time and upward trajectory. Merit-based. When my kid is sucking, he's benched. But, when he's been showing up and training very hard and demonstrating results--he plays the entire game and gets time with first team.

Anonymous wrote:Very happy with the Phoenix program at Vienna.

What age group are you talking about, because that is not what I hear?

Anonymous wrote:will anyone in the DMV area actually name the club that they're happy with?

We moved to Arlington this year and couldn't be more impressed compared to previous club. So much more organized with far greater coach commitment.

Very happy with the Phoenix program at Vienna.

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of posts about what’s wrong. Is any club, coach, or team doing things right?

I never post, but I appreciate you asking for positive experiences. I have three kids who have been at various NOVA clubs, and found that travel soccer happiness is rare. Here's my secrets (in order of importance):
1) Play time >75%
2) A coach who is a human you want in your kid's life
3) Coach employs a solid system, focuses on skill development, and discourages kickball
4) Good teammates and friendly/fun parents
5) Path for advancement within the club
6) Team plays in a competitive league in which they win a few more than they lose

That's my two cents. See you on the pitch!

Yes. Happy with club, coach. Development worked well; now committed to college -- all great.

DS has played for many clubs and it’s been a mixed bag but good coaching hasn’t been our issue. Some teams just weren’t competitive or had poor communication so we moved on. His current coach is amazing! He has pushed DS to a new level while allowing him to make mistakes and building up confidence. He did tryout for a few teams where he decided not to pursue it solely because of a coach so I know this is not the case everywhere. And he has the most toxic, nasty varsity coach for his school team so we have seen it all!

Anonymous wrote:will anyone in the DMV area actually name the club that they're happy with?

VRSC - families and players love it. The outsiders hate it.

Anonymous wrote:For those saying they are happy, what makes the coach/club/admin/etc. good?

To phrase the question another way, let’s say hypothetically of course that you were going to be club shopping soon… What are you looking for?

This will depend on your kid.

For my kid who plays on MLSNext, I’m looking for a coach that believes in my DS potential and believes he is at the level to get regular playing time, and who DS will look up to and respect, trainings that are efficient and require a high work rate, equally skilled teammates that share my DS work ethic and competitiveness, a playing style that does not include kickball, and access to a league with high level competition.

It’s not travel or a club but we are happy with rec soccer U14 at OBGC. Coaches have been great, my kid had learned a lot, it’s well organized, and nice kids.

For those saying they are happy, what makes the coach/club/admin/etc. good?

To phrase the question another way, let’s say hypothetically of course that you were going to be club shopping soon… What are you looking for?

I really like my sons team. Excellent coaches, decent admin, really nice kids and families. He is developing and enjoying himself. Its a lesser known club and i dont see the advantage of sharing the name here. But we are out there.

My daughter has an excellent coach, awesome team and outstanding admin. No benefit of sharing details here. iykyk

Anonymous wrote:My kid's coach is amazing.
The club admin is a disaster.

Our kids must be at the same club. We will stick with the club until that coach rotates off our kid's team.

You can never get a great coach, great admin and a great league. You can have one possibly two but never all three.

Anonymous wrote:will anyone in the DMV area actually name the club that they're happy with?

There is no upside to that here. All the jackholes (not jackals) will come out of the woodwork to tell them what a terrible club it is and the coaches are bad, money grab, poor talent, it's ECNL, it's GA, no college will want them, and etc.

Some people can't tolerate someone else being happy. I can understand why you would like to know, however. But to me, it isn't worth mentioning it here for the above stated reason.