Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any clubs actually develp the players in Nova? Especially when the players are U14/15 younger?

In general, I think a lot of coaches in NOVA are stressed out, working 2 jobs, commuting and dealing with all the problems that (an expensive, crowded and busy place to live) occurs here. I have come across a lot of well-meaning coaches. But, they barely make it to practice on time, throw out some pinnes and pug goals and run the same practice sessions over and over: you know the one (small sided scrimmages, some rondos, a new 3 v3 game variation and then a bigger scrimmage.) They run the same one over and over. The technical director never stops by, the director of coaching never stops by. They don't put that much into their sessions and the development is minimal.

But, players can develop faster/ better when they play with other high level players. This is where placing your kid at any competitive club help with their development. Find a level that will challenge your player and they will improve. We are on a 2nd team now, and my player has peaked... so I have to get them to a better group. I find the coaching is less important than the quality of the players they will be practicing with to be more important.

Just my 2 cents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any clubs actually develp the players in Nova? Especially when the players are U14/15 younger?

In general, I think a lot of coaches in NOVA are stressed out, working 2 jobs, commuting and dealing with all the problems that (an expensive, crowded and busy place to live) occurs here. I have come across a lot of well-meaning coaches. But, they barely make it to practice on time, throw out some pinnes and pug goals and run the same practice sessions over and over: you know the one (small sided scrimmages, some rondos, a new 3 v3 game variation and then a bigger scrimmage.) They run the same one over and over. The technical director never stops by, the director of coaching never stops by. They don't put that much into their sessions and the development is minimal.

But, players can develop faster/ better when they play with other high level players. This is where placing your kid at any competitive club help with their development. Find a level that will challenge your player and they will improve. We are on a 2nd team now, and my player has peaked... so I have to get them to a better group. I find the coaching is less important than the quality of the players they will be practicing with to be more important.

Just my 2 cents.

Anonymous wrote:Are there any clubs actually develp the players in Nova? Especially when the players are U14/15 younger?

Anonymous wrote:Are there any clubs actually develp the players in Nova? Especially when the players are U14/15 younger?

Anonymous wrote:As a frustrated parent to a child on one of the 2013 teams I warn people. They sell you a big game and then dont follow through on their end. Our kids all share 1 coach for 4 teams. This said coach won't let go of the reins and we all pay. Said 2014 coach is so last minute and unorganized that parents are frustrated and even angry. There are other kids we have and family lives must be planned on. The teams are good because they bring good kids in. Who wouldn't want to be on a team who wins and wins. But at what cost. Some kids barely touch the ball during games, some kids get moved around like chess pieces just to win games or find a place for them that game. Most of our players are getting outside training which is the norm in the NOVA area but our players need it. The 2014's need structure, responsibility and transparency. 10/10 dont recommend

Anonymous wrote:As a frustrated parent to a child on one of the 2014 teams I warn people. They sell you a big game and then dont follow through on their end. Our kids all share 1 coach for 4 teams. This said coach won't let go of the reins and we all pay. Said 2014 coach is so last minute and unorganized that parents are frustrated and even angry. There are other kids we have and family lives must be planned on. The teams are good because they bring good kids in. Who wouldn't want to be on a team who wins and wins. But at what cost. Some kids barely touch the ball during games, some kids get moved around like chess pieces just to win games or find a place for them that game. Most of our players are getting outside training which is the norm in the NOVA area but our players need it. The 2014's need structure, responsibility and transparency. 10/10 dont recommend

Anonymous wrote:Please move on. There’s no need for negativity, tryout season is here, and you’re welcome to do the same.My kid absolutely loves it. He’s moved up two team levels and continues to grow as a player. I couldn’t be happier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SYC seems to have a very strong pre-academy program. What are people’s experiences with the club, its structure, coaches, and culture?

You get great branding, solid BS from the coaches, unproductive practices that are overcrowded by all the recruits they bring in, little field space for practices with abysmal parking, lack of transparency on fees, last minute everything, zero communication, and a bunch of randoms constantly being added to the roster. The recruits make the program what it is but there is zero development actually being done within the sessions. If you join and genuinely want your kid to develop... find private training on the outside. The coaches will sell you with playing on the top but your kid may not see playing time as they call players down to fill in spots just to win those championships you see.

SYC benefits from the talent pool they bring in from other clubs - often times that occurs randomly throughout the year. That's how they win. So... kudos to the other programs for developing players who are then snagged by SYC.

10/10 do not recommend

Anonymous wrote:As a frustrated parent to a child on one of the 2013 teams I warn people. They sell you a big game and then dont follow through on their end. Our kids all share 1 coach for 4 teams. This said coach won't let go of the reins and we all pay. Said 2014 coach is so last minute and unorganized that parents are frustrated and even angry. There are other kids we have and family lives must be planned on. The teams are good because they bring good kids in. Who wouldn't want to be on a team who wins and wins. But at what cost. Some kids barely touch the ball during games, some kids get moved around like chess pieces just to win games or find a place for them that game. Most of our players are getting outside training which is the norm in the NOVA area but our players need it. The 2014's need structure, responsibility and transparency. 10/10 dont recommend

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are currently an SYC family and our DS is in the older age brackets. Been at SYC for a long time. People on here who complain about lack of development are mostly right because they are talking about lack of teaching soccer positioning, rotation on the field, IQ you might call it.

But they are very good at helping a player develop individual skills. On the ball, intensity of the press, winning mentality. I really wish they could take that individual development and graduate to the bigger IQ development.

Again, most people will complain and say they don't develop, which I would agree with on a certain level. But there's an aspect to developing players many other clubs overlook which SYC is very good at.

And they do recruit, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone here makes it seem. My DS older MLS Next HG team has one starter recently added from another club. All the other players have been at SYC and moved up through the teams.

Ha, I was going to post that there are certain positions that will do well at SYC (attacking wingers, strikers, goalkeepers, and probably defenders) based in part on what you wrote above about SYC being a good environment to develop tenacity.

These positions have less play making responsibilities (based on how SYC plays) so don’t need to really have super high IQ.

I would hazard a bet that those are the positions that are scouted for the USYNT and academies.

Good observation (kind of makes me think you're an SYC parent too ) I would refine this even further to say the weakness in development is combination/link up play and positional play. Individual creativity development is actually very high. I would take an SYC player against any other club's player one on one any day of the week. Problem is you can't dribble 11 people. So that's where SYC begins to run into problems and why everyone says their just puberty ball. It's not really a fair analysis, but I get the intent.

But who knows, positional play is already fading at the higher levels of football, so the next decade plus could be good for kids who develop in a less positional environment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are currently an SYC family and our DS is in the older age brackets. Been at SYC for a long time. People on here who complain about lack of development are mostly right because they are talking about lack of teaching soccer positioning, rotation on the field, IQ you might call it.

But they are very good at helping a player develop individual skills. On the ball, intensity of the press, winning mentality. I really wish they could take that individual development and graduate to the bigger IQ development.

Again, most people will complain and say they don't develop, which I would agree with on a certain level. But there's an aspect to developing players many other clubs overlook which SYC is very good at.

And they do recruit, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone here makes it seem. My DS older MLS Next HG team has one starter recently added from another club. All the other players have been at SYC and moved up through the teams.

Ha, I was going to post that there are certain positions that will do well at SYC (attacking wingers, strikers, goalkeepers, and probably defenders) based in part on what you wrote above about SYC being a good environment to develop tenacity.

These positions have less play making responsibilities (based on how SYC plays) so don’t need to really have super high IQ.

I would hazard a bet that those are the positions that are scouted for the USYNT and academies.