This is not a solution for the OP but I noticed that there are several clubs run by Europeans and affiliated with European clubs that are focused more on training than on wins. Check out FCB, FC Bordeaux and AC Cugini. I have seen all three and their trainings put to shame the trainings of the bigger clubs.

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria, Mclean, or Bethesda , Bryc is not worth it the quality is falling fast. Annandale is a train wreck right now, maybe try stoddert or capital FC both are on the upswing and within the beltway

Why is Annandale a train wreck?

^ to be fair that happens at almost all of the travel clubs in the DMV. They can't keep making $ unless they give little kids trophies.

Anonymous wrote:ASA is a pain in the ass, no doubt. But not sure what OP's problem is (personal?) with them. It is a small county and super competitive; but they have one of the better programs on the East Coast; definitely elite in DMV.

We have one child in first year of travel and the younger playing up in ADP. I would not commute for either of them to play any sport at their ages for travel or other. If you are looking for rec that is even worse.

You are in your very first year. Your kids are babies. Give it time. There are a lot of people that say "well- I never..."

There is a lot of chicken or the egg arguments. They have a huge player pool and get a big influx of players in the older years. Is it a good development program for your kid? You do not judge this by how your U9-U13 is winning. Read about player development. Belgium and England now don't compete for trophies until U14. They have some of the youngest teams at the World Cup. Kevin De Bruyne was a very late developer. He didn't make the National team until U19 and now he's one of the best players in Premier League today. These countries committed to developing players and will even train late developers with younger players.

Read:
https://trainingground.guru/articles/coaching-revolution-that-took-belgium-to-top-of-world

[/b]"We don’t have league tables until the Under-14 level. That was one of the big battles for us. Coaches shouldn’t be concerned about tables and trying to win trophies before this age - they should be thinking about developing players.
Coaches are inclined to focus on winning the game. That makes them play the big, strong players who give them the best chance of winning, so the late developers end up on the bench 75% of the time."

Late developers will go one year lower if they need to. Then they can play in an equal battle and show their skills. If you don't do this, you can lose some big talents who are late maturers. Nacer Chadli, Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne – they were all late maturers.
In fact Kevin did not appear for the national team until the Under-19s - now he is considered the best player in the Premier League!

In Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona are really focussing on late developers, because they are aware of what they can do. If you give them the time to grow, they can develop into a Messi or an Iniesta!
These are the players who have really developed their brain, the intelligence and this is what modern football is – reading the game and making quick decisions, being able to execute what you have in your mind.[/b]

If your child is a bruiser now at U9, they will do fine. But, if other kids catch up physically--they will have a rude awakening in those later years since they relied so much on their size to win trophies.

ASA is a pain in the ass, no doubt. But not sure what OP's problem is (personal?) with them. It is a small county and super competitive; but they have one of the better programs on the East Coast; definitely elite in DMV.

We have one child in first year of travel and the younger playing up in ADP. I would not commute for either of them to play any sport at their ages for travel or other. If you are looking for rec that is even worse.

We live in Arlington and have kids playing for both Arlington Travel and Premier AC. Honestly, the time to get to practice for the Arlington kid is only about 5 minutes shorter than the Premier AC kid. Different kids and different club styles. Also - some of the other ones, like Gunston and Alexandria - certainly depends on where you live as to how the drive might be.

^^ I wouldn’t drive from Arlington...just providing observation on a club not discussed often.

My kids teams played against Gunston this past Fall/Spring in travel. The Gunston teams have a different playing style than they did just a few years ago. We noticed they are not “big boots” or a long ball club but rather more possession based. This is boys and girls U14 and below.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FPYC, annandale, south county, syc, gunston

there are a ton of teams in the area

Living in Arlington- I would not travel for any of these clubs.

is that because of commute or team rep?

A little of both. FPYC and Annandale are disorganized and year to year on if a team will actually exist. SYC and SYA are good programs but no desire to commute to the field in Mabassas or south fairfax county. I don’t really know anything about gunston

Bryc girls are in good shape and have filled rosters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria, Mclean, or Bethesda , Bryc is not worth it the quality is falling fast. Annandale is a train wreck right now, maybe try stoddert or capital FC both are on the upswing and within the beltway

What’s going with BRYC? Why is the quality falling fast? Boys, girls or both?

Boys side only could field 1 u12 team last year their u11 2nd team had only 9 players on the roster . very little development in there rising u9 and u10s . they failed with the academy style play in the fall and were forced to join ncsl for the spring due to the complaints of many parents.
Since leaving CCL the younger age groups haven't developed on pace with other clubs. I know a few parents went elsewhere this year and more have talked about it if things don't change next year. Many issues though, coaching spread to thin. Coaches showing up late to training and games. no full time strength speed and agility coach or Goalie coach like other big clubs. A few players left the club for Arlington, FCB Escola, Bethesda, and Burke Athletic club.

Anonymous wrote:You all believe that the reasons for the success at the much older ages won’t translate to the younger ages? Is it the pool, the coaching, the DA influence?

referring to BRYC

You all believe that the reasons for the success at the much older ages won’t translate to the younger ages? Is it the pool, the coaching, the DA influence?

lol, If you look over the other threads on this list, you would read that FCV, McLean, BRYC, VDA are falling apart; VYS has always sucked, and WS VA is doomed to mediocrity. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

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