Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but can I ask another question?

My kid tried out for a couple of teams mentioned here, one team we tried out for plays EDP, one plays NCSL. Is one better than the other, or there just happen to be two (or more?) travel leagues in Maryland...?

EDP is the far superior league over NCSL

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but can I ask another question?

My kid tried out for a couple of teams mentioned here, one team we tried out for plays EDP, one plays NCSL. Is one better than the other, or there just happen to be two (or more?) travel leagues in Maryland...?

In my opinion, the order is as follow:

NCSL
CCL
EDP
ECNL / DA

Many argue that CCL is not better than NCSL. I can’t say for sure one way or another but I know that CCL is more of a VA based league and travel games can be anywhere from VA Beach/Roanoke to Northern Baltimore.

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda is over-rated. It is more than a status symbol than anything. Rush, FC Bordeaux, and MSI (depending on age group) offer more than Bethesda does. Hell, Bethesda realized that its u14/rising u14 sucked so it brought over the Rush coach and his players to take over the top team. I understand that barely five girls from the original Bethesda ECNL team were offered spots. That says a great deal about how weak the development is at Bethesda. Compare Bethesda to Mclean, FCV, Pipeline and youwill see that Bethesda is now a 2nd tier club.

Totally false information regarding the u14s. The shit people make up on these boards. Incredible.

Not OP, but can I ask another question?

My kid tried out for a couple of teams mentioned here, one team we tried out for plays EDP, one plays NCSL. Is one better than the other, or there just happen to be two (or more?) travel leagues in Maryland...?

Agree with 20:27

At this age, it needs to still be fun!
1- convenience (not an hour in the car to get to practice because of traffic - I wouldnt even do 45 minutes each way 3 times per week)
2 - how does she feel she fits in with the other players on the team, skills wise and personality wise?
3 - how does she like the coach?
4 - how do you like the coach?

These would be my priorities. Although I will add no way would I pay Potomac or Bethesda fees for a third string team. Maybe not even a second string team at this age. Maybe when older. Maybe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - OP here. It seems Bethesda is not the best choice then? I will look at MSI Academy and have her try out there too. Any thoughts about Potomac? Also just to be clear, I am following the correct steps - meaning classic to one of these teams - there is nothing in between?

There are plenty of other options. If you're on a parent coached MSI Classic team you could try a professionally coached one. Toca has professional coached teams in MSI Classic. There are also Sam Select teams for girls U11. All games at the Soccerplex. The level of play can be higher than the lower levels of NCSL and other "travel" leagues.

I really don’t recommend this at all. When my DD was in Classic, she played against many professionally coach teams. They were terrible. Her parent coach team and many other parent coached teams routinely defeated these teams easily. Hence, if you’re going to pay for a professionally coached team, then just join a travel team.

OP, yes. Classic is considered Select Soccer. The order is as follows:

1) Recreation Soccer
2) Select Soccer
3) Travel Soccer

Within Travel Soccer, there are various levels of competitiveness.

This is OP - thank you for outlining this! Makes it a lot clearer!

PPA may also be worth a look: It's technically NWDC but often practices in Bethesda, and even further out. Not elite teams, but good and getting better.

As for Bordeaux, they practice at the soccerplex in germantown, which was a dealbreaker for us on weekdays. It's a shame, because people rave about them on these boards!

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - OP here. It seems Bethesda is not the best choice then? I will look at MSI Academy and have her try out there too. Any thoughts about Potomac? Also just to be clear, I am following the correct steps - meaning classic to one of these teams - there is nothing in between?

In my opinion, you should not rule out any clubs based on anything you read here. Lots of people here have ill informed opinions or agendas. I'd recommend starting with the clubs or programs near you to see if you can find a good fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - OP here. It seems Bethesda is not the best choice then? I will look at MSI Academy and have her try out there too. Any thoughts about Potomac? Also just to be clear, I am following the correct steps - meaning classic to one of these teams - there is nothing in between?

There are plenty of other options. If you're on a parent coached MSI Classic team you could try a professionally coached one. Toca has professional coached teams in MSI Classic. There are also Sam Select teams for girls U11. All games at the Soccerplex. The level of play can be higher than the lower levels of NCSL and other "travel" leagues.

I really don’t recommend this at all. When my DD was in Classic, she played against many professionally coach teams. They were terrible. Her parent coach team and many other parent coached teams routinely defeated these teams easily. Hence, if you’re going to pay for a professionally coached team, then just join a travel team.

OP, yes. Classic is considered Select Soccer. The order is as follows:

1) Recreation Soccer
2) Select Soccer
3) Travel Soccer

Within Travel Soccer, there are various levels of competitiveness.

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - OP here. It seems Bethesda is not the best choice then? I will look at MSI Academy and have her try out there too. Any thoughts about Potomac? Also just to be clear, I am following the correct steps - meaning classic to one of these teams - there is nothing in between?

There are plenty of other options. If you're on a parent coached MSI Classic team you could try a professionally coached one. Toca has professional coached teams in MSI Classic. There are also Sam Select teams for girls U11. All games at the Soccerplex. The level of play can be higher than the lower levels of NCSL and other "travel" leagues.

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda is over-rated. It is more than a status symbol than anything. Rush, FC Bordeaux, and MSI (depending on age group) offer more than Bethesda does. Hell, Bethesda realized that its u14/rising u14 sucked so it brought over the Rush coach and his players to take over the top team. I understand that barely five girls from the original Bethesda ECNL team were offered spots. That says a great deal about how weak the development is at Bethesda. Compare Bethesda to Mclean, FCV, Pipeline and youwill see that Bethesda is now a 2nd tier club.

Agreed. Bethesda is the choice for parents that don’t understand the other options.

Have her tryout at all local spots. then pick the best fit. wherever you feel comfortable. most kids go straight from u-8 rec to u-9 travel, hell there's a good amount that are u-8 playing up at u9 travel.

Hi all - OP here. It seems Bethesda is not the best choice then? I will look at MSI Academy and have her try out there too. Any thoughts about Potomac? Also just to be clear, I am following the correct steps - meaning classic to one of these teams - there is nothing in between?

Bethesda is over-rated. It is more than a status symbol than anything. Rush, FC Bordeaux, and MSI (depending on age group) offer more than Bethesda does. Hell, Bethesda realized that its u14/rising u14 sucked so it brought over the Rush coach and his players to take over the top team. I understand that barely five girls from the original Bethesda ECNL team were offered spots. That says a great deal about how weak the development is at Bethesda. Compare Bethesda to Mclean, FCV, Pipeline and youwill see that Bethesda is now a 2nd tier club.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since you are already with MSI, at least take a look at trying out for MSI Academy. They are a travel team too. Not that I’m not trying to concern you about Bethesda or Potomac but these two clubs plays their home games at Muldoon Farms in Poolesville. It’s a horrible grass field and quite a long drive unless you live in Poolesvile, MD. MSI plays their home games at Germantown SoccerPlex. SoccerPlex has best fields (grass & turf) by far in the area. There’s a thread specifically dedicated to discussing how bad Muldoon Fields are.

The PP is absolutely correct about Muldoon. Here’s the thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/796923.page

Muldoon's has terrible fields, but that would be an extremely silly reason to pick MSC (MSI's travel team) over Bethesda or even Potomac. Both those clubs will offer a much better training environment for a serious player than MSI/MSC, and kids on Bethesda and Potomac only play at Muldoon's a few times a year (fewer for Potomac girls, since the Potomac tournament doesn't field girls' teams). No one practices there.

Verify your info before posting. Unless your DC gets accepted to the Blue Team (A Team) for Bethesda or Potomac at U10-U12, they are in the NCSL lowest division. Bethesda and Potomac U11 Girls (2008) teams are in the NCSL Division 4:

http://ncsl-soccer.com/_element_display/#%2F80738%2Fschedules%2FSpring2019%2F95204632.html%3Fdummy%3D1558466529506

What does that have to do with anything? Both Bethesda and Potomac will offer good skills training for kids that age, and more advancement potential than MSC regardless of what level the girls start out in. MSC has some good coaches and strong age groups from time to time, but it's not a real club-type set up.

Holly Smokes. I have 3 neighbors that moved their DD from Bethesda to MSI. They said all of the attention is focused on the “A Team” and the coaches are tellers/screamers during practices and games. They couldn’t stand listening to that abuse and training sucks. I felt bad cause I was the one that originally recommended them to BSC based upon my niece playing there years ago. The only good club for training & development in MoCo is FC Bordeaux.

Our experience with Bethesda on a B team has not been anything like what you describe. But certainly it makes sense for OP and her daughter to attend some practices at clubs that are convenient to where they live and get a sense of whether a team or coach would be a good fit.