Another option is SYC (also known as Springfield Youth Clubs)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to drive from Clifton to McLean back and forth multiple days a week for little kid soccer.

That isn't for you to decide for anyone but yourself.

Someone who just moved here probably doesn’t realize how hellish that would be.
I would question the sanity of anyone driving that far for an 8 year olds soccer practice.

Again, not for you to decide by couching it in terms like "I question the sanity".

It is simple enough to stick to the facts and say Clifton to McLean is about 45 minutes in rush hour. Keep the value statements to yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to drive from Clifton to McLean back and forth multiple days a week for little kid soccer.

That isn't for you to decide for anyone but yourself.

Someone who just moved here probably doesn’t realize how hellish that would be.
I would question the sanity of anyone driving that far for an 8 year olds soccer practice.

Try Pipeline Soccer Club, it's base near baltimore

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to drive from Clifton to McLean back and forth multiple days a week for little kid soccer.

That isn't for you to decide for anyone but yourself.

I would look into some of the BRYC teams that play in NCSL or ODSL. It gives you a good coach, a schedule and not as much commitment as the academy teams.

No one wants to drive from Clifton to McLean back and forth multiple days a week for little kid soccer.

While I expect some rebuttals here, in general the area clubs follow a similar development model for players under 13 years old.

The model suggests more time and effort spent on skills development, proper position, and strategic and tactics. With two sons playing rec, travel, and HS soccer, I like this model much better than what my kids experienced. (The old way was to play as much as possible, as competitively as possible. Wins mattered.)

Traffic here is a beast.

While you will want to consider how quickly you can get your boys to and from practice and matches, I agree with other parents that picking a club with the "right" development model is equally, if not more, important.

Club boundaries are non-existent. Our club, Lee-Mount Vernon, has players from Loudoun County and Montgomery County.

Suggest you look at where the club practices. Match play locations depend on the league. ODSL and NCSL matches stay generally within the area. CCL and ECNL (when your sons eventually get to this level or to DA) will require several hours by car (to cities like Roanoke) or even weekends (for ECNL) for match play.

Nothing to worry about now. Just something to consider down the road.

You might consider in addition to your list:

Lee-Mount Vernon SC (LMVSC)
Annandale FC
Villareal (which was spun off from Annandale)
Vienna Youth Soccer (VYS)
McLean
Prince William Soccer Inc (PWSI)

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clifton, hands down SYA. They have a great facility and travel teams are very competitive. Contact the coaches if you want to get a look. If you are thinking about travel next year, I'd suggest joining their 2nd or 3rd team now to get comfortable with teh coaches by may tryouts.

I would not do SYA for a younger boy if they still have that one nut job coach.

Could you share more? What age group and examples please?

Do a forum search. My kid played in the fall against a team he was coaching and his behavior was appalling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. No club has rec teams or all star rec teams play against travel teams. That would be foolish because as pp put it, if they lost parents would flip out.

That said. I am sure a big clubs all star rec team could be just as good or better than another clubs lower tier teams. EG Loudoun rec all star VS Alexandria’s fifth team.

Our club does this every year. They let the All Stars team scrimmage the lower level team in that age group as a way to prep for the all stars tournament. Happens all the time.

Which club and does the rec team ever win?

NVSC and I haven't see a rec team win, but i don't see every scrimmage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clifton, hands down SYA. They have a great facility and travel teams are very competitive. Contact the coaches if you want to get a look. If you are thinking about travel next year, I'd suggest joining their 2nd or 3rd team now to get comfortable with teh coaches by may tryouts.

I would not do SYA for a younger boy if they still have that one nut job coach.

Could you share more? What age group and examples please?

Anonymous wrote:Travel, Rec, All Stars. They are all just labels. Really what differentiates a lower tier travel team with a parent coach from a Rec team with a parent coach? One extra practice a week? Some kids are playing informally more days a week anyway

Rec is great for kids who like to play multiple sports and can have some high level of play. Travel is for the kid that basically only wants to do Soccer and the key difference is not only the coaching, but the commitment of like minded players around them. I just sent my 3rd kid to college and all of them played sports throughout their childhood. 2 did travel in different sports and 1 did house leagues.......The travel environment is much more discipline and you get a lot more training in that 1-2 hours than the rec side. I would say that is true almost all the way through highschool with the exception of a few serious rec teams.

Travel, Rec, All Stars. They are all just labels. Really what differentiates a lower tier travel team with a parent coach from a Rec team with a parent coach? One extra practice a week? Some kids are playing informally more days a week anyway

For example Arlington soccer club encompasses all of Arlington county, so it's big enough for it to have its own internal high School league. Some of those high School recreational teams have some pretty darn good players on them and could beat lower-level travel teams.

*be playing