SO---they put all of the kids they pre-selected on a few small scrimmage fields. Any kids that are looking to transfer from first teams from other clubs also get a chance on those fields right at the start of tryouts. If in the tryout form your kid is listed on a lower team at another club, they will not get a chance to be put in that sorting group. The will get put to the neverland fields.

Most everyone else gets put on a low field where they might have one coach for 'show'. He/she doesn't really watch the tryout and sometimes even has backed turned talking to someone else.

I have a 16-year old and a 13-year old and this is what I have seen at every Club across the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:Do coaches typically have regular starters and bench players? If so, do starters play most of the game (more minutes) compared to bench players?

For little kids (particularly on lower teams) coaches try to keep playing time somewhere even. Better players may play more, but weaker players should still play a significant amount. As they age (U11/12) you’ll start to see a shift where defenders start to play most or all of the game if they are good, and weaker players me play some preset minimum time like half a game, but the better player will play significantly more than that.

Ask the kids get older and on ‘elite’ teams you may start to see some pretty large disparities in playing time.

My older kid has been playing travel 4 years (late start) and has always started and typically plays the whole game (defender) but our team is mediocre and everyone else plays at least half the game. I think this is fairly typical - i have a couple kids and have been at a couple clubs. My younger kid plays maybe 2/3 of the game and never starts, so there’s definitely consistency based on skill level relative to teammates.

Do coaches typically have regular starters and bench players? If so, do starters play most of the game (more minutes) compared to bench players?

Anonymous wrote:McLean always adds players. They had a U10 girls team with 15 players back when you could only roster 12 for a game and the team was playing 7 vs 7. Each week 3 players had to guest with other teams and you would not find out until Thursday or Friday. Good times

True though there was at least one game where the McLean coach brought 13 players to the game and had them all play because it wouldn’t be fair to tell one to go home (his words). Never mind that league rules only allow 12 on a roster so he kept rotating almost half the team in and out every 15 min. Great for development when kids get 30 minutes of game time because the coach can’t/won’t follow the rules.

Anybody have stories of their DS getting cut? at what age and what club?

pp here: I know, it doesn't add up to 100%, but something like that.

Probably 80% + of a new team is pre-determined. Most usually the previous year's side, plus one or two kids from team 2 who have shown promise. If a brand new team, then kids who have been identified by coaches from the rec. level clubs that will make up the travel side.

From a tryout expect to get 15% of a team.

5% of a team will come from a "shoe-in"--a kid transferring from another team that is already known or connected to a coach such that it's a given.

Final 5% is for the "Summer Messi"--that kid who moves to DC after tryouts and arrives fresh. If they can't find a Summer Messi they go to the next best kid on team 2 to fill out the side (or keep it open for the Winter Messi).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are really no cuts ever. Sometimes an A team player may get demoted to the B team and then decide to leave rather than take the demotion. but I've never seen cuts at any age. Its all about the money my brotha.

This is an interesting point; I see how everyone is welcome as long they are paying. During/after tryouts do you know which team you would be assigned to? We would be trying out for the first time and I am lost on where to start.🤪

I don’t know about every club, but the tryouts DDs have been through ended with offers that specified a team

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are really no cuts ever. Sometimes an A team player may get demoted to the B team and then decide to leave rather than take the demotion. but I've never seen cuts at any age. Its all about the money my brotha.

This is an interesting point; I see how everyone is welcome as long they are paying. During/after tryouts do you know which team you would be assigned to? We would be trying out for the first time and I am lost on where to start.🤪

You’ll get an email invitation that tells you which team you’re being invited to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are really no cuts ever. Sometimes an A team player may get demoted to the B team and then decide to leave rather than take the demotion. but I've never seen cuts at any age. Its all about the money my brotha.

This is an interesting point; I see how everyone is welcome as long they are paying. During/after tryouts do you know which team you would be assigned to? We would be trying out for the first time and I am lost on where to start.🤪

Most clubs will let you know. The youngest age group at some travel clubs might be an exception, but most will let you know before you sign up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the OP confirm whether or not we are talking about Arlington specifically? Someone used the term ADP like everyone should know what that means--please use layman's terms.

The club definitely matters. Is it a club that utilizes a player pool system or are they unique teams within the club (like BRYC non-academy travel teams) etc.?

I'm the one that mentioned ADP. My child's club is not Arlington and they have ADP. I also said "ADP or similar pretravel U8".

What is adp?

In Arlington specifically it’s the level between rec and travel for 8-12 yr olds. They have a “travel” practice with an Arlington coach once a week, but teams are coached by parents. They focus on developing good players and often feed to travel.

Thank you

Anonymous wrote:There are really no cuts ever. Sometimes an A team player may get demoted to the B team and then decide to leave rather than take the demotion. but I've never seen cuts at any age. Its all about the money my brotha.

This is an interesting point; I see how everyone is welcome as long they are paying. During/after tryouts do you know which team you would be assigned to? We would be trying out for the first time and I am lost on where to start.🤪

The DP in ADP stands for Development Program. Arlington is not the only VA club to have an ADP so not sure what Arlington thinks the A stands for.

ADP is not to be confused with ODP (Olympic development program) or the DPD (director of player development).

ASA is Alexandria Soccer Association not to be confused with ARL which is Arlington Soccer.

ASK is Alexandria tournament
ASIST is Arlington tournament

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the OP confirm whether or not we are talking about Arlington specifically? Someone used the term ADP like everyone should know what that means--please use layman's terms.

The club definitely matters. Is it a club that utilizes a player pool system or are they unique teams within the club (like BRYC non-academy travel teams) etc.?

I'm the one that mentioned ADP. My child's club is not Arlington and they have ADP. I also said "ADP or similar pretravel U8".

What is adp?

In Arlington specifically it’s the level between rec and travel for 8-12 yr olds. They have a “travel” practice with an Arlington coach once a week, but teams are coached by parents. They focus on developing good players and often feed to travel.

Anonymous wrote:There are really no cuts ever. Sometimes an A team player may get demoted to the B team and then decide to leave rather than take the demotion. but I've never seen cuts at any age. Its all about the money my brotha.

I wonder if that is true for this year as clubs did not have real tryouts last year and some low level teams were formed as a money grab.