PP we too have been considering our situation at the club for DS, and in light of the last few weeks will be leaving. Nobody has equipped themselves professionally amidst all of this, and to allow all of this to go on so long and in such a messy manner is unforgivable. We’ve had leaked messages, screenshots of conversations, coaches and leadership openly trash talking each other, and parents being misled. Ultimately the responsibility lies with the Executive and Technical leadership at DCSC. We’re done with this bs.

That soccer Mom email that just came out. Yikes

There’s something in here. Over 12 coaches have left the club and are performing exceptionally well in other clubs. The question is, why? At one point, they had a clear direction, setting team and player profiles and changing the club’s culture. But then everything changed. Since 2024, it’s been just one problem after another. G.A. the ED is not respected in the soccer community as people think he is. Those who worked with him know that he simply doesn’t have what it takes to move the club forward. Look into his previous employment. One disaster after another, one conspiracy after another. No MLS team was going to hire him after he was released from New England. No college or university was going to hire him after Mason. He was a disaster when he was at Mason, and when he was hired at Herendon, he single-handedly reduced the number of participants in the club by over 1/3. The issue with DC is the front office and not the coaches. TW has a lot of dirt on DCSC (G.A and his assistant) that is why he is not fired..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

This is an odd take. It was appropriate for DCSC to clarify the scope of the breach, not really any different than the communications we've all gotten about our data being stolen or hacked from stores or other companies.

It's not always so easy to "just break up." There's often a contract involved. There's clearly a disagreement but it's interesting that you think it's DSCS who looks bad. For all we know, TW is causing problems because he didn't get what he wanted. There's always two sides.

Totally agree with you here. That post makes little to no sense. It also seems similar to earlier ones that were equally odd and somewhat illogical.

Anonymous wrote:All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

This is an odd take. It was appropriate for DCSC to clarify the scope of the breach, not really any different than the communications we've all gotten about our data being stolen or hacked from stores or other companies.

It's not always so easy to "just break up." There's often a contract involved. There's clearly a disagreement but it's interesting that you think it's DSCS who looks bad. For all we know, TW is causing problems because he didn't get what he wanted. There's always two sides.

Anonymous wrote:DCSC seems in a different league of dysfunction at the admin level- and I hear from parents significantly more frustration at the operations of the club.

That is not my experience in any way - their management seems to be much more competent than most other kids' sports we have done.

Of course it's hard to know anything about who is posting here. Maybe people are telling us about real issues. Maybe posts here are from the guy who merged and then suddenly tried to recruit everyone for his own club, or one of the coaches. Maybe it's people at other clubs who want to take the largest club in DC down a notch. Maybe posts here are from DCSC staff. For all you know, I am. (I'm not but I'm the only one who knows that for sure!)

This board seems to be full of vague statements that x club is terrible, for almost any value of x, including for DCSC. My experience is only with DCSC and it's been positive. When I read DCUM I look for actual info I might be able to corroborate, because otherwise statements really can't inform me much, unfortunately.

Anonymous wrote:All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

I think both parties look messy. But I agree with PP that clarifying the scope of the data breach was a necessity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

As someone who never met any of these coaches and started getting these random emails after my child signed up for a tryout, I was happy to have some reassurance as to the scope of the info they had.

We appreciated the clarifying emails from DCSC as well and we are not currently with the club. And we have talked to other families and they all seem to feel the same way. It seemed like the responsible thing to do. Surprised this is even controversial.

Anonymous wrote:All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

As someone who never met any of these coaches and started getting these random emails after my child signed up for a tryout, I was happy to have some reassurance as to the scope of the info they had.

All of this is so gross. It feels like a big corporate shark is chewing up a little minnow and spitting it out begging for mercy. Maybe there was a data breach but DCSC couching it as “credit card information is safe,” implies that TW was putting financial info at risk and could have stole money.

With the DCSC coaches leaving, weren’t they ones that came with TW to DCSC and now just leaving with him?

The ensuing drama and legal action makes DCSC look really bad and makes me want to pull my daughter. Who wants to be part of a club that can’t just break up?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real answer is that DC soccer has no governing federation or unification. Half the teams play EDP (plus futures, etc) with MSYSA, half play NCSL. I volunteer to chair the first DC youth soccer commission and act one will be unifying with one of the state alliances. Signs point to MD because they share the same high school season.

This is the solution.

ALL of the DC clubs think they are elite. ALL of the DC clubs compete with each other. ALL of the DC clubs fail to pay attention to the clubs around them such as Arlington, SYC, Alexandria, Achilles, Potomac and Bethesda and learn from what they are doing in order to retain the talent that keeps leaving.

I don’t think that’s quite true. Many of these clubs are successfully doing their thing. (PS - Achilles is a DC club).

DCSC seems in a different league of dysfunction at the admin level- and I hear from parents significantly more frustration at the operations of the club. Running to RL when the teams are woefully unprepared (and play the wrong season) for that level of competition only compounds the issue. There’s no reason DCSC couldn’t be a competitive club given its size and player pool- but the club is constantly a step behind and frustrating parents.

Since St. John’s is technically in DC, Achilles can count but they market to Moco and even train during the winter at SoFive in Rockville. I respect what they do but the majority of their rosters are not DC residents.

The DC clubs we are discussing do not have a lot of participation from MD and VA.

Nevertheless, I know several players leaving DC-based clubs this year and going to the first teams of Bethesda, SYC and Alexandria and Arlington next year.

DC does not have a soccer governing body. DCSC acts as one without oversight but they make bad decisions. I experienced seen their incompetence first hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real answer is that DC soccer has no governing federation or unification. Half the teams play EDP (plus futures, etc) with MSYSA, half play NCSL. I volunteer to chair the first DC youth soccer commission and act one will be unifying with one of the state alliances. Signs point to MD because they share the same high school season.

This is the solution.

ALL of the DC clubs think they are elite. ALL of the DC clubs compete with each other. ALL of the DC clubs fail to pay attention to the clubs around them such as Arlington, SYC, Alexandria, Achilles, Potomac and Bethesda and learn from what they are doing in order to retain the talent that keeps leaving.

I don’t think that’s quite true. Many of these clubs are successfully doing their thing. (PS - Achilles is a DC club).

DCSC seems in a different league of dysfunction at the admin level- and I hear from parents significantly more frustration at the operations of the club. Running to RL when the teams are woefully unprepared (and play the wrong season) for that level of competition only compounds the issue. There’s no reason DCSC couldn’t be a competitive club given its size and player pool- but the club is constantly a step behind and frustrating parents.

Was curious about U13 and U14 girls. Have they released a tentative slate for next year?

Anonymous wrote:Anybody have insights into the coaching on their girl’s travel side?

I have heard good things (from a handful of families) about the youngest ages. Not sure if that coach is staying or leaving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real answer is that DC soccer has no governing federation or unification. Half the teams play EDP (plus futures, etc) with MSYSA, half play NCSL. I volunteer to chair the first DC youth soccer commission and act one will be unifying with one of the state alliances. Signs point to MD because they share the same high school season.

This is the solution.

ALL of the DC clubs think they are elite. ALL of the DC clubs compete with each other. ALL of the DC clubs fail to pay attention to the clubs around them such as Arlington, SYC, Alexandria, Achilles, Potomac and Bethesda and learn from what they are doing in order to retain the talent that keeps leaving.

They do? This is news to me. Pretty sure that in every state in this US of A the best ECNL/MLSN clubs are 10-20 mins from metro areas where pools of wealthy people are raising their prize possessions and have phenomenal public education systems. There is no club in DC competing for anything. There are some small neighborhood clubs developing boys into legitimate professional prospects, but nothing at the moment that works for girls long term for the college pathway. Get that fast lane pass or carpool setup because if you have a girl they will playing in MD or VA by HS.