Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you recommend I find out more about Arlington? I already know plenty about FCV and Spirit. How hard is it to find quality coaching with quality players? FCV has it, but everyone says they have impossible politics. Spirit doesn't have quality players and I'm not sold on the coaching.

I would love to know more about Arlington.

If you are serious, here is a start: http://www.arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/development-academy
Go and attend some games, have your DD attend the ID sessions, contact the coaches.
I have not seen much "politics" (not sure what it means though) on the boys side, but cannot speak for the girls one.

Me too. Thank you for the information. If you don't know what it means, it probably isn't as a big a factor. Politics is that when a parent has a lot of pull in the club and their wishes get listened to because of it being that parent

I'll take a look at some of their games too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These amounts are insane! 10K or more. . . . why are we putting up with this money grab?

Did you think showcases were free? Out of town overnight trips? 60-70% of the cost is travel related.

True. Let's not even talk about the monopoly Anthony Travel has on hotels. You have to use the team hotel, the cost can be more than $200 a night, and that doesn't even mean you will be by the field.

Anonymous wrote:
So don't just apply what someone says to the entirety of the club and also don't just believe any outrageous price you here whether it seems crazy high or crazy cheap. For the peak showcasing years of DA or ECNL 10k plus or minus 2000 is what can be expected. And what you don't spend at club you will likely make for in ID camps etc...

As someone who's child went through the prime showcase years at both ECNL and DA, I can attest to the accuracy of the above.

As to why it's "so much," I'll first note that compared to our friends with kids in certain other sports, it can be worse. But to answer the question, roughly half the expense is from travel. For ECNL, there's flights and hotel in Florida, Phoenix, Seattle and buses (or cars) to the Carolinas, NJ, plus whatever tournaments you do. For DA, you have similar cross-country flights and bus trips (just going north i/o south). You can join a non-DA or ECNL team but then to be seen by coaches, you're either doing more tournaments (which usually still entails a trip to Florida), or you're traveling on your own to do camps/ ID clinics. So if you have a high level player trying to get college attention, one way or another, you're paying the price.

Anonymous wrote:These amounts are insane! 10K or more. . . . why are we putting up with this money grab?

Did you think showcases were free? Out of town overnight trips? 60-70% of the cost is travel related.

Anonymous wrote:These amounts are insane! 10K or more. . . . why are we putting up with this money grab?

It is crazy. How as youth soccer gotten so out of control? And what do you really get for all that money?

Anonymous wrote:These amounts are insane! 10K or more. . . . why are we putting up with this money grab?

I don’t know! Have these amounts been verified? What on earth should we do???

These amounts are insane! 10K or more. . . . why are we putting up with this money grab?

Anonymous wrote:When are the ID sessions?

And if you don't know, I hope you won't mind posting on the ID session thread. I know it's a little ways out. I'm wondering too if they will let my DC attend a practice or 2. I actually find that more useful than an ID session.

When are the ID sessions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you recommend I find out more about Arlington? I already know plenty about FCV and Spirit. How hard is it to find quality coaching with quality players? FCV has it, but everyone says they have impossible politics. Spirit doesn't have quality players and I'm not sold on the coaching.

I would love to know more about Arlington.

If you are serious, here is a start: http://www.arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/development-academy
Go and attend some games, have your DD attend the ID sessions, contact the coaches.
I have not seen much "politics" (not sure what it means though) on the boys side, but cannot speak for the girls one.

I looked at the website for the club we are at and that proved to be not useful. I would prefer to hear from people who either have a DC there and why they stay and also from people who left and why they left.

I don't want to be tricked. An honest representation matters more to me, as a year is such a long time to live with a club.

Anonymous wrote:How do you recommend I find out more about Arlington? I already know plenty about FCV and Spirit. How hard is it to find quality coaching with quality players? FCV has it, but everyone says they have impossible politics. Spirit doesn't have quality players and I'm not sold on the coaching.

I would love to know more about Arlington.

If you are serious, here is a start: http://www.arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/development-academy
Go and attend some games, have your DD attend the ID sessions, contact the coaches.
I have not seen much "politics" (not sure what it means though) on the boys side, but cannot speak for the girls one.

How do you recommend I find out more about Arlington? I already know plenty about FCV and Spirit. How hard is it to find quality coaching with quality players? FCV has it, but everyone says they have impossible politics. Spirit doesn't have quality players and I'm not sold on the coaching.

I would love to know more about Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically one factor is the FCV parents bad attitude on these boards. Whether accurate or not it displays a bad culture regarding the club and makes it less desirable.

I'm not at FCV. I would say there is a huge amount of bad attitude on these boards to go around. Not from Arlington either. I have noticed the Arlington parents SEEM to show the least insecurity and hostility. All things being equal, I'm looking closely at their program for next year.

I guess your DC has never played travel in ASA then! lol.

It's about the same as anywhere -

It's the level of fear that keeps them quiet. They all have witnessed black-balling of players firsthand.

Without naming names of course, can you tell me more about ASA then? What sort of black-balling? I'm looking for options. I know no club is perfect, but I need a new set of garbage to deal with.

Hey Arlington is not perfect but black balling if it really exists at all which I doubt is all relative. Mclean actually the worst local offender. Go ask around Arlington.

Players come because a coach in Mclean carries retribution to levels that most clubs would have stopped tolerating in even cities without lawyers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was VDA cheaper because they didnt go to SD?

That would certainly lower the bill.

Also, remember that a FCV team went to Germany last spring too. So, mileage will vary. Some teams will no doubt come in less than 10k and some could come in over 10k and this could be within the same club. So not everything is an apples to apples.

Wow! Germany? The whole club? That's amazing! What did they do in Germany? And yes, if FCV posters want to post while subtracting Germany, that's fine. Say it's 10k + an added $3500 for Germany. I welcome full disclosure.

Just a single team within the club, which is why the point that the price can swing wildly even within the same club.

It's a fair point. I'm just saying that a poster can post what their bottom line was and qualify. Like this was for last year's Ux team, and in addition to the DA showcases, we went to Disney, etc.

No doubt, I'm just saying that the ballpark is 10k. Somebody might come in 2k less and some might come in 2k more and those prices can be just as varied within the same club based on differing factors such as age group ect.

So don't just apply what someone says to the entirety of the club and also don't just believe any outrageous price you here whether it seems crazy high or crazy cheap. For the peak showcasing years of DA or ECNL 10k plus or minus 2000 is what can be expected. And what you don't spend at club you will likely make for in ID camps etc...

gotcha, so you are with FCV? That's your ball park?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was VDA cheaper because they didnt go to SD?

That would certainly lower the bill.

Also, remember that a FCV team went to Germany last spring too. So, mileage will vary. Some teams will no doubt come in less than 10k and some could come in over 10k and this could be within the same club. So not everything is an apples to apples.

Wow! Germany? The whole club? That's amazing! What did they do in Germany? And yes, if FCV posters want to post while subtracting Germany, that's fine. Say it's 10k + an added $3500 for Germany. I welcome full disclosure.

Just a single team within the club, which is why the point that the price can swing wildly even within the same club.

It's a fair point. I'm just saying that a poster can post what their bottom line was and qualify. Like this was for last year's Ux team, and in addition to the DA showcases, we went to Disney, etc.

No doubt, I'm just saying that the ballpark is 10k. Somebody might come in 2k less and some might come in 2k more and those prices can be just as varied within the same club based on differing factors such as age group ect.

So don't just apply what someone says to the entirety of the club and also don't just believe any outrageous price you here whether it seems crazy high or crazy cheap. For the peak showcasing years of DA or ECNL 10k plus or minus 2000 is what can be expected. And what you don't spend at club you will likely make for in ID camps etc...