Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to all, minus the person saying VYS not worth the time, to give me some solid advice. Told son today- totally crushed. So is life. He’s a late 2011 bday so has to play “up” for travel vs. house. May consider just playing up for house to give us real perspective or may give GFR this week a go though think I will have to say it’s for practice rather than risk having to have another soul crushing convo two weeks in a row.

Just my thought...there are talented kids playing rec soccer. Don't get hung up on the prestige. Better to let him get his confidence up through that. Playing on the 3rd of 4th team of an age group is not much different than rec in terms of competition.

You are right. Honestly this has been the first year he has been frustrated as half his team is brand new and he’s losing his mind with the mistakes they are making (which are totally fair while learning). Other than that and some long time teammates moving to travel, he was happy before this season. I hear it will change as kids get older in the next couple of years and less people are trying soccer for the first time. Makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to all, minus the person saying VYS not worth the time, to give me some solid advice. Told son today- totally crushed. So is life. He’s a late 2011 bday so has to play “up” for travel vs. house. May consider just playing up for house to give us real perspective or may give GFR this week a go though think I will have to say it’s for practice rather than risk having to have another soul crushing convo two weeks in a row.

Just my thought...there are talented kids playing rec soccer. Don't get hung up on the prestige. Better to let him get his confidence up through that. Playing on the 3rd of 4th team of an age group is not much different than rec in terms of competition.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to all, minus the person saying VYS not worth the time, to give me some solid advice. Told son today- totally crushed. So is life. He’s a late 2011 bday so has to play “up” for travel vs. house. May consider just playing up for house to give us real perspective or may give GFR this week a go though think I will have to say it’s for practice rather than risk having to have another soul crushing convo two weeks in a row.

Call or email the TD, Kevin and ask where on the Wait List your son is. Our son got waitlisted one year, but they eventually gave him a spot, as other players they were holding out hope for moved on.
This ended up being the best thing to happen to our son regarding soccer. He got such a chip on his shoulder, he went out to prove everyone wrong. He is now playing at a high level.

Thanks to all, minus the person saying VYS not worth the time, to give me some solid advice. Told son today- totally crushed. So is life. He’s a late 2011 bday so has to play “up” for travel vs. house. May consider just playing up for house to give us real perspective or may give GFR this week a go though think I will have to say it’s for practice rather than risk having to have another soul crushing convo two weeks in a row.

Anonymous wrote:VYS,
Not worth the time.

How badly did your kid’s team lose to them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great falls/Reston has 2 tryout sessions remaining for the rising U10 boys. Depending where you are in vienna they aren’t far (Lake Fairfax and Nike Park). That was our backup plan. McLean tryouts are done. Not sure about FPYC.

The gap really starts to widen in the younger years between rec and travel due to difference in training quantity, quality, and competitive level. Kids mature and gain focus at different ages, so there will be some that still came break into travel later but it is harder and takes a lot of work.If you do stay in rec I would recommend supplementing with footskills training, whether through VYS or a training company.

And consider playing futsal during the winter (St. James runs a futsal team, as does Mclean and Alexandria as well as others) for extra foot skills practice.

Good idea. You might want to ask VYS if they will let your child play in their club futsal league. A few players did this two years ago.

Don't see a distinct advantage to doing this. Coaching is done by parents and it's usually in Chantilly. If you really want to play futsal, then by all means. But don't go into expecting that to be your ticket back into VYS Travel.

Many people more knowledgeable than me say that futsal helps them develop technical skill with the ball. Certainly, it’s better than doing nothing during the winter months, and in my opinion outdoor soccer in VA during the winter is miserable due to the cold. I don’t have any experience with VYS futsal, but the St. James, Mclean, and Alexandria futsal teams have real coaches and are not coached by parent volunteers.

I’m not saying it’s a guaranteed ticket to anything, but it’s a fun winter activity (most importantly) and it can supplement other things the player is doing to improve.

VYS,
Not worth the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great falls/Reston has 2 tryout sessions remaining for the rising U10 boys. Depending where you are in vienna they aren’t far (Lake Fairfax and Nike Park). That was our backup plan. McLean tryouts are done. Not sure about FPYC.

The gap really starts to widen in the younger years between rec and travel due to difference in training quantity, quality, and competitive level. Kids mature and gain focus at different ages, so there will be some that still came break into travel later but it is harder and takes a lot of work.If you do stay in rec I would recommend supplementing with footskills training, whether through VYS or a training company.

And consider playing futsal during the winter (St. James runs a futsal team, as does Mclean and Alexandria as well as others) for extra foot skills practice.

Good idea. You might want to ask VYS if they will let your child play in their club futsal league. A few players did this two years ago.

Don't see a distinct advantage to doing this. Coaching is done by parents and it's usually in Chantilly. If you really want to play futsal, then by all means. But don't go into expecting that to be your ticket back into VYS Travel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great falls/Reston has 2 tryout sessions remaining for the rising U10 boys. Depending where you are in vienna they aren’t far (Lake Fairfax and Nike Park). That was our backup plan. McLean tryouts are done. Not sure about FPYC.

The gap really starts to widen in the younger years between rec and travel due to difference in training quantity, quality, and competitive level. Kids mature and gain focus at different ages, so there will be some that still came break into travel later but it is harder and takes a lot of work.If you do stay in rec I would recommend supplementing with footskills training, whether through VYS or a training company.

And consider playing futsal during the winter (St. James runs a futsal team, as does Mclean and Alexandria as well as others) for extra foot skills practice.

Good idea. You might want to ask VYS if they will let your child play in their club futsal league. A few players did this two years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Great falls/Reston has 2 tryout sessions remaining for the rising U10 boys. Depending where you are in vienna they aren’t far (Lake Fairfax and Nike Park). That was our backup plan. McLean tryouts are done. Not sure about FPYC.

The gap really starts to widen in the younger years between rec and travel due to difference in training quantity, quality, and competitive level. Kids mature and gain focus at different ages, so there will be some that still came break into travel later but it is harder and takes a lot of work.If you do stay in rec I would recommend supplementing with footskills training, whether through VYS or a training company.

And consider playing futsal during the winter (St. James runs a futsal team, as does Mclean and Alexandria as well as others) for extra foot skills practice.

Great falls/Reston has 2 tryout sessions remaining for the rising U10 boys. Depending where you are in vienna they aren’t far (Lake Fairfax and Nike Park). That was our backup plan. McLean tryouts are done. Not sure about FPYC.

The gap really starts to widen in the younger years between rec and travel due to difference in training quantity, quality, and competitive level. Kids mature and gain focus at different ages, so there will be some that still came break into travel later but it is harder and takes a lot of work. If you do stay in rec I would recommend supplementing with footskills training, whether through VYS or a training company.

Anonymous wrote:This is all helpful. I can see how tough this is. I am not really frustrated that my son didn’t make it (official waitlist today), I’m actually more frustrated with myself that I feel like I dropped the ball on an opportunity he could have possible had last year.

U12? GFR tryouts begin tomorrow evening.

Anonymous wrote:This is all helpful. I can see how tough this is. I am not really frustrated that my son didn’t make it (official waitlist today), I’m actually more frustrated with myself that I feel like I dropped the ball on an opportunity he could have possible had last year.

Sorry to hear that your son didn’t make it this time around. I can say that, as a father of several boys, with experience both with VYS travel and house teams, the level of competition in the VYS house league is pretty good in my opinion, and if your son puts the effort in he can improve his play for next year. One of my boys didn’t make travel the first year we moved here (not U9), played house for fall and spring, and then made travel the next year.

Of course, different clubs in the area do tryouts at different times, so it may still be possible for your son to tryout for other clubs and get a spot. Not sure when BRYC is having tryouts; Alexandria is in early June; Arlington is going on right now I think.

Anonymous wrote:This is all helpful. I can see how tough this is. I am not really frustrated that my son didn’t make it (official waitlist today), I’m actually more frustrated with myself that I feel like I dropped the ball on an opportunity he could have possible had last year.

Someone upthread said to check back in the fall; I think that is a good idea. We have historically had a couple of girls fall out for various reasons.

I also think it is a good idea to look into joining in the winter. We had a couple of kids join our age group in January, and that proved to be a very smart move given the size of the tryouts in May.

Last option is look into another nearby club like GFR.

This is all helpful. I can see how tough this is. I am not really frustrated that my son didn’t make it (official waitlist today), I’m actually more frustrated with myself that I feel like I dropped the ball on an opportunity he could have possible had last year.