For those complaining about players playing people, have you realized that if it wasn’t for U17s playing up with the 18/19s, lots of players in the younger age groups would be seeing much less playing time. At FCV, 6 02s are playing up and at Spirit VA, 5 are playing up (1 isn’t shown on the roster yet).

Also, you can’t talk about how FCV brought in ringers from the older team to help during their Nationals run. I asked this summer if that’s really what happened, and I was scolded (by presumably a left-back player’s parent) that it was inappropriate to ask why FCV would leave a season-long starter at home,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

I'm genuinely sorry your DD wasn't able to make the DA team and would have to play EDP and just train with the DA team. I know that must hurt. If I were you and were that upset over the decision, I'd tryout elsewhere, speak with Tom about potentially leaving/reimbursement, and see what the other options are.

Personally, I'd be OK with the EDP path, because I'd realize that is also a great decision for my daughter's development, while realizing she had work to do if she wanted to make the DA team next season (or be called up for some reason). I'd review her progress over the year and if it looked like she just couldn't cut it with the DA team, I'd look for an alternative for the following year. I wouldn't work myself into a frenzy over it this year, because that would probably affect her psyche and performance.

That is very sweet of you. If my DD were indeed EDP, I would do just that and I advise any EDP parent to follow that advise. Withdraw your child and go anywhere else.

Since my DD is DA, I will let this play out for this year and look attentively for other options. But still warn everyone so they don't get tricked. This sort of dishonesty and underhandedness strikes at the core of Spirit's integrity.

But again, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.

Ok - I am calling BS on you. You are not a Spirit parent. You are on here to just smear the club.

Your story is that your daughter is on DA and you are mad because she is going to lose playing minutes to play ups. But in the next breathe you say if she was EDP you would be okay? BS. The simple solution for you is to ask Tom to move your DD to EDP.

The language you use to keep attacking Spirit's integrity and going on and on about this makes you look like a troll. So my guess is that you are one. Nice try though.

Of course you have to call BS. Because to admit a Spirit parent feels this way would show that there is a problem. And as I said, if my DD was an EDP player, seeing how Spirit is managing it, I'd leave right now.

And again, EDP parents, you heard it confirmed here. These people don't even deny it. If your kid is EDP, they are never going back on the DA team - 04 or 03 doesn't matter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

You are half right: there are 2 underage players not listed but are on the 04 team. They are not listed on their age group either. They are missing. But they are on the 04 team and that is where they will play. They are starters.

By the way, this to me is different than playing some U15s up randomly because these 2 players have been part of that team all along. They are where they belong and they are part of that team. They are also very talented.

There players missing from every single Spirit VA team all the way up to the U19s - players I know are VA DA and have been at practice and at the scrimmages. Not sure what's going on with that.

Maybe the DPs are missing

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

I'm genuinely sorry your DD wasn't able to make the DA team and would have to play EDP and just train with the DA team. I know that must hurt. If I were you and were that upset over the decision, I'd tryout elsewhere, speak with Tom about potentially leaving/reimbursement, and see what the other options are.

Personally, I'd be OK with the EDP path, because I'd realize that is also a great decision for my daughter's development, while realizing she had work to do if she wanted to make the DA team next season (or be called up for some reason). I'd review her progress over the year and if it looked like she just couldn't cut it with the DA team, I'd look for an alternative for the following year. I wouldn't work myself into a frenzy over it this year, because that would probably affect her psyche and performance.

That is very sweet of you. If my DD were indeed EDP, I would do just that and I advise any EDP parent to follow that advise. Withdraw your child and go anywhere else.

Since my DD is DA, I will let this play out for this year and look attentively for other options. But still warn everyone so they don't get tricked. This sort of dishonesty and underhandedness strikes at the core of Spirit's integrity.

But again, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.

Ok - I am calling BS on you. You are not a Spirit parent. You are on here to just smear the club.

Your story is that your daughter is on DA and you are mad because she is going to lose playing minutes to play ups. But in the next breathe you say if she was EDP you would be okay? BS. The simple solution for you is to ask Tom to move your DD to EDP.

The language you use to keep attacking Spirit's integrity and going on and on about this makes you look like a troll. So my guess is that you are one. Nice try though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

You are half right: there are 2 underage players not listed but are on the 04 team. They are not listed on their age group either. They are missing. But they are on the 04 team and that is where they will play. They are starters.

By the way, this to me is different than playing some U15s up randomly because these 2 players have been part of that team all along. They are where they belong and they are part of that team. They are also very talented.

There players missing from every single Spirit VA team all the way up to the U19s - players I know are VA DA and have been at practice and at the scrimmages. Not sure what's going on with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

Oh no! They were dishonest with you. FCV does this all the time. There are many many examples of this. They play to win and will bring in another player to stack the decks to win games in a heartbeat. The most recent and visible example is that they brought in two players (a GK and a Forward) who had played up all year to play in the U16/17 playoffs in June. Here are some details for you...

Here is the FCV U16/17 roster from last year - http://fcva.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=3950980

Here is of the game reports for the playoffs but they did this for every playoff game (notice the guest players that started at the end of the list) - http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/ss/view_game_report.php?eventId=5341776&teamId=7783116

This is arguably the very worst time to sit players - in front of so many college scouts!

Every DA team will do what they can to win. If you think your DD will have guaranteed minutes at FCV or anywhere else you are fooling yourself.

What they did was bring players down from an older team, and yes they did it to win. They didn't sabotage an older team with younger players. Nice try though...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

I'm genuinely sorry your DD wasn't able to make the DA team and would have to play EDP and just train with the DA team. I know that must hurt. If I were you and were that upset over the decision, I'd tryout elsewhere, speak with Tom about potentially leaving/reimbursement, and see what the other options are.

Personally, I'd be OK with the EDP path, because I'd realize that is also a great decision for my daughter's development, while realizing she had work to do if she wanted to make the DA team next season (or be called up for some reason). I'd review her progress over the year and if it looked like she just couldn't cut it with the DA team, I'd look for an alternative for the following year. I wouldn't work myself into a frenzy over it this year, because that would probably affect her psyche and performance.

That is very sweet of you. If my DD were indeed EDP, I would do just that and I advise any EDP parent to follow that advise. Withdraw your child and go anywhere else.

Since my DD is DA, I will let this play out for this year and look attentively for other options. But still warn everyone so they don't get tricked. This sort of dishonesty and underhandedness strikes at the core of Spirit's integrity.

But again, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

You are half right: there are 2 underage players not listed but are on the 04 team. They are not listed on their age group either. They are missing. But they are on the 04 team and that is where they will play. They are starters.

By the way, this to me is different than playing some U15s up randomly because these 2 players have been part of that team all along. They are where they belong and they are part of that team. They are also very talented.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

Oh no! They were dishonest with you. FCV does this all the time. There are many many examples of this. They play to win and will bring in another player to stack the decks to win games in a heartbeat. The most recent and visible example is that they brought in two players (a GK and a Forward) who had played up all year to play in the U16/17 playoffs in June. Here are some details for you...

Here is the FCV U16/17 roster from last year - http://fcva.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=3950980

Here is of the game reports for the playoffs but they did this for every playoff game (notice the guest players that started at the end of the list) - http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/ss/view_game_report.php?eventId=5341776&teamId=7783116

This is arguably the very worst time to sit players - in front of so many college scouts!

Every DA team will do what they can to win. If you think your DD will have guaranteed minutes at FCV or anywhere else you are fooling yourself.

The worst part is that both of the players FCV brought into that game were already committed to play college at VT. This was clearly a play to win move at the expense of the players on the team. I bet those players felt tricked too. FCV burned them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

Just curious, in general, what are DA rules on this? Can you play players you are not rostered on a given team? What is the flexibility there?

From page 21 of the 2018-19 rules and regs: “Players on the U-12, U-13, U- 14, U-15, and U-16/17 DA teams may be selected for the U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16/17 and U-18/19 game day roster. The 25% start recommendation is inclusive of all games started in any Academy age group (U-12 players excluded). Players playing up can only compete in one (1) game per day and are subject to the split fixture provision”

The entire document is available here and has lots of excellent info on roster maximums, part-time players, and other subjects of interest on this board.
http://www.ussoccerda.com/academy-operations

I think parents have lost focus on what soccer is at this level, it is going to be competitive and if your team has a losing year than I would imagine that coaches would be interested in bringing on new talent if they see
it during tryouts. WS isn't the only club to cut almost an entire roster or bump girls down to the lower team when more skilled players come in. Everyone wants their daughter to be the next Mia Hamm, but it isn't realistic.
Parents are just hurting their kids by making them feel they have been wronged when that happens. Usually these are the parents that want to pass out the participation trophies. Great thing about this area......if you don't like what you see, there are DA and ECNL options within 10 mile radius and all have their benefits. Do your homework and remember that no matter how great your daughter might be, if she doesn't get the support from the actual coach it is wasted time. Don't have your daughter just be a number. Grass always looks brighter
on the other side, but my experience is that it isn't.

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

Just curious, in general, what are DA rules on this? Can you play players you are not rostered on a given team? What is the flexibility there?

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

Oh no! They were dishonest with you. FCV does this all the time. There are many many examples of this. They play to win and will bring in another player to stack the decks to win games in a heartbeat. The most recent and visible example is that they brought in two players (a GK and a Forward) who had played up all year to play in the U16/17 playoffs in June. Here are some details for you...

Here is the FCV U16/17 roster from last year - http://fcva.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=3950980

Here is of the game reports for the playoffs but they did this for every playoff game (notice the guest players that started at the end of the list) - http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/ss/view_game_report.php?eventId=5341776&teamId=7783116

This is arguably the very worst time to sit players - in front of so many college scouts!

Every DA team will do what they can to win. If you think your DD will have guaranteed minutes at FCV or anywhere else you are fooling yourself.

There are 2 underage players on the Washington Spirit that are not listed on the 04 roster but play with the 04's at every practice and it is believed they are going to be playing with the team. They are rostered with their age group but truly part of the 04 roster. So the final roster is technically 24.

Anonymous wrote:I will keep making sure other parents not at Spirit know what's going on so they don't get tricked like we did. FCV parents said numerous times FCV never sits an age appropriate player to play up another. It's been said on thos forum time and again. I also know personally people at the club and they also say it is never done. In fact, I can't find another club who does, not even Spirit MD.

Just us.

So yes, I will warn and continue to warn. What a horrific mistake I must now suffer with until I can get my DD off this team.

And since you must be the benefiting 04 parents, congratulations for a hand well played. Getting a whole club to cater to...nothing special. Good job.

I'm genuinely sorry your DD wasn't able to make the DA team and would have to play EDP and just train with the DA team. I know that must hurt. If I were you and were that upset over the decision, I'd tryout elsewhere, speak with Tom about potentially leaving/reimbursement, and see what the other options are.

Personally, I'd be OK with the EDP path, because I'd realize that is also a great decision for my daughter's development, while realizing she had work to do if she wanted to make the DA team next season (or be called up for some reason). I'd review her progress over the year and if it looked like she just couldn't cut it with the DA team, I'd look for an alternative for the following year. I wouldn't work myself into a frenzy over it this year, because that would probably affect her psyche and performance.