Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess this only proves that the "so obvious club reputations" or stereotypes are not as universally shared as you would have us all to believe.

No, it just proves there's plenty to say about other clubs, even though VYS dominates the conversation on this board.

(Or, at least, it DID dominate the discussion until two threads turned into a heated discussion of Arlington's tryouts.)

The point isn't that other clubs don't have their own problems, the point is that the parents generally are not airing their clubs dirty laundry, and if they do, for the most part they are speaking in general terms and not mentioning the club.

Oh, and a discussion about the fairness of tryouts at a club does not compare to the train wreck that this VYS thread is. Keep in mind that in the general NOVA soccer discussion thread, VYS crap dominated that too. Again, keep posting, you all continue to represent your club in the worst possible light, and your attempt to shine a light on other clubs perceived problems didn't quite hit the mark.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess this only proves that the "so obvious club reputations" or stereotypes are not as universally shared as you would have us all to believe.

No, it just proves there's plenty to say about other clubs, even though VYS dominates the conversation on this board.

(Or, at least, it DID dominate the discussion until two threads turned into a heated discussion of Arlington's tryouts.)

Anonymous wrote:I guess this only proves that the "so obvious club reputations" or stereotypes are not as universally shared as you would have us all to believe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 21 pages and over 300 posts dedicated to a single club's dysfunction. Sure, other clubs are not perfect either, but somehow, it doesn't bleed out into the internet. This is not a "buyer beware" situation because other club's gossip is kept at a minimum. You sound more like the abusive husband who tries to point out the supposed failings of the neighbors husband to make himself somehow look better.

Except that VYS isn't an abusive husband. It's a youth soccer club that has made good decisions and some bad, some good hires and some bad. There are a variety of reasons why VYS gets talked about on this board more than other clubs -- the biggest would simply have to be that DCUM includes a handful of people whose kids play or have played there. And there are a couple of people with axes to grind who've chosen to do so here rather than on ... I don't know, Fairfax Racists' Underground or the local coffee bar.

I can give you some observations of other clubs if you like, though bear in mind that these are mostly limited looks from across the sidelines while watching games -- some involving VYS teams, some not (also, some travel, some All-Star, some other impressions). See if you can guess which clubs they are:

- A large club that teaches a beautiful passing style. BETHESDA

- A club with turbulent partnerships. FCV

- A large club with one local coaching legend, but the rest of the coaching carousel and the in-club politics seems scary. MCLEAN

- A semi-rural club with travel teams that seem to be big, fast kids who haven't yet learned much skill. FUTURE MONARCHS/MARYLAND UNITED

- A small club that keeps losing teams for some reason. FPYC

- A large club with DA teams. Almost as good as they think they are. ARLINGTON

- A successful (non-DA) club where the coaches have struck me as friendly and professional. BRYC

- A small club that isn't competitive at early ages, but they get better, so coaches must be doing something right. THIS ONE IS TRICKY - I think BETHESDA fits but not small, I think Annandale & McLean and get competitive but only because of recruiting and not small. ALEXANDRIA? DC STODDERT?

- A large-ish club with overbearing coaches who are clearly encouraging "physical" play and gamesmanship, even in House All-Stars. PWSI & ANNANDALE

- A mid-sized club with some good teams that veers toward "physical," but they have good footskills programs. CYA & LMVSC

- A large club with some good teams whose parents really need to take it down a notch. - FCV again but you could add PWSI, SYA, CERRITOS

- A mid-sized club with a proud history and a partnership with DC Uni- ... oh, wait, we're merging with FC Virginia. - SYA

- A club named after its county, which is exurban and growing, so the population base can't help turning up a fair number of talented kids. Fortunately, it also has some good staff members in place. (OK, I can think of two meeting that description.) LOUDOUN

- A boutique club that revolves around one guy with some ties to overseas clubs. (OK, maybe more than one there, too.) - JOGA & CUGINI but ties to overseas are all hype anyone can pay $10000 and go find teams in Europe to play.

Looking forward to your guesses.

How did I do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 21 pages and over 300 posts dedicated to a single club's dysfunction. Sure, other clubs are not perfect either, but somehow, it doesn't bleed out into the internet. This is not a "buyer beware" situation because other club's gossip is kept at a minimum. You sound more like the abusive husband who tries to point out the supposed failings of the neighbors husband to make himself somehow look better.

Except that VYS isn't an abusive husband. It's a youth soccer club that has made good decisions and some bad, some good hires and some bad. There are a variety of reasons why VYS gets talked about on this board more than other clubs -- the biggest would simply have to be that DCUM includes a handful of people whose kids play or have played there. And there are a couple of people with axes to grind who've chosen to do so here rather than on ... I don't know, Fairfax Racists' Underground or the local coffee bar.

I can give you some observations of other clubs if you like, though bear in mind that these are mostly limited looks from across the sidelines while watching games -- some involving VYS teams, some not (also, some travel, some All-Star, some other impressions). See if you can guess which clubs they are:

- A large club that teaches a beautiful passing style. BETHESDA

- A club with turbulent partnerships. FCV

- A large club with one local coaching legend, but the rest of the coaching carousel and the in-club politics seems scary. MCLEAN

- A semi-rural club with travel teams that seem to be big, fast kids who haven't yet learned much skill. FUTURE MONARCHS/MARYLAND UNITED

- A small club that keeps losing teams for some reason. FPYC

- A large club with DA teams. Almost as good as they think they are. ARLINGTON

- A successful (non-DA) club where the coaches have struck me as friendly and professional. BRYC

- A small club that isn't competitive at early ages, but they get better, so coaches must be doing something right. THIS ONE IS TRICKY - I think BETHESDA fits but not small, I think Annandale & McLean and get competitive but only because of recruiting and not small. ALEXANDRIA? DC STODDERT?

- A large-ish club with overbearing coaches who are clearly encouraging "physical" play and gamesmanship, even in House All-Stars. PWSI & ANNANDALE

- A mid-sized club with some good teams that veers toward "physical," but they have good footskills programs. CYA & LMVSC

- A large club with some good teams whose parents really need to take it down a notch. - FCV again but you could add PWSI, SYA, CERRITOS

- A mid-sized club with a proud history and a partnership with DC Uni- ... oh, wait, we're merging with FC Virginia. - SYA

- A club named after its county, which is exurban and growing, so the population base can't help turning up a fair number of talented kids. Fortunately, it also has some good staff members in place. (OK, I can think of two meeting that description.) LOUDOUN

- A boutique club that revolves around one guy with some ties to overseas clubs. (OK, maybe more than one there, too.) - JOGA & CUGINI but ties to overseas are all hype anyone can pay $10000 and go find teams in Europe to play.

Looking forward to your guesses.

Anonymous wrote:Good luck... My money and kids are like elephants in the circus, gone. Anyone know how the lawsuits turned out? House soccer is the biggest cash cow here, not travel.

Anonymous wrote:And what has been the one constant throughout the downward spiral? The board of directors... Get them out and you will see positive change.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I dont know anything about any coach. The disturbing thing here? There are too many people to point a finger at. Too many unhappy and untrusting members, past members and apparently staff. Sounds like a very common demoninator. Poor leadership. A club is only as good as its leadership. The redundancy of the rference to the fact that parents are impatient and unwilling to give it time to get better. We heard that after you dismissed the previous tech team, when there was absolutely nothing broken to fix and when Gunny started... now that there has been an abrupt exit from the executive director, ass. TDs and now your new TD all within a year! Are you kidding me? We did hang in there . Long enough. Then when we wanted to leave you held us hostage when you wouldnt return our fees. The new board can not come quickly enough. If there is anyone left willing to take on the trainwreck created over the past year. This is such a shame! Our club was a great place for our kids to come together and enjoy playing with their friends. Sadly this board was given too much control and due to their bullying and incompetence have ruined a great thing.

Anonymous wrote:What??!! Anyway, what assistant TDs? The ones that their players are also moving to other clubs as fast as they can?! To include my son!