Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt Arl 2011 the number 1 seed going into Seattle? The top seed will generally not face other top teams immediately.

Yes they were hence they got to play wild card #5 in the round of 16 that happened to be Richmond. People always talking about DMV can’t compete with Texas and CA but to have 3 teams advanced from MA to the round of 16 is an accomplishment. It didn’t seem like any Texas team advanced to the final for 2011. The mighty Solar didn’t advanced out of group play. It might be luck or it might be not. All the top 8 have earned their spots so let’s not knock anyone down that they haven’t been tested. Pp on this board we’re saying 2011 Arlington wouldn’t even make it out group play and here they are.

So a few DMV teams did well in u13 but generally did not do well in u14 and up.

What does this tell you?

To me it seems like DMV teams are able to recruit big and fast players at a young age. This translates into youngers wins.

However, as the players get older tactics and coaching play a bigger role in national wins. This is what's missing.

Fact. Other clubs don’t care about U13. What matters are the U16-U19 age groups.

Nobody cares about the U18/19 age groups. It's U14-U17 that are the focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Mid Atlantic Conference is going down to 4 spots because of the Brave + Union merger. No longer top 5.

Arlington 2011s had an easy bracket IMO. I’m not saying they are not an amazing team but they only had to play Richmond in the round of 16 to go to the finals. They also played a team that is below 140th in the country for their regular bracket. They didn’t play a single California team to get to finals. Again, they are a great team and I hope they do well but they are untested when it comes to California teams. This is not a knock on their team — it’s just that DMV cannot keep with California teams that have zillions of coaches for each aspect of practice / play and fly girls in from around the country. That is what the DMV teams are up against.

Great team but still untested. They almost lost to Seattle home team Eastside and the Richmond draw was less than ideal. They may still make it past round of 8 depending on their draw but will struggle past that. No knock on them, just CA and TX bigger clubs have the resources and reach of players DMV teams can only dream of

“Almost lost to Eastside” come on man! Do you just look at the results and make up your own version of a game you clearly didn’t see? GTFO

Bethesda 2010 had an easy draw both years. It’s not debatable. Arlington played 5th place from MA division in round of 16. Both lucky teams.

Both teams had favourable groups because they won their conferences. DUH! Arlinginton has been the top rated team all year, of course their group was cake. Stupid people everywhere.

Now For Richmond, BSC is likely done after drawing Surf for the quarterfinal game but now this is an awesome opportunity win or lose. Flying out to Seattle and getting spanked 10-0 in group play is not an awesome opportunity. Surf wins but BSC makes it interesting 2-1 Surf win. Bigger question here is can they do this every year? Bethesda team stays good is my prediction, but with lots of movement of 2-3 starters year to year so making it to Richmond each year will be a big accomplishment on its own and well worth the soccer investment and long term therapy!

Arlington still hasnt played anyone again, not their fault, looks they have a clear path to the final based on matchups but my prediction is they lose in the final to a SoCal team (Slammers or Surf). Bigger question here is, will this team be any good in two years? My guess no, but only because of politics, probably parent based, and girls splinter off to marketplace of NoVa ECNL/GA clubs in 2-3 years. Arlington has not ambition to win ultimately and the kool-aid looks more appealing down at VDA could also happen if folks really want to win a natty! But hey this team is very good right now and has a legit chance at winning the most meaningless soccer award u-13 champions!

Seriously good luck to all its an amazing soccer experience down in Richmond playing with the best in the country win,lose or pk's!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Mid Atlantic Conference is going down to 4 spots because of the Brave + Union merger. No longer top 5.

Arlington 2011s had an easy bracket IMO. I’m not saying they are not an amazing team but they only had to play Richmond in the round of 16 to go to the finals. They also played a team that is below 140th in the country for their regular bracket. They didn’t play a single California team to get to finals. Again, they are a great team and I hope they do well but they are untested when it comes to California teams. This is not a knock on their team — it’s just that DMV cannot keep with California teams that have zillions of coaches for each aspect of practice / play and fly girls in from around the country. That is what the DMV teams are up against.

Great team but still untested. They almost lost to Seattle home team Eastside and the Richmond draw was less than ideal. They may still make it past round of 8 depending on their draw but will struggle past that. No knock on them, just CA and TX bigger clubs have the resources and reach of players DMV teams can only dream of

“Almost lost to Eastside” come on man! Do you just look at the results and make up your own version of a game you clearly didn’t see? GTFO

Bethesda 2010 had an easy draw both years. It’s not debatable. Arlington played 5th place from MA division in round of 16. Both lucky teams.

It’s a tournament, seeding plays a huge part in the draws and RU had a great run in the tournament.

It was mentioned earlier here Arlington was the 1 seed of 44 going into CL. That isn’t luck, the team earned it including any benefits that go along with that seeding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Mid Atlantic Conference is going down to 4 spots because of the Brave + Union merger. No longer top 5.

Arlington 2011s had an easy bracket IMO. I’m not saying they are not an amazing team but they only had to play Richmond in the round of 16 to go to the finals. They also played a team that is below 140th in the country for their regular bracket. They didn’t play a single California team to get to finals. Again, they are a great team and I hope they do well but they are untested when it comes to California teams. This is not a knock on their team — it’s just that DMV cannot keep with California teams that have zillions of coaches for each aspect of practice / play and fly girls in from around the country. That is what the DMV teams are up against.

Great team but still untested. They almost lost to Seattle home team Eastside and the Richmond draw was less than ideal. They may still make it past round of 8 depending on their draw but will struggle past that. No knock on them, just CA and TX bigger clubs have the resources and reach of players DMV teams can only dream of

“Almost lost to Eastside” come on man! Do you just look at the results and make up your own version of a game you clearly didn’t see? GTFO

Bethesda 2010 had an easy draw both years. It’s not debatable. Arlington played 5th place from MA division in round of 16. Both lucky teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Mid Atlantic Conference is going down to 4 spots because of the Brave + Union merger. No longer top 5.

Arlington 2011s had an easy bracket IMO. I’m not saying they are not an amazing team but they only had to play Richmond in the round of 16 to go to the finals. They also played a team that is below 140th in the country for their regular bracket. They didn’t play a single California team to get to finals. Again, they are a great team and I hope they do well but they are untested when it comes to California teams. This is not a knock on their team — it’s just that DMV cannot keep with California teams that have zillions of coaches for each aspect of practice / play and fly girls in from around the country. That is what the DMV teams are up against.

Great team but still untested. They almost lost to Seattle home team Eastside and the Richmond draw was less than ideal. They may still make it past round of 8 depending on their draw but will struggle past that. No knock on them, just CA and TX bigger clubs have the resources and reach of players DMV teams can only dream of

“Almost lost to Eastside” come on man! Do you just look at the results and make up your own version of a game you clearly didn’t see? GTFO

Anonymous wrote:Yes Mid Atlantic Conference is going down to 4 spots because of the Brave + Union merger. No longer top 5.

Arlington 2011s had an easy bracket IMO. I’m not saying they are not an amazing team but they only had to play Richmond in the round of 16 to go to the finals. They also played a team that is below 140th in the country for their regular bracket. They didn’t play a single California team to get to finals. Again, they are a great team and I hope they do well but they are untested when it comes to California teams. This is not a knock on their team — it’s just that DMV cannot keep with California teams that have zillions of coaches for each aspect of practice / play and fly girls in from around the country. That is what the DMV teams are up against.

Great team but still untested. They almost lost to Seattle home team Eastside and the Richmond draw was less than ideal. They may still make it past round of 8 depending on their draw but will struggle past that. No knock on them, just CA and TX bigger clubs have the resources and reach of players DMV teams can only dream of

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt Arl 2011 the number 1 seed going into Seattle? The top seed will generally not face other top teams immediately.

Yes they were hence they got to play wild card #5 in the round of 16 that happened to be Richmond. People always talking about DMV can’t compete with Texas and CA but to have 3 teams advanced from MA to the round of 16 is an accomplishment. It didn’t seem like any Texas team advanced to the final for 2011. The mighty Solar didn’t advanced out of group play. It might be luck or it might be not. All the top 8 have earned their spots so let’s not knock anyone down that they haven’t been tested. Pp on this board we’re saying 2011 Arlington wouldn’t even make it out group play and here they are.

So a few DMV teams did well in u13 but generally did not do well in u14 and up.

What does this tell you?

To me it seems like DMV teams are able to recruit big and fast players at a young age. This translates into youngers wins.

However, as the players get older tactics and coaching play a bigger role in national wins. This is what's missing.

Sound like you never watch these 2 teams play. There are reason why both are successful in their clubs. 2010 Bethesda has been consistently strong. They were the final 4 last year and made the final 8 this year. 2011 Arlington had a good show considering most dcum thought they weren’t even going to make out of the group play. Now personally I think these 2 teams are outliner they they just happened to have good players at the young age and will continue to do well enough. And you are lying to yourself if you think your coach/ club don’t care about the win at young age. That’s what they say when their team can’t hack it to make the playoffs.

I think you missed my point.

It's not the players, it's the coaching and club leadership that's not bringing players past the finish line.

This is the piece that's missing.

Parents want wins so coaches take shortcuts to make that happen. Think about it. When you see a defender boot it up to a forward who outruns a defender and scores it's considered a "good" thing. The team scored a goal, the parents are all happy, the coach gets to coach another day. But in reality what happend was the defenders missed an opportunity to work the ball up to the mids, the mids missed an opportunity to pass up to the forwards, and the forwards missed an opportunity to work as a group passing to gain advantage and unexpected angles.

If you want to win consistently at higher levels you have to work as a team to control the ball. There can still be situations where a defender might boot it up to a forward but this should be the exception to the rule not the only way a team can score.

I realize that I'm generalizing, hinting that players can only do kickball. This is not the case. I'm exaggerating to highlight what coaches should be focusing on. Specifically defined defensive, mid, and offensive set pieces. Work on these until the players can't stand them. But when they get in the game they also can't play any other way. This is how you gain an advantage while playing as a team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt Arl 2011 the number 1 seed going into Seattle? The top seed will generally not face other top teams immediately.

Yes they were hence they got to play wild card #5 in the round of 16 that happened to be Richmond. People always talking about DMV can’t compete with Texas and CA but to have 3 teams advanced from MA to the round of 16 is an accomplishment. It didn’t seem like any Texas team advanced to the final for 2011. The mighty Solar didn’t advanced out of group play. It might be luck or it might be not. All the top 8 have earned their spots so let’s not knock anyone down that they haven’t been tested. Pp on this board we’re saying 2011 Arlington wouldn’t even make it out group play and here they are.

So a few DMV teams did well in u13 but generally did not do well in u14 and up.

What does this tell you?

To me it seems like DMV teams are able to recruit big and fast players at a young age. This translates into youngers wins.

However, as the players get older tactics and coaching play a bigger role in national wins. This is what's missing.

Sound like you never watch these 2 teams play. There are reason why both are successful in their clubs. 2010 Bethesda has been consistently strong. They were the final 4 last year and made the final 8 this year. 2011 Arlington had a good show considering most dcum thought they weren’t even going to make out of the group play. Now personally I think these 2 teams are outliner they they just happened to have good players at the young age and will continue to do well enough. And you are lying to yourself if you think your coach/ club don’t care about the win at young age. That’s what they say when their team can’t hack it to make the playoffs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt Arl 2011 the number 1 seed going into Seattle? The top seed will generally not face other top teams immediately.

Yes they were hence they got to play wild card #5 in the round of 16 that happened to be Richmond. People always talking about DMV can’t compete with Texas and CA but to have 3 teams advanced from MA to the round of 16 is an accomplishment. It didn’t seem like any Texas team advanced to the final for 2011. The mighty Solar didn’t advanced out of group play. It might be luck or it might be not. All the top 8 have earned their spots so let’s not knock anyone down that they haven’t been tested. Pp on this board we’re saying 2011 Arlington wouldn’t even make it out group play and here they are.

So a few DMV teams did well in u13 but generally did not do well in u14 and up.

What does this tell you?

To me it seems like DMV teams are able to recruit big and fast players at a young age. This translates into youngers wins.

However, as the players get older tactics and coaching play a bigger role in national wins. This is what's missing.

Fact. Other clubs don’t care about U13. What matters are the U16-U19 age groups.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte was super close to the E8. Some last minute goal.

VDA 09 lost in a shootout to koge slammers. Who Cares? Still losers.

It stinks to fly out to Seattle for a week only to miss out on a short trip to Richmond because of PKs.

I'm sure they had more yellow cards than goals.

Lots of yellow cards, but won the group. Thanks for your support!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte was super close to the E8. Some last minute goal.

VDA 09 lost in a shootout to koge slammers. Who Cares? Still losers.

It stinks to fly out to Seattle for a week only to miss out on a short trip to Richmond because of PKs.

I'm sure they had more yellow cards than goals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was there, ARL 11 is a very good team. Maybe they did have an easier group and got to play Richmond but that’s how things work. I also saw BETH 10 play that is another great team that moves the ball around very well. Good luck to both, from what I saw there is another step up or two to be at the level of some of the CA teams.

im rooting for them both. That Arl team is the measurement for my DDs team and has been one of the few games we loon forward to competition wise. Crazy as thst is. So the question is how does the DMV area demand better. I see people pointing at the coaching. It cant be just that.. if thst were the case some would fly out west to learn wouldnt they?

I know those Arl girls played up pre ecnl for a lot of tourneys… they are battle tested. Wonder if the they do that out west by default

It’s great that Arl 11 is doing well, but I wouldn’t read too much into the success of a U13 team. It’s not like Arlington has cracked the code. It’s still the same program all their other teams go through. They just were fortunate to land some good young players.

Anonymous wrote:I was there, ARL 11 is a very good team. Maybe they did have an easier group and got to play Richmond but that’s how things work. I also saw BETH 10 play that is another great team that moves the ball around very well. Good luck to both, from what I saw there is another step up or two to be at the level of some of the CA teams.

im rooting for them both. That Arl team is the measurement for my DDs team and has been one of the few games we loon forward to competition wise. Crazy as thst is. So the question is how does the DMV area demand better. I see people pointing at the coaching. It cant be just that.. if thst were the case some would fly out west to learn wouldnt they?

I know those Arl girls played up pre ecnl for a lot of tourneys… they are battle tested. Wonder if the they do that out west by default

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasnt Arl 2011 the number 1 seed going into Seattle? The top seed will generally not face other top teams immediately.

Yes they were hence they got to play wild card #5 in the round of 16 that happened to be Richmond. People always talking about DMV can’t compete with Texas and CA but to have 3 teams advanced from MA to the round of 16 is an accomplishment. It didn’t seem like any Texas team advanced to the final for 2011. The mighty Solar didn’t advanced out of group play. It might be luck or it might be not. All the top 8 have earned their spots so let’s not knock anyone down that they haven’t been tested. Pp on this board we’re saying 2011 Arlington wouldn’t even make it out group play and here they are.

So a few DMV teams did well in u13 but generally did not do well in u14 and up.

What does this tell you?

To me it seems like DMV teams are able to recruit big and fast players at a young age. This translates into youngers wins.

However, as the players get older tactics and coaching play a bigger role in national wins. This is what's missing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte was super close to the E8. Some last minute goal.

VDA 09 lost in a shootout to koge slammers. Who Cares? Still losers.

It stinks to fly out to Seattle for a week only to miss out on a short trip to Richmond because of PKs.