Anonymous
Post 03/18/2026 04:59     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FVU's problem is that for the most part, the clubs that feed into it are weaker right now than the ones that don't have any feeder (Arlington, SYC, Alexandria) or only have one or two feeders (Loudoun, VDA). The top kids are already at those clubs because they know they can end up ECNL/GA/MLS Next if they just stay on their same team for U13. FVU has to hope they can get some of the second team kids from those big clubs or find some strong kids from the feeders. But then the teams don't have the chemistry of the teams that have been playing together for a few years already. They are coming from teams with all different playing styles and training backgrounds. ECNL should have given one Fairfax County club the ECNL badge and the best kids would have flocked to it within a few years. Then you can start developing them when they are young and add a couple new players vs. forming a team from scratch.


I think next year FVU will attract more players once MYS, SYC, Loudoun, Alexandria realize that GA is not the way to go and that ECNL offers greater benefits on the girls’ side—being more competitive and providing better opportunities for future recruitment.


If you ask any college coach this question. “Do you usually recruit from ECNL or GA ?”. They will tell you this.”We don’t care if it is GA or ECNL. Keep your daughter where she is happy”

But here is the catch. If you are on an average team like FVU (except 13s and possibly 12s for now) your DD won’t get much exposure competing in lower brackets in showcases and not participating in playoffs. That is a bigger problem being in FVU or any weak team regardless of the league. MYS 2010 team for example got more exposure this year than any mid table ECNL team not making playoffs. Why would they give up that privilege for an average team at FVU?
Anonymous
Post 03/18/2026 00:10     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Data point: About 200 players tonight at Liberty for Maryland United boys U15/16 ID session. Everyone is looking for a new place to land with age change. Reality setting in that most folks will be back where they started.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 16:46     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:FVU's problem is that for the most part, the clubs that feed into it are weaker right now than the ones that don't have any feeder (Arlington, SYC, Alexandria) or only have one or two feeders (Loudoun, VDA). The top kids are already at those clubs because they know they can end up ECNL/GA/MLS Next if they just stay on their same team for U13. FVU has to hope they can get some of the second team kids from those big clubs or find some strong kids from the feeders. But then the teams don't have the chemistry of the teams that have been playing together for a few years already. They are coming from teams with all different playing styles and training backgrounds. ECNL should have given one Fairfax County club the ECNL badge and the best kids would have flocked to it within a few years. Then you can start developing them when they are young and add a couple new players vs. forming a team from scratch.


I think next year FVU will attract more players once MYS, SYC, Loudoun, Alexandria realize that GA is not the way to go and that ECNL offers greater benefits on the girls’ side—being more competitive and providing better opportunities for future recruitment.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 15:55     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m only reading negative things about FVU on this site.
Anyone have a positive experience this past year at FVU? Girls or boys


You aren’t going to read very many positive opinions on DCUM period.

The girls program is stronger than the boys program. The 2013g just did very well at Jeff Cup this past weekend.

The boys program is just fine but loses a lot. KJ has a positive reputation as a coach.

It doesn’t produce pro trials and college acceptances at the same rate as other ECNL clubs for boys. But not every kid is expecting that path in the first place.



Thanks. Appreciate the feedback. Why is the boys program worse than the girls? Is the priority of the club on the girls side? Better coaches?


ECNL boys programs are not as desirable as MLS NEXT
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 15:49     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FVU's problem is that for the most part, the clubs that feed into it are weaker right now than the ones that don't have any feeder (Arlington, SYC, Alexandria) or only have one or two feeders (Loudoun, VDA). The top kids are already at those clubs because they know they can end up ECNL/GA/MLS Next if they just stay on their same team for U13. FVU has to hope they can get some of the second team kids from those big clubs or find some strong kids from the feeders. But then the teams don't have the chemistry of the teams that have been playing together for a few years already. They are coming from teams with all different playing styles and training backgrounds. ECNL should have given one Fairfax County club the ECNL badge and the best kids would have flocked to it within a few years. Then you can start developing them when they are young and add a couple new players vs. forming a team from scratch.


They have Valor


Is that the punchline to a joke?
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 12:14     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:FVU's problem is that for the most part, the clubs that feed into it are weaker right now than the ones that don't have any feeder (Arlington, SYC, Alexandria) or only have one or two feeders (Loudoun, VDA). The top kids are already at those clubs because they know they can end up ECNL/GA/MLS Next if they just stay on their same team for U13. FVU has to hope they can get some of the second team kids from those big clubs or find some strong kids from the feeders. But then the teams don't have the chemistry of the teams that have been playing together for a few years already. They are coming from teams with all different playing styles and training backgrounds. ECNL should have given one Fairfax County club the ECNL badge and the best kids would have flocked to it within a few years. Then you can start developing them when they are young and add a couple new players vs. forming a team from scratch.


They have Valor
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 05:52     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m only reading negative things about FVU on this site.
Anyone have a positive experience this past year at FVU? Girls or boys


You aren’t going to read very many positive opinions on DCUM period.

The girls program is stronger than the boys program. The 2013g just did very well at Jeff Cup this past weekend.

The boys program is just fine but loses a lot. KJ has a positive reputation as a coach.

It doesn’t produce pro trials and college acceptances at the same rate as other ECNL clubs for boys. But not every kid is expecting that path in the first place.



Thanks. Appreciate the feedback. Why is the boys program worse than the girls? Is the priority of the club on the girls side? Better coaches?
Anonymous
Post 03/16/2026 23:43     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
FVU's problem is that for the most part, the clubs that feed into it are weaker right now than the ones that don't have any feeder (Arlington, SYC, Alexandria) or only have one or two feeders (Loudoun, VDA). The top kids are already at those clubs because they know they can end up ECNL/GA/MLS Next if they just stay on their same team for U13. FVU has to hope they can get some of the second team kids from those big clubs or find some strong kids from the feeders. But then the teams don't have the chemistry of the teams that have been playing together for a few years already. They are coming from teams with all different playing styles and training backgrounds. ECNL should have given one Fairfax County club the ECNL badge and the best kids would have flocked to it within a few years. Then you can start developing them when they are young and add a couple new players vs. forming a team from scratch.
Anonymous
Post 03/16/2026 22:45     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:It is a club for rejects, the Island of Misfit Toys, the runts of the litter. It’s the dumping ground for all the other clubs. Like a U13 landfill. MV is as personable as a doorknob. Provides less feedback than a cloth room. Knows soccer as well as the Māori know English. It’s an odd piece of the Mid Atlantic ECNL. It’s like a putrid poop log that you think would/should sink to the bottom but you stand up and see it floating on the top.


Odd that you single out U13 for FVU. Let’s see what happened to the No VA top teams this past weekend at Jeff Cup.
- FVU in hardest division won three games and then lost in the finals
- NVA in second division did not win a single game
- Arlington in second division did not win a single game
- Revolution in third division did not win a single game
- SYC in fourth division won three games and then lost in the finals
- VDA in fourth division did not win a single game

Anonymous
Post 03/16/2026 22:02     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:It is a club for rejects, the Island of Misfit Toys, the runts of the litter. It’s the dumping ground for all the other clubs. Like a U13 landfill. MV is as personable as a doorknob. Provides less feedback than a cloth room. Knows soccer as well as the Māori know English. It’s an odd piece of the Mid Atlantic ECNL. It’s like a putrid poop log that you think would/should sink to the bottom but you stand up and see it floating on the top.


😂. +1 everything is true. FVU is FVU. It’s I what it is.
Anonymous
Post 03/16/2026 22:01     Subject: January Try outs / ID Sessions
Anonymous wrote:It is a club for rejects, the Island of Misfit Toys, the runts of the litter. It’s the dumping ground for all the other clubs. Like a U13 landfill. MV is as personable as a doorknob. Provides less feedback than a cloth room. Knows soccer as well as the Māori know English. It’s an odd piece of the Mid Atlantic ECNL. It’s like a putrid poop log that you think would/should sink to the bottom but you stand up and see it floating on the top.


That’s how you reference 12 years old simply trying to place a sport to the best of their ability?