Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - looking for thoughts on Bethesda Soccer vs. PPA vs. MSI Classic for a U9/U10 girl with reasonably good skills and a lot of passion for the game?

Has your DD had any formal coaching?

Bethesda has the best program and training, then PPA. MSI Classic is only loosely organized by MSI - you have to pass a not very hard skills test to be eligible for a Classic team. But then you have to either form your own classic team or try individually for other teams. The process for getting on a classic team is a major PIA because it is not coordinated. Classic teams find their own coach - either a parent or a paid coach that the team hires. So the coaching can be very, very good or not so good. It just depends. Same for cost of classic - if you have a parent volunteer coach, cost will be pretty low (but you often get what you pay for). The level of play on classic teams also varies widely - is it mostly friends or a former rec team that wants to stay together or is it team formed through talent? If you go the classic route, you should interview whoever is running each of the teams you try out for to understand its individual approach.

Agree with all of this. You nailed the description of MSI Classic!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - looking for thoughts on Bethesda Soccer vs. PPA vs. MSI Classic for a U9/U10 girl with reasonably good skills and a lot of passion for the game?

Has your DD had any formal coaching?

Bethesda has the best program and training, then PPA. MSI Classic is only loosely organized by MSI - you have to pass a not very hard skills test to be eligible for a Classic team. But then you have to either form your own classic team or try individually for other teams. The process for getting on a classic team is a major PIA because it is not coordinated. Classic teams find their own coach - either a parent or a paid coach that the team hires. So the coaching can be very, very good or not so good. It just depends. Same for cost of classic - if you have a parent volunteer coach, cost will be pretty low (but you often get what you pay for). The level of play on classic teams also varies widely - is it mostly friends or a former rec team that wants to stay together or is it team formed through talent? If you go the classic route, you should interview whoever is running each of the teams you try out for to understand its individual approach.

I think MSI has started a u9/u10 girls team or maybe it's an academy.

Anonymous wrote:^^ yes, please go to PAC or BRYC where you can make u9 just for showing up with your checkbook

The Arlington U9 girls took every girl that showed up last year too. Pretty much the same deal. The more kids you sign up the more $$.

^^ yes, please go to PAC or BRYC where you can make u9 just for showing up with your checkbook

You can tell where the craziest, most obnoxious, type-A competitive parents by the sheer number of questions/comments about one Club. I'd start there as a source of elimination.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - looking for thoughts on Bethesda Soccer vs. PPA vs. MSI Classic for a U9/U10 girl with reasonably good skills and a lot of passion for the game?

Has your DD had any formal coaching?

Bethesda has the best program and training, then PPA. MSI Classic is only loosely organized by MSI - you have to pass a not very hard skills test to be eligible for a Classic team. But then you have to either form your own classic team or try individually for other teams. The process for getting on a classic team is a major PIA because it is not coordinated. Classic teams find their own coach - either a parent or a paid coach that the team hires. So the coaching can be very, very good or not so good. It just depends. Same for cost of classic - if you have a parent volunteer coach, cost will be pretty low (but you often get what you pay for). The level of play on classic teams also varies widely - is it mostly friends or a former rec team that wants to stay together or is it team formed through talent? If you go the classic route, you should interview whoever is running each of the teams you try out for to understand its individual approach.

Anonymous wrote:7:18 - I don't think you can just try out for "Arlington Red." You try out for ASA Travel in general, and then they decide team placement for those who make it. Red is generally considered the top team at any age level, but some of the White team players are pretty close in talent.

They're holding tryouts for the 2009 birthdays starting 4/29 and then tryouts for other years start the week of 5/15, according to the email I received. I think they're planning on 3 tryout sessions for the entering birth year and they hope to stick with 2 per birth year for the rest.

At U13 and above when registering for Arlington you specify which team you want to be considered for (A only, A or B only, any team). Typically the have 2-3 teams at U13 and above.

I've heard they are reducing the number of teams overall, not sure how.

Anonymous wrote:NP here - looking for thoughts on Bethesda Soccer vs. PPA vs. MSI Classic for a U9/U10 girl with reasonably good skills and a lot of passion for the game?

Has your DD had any formal coaching?

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what the BRYC U9 program will look like? Will the fees be less? They have posted try-out information, and I was wondering if they gave an information out about it. Also, how are the boys' coaches for the younger age groups (U9 and U10)?

Here is some information for you to look at. I posted this in the larger travel thread regarding our experience with BRYC. -

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/6120/376898.page#10593523

Again this is my opinion only, perhaps attend the tryouts or better yet a practice and talk to some other parents. Overall if you asked me I would say I am not fond of the head coach. He comes off unapproachable and has had a total of 1 parent meeting in which promises were made and not kept. Of the few interactions, I had they havent been very positive (and no I am not up in their business and no I am not lobbying for special treatment.) I let the coaches do their jobs and keep to myself and enjoy the games but have the occasional question.

You can also find some details here of the changes now that BRYC is in ECNL and will not be in CCL or any league for that matter under U13

https://bryc.demosphere-secure.com/_files/ECNL_FAQ_07and08parents.pdf

I will admit the coaching has gotten better with the addition of some new coaches and all the kids tend to flock to him and talk about how fun and engaged the new coach is. At this age I expect for kids to look up to their coaches and not fear them like some seem to come off. I tell my kid when he has questions to ask the coach but from what he tells me he brushes them off. Strange if you ask me. From the handful of parents, I spoke with they seem split between looking for another club, going to stick it out or just unsure. Read some of the comments in the larger thread and there are a few comments regarding BRYC and the change to ECNL. Good Luck

NP here - looking for thoughts on Bethesda Soccer vs. PPA vs. MSI Classic for a U9/U10 girl with reasonably good skills and a lot of passion for the game?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many players Arlington (ASA) selects for the U9 boys team(s)?

We have a first grade 2009 birth year boy, so we are just starting to wade into this. He's already signed up for the tryouts. As a first grader, we're not really expecting him to make it, but he wants to try out anyway.

They have A, B, C, D, E, and F teams, so expect ~66 total to make the cut. They will have somewhere between twice and three times that amount trying out. You won't know what team you are on until after the cut and they hold a special invite-only 4th tryout for those ~66 players. Good luck. Very difficult to stand out and you will figure out very fast where your player falls once you ID the stronger/older/skilled players on the A and B tryout fields. Check out their ADP program as well.

A Team:
If your kid is big, fast and has played soccer.
If your kid is highly skilled and fast.

B Team
If your kid is big and fast but not terribly skilled but can play
Very skilled, but small and average speed.

C Team
Average in size, speed and skill

D Team
Same as C team, but not sure
Kids could also display some attribute such as speed and size but skill levels are to far off

E Team
Mostly small and slow but can demonstrate some soccer skill

F Team
Same as above but even less. These are kids that are coach-able and demonstrate that they want to play and it is hard to say no to them because you never know how any of them might turn out.

Thanks very much to both PPs! I appreciate your input; it's very helpful. These tryouts are truly no big deal to us, or to our son, but I was curious about how it's likely to work.

It will be interesting to see how DS fares. He stands out against first grade rec players, but he certainly won't stand out against the kinds of players trying out for the U9 teams. Last Spring (in K), he played (non-tryout; all welcome) ASA Academy for 2009 players, and he was middle of the pack. He's average height for 1st grade - which will make him small for U9 - but fast. We mostly signed him up for the U9 tryouts to give him a chance to play against some really good players. It wouldn't have been on our radar screen, but some of the ASA coaches encouraged him to try out. I've heard good things about the ADP program, and it might be the sweet spot for DS. We'll probably aim for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many players Arlington (ASA) selects for the U9 boys team(s)?

We have a first grade 2009 birth year boy, so we are just starting to wade into this. He's already signed up for the tryouts. As a first grader, we're not really expecting him to make it, but he wants to try out anyway.

They have A, B, C, D, E, and F teams, so expect ~66 total to make the cut. They will have somewhere between twice and three times that amount trying out. You won't know what team you are on until after the cut and they hold a special invite-only 4th tryout for those ~66 players. Good luck. Very difficult to stand out and you will figure out very fast where your player falls once you ID the stronger/older/skilled players on the A and B tryout fields. Check out their ADP program as well.

A Team:
If your kid is big, fast and has played soccer.
If your kid is highly skilled and fast.

B Team
If your kid is big and fast but not terribly skilled but can play
Very skilled, but small and average speed.

C Team
Average in size, speed and skill

D Team
Same as C team, but not sure
Kids could also display some attribute such as speed and size but skill levels are to far off

E Team
Mostly small and slow but can demonstrate some soccer skill

F Team
Same as above but even less. These are kids that are coach-able and demonstrate that they want to play and it is hard to say no to them because you never know how any of them might turn out.

Not bad.

You forgot about the ~120 players that get cut and don't make any team.

Many of them are the same as E and F, so those two teams are a complete crapshoot. Easy only to ID the top 20 players on your factors above.

Easy to ID the top 20 and the bottom 20. Everyone else in between is the crap shoot.

Sounds about right. The ones in that middle 80-100 or so that make it will have luck, will have been seen by staff before in some other setting, will simply be bigger or have a birthday closer to January, or they know the how to of the tryout process from an informed parent or older sibling. Most U9 parents come in pretty niave about the process and then just complain about what must be an impossible task for staff. To Arlington's credit, they do put eyeballs on every field and rotate a lot. Some clubs assign a single coach to babysit a pool of kids that you can tell are at the end of the field where you don't want your kid to be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many players Arlington (ASA) selects for the U9 boys team(s)?

We have a first grade 2009 birth year boy, so we are just starting to wade into this. He's already signed up for the tryouts. As a first grader, we're not really expecting him to make it, but he wants to try out anyway.

They have A, B, C, D, E, and F teams, so expect ~66 total to make the cut. They will have somewhere between twice and three times that amount trying out. You won't know what team you are on until after the cut and they hold a special invite-only 4th tryout for those ~66 players. Good luck. Very difficult to stand out and you will figure out very fast where your player falls once you ID the stronger/older/skilled players on the A and B tryout fields. Check out their ADP program as well.

A Team:
If your kid is big, fast and has played soccer.
If your kid is highly skilled and fast.

B Team
If your kid is big and fast but not terribly skilled but can play
Very skilled, but small and average speed.

C Team
Average in size, speed and skill

D Team
Same as C team, but not sure
Kids could also display some attribute such as speed and size but skill levels are to far off

E Team
Mostly small and slow but can demonstrate some soccer skill

F Team
Same as above but even less. These are kids that are coach-able and demonstrate that they want to play and it is hard to say no to them because you never know how any of them might turn out.

Not bad.

You forgot about the ~120 players that get cut and don't make any team.

Many of them are the same as E and F, so those two teams are a complete crapshoot. Easy only to ID the top 20 players on your factors above.

Easy to ID the top 20 and the bottom 20. Everyone else in between is the crap shoot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many players Arlington (ASA) selects for the U9 boys team(s)?

We have a first grade 2009 birth year boy, so we are just starting to wade into this. He's already signed up for the tryouts. As a first grader, we're not really expecting him to make it, but he wants to try out anyway.

They have A, B, C, D, E, and F teams, so expect ~66 total to make the cut. They will have somewhere between twice and three times that amount trying out. You won't know what team you are on until after the cut and they hold a special invite-only 4th tryout for those ~66 players. Good luck. Very difficult to stand out and you will figure out very fast where your player falls once you ID the stronger/older/skilled players on the A and B tryout fields. Check out their ADP program as well.

A Team:
If your kid is big, fast and has played soccer.
If your kid is highly skilled and fast.

B Team
If your kid is big and fast but not terribly skilled but can play
Very skilled, but small and average speed.

C Team
Average in size, speed and skill

D Team
Same as C team, but not sure
Kids could also display some attribute such as speed and size but skill levels are to far off

E Team
Mostly small and slow but can demonstrate some soccer skill

F Team
Same as above but even less. These are kids that are coach-able and demonstrate that they want to play and it is hard to say no to them because you never know how any of them might turn out.

Not bad.

You forgot about the ~120 players that get cut and don't make any team.

Many of them are the same as E and F, so those two teams are a complete crapshoot. Easy only to ID the top 20 players on your factors above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many players Arlington (ASA) selects for the U9 boys team(s)?

We have a first grade 2009 birth year boy, so we are just starting to wade into this. He's already signed up for the tryouts. As a first grader, we're not really expecting him to make it, but he wants to try out anyway.

They have A, B, C, D, E, and F teams, so expect ~66 total to make the cut. They will have somewhere between twice and three times that amount trying out. You won't know what team you are on until after the cut and they hold a special invite-only 4th tryout for those ~66 players. Good luck. Very difficult to stand out and you will figure out very fast where your player falls once you ID the stronger/older/skilled players on the A and B tryout fields. Check out their ADP program as well.

A Team:
If your kid is big, fast and has played soccer.
If your kid is highly skilled and fast.

B Team
If your kid is big and fast but not terribly skilled but can play
Very skilled, but small and average speed.

C Team
Average in size, speed and skill

D Team
Same as C team, but not sure
Kids could also display some attribute such as speed and size but skill levels are to far off

E Team
Mostly small and slow but can demonstrate some soccer skill

F Team
Same as above but even less. These are kids that are coach-able and demonstrate that they want to play and it is hard to say no to them because you never know how any of them might turn out.