Anonymous wrote:Looks like christian got his hands in all the cookie jars. well played christian, well played.

nice!

Looks like christian got his hands in all the cookie jars. well played christian, well played.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably were having turf wars with Loudoun over field space. Why would they not practice at the St James consistently? It made it sound like the plan from their email!

Because it is just one field. There is no way the St. James can support a soccer club without local fields.

Why not? FCV uses just one field all the time at Evergreen for practices?

Anonymous wrote:Let's face it. FCV has sold their name and DA slot to St James in Springfield along with the top coaches. It's a relocation. St James wants to fill the big building with customers and build a local DA team. They don't want to rent fields in Loudoun County.

80% of the current FCV players will be looking for new clubs. They should be pissed that this is happening after commitments taken for DA next year. Terrible timing for them.

This first part is probably true. While the email to parents says a majority of DA practices will still be in Loudoun, I wonder how long that will last, and the point above is a good one. I'm nervous the new owner will want to quickly move everyone over to Springfield. Maybe not next year, but you could certainly see it happening the year after.

This sucks for players currently committed for next season, especially the 06s and 05s.

This makes it sound like rosters already pretty much filled.

Anonymous wrote:They probably were having turf wars with Loudoun over field space. Why would they not practice at the St James consistently? It made it sound like the plan from their email!

Because it is just one field. There is no way the St. James can support a soccer club without local fields.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post letter? Spirit parents posted theirs. The more info we get as parents, the better.

FCV Girls DA Players and Parents,

Today we have some exciting news to share with you. FC Virginia has joined forces with The St. James to create the best-in-class youth player development platform. We have reached an agreement that will enable us to combine our resources and provide a high-quality environment on and off the field.
We are really thrilled about the opportunities we will be able to provide to our players which includes access to The St. James’ facility. This includes a 110,000 square-foot Field House ?—?the only indoor FIFA regulation-sized soccer pitch in the region?,??an 8,000 square-foot indoor High Performance Center, and a 33,000 square-foot Court House for futsal instruction and match play.

Other benefits raising the bar of our programming include:

- A dedicated marketing department to promote our DA programming

- A specialist in website management which will allow us to present our teams in the most professional way to allow us to attract more high-level players into the club

- Individual Training & Leadership Development Programming

- Advanced Player & Team Developmental Pathways

- High Performance Strength, Conditioning, Fitness & Wellness Instruction

- Tournaments & Special Events including showcase opportunities

- Access to meeting rooms and video analysis

- Futsal courts to be used as part of our DA programming and environment



Our Girls DA is already recognized as one of the regional and national leaders in player development and programming. This partnership will move us forward, improving the programming and development opportunities.

What does this mean for the Girls DA leadership and coaching staff? We will continue to work with the coaches that have provided some of the best coaching, training, and development in the area. Bobby and Christian will still run and manage the Development Academy, along with the current Development Academy staff coaches and our goalkeeper coach Zach, just like we do now.

What about our training and match location? The majority of our training sessions and matches will still be held at Evergreen Sportsplex, very similar to what we do now. St James is providing us with additional opportunities if we want to use them. We will be cautious about travel distance to training as well as the geography make-up of teams. For the winter period, we will have access to a full size 11v11 indoor field and futsal courts for training and can provide a year-round opportunity to maximize the performance output for our players. This is something no other club in the area can offer and this partnership adds more value to our program.

This partnership does not change any previously offered roster spots for the 2019-2020 DA season. We are continuing as planned as we have strengthened the rosters for each of our DA teams.
We will have an open house date where everyone will be invited to see the new facility as well as a presentation about how the Girls DA will benefit from this.

Please feel free to reach out to Christian or me with any questions you might have.

Christian will be at training tonight at Evergreen between 5-8pm if you would like to chat more in person. And I can chat afterwards too.

We are looking forward to the successful future of our Club.

All the best,

- Bobby Puppione
FCV DA Director

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought someone said all the FCV top rosters had been filled for next year.

Yes, but that was before today's announcement. Parents need confirmation that DA teams will not be practicing in Springfield. Otherwise there will be spots suddenly open on the FCV DA teams.

If you read FAQ under link to register for ID sessions it mentions fields in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince Williams, as well as Springfield.

Lake Fairfax is looking a lot more appealing? Travel time is half of what it would be to Manassas or Springfield, and no tolls.

Can someone post letter? Spirit parents posted theirs. The more info we get as parents, the better.

Anonymous wrote:As a FCV parent I can't even start how angry I am will move to Loudoun next season

+1 for Loudoun.. so it begins

Anonymous wrote:They probably were having turf wars with Loudoun over field space. Why would they not practice at the St James consistently? It made it sound like the plan from their email!

Email to parents said a "majority" of the training sessions will still be at Evergreen. It's unclear exactly what that means, and there is a big difference between driving to Springfield 40% of the time v 10% of the time.

As a FCV parent I can't even start how angry I am will move to Loudoun next season

No one wants their kid playing inside during fall and spring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably were having turf wars with Loudoun over field space. Why would they not practice at the St James consistently? It made it sound like the plan from their email!

It is liikely that Loudoun will start using Evergreen Sportsplex more often in my opinion

Any FCV parent able to weigh in on what you've been told about where DA will practice (or non DA for that matter)? Have you been told anything?

Let's face it. FCV has sold their name and DA slot to St James in Springfield along with the top coaches. It's a relocation. St James wants to fill the big building with customers and build a local DA team. They don't want to rent fields in Loudoun County.

80% of the current FCV players will be looking for new clubs. They should be pissed that this is happening after commitments taken for DA next year. Terrible timing for them.