Anonymous wrote:Where you live is your choice.

We need to stop being so caught up in our own arrogance and see what this is all about. It's kids playing soccer. I saw a kid on the opposing team today get the hardest ball to the face I've ever seen live. It rocked him. I didn't give a shit about who won or lost in that moment. I wanted him to be OK.

Be glad your kid plays and you get the joy of watching them. Clubs and leagues and standings come secondary.

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Anonymous wrote:SYC boys are higher rank than Arlington U14 and under.

No. They're not. Arlington is ranked higher in every single age group although some of them are quite close. It's not hard to check:

https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/10/Boys/ Arlington 27.87 SYC 26.67
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/11/Boys/ Arlington 28.52 SYC 28.44
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/11/Boys/ Arlington 30.93 SYC 30.81
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/13/Boys/ Arlington 32.36 SYC 32.07
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/14/Boys/ Arlington 36.00 SYC 34.56

U15 Boys and up in Arlington are made up of kids coming from other Clubs. Arlington likes to recruit new talent for the older age groups to stay strong. Many of the Arlington young kids make their 2nd team by the time they hit U15. Great move by Arlington!

It's not a "great move" by Arlington, because Arlington doesn't go looking for kids to replace their current kids. Kids look to move to Arlington because of the coaching, the team level and the league they play in. And the same thing will happen to SYC if you get/stay in a top league and do well. As the age groups get older the best kids seek the best coaches and the best teams. And if they're good enough they get on the team.

You're lucky. My kid is one of the best players on their team, but there are only two clubs in our area. We are on the better one. We would have to drive two+ hours to get to an ECNL team.

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Anonymous wrote:It's still baffling why McLean did this. No one I have talked to is happy with this!

It's obvious. It's for the long term survival of the club, or that's the thought anyway. The club is/was dying and needs numbers to survive. They recognize that in the near term, they are going to irritate some customers, however it's the price of growth.

This isn’t an answer. All those customers could already go to McLean. You need to assume that (1) everybody from SYC will stay with the new club, (2) that SYC kids will be willing to practice in McLean, and (3) the net gain in talent from SYC offsets the losses from McLean parents who will not go to Springfield for practice. Otherwise you will only lose more numbers. People are giving SYC too much credit. It’s dumb for both clubs and a major unforced error.

I don't think so. For ECNL coaches (whether they be from SYC or McLean), they now have the ability to see into both clubs rosters earlier to identify and groom those players before they contemplate jumping ship. As it is, when an SYC player decides he/she wants to play at the ECNL level, they have a choice of several clubs to leap to. The idea is to create that relationship before that point is reached. Subtle difference, but potentially important if it is managed properly. Of course, I have no faith that it will be managed properly at all. I am simply explaining the thought process of McLean in pursing this alliance.

SYC. Boys. Don’t. Care. They are better and already playing in a better league. They can already compete with Arlington, especially if they stick with mls next. Who are all the SYC boys now at ecnl clubs?

Sorry but SYC boys cannot yet compete with Arlington - which is not a knock on SYC but Arlington is really, really strong right now almost across the board. Arlington teams are ranked above SYC (and McLean) in every single age group on YSR except U18 where Arlington don't have a team (and U18/U19 won't matter for next year anyway), in many cases by several goals. Even the 2008 team, arguably Arlington's weakest, is ranked slightly ahead of SYC's 2008 MLSNext team, and in the state cup games between the two clubs there was a huge gulf in ability and team play and scorelines.

That said, SYC is definitely headed in the right direction and may well be able to challenge Arlington 3-4 years provided they can retain the best kids. And therein lies the problem. If SYC can't offer MLSNext, those kids - or at least the best ones - will leave at U15 to go either to DCU or to Arlington. The partnership with McLean at least gives them ECNL and therefore a reason for those kids to stay.

SYC boys are higher rank than Arlington U14 and under.

U15 Boys and up in Arlington are made up of kids coming from other Clubs. Arlington likes to recruit new talent for the older age groups to stay strong. Many of the Arlington young kids make their 2nd team by the time they hit U15. Great move by Arlington!

Agreed. U13 SYC smoked Loudoun and Loudoun smokes Arlington In that age group. This guy doesn’t have a clue about the pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SYC boys are higher rank than Arlington U14 and under.

No. They're not. Arlington is ranked higher in every single age group although some of them are quite close. It's not hard to check:

https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/10/Boys/ Arlington 27.87 SYC 26.67
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/11/Boys/ Arlington 28.52 SYC 28.44
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/11/Boys/ Arlington 30.93 SYC 30.81
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/13/Boys/ Arlington 32.36 SYC 32.07
https://youthsoccerrankings.us/rankings/VA/14/Boys/ Arlington 36.00 SYC 34.56

U15 Boys and up in Arlington are made up of kids coming from other Clubs. Arlington likes to recruit new talent for the older age groups to stay strong. Many of the Arlington young kids make their 2nd team by the time they hit U15. Great move by Arlington!

It's not a "great move" by Arlington, because Arlington doesn't go looking for kids to replace their current kids. Kids look to move to Arlington because of the coaching, the team level and the league they play in. And the same thing will happen to SYC if you get/stay in a top league and do well. As the age groups get older the best kids seek the best coaches and the best teams. And if they're good enough they get on the team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's still baffling why McLean did this. No one I have talked to is happy with this!

It's obvious. It's for the long term survival of the club, or that's the thought anyway. The club is/was dying and needs numbers to survive. They recognize that in the near term, they are going to irritate some customers, however it's the price of growth.

This isn’t an answer. All those customers could already go to McLean. You need to assume that (1) everybody from SYC will stay with the new club, (2) that SYC kids will be willing to practice in McLean, and (3) the net gain in talent from SYC offsets the losses from McLean parents who will not go to Springfield for practice. Otherwise you will only lose more numbers. People are giving SYC too much credit. It’s dumb for both clubs and a major unforced error.

I don't think so. For ECNL coaches (whether they be from SYC or McLean), they now have the ability to see into both clubs rosters earlier to identify and groom those players before they contemplate jumping ship. As it is, when an SYC player decides he/she wants to play at the ECNL level, they have a choice of several clubs to leap to. The idea is to create that relationship before that point is reached. Subtle difference, but potentially important if it is managed properly. Of course, I have no faith that it will be managed properly at all. I am simply explaining the thought process of McLean in pursing this alliance.

SYC. Boys. Don’t. Care. They are better and already playing in a better league. They can already compete with Arlington, especially if they stick with mls next. Who are all the SYC boys now at ecnl clubs?

Sorry but SYC boys cannot yet compete with Arlington - which is not a knock on SYC but Arlington is really, really strong right now almost across the board. Arlington teams are ranked above SYC (and McLean) in every single age group on YSR except U18 where Arlington don't have a team (and U18/U19 won't matter for next year anyway), in many cases by several goals. Even the 2008 team, arguably Arlington's weakest, is ranked slightly ahead of SYC's 2008 MLSNext team, and in the state cup games between the two clubs there was a huge gulf in ability and team play and scorelines.

That said, SYC is definitely headed in the right direction and may well be able to challenge Arlington 3-4 years provided they can retain the best kids. And therein lies the problem. If SYC can't offer MLSNext, those kids - or at least the best ones - will leave at U15 to go either to DCU or to Arlington. The partnership with McLean at least gives them ECNL and therefore a reason for those kids to stay.

SYC boys are higher rank than Arlington U14 and under.

U15 Boys and up in Arlington are made up of kids coming from other Clubs. Arlington likes to recruit new talent for the older age groups to stay strong. Many of the Arlington young kids make their 2nd team by the time they hit U15. Great move by Arlington!

Agreed. U13 SYC smoked Loudoun and Loudoun smokes Arlington In that age group. This guy doesn’t have a clue about the pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:SYC boys are higher rank than Arlington U14 and under.

U15 Boys and up in Arlington are made up of kids coming from other Clubs. Arlington likes to recruit new talent for the older age groups to stay strong. Many of the Arlington young kids make their 2nd team by the time they hit U15. Great move by Arlington!

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Anonymous wrote:When people reference Loudoun I get an ab workout. It’s too lame for paid staffers patrolling these threads. Your club is sh1t and nothing will change it. Well, maybe if you get rid of those buffoons running that toxic cesspool you might see some change.

I don’t really care. I am just stating facts. You need to get over whatever is up your crack about this.

You don’t care but you reply to PP.... lol?

Curious. Where’s the lie in PP’s statement?

I didn’t say he lied. Learn how to read moron. I don’t care what he thinks about Loudoun, which is a way to say STFU nobody cares but the very mentally ill posters who take a comment about SYC and Arlington to digress about somebody who fired them or did not put their kid on the right team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people reference Loudoun I get an ab workout. It’s too lame for paid staffers patrolling these threads. Your club is sh1t and nothing will change it. Well, maybe if you get rid of those buffoons running that toxic cesspool you might see some change.

I don’t really care. I am just stating facts. You need to get over whatever is up your crack about this.

You don’t care but you reply to PP.... lol?

Curious. Where’s the lie in PP’s statement?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people reference Loudoun I get an ab workout. It’s too lame for paid staffers patrolling these threads. Your club is sh1t and nothing will change it. Well, maybe if you get rid of those buffoons running that toxic cesspool you might see some change.

I don’t really care. I am just stating facts. You need to get over whatever is up your crack about this.

Anonymous wrote:When people reference Loudoun I get an ab workout. It’s too lame for paid staffers patrolling these threads. Your club is sh1t and nothing will change it. Well, maybe if you get rid of those buffoons running that toxic cesspool you might see some change.