Anonymous wrote:Has Bethesda told kids what teams they will be on yet?

We have heard for out boy. Offers probably go out at different times for different age groups.

Anonymous wrote:um, why would you try out think he's too young and not ready to commit? How you answer that question will determine how they'll look at you in the future

If you say oh, we just wanted to see where he might stand - well, you're not really serious, are you? So why would they take you seriously next year?

If you say well, he was placed on a lower team then we wanted - well, you're getting into the travel program which is a higher level then what you're currently playing, right? So why would they take you seriously next year?

...etc

Not PP, but we were in exactly the same boat as PP, and declined an U9 roster spot (with ASA) for a young 2009 boy. What's wrong with giving your son some experience with tryouts and deciding to not have him play on a travel team when he is only in the second grade? Wouldn't the coaches rather you decline the roster spot, rather than take it and potentially struggle with the commitment later in the year? Family circumstances could be entirely different next year, or the year after that, and allow you (player and family) to make the commitment . My DS will likely try out again in a couple of years, and I hope that he will be evaulated fairly at that time. And if he doesn't make the team then, so be it.

PP, there are plenty of parents who aren't willing to make the commitment to have their second graders play travel soccer. Any decent club should understand this, and shouldn't hold your participation in tryouts against you.

PAC is $200"-$2300/year all inclusive.

um, why would you try out think he's too young and not ready to commit? How you answer that question will determine how they'll look at you in the future

If you say oh, we just wanted to see where he might stand - well, you're not really serious, are you? So why would they take you seriously next year?

If you say well, he was placed on a lower team then we wanted - well, you're getting into the travel program which is a higher level then what you're currently playing, right? So why would they take you seriously next year?

...etc

Have a U9 boy with an offer from a big club in our area (ffx county). He is young - Fall birthday. If we say No this year due to his age and just not being ready to commit, will this hurt him next year if he tries out? Plans to stay with current team - kind of between rec and travel.

Has Bethesda told kids what teams they will be on yet?

does anyone know the approximate cost for a year of PAC? (club fees, team fees, etc.?) Their website is not quite as easy to navigate as ASA's and I can't find that info. Considering it for our 2008 girl who just got cut from ASA Travel. (though I'm pushing harder for ASA ADP for commuting and cost reasons.)

Anonymous wrote:DS is getting bumped down a team. We're not surprised. The birth-year change hurt him -- he's just not quite as fast as the others in his age group.

The coach asked us to meet before practice and told us. He told us what he really likes about DS and what he can work on at a lower level.

This is how a classy club does it.

This is how most places will do it if they can. Times when this doesn't happen is when there is a coaching change. If the outgoing coach is not privy then they cant talk to you and the new coach certainly isn't married to any of the kids and likely isn't going to offer any explanation though. But a little empathy and respect should not be that hard to muster.

Anonymous wrote:DS is getting bumped down a team. We're not surprised. The birth-year change hurt him -- he's just not quite as fast as the others in his age group.

The coach asked us to meet before practice and told us. He told us what he really likes about DS and what he can work on at a lower level.

This is how a classy club does it.

This should be standard operating procedure in my opinion. I understand it could be hard to notify every child with these large clubs but I also doubt that, that many get shifted year to year. At a minimum hold a parent meeting and tell folks kids might get moved to not be surprised..etc etc

DS is getting bumped down a team. We're not surprised. The birth-year change hurt him -- he's just not quite as fast as the others in his age group.

The coach asked us to meet before practice and told us. He told us what he really likes about DS and what he can work on at a lower level.

This is how a classy club does it.

One of my kids, a rising U12 boy, didn't have any offers after three tryouts. He was stressed, but we stayed calm and told him that if we didn't get an offer on one of the teams we wanted, that we'd just focus on private training and pickup this summer and stay in touch with the teams we were interested in. I've found that spots always open up if you keep the lines of communication open and the kid keeps working and doing his part. This kid came into it a little late, but now is improving and really enjoying it and working a lot on his own. It's been pretty cool to witness.

Anyways, three offers came rolling in a couple days apart and he wound up getting his first choice, so he was ecstatic. It worked out in this instance, but I was confident in our Plan B if we needed it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15:06 here - cut completely. I'm sad for her; maybe she'll be ok with not having to practice 3 days a week. I know she'd like a bit more free time than she has now. I just took the club and team fees out of my fall budget, and that part was awesome, at least.

Coach (new guy) seemed like a nice guy - made me wish we got the chance to play for him!

I'm sorry to hear this. You could move to PAC, they are still holding try-outs this week and don't cut unless they can't fit more kids on a team. My son didn't make it into Arlington or McLean and really likes PAC. There are quite a few Arlington kids on it.

The 05 PAC girls team would probably love to get a new player. If you are in this age group, maybe check it out. 1-2 coaches for a single team of girls is a pretty nice change. We were at PAC awhile ago and it was better then the Arl lower teams

Anonymous wrote:^ ourclub looked like it was doing this. Then after 3-4 weeks into Fall, we never saw TD or head coach again.

Age Group directors had no time to go watch other teams like they said they would.

Some kids manage to look good at tryouts and then suck all year and barely show up for things as the year goes on.

Just because the TD isn't watching doesn't mean the coaches are not communicating. More goes on in the background than you realize. But frankly not that much changes from week to week. Several months or even a season or two need to pass before some kids begin to make their progress.

^ ourclub looked like it was doing this. Then after 3-4 weeks into Fall, we never saw TD or head coach again.

Age Group directors had no time to go watch other teams like they said they would.

Some kids manage to look good at tryouts and then suck all year and barely show up for things as the year goes on.

Anonymous wrote:^^how are they evaluating them when they don't go to any of the games of below A/B players. They don't watch other kids at practice. They don't give any weight to lower team coaches. TDs havent seen them.

So, nope, in many clubs they aren't evaluating most kids at all all year--definitely no comparisons against existing upper level.

We had one player move up mid-year that was markedly worse than everyone on the team and team below. Blatantly obvious.

I said "good clubs know their kids". But even in large clubs with up to 5 teams the coaches and TD's should be talking to each other. Coaches should be trying to practice with the other teams. The problem is parents just want the security of their little bubble and get territorial regarding their team. Good clubs work with player pools not "teams". So my advice is look for a club that will train as pools so that the coaches can see as many players as possible and against a variety of kids.