Anonymous wrote:How much do the DA soccer clubs around here charge? I think I saw Spirit charges $5K. What about the others? How much do you spend on travel and other costs?

After all is said and done any non fully funded DA will run $5-8k a year.

How much do the DA soccer clubs around here charge? I think I saw Spirit charges $5K. What about the others? How much do you spend on travel and other costs?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ here’s the answer: scour more than DA programs.

Talent ID sessions aren’t dragging in the majority of soccer players.

How about going to local pick up spots and teaching out into communities?

Not everyone is a rich, white yuppie that receives emails about talent ID sessions or has the means to get to them.

Most countries it’s the poorest that make it. In the US, we take our most privileged with a healthy dose of nepotism.

Of course any player is better off training abroad than a US DA team.

I love how people believe that Fairy Tales are the answer. “If only scouts went to neighborhoods” ? This isn’t how it is done anywhere. Yes, the occasional serendipitous Hollywood story happens but good soccer nations have both a high cultural literacy of the sport as well as a clearly defined youth program and playe pyramid. But this belief that scouts are driving through slums and neighborhoods just looking to watch amazing talent at pickup games as pure fantasy.

Ummm....how do you think most S.American players were discovered ?

The greatest of all time. Not out is some pussy DA system filled with local ass-kisser parents’ kids. Aka Loudoun, Arlington, etc.

They were discovered through a club structure that has a pyramid. Pro club youth programs scout local youth programs but they aren’t driving around the barrios looking for talent at pickup games. Kids play organized soccer in South America too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a DA program right now at the younger age group and during a meeting I found out my coworker's son is also doing DA for Sporting KC. They pay $0!!! I'd reconsider driving my son from the burbs to DC if they cover the cost. Until then, no way in hell. $30 just top hop on 66.

From you experience, was the DA training any different from other travel clubs?

We are in a U12 program and to be honest, I don't see a difference in training. Same level of coaching from our previous travel club. With that being said, the talent level is much higher from top to bottom and more training days. Also, the teams you play are all very good which was a crap shoot at the local travel scene. My son is a multi sport kid so we may find our way back to club ball next fall. He loves the environment, but didn't like giving up swim and basketball this year. Our practices went a few weeks beyond the last game which put him in a bad spot with basketball schedules.

DA coaches either has no incentives to develop talents or lack the knowledge to do so. I would rather pick the former. Strong competitions within the team do help them to get better but whether it's enough is the question. It will be harder and harder to keep the multi sports going, especially swimming is on the list. From what I heard swimming trainings probably is one of the toughest among all the youth sports.

I should clarify, he swims for exercise not on a competitive team. It's more of a swim club type of activity. But basketball is a close second to soccer for him. My other issue is that the development track for DA at this club is done at u14 which means we go back to travel or tryout for DCU which isn't an option given the commute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a DA program right now at the younger age group and during a meeting I found out my coworker's son is also doing DA for Sporting KC. They pay $0!!! I'd reconsider driving my son from the burbs to DC if they cover the cost. Until then, no way in hell. $30 just top hop on 66.

From you experience, was the DA training any different from other travel clubs?

We are in a U12 program and to be honest, I don't see a difference in training. Same level of coaching from our previous travel club. With that being said, the talent level is much higher from top to bottom and more training days. Also, the teams you play are all very good which was a crap shoot at the local travel scene. My son is a multi sport kid so we may find our way back to club ball next fall. He loves the environment, but didn't like giving up swim and basketball this year. Our practices went a few weeks beyond the last game which put him in a bad spot with basketball schedules.

DA coaches either has no incentives to develop talents or lack the knowledge to do so. I would rather pick the former. Strong competitions within the team do help them to get better but whether it's enough is the question. It will be harder and harder to keep the multi sports going, especially swimming is on the list. From what I heard swimming trainings probably is one of the toughest among all the youth sports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a DA program right now at the younger age group and during a meeting I found out my coworker's son is also doing DA for Sporting KC. They pay $0!!! I'd reconsider driving my son from the burbs to DC if they cover the cost. Until then, no way in hell. $30 just top hop on 66.

From you experience, was the DA training any different from other travel clubs?

We are in a U12 program and to be honest, I don't see a difference in training. Same level of coaching from our previous travel club. With that being said, the talent level is much higher from top to bottom and more training days. Also, the teams you play are all very good which was a crap shoot at the local travel scene. My son is a multi sport kid so we may find our way back to club ball next fall. He loves the environment, but didn't like giving up swim and basketball this year. Our practices went a few weeks beyond the last game which put him in a bad spot with basketball schedules.

This isn't a communist country and some kids will not be able to participate in things because they just can't afford it regardless if the DA gives them a free soccer. If they are playing on a team, why doesn't their coach do some leg work and get these kids to ID sessions? If they can't afford to play on teams, how are they going to get to DAs and deal with transportation, lodging, etc even if the DA pays for their soccer. Some kids will be excluded...from ALOT of things because they can't afford it. It happens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So people really expect DCU to have a free bus that drives around the DMV bringing kids to and taking kids home from practice? How many buses would that take? How many stops?

No we expect the US to have real scouts. Just scouting DA games is a very teeny, tiny fraction of players and not the best.

There is zero community outreach.

We also expect them to stop labeling kids very early and never giving a second look. That isn’t how development works.

And their buddy system with coaches has got to end as well. The undeserved false hype of mediocre at best players.

They need to assess players on non-US soccer attributes. They still can’t pick a good midfielder with intelligence.

No one said only DA players are scouted. It's just the easiest way to get scouted, which may factor into some families' decisions about when to move their kids to DA. There is also a lot of community outreach that goes on, though that varies by club. Most of your other comments are huge generalizations and inaccurate in many cases as well. You seem unable to tolerate conversations about the DA. Why is that?

^^ our DA teams are run by the travel coaches that marked all of the players at age 8. It’s utterly worthless to go to the local Club because they won’t even look at kids from long ago that we’re on a lower team which is why everyone drives all over the DMV. You have kids playing on a DA club 50 minutes away when there is one 5 minutes from their house. I have seen kids progress light years from 8-13. And it’s unforgiving system filled with arrogance in the coaching staff. It’s laughable.

I would just train the kid to the best of their individual ability and not even make a move to one of these things until 16. The fact they say you have to get in young or you can never get on a team later on tells you everything you need to know about a broken system. There should be cuts every season.

Anonymous wrote:So people really expect DCU to have a free bus that drives around the DMV bringing kids to and taking kids home from practice? How many buses would that take? How many stops?

No we expect the US to have real scouts. Just scouting DA games is a very teeny, tiny fraction of players and not the best.

There is zero community outreach.

We also expect them to stop labeling kids very early and never giving a second look. That isn’t how development works.

And their buddy system with coaches has got to end as well. The undeserved false hype of mediocre at best players.

They need to assess players on non-US soccer attributes. They still can’t pick a good midfielder with intelligence.

So people really expect DCU to have a free bus that drives around the DMV bringing kids to and taking kids home from practice? How many buses would that take? How many stops?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ here’s the answer: scour more than DA programs.

Talent ID sessions aren’t dragging in the majority of soccer players.

How about going to local pick up spots and teaching out into communities?

Not everyone is a rich, white yuppie that receives emails about talent ID sessions or has the means to get to them.

Most countries it’s the poorest that make it. In the US, we take our most privileged with a healthy dose of nepotism.

Of course any player is better off training abroad than a US DA team.

I love how people believe that Fairy Tales are the answer. “If only scouts went to neighborhoods” ? This isn’t how it is done anywhere. Yes, the occasional serendipitous Hollywood story happens but good soccer nations have both a high cultural literacy of the sport as well as a clearly defined youth program and playe pyramid. But this belief that scouts are driving through slums and neighborhoods just looking to watch amazing talent at pickup games as pure fantasy.

Ummm....how do you think most S.American players were discovered ?

The greatest of all time. Not out is some pussy DA system filled with local ass-kisser parents’ kids. Aka Loudoun, Arlington, etc.

Sounds like someone's kid couldn't make Arlington's or Loudoun's DA teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ here’s the answer: scour more than DA programs.

Talent ID sessions aren’t dragging in the majority of soccer players.

How about going to local pick up spots and teaching out into communities?

Not everyone is a rich, white yuppie that receives emails about talent ID sessions or has the means to get to them.

Most countries it’s the poorest that make it. In the US, we take our most privileged with a healthy dose of nepotism.

Of course any player is better off training abroad than a US DA team.

I love how people believe that Fairy Tales are the answer. “If only scouts went to neighborhoods” ? This isn’t how it is done anywhere. Yes, the occasional serendipitous Hollywood story happens but good soccer nations have both a high cultural literacy of the sport as well as a clearly defined youth program and playe pyramid. But this belief that scouts are driving through slums and neighborhoods just looking to watch amazing talent at pickup games as pure fantasy.

Ummm....how do you think most S.American players were discovered ?

The greatest of all time. Not out is some pussy DA system filled with local ass-kisser parents’ kids. Aka Loudoun, Arlington, etc.

Rich white yuppie kids in Germany and several other countries do just fine at becoming world class soccer players. And if we had the same coaches, soccer infrastructure and culture, and profit incentives in place, we would do just fine with our current--pretty diverse, and not monolithically wealthy--player pool as well. Of course, if we had those things, it also would be far easier for kids who can't afford transportation to participate in good local clubs and make their way through the system. So many people ignore the almost intractable problems with turning US soccer into a world power.

Anonymous wrote:^^ here’s the answer: scour more than DA programs.

Talent ID sessions aren’t dragging in the majority of soccer players.

How about going to local pick up spots and teaching out into communities?

Not everyone is a rich, white yuppie that receives emails about talent ID sessions or has the means to get to them.

Most countries it’s the poorest that make it. In the US, we take our most privileged with a healthy dose of nepotism.

Of course any player is better off training abroad than a US DA team.

I love how people believe that Fairy Tales are the answer. “If only scouts went to neighborhoods” ? This isn’t how it is done anywhere. Yes, the occasional serendipitous Hollywood story happens but good soccer nations have both a high cultural literacy of the sport as well as a clearly defined youth program and playe pyramid. But this belief that scouts are driving through slums and neighborhoods just looking to watch amazing talent at pickup games as pure fantasy.