Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of Alexandria, Achilles, Baltimore Armour, Bethesda, and SYC at the MLS-Next level:

1) Which club has the strongest teams on average?
2) Which clubs have the better infrastructure (practice fields, playing fields, coaches)?
3) Which one is best at developing players and giving talented players the opportunity to go to college or even pro?

If your son had the opportunity to play in any of these clubs, which one would you choose?

1) Who cares? Seriously. Winning-losing has nothing to do with the development of your kid.
2) Bethesda, Alexandria. Arlington (if you want ECNL) has access to nice pitches as well.
3) One issue that hasn't been discussed is the 'poaching' of players by some of the bigger clubs. Sometimes clubs at a tournament or something will put a thought in a parent's mind that they need to switch. Sometimes it's not always the club reaching out, but families who grew and developed in one program jumping ship the last 2-3 years to get a bump on entrance due to real or perceived differences in one club's ability to push kids forward.

I think as others have mentioned the number one question is "what is your goal" for your kid? I know several players who are going for D1, pro, or even youth national team and the commitment required of these teenagers includes nearly full-time training, dropping out of normal high school and switching to tutors, along with significant travel every season. Not saying that is the only path, but there are some who are going "all in" to push to the highest level.

Bethesda is struggling for pitches now. Lost two fields permanently and one is questionable if they can still squat on it. Those fields haven’t been replaced. We are on an MLSNext team and we have 5 different practice fields this month and nothing planned for October yet.

That stinks. Maybe I’m too deep in the world of kids soccer, but you’d think that the town of Bethesda would be proud that they’re associated with a strong soccer program and would work with the club on field space. I’m not a Bethesda parent but they field very strong teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of Alexandria, Achilles, Baltimore Armour, Bethesda, and SYC at the MLS-Next level:

1) Which club has the strongest teams on average?
2) Which clubs have the better infrastructure (practice fields, playing fields, coaches)?
3) Which one is best at developing players and giving talented players the opportunity to go to college or even pro?

If your son had the opportunity to play in any of these clubs, which one would you choose?

1) Who cares? Seriously. Winning-losing has nothing to do with the development of your kid.
2) Bethesda, Alexandria. Arlington (if you want ECNL) has access to nice pitches as well.
3) One issue that hasn't been discussed is the 'poaching' of players by some of the bigger clubs. Sometimes clubs at a tournament or something will put a thought in a parent's mind that they need to switch. Sometimes it's not always the club reaching out, but families who grew and developed in one program jumping ship the last 2-3 years to get a bump on entrance due to real or perceived differences in one club's ability to push kids forward.

I think as others have mentioned the number one question is "what is your goal" for your kid? I know several players who are going for D1, pro, or even youth national team and the commitment required of these teenagers includes nearly full-time training, dropping out of normal high school and switching to tutors, along with significant travel every season. Not saying that is the only path, but there are some who are going "all in" to push to the highest level.

Bethesda is struggling for pitches now. Lost two fields permanently and one is questionable if they can still squat on it. Those fields haven’t been replaced. We are on an MLSNext team and we have 5 different practice fields this month and nothing planned for October yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of Alexandria, Achilles, Baltimore Armour, Bethesda, and SYC at the MLS-Next level:

1) Which club has the strongest teams on average?
2) Which clubs have the better infrastructure (practice fields, playing fields, coaches)?
3) Which one is best at developing players and giving talented players the opportunity to go to college or even pro?

If your son had the opportunity to play in any of these clubs, which one would you choose?

1) Who cares? Seriously. Winning-losing has nothing to do with the development of your kid.
2) Bethesda, Alexandria. Arlington (if you want ECNL) has access to nice pitches as well.
3) One issue that hasn't been discussed is the 'poaching' of players by some of the bigger clubs. Sometimes clubs at a tournament or something will put a thought in a parent's mind that they need to switch. Sometimes it's not always the club reaching out, but families who grew and developed in one program jumping ship the last 2-3 years to get a bump on entrance due to real or perceived differences in one club's ability to push kids forward.

I think as others have mentioned the number one question is "what is your goal" for your kid? I know several players who are going for D1, pro, or even youth national team and the commitment required of these teenagers includes nearly full-time training, dropping out of normal high school and switching to tutors, along with significant travel every season. Not saying that is the only path, but there are some who are going "all in" to push to the highest level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shame on Bethesda for attracting good students. There are elite schools in Virginia too, such as Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria. In soccer and life, there comes a time when you have to stop making excuses and go out and get the grades while doing the work on the pitch. We all realize that soccer is not football or basketball where you can be an average student and get a scholarship. Being a good student is part of the equation, and you can be a good student at a public school. At some point, results matter.

Being a good student at a public school in Woodbridge or Manassas isn’t going to put you on equal footing with even “below average” kids from St. Alban’s and Georgetown Prep. Enough with the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” bullshit and recognize that there are large economic disparities in this area and country. Bethesda is a better club than VDA - probably not that close, imo - but the reason Bethesda sends kids to Ivy League schools and VDA doesn’t, isn’t because of Bethesda’s training, it’s because of the parent’s standing on the sidelines.

Anonymous wrote:

Probably an economist wrote:

In my experience, this is patently false. Students with comparable est scores and skills from a public vs. a private school and comparable soccer abilitiy would almost certainly be preferred, ceteris paribus. Do you serve on admisssions committees or recruiting/hiring committees?

Just wanted to give you props for using ceteris paribus in a discussion about youth soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shame on Bethesda for attracting good students. There are elite schools in Virginia too, such as Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria. In soccer and life, there comes a time when you have to stop making excuses and go out and get the grades while doing the work on the pitch. We all realize that soccer is not football or basketball where you can be an average student and get a scholarship. Being a good student is part of the equation, and you can be a good student at a public school. At some point, results matter.

Being a good student at a public school in Woodbridge or Manassas isn’t going to put you on equal footing with even “below average” kids from St. Alban’s and Georgetown Prep. Enough with the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” bullshit and recognize that there are large economic disparities in this area and country. Bethesda is a better club than VDA - probably not that close, imo - but the reason Bethesda sends kids to Ivy League schools and VDA doesn’t, isn’t because of Bethesda’s training, it’s because of the parent’s standing on the sidelines.

In my experience, this is patently false. Students with comparable est scores and skills from a public vs. a private school and comparable soccer abilitiy would almost certainly be preferred, ceteris paribus. Do you serve on admisssions committees or recruiting/hiring committees?

Probably an economist wrote:

In my experience, this is patently false. Students with comparable est scores and skills from a public vs. a private school and comparable soccer abilitiy would almost certainly be preferred, ceteris paribus. Do you serve on admisssions committees or recruiting/hiring committees?