Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:37     Subject: Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:Question! Moving my family back to NOVA. Was more intrigued with this thread for honest answers. Daughter currently plays DA, but not too impressed with DA teams other than FCV. Too far for us to drive, would reconsider ECNL. Daughter is 04 player. Was going to ask current coach, but didn’t want to see a change in playing time.


If FCV is too far, that suggests so is Loudoun. My daughter is an 04 on one of the area DA/ECNL teams (no need to reveal or it will start a new war.) Suffice to say there are big pros and cons to every single one. If I was you, I'd have your daughter go to practices with some of the clubs which are closest to you and decide where she/you feel she'll have a good fit, get to play, gel with the coaching staff, etc. Don't worry about the club record, what people on this board say (whether they are lovers or haters), etc. There's always a merry-go-round happening and people post based on their in the moment experience.....
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:36     Subject: Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
So thinking about changing clubs. Kid is on the second. No problem with that but man ....I usually hang at practice because practice is in the middle of rush hour. The coach coaches the A & B teams. The B team really just scrimmages by themselves. I mean it’s like 99% of the time the coach is with the A team while the B team just does their own thing on the other 1/2 of the field. It’s a big club. Most parents do not hang around. I do not even think they know what’s going on. I feel like I am paying to subsidize the A team and getting no instructions for my kid.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:28     Subject: Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
I think it's nuts, especially at the younger ages, to pick a kid at one point in the year and expect them to be the same for the next 12 months, especially as kids are growing and learning (or not learning). I've even see kids come back from a Summer a bit taller, faster or even more skilled than they were in May. No idea why the tryouts are in the Spring rather than before the season starts.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:27     Subject: Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Question! Moving my family back to NOVA. Was more intrigued with this thread for honest answers. Daughter currently plays DA, but not too impressed with DA teams other than FCV. Too far for us to drive, would reconsider ECNL. Daughter is 04 player. Was going to ask current coach, but didn’t want to see a change in playing time.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:20     Subject: Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Imagine if coaches were 100% committed to developing their players, and didn’t have to spend any time recruiting or dealing with the politics that come with yearly cuts? Jockeying for playing time, who’s leaving, who’s staying, keeping parents happy so they don’t leave, keeping players from sabotaging each other. Imagine if players were 100% committed to the team and their teammates. Not always competing with each other but learning to get along, play as a team, cheer for each other, win or lose as a team.

It’s not utopia but there is a valid case to be made for a program based on true player development not recruitment. There will always be some level of turnover as kids decide to focus on other sports, families move to and from the area.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 08:17     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Our coach for younger ages - always says that the tryout for the current team players is mainly based on their performance during the year and from what the coach (and other coaches see so its not just one coach opinion) . The coach early on before tryouts tells the parents that they will have a discussion with a parent/player if they see them on the bubble and reason why weeks before tryouts. Bubble meaning, someone from lower team may move up (which they have history of doing) or if there are outsiders at tryouts that are very strong who may take slot. And if they are the bubble, they understand that the player may try out somewhere else. During the season, they also will move players up to play with team for a game or more to see other players from the other teams.

Being around many different youth sports, I think that is a fair approach in an imperfect situation.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 07:51     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.



Crap players making the team, never gets better, and has no incentive to work hard to earn your spot.


+1000. Absolutely right. And at a premium cost too.


Actually they move players from the first team and give opportunities in-season for movement (move up within age group and beyond) more than any Club we have been with. You don’t coast in your team spot all year like at a travel Club. Somebody working harder in a lower training group will take your spot. New players come in as well and they can push kids down so there is always high incentive for playing time. But, kids can stay in the program they just might not stay on one of the higher teams/training groups.

I played for a team that didn’t have open tryouts, but they did make cuts. Players would tryout throughout the year at practices if they contacted the Coach. It was the number 1 team in the Nation for a stretch. I like that concept better and we had real spring seasons vs early May huge Club tryouts. It’s almost like spring season means nothing anymore.

Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 07:29     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.



Crap players making the team, never gets better, and has no incentive to work hard to earn your spot.


+1000. Absolutely right. And at a premium cost too.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 07:23     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.



Crap players making the team, never gets better, and has no incentive to work hard to earn your spot.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 07:22     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is one of many reasons why travel soccer is pure insanity. Clubs have no loyalty whatsoever to kids or families and will cut your kid in a heartbeat if they can get better players from outside the club. But God forbid you try to get a backup plan in place for your kids in case they need one. That's appalling disloyalty!

Unless your kids is one of the top players on his or her team, it is smart to consider other options while you can.

It is also madness that tryouts happen before the season is over. This causes all sorts of drama, particularly for Memorial Day tournaments. I hate it so much. My kid played a Memorial Day tournament when some, but not all of the kids on the team had offers for next year and my kid had a "contingent offer" which depended on how many outside players they wanted more than my kid accepted their offers. The kids talk about that stuff and it completely and totally sucks for everyone!! Nothing like knowing your coach only wants you if nothing better comes along.


Are there any clubs where players don’t need to worry about being cut or replaced? It would be a nice selling point to not have to deal with this every year.


It's called earning your spot. There was and always will be tryouts, I had to tryout every year for the football team no matter what season I had before.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2019 06:32     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.



I really don’t want to start another Barca discussion here, but that does sound pretty good. Maybe it’ll inspire others to follow. If we lived near Leesburg would definitely be giving them a look
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2019 22:47     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.



+100
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2019 22:46     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
^Barca. God, it was mother f@cking refreshing not going through tryouts last spring with my kids...and will be again this Spring. Makes for a much nicer spring season as well when not totally eclipsed by weeks of Club tryouts vs practices and frantic parents/players wondering where they stand. They invest in the kids they have. You can’t develop players when you cut and recruit continually every 10 months.

Anonymous
Post 03/14/2019 22:44     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Every club has a rec program. No need to worry about being cut or replaced.

Our family participates in the insanity of DMV travel soccer. We pay a lot of money, and harbor no illusions of a financial return on our investment. We do it, though, exactly for these kind of life experiences.

You didn't make the team? Work hard. Or find a different team.

Coach doesn't value you? Work hard, or find a better situation.

Style of play doesn't fit with your abilities? Work harder. Or find a better situation.

This is life. Coming onto a new team, getting along with people you've just met based on working towards a common goal, eventually becoming friends, etc.

Self-assessment, taking criticism, working through disappointment, not letting success get to ones head--all of this is why we play.
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2019 22:21     Subject: Re:Will you change clubs this Summer and why?
Anonymous wrote:This is one of many reasons why travel soccer is pure insanity. Clubs have no loyalty whatsoever to kids or families and will cut your kid in a heartbeat if they can get better players from outside the club. But God forbid you try to get a backup plan in place for your kids in case they need one. That's appalling disloyalty!

Unless your kids is one of the top players on his or her team, it is smart to consider other options while you can.

It is also madness that tryouts happen before the season is over. This causes all sorts of drama, particularly for Memorial Day tournaments. I hate it so much. My kid played a Memorial Day tournament when some, but not all of the kids on the team had offers for next year and my kid had a "contingent offer" which depended on how many outside players they wanted more than my kid accepted their offers. The kids talk about that stuff and it completely and totally sucks for everyone!! Nothing like knowing your coach only wants you if nothing better comes along.


Are there any clubs where players don’t need to worry about being cut or replaced? It would be a nice selling point to not have to deal with this every year.