Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What league will RBFC's ulittles compete in? Pre-GA?

They. Don’t. Have. Any. Teams. 😂

Okay sorry, they have 1.

Anonymous wrote:What league will RBFC's ulittles compete in? Pre-GA?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if Loudoun GA is the second team to NVA. Will Riverband become the preferred Aspire team and Loudoun Aspire is a fourth team maybe vice versa?

Loudoun GA is not the second team to NVA when it comes to GA. In GA they are separate entities. Which means NVA can't pull players from Loudoun to play in league games to make up for injuries, sickness, etc. Loudoun has a GA and Aspire. NVA only has a GA team, next year NVA will both, GA and Aspire.

But within the club's hierarchy, NVA is 1 and Loudoun is 2

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]

Three points:
1) Notice the trend? RL WAS better and maybe still is at older age groups, not so much for younger.
2) Many RL teams listed are in Southern VA. Have to include NC Aspire teams or exclude VA Reign, RU, Beach, etc., to compare apples to apples.
3) GFR is listed in a number of age groups, but is losing a lot of players for next year to ECNL and GA clubs.

1) There is no trend, just two outlier SYC teams that have some talent because FVU is full those years. They will probably shed players to ARL and VDA as normal from SYC.
2) OK. But most years have NoVa RL teams and no NoVa aspire teams.
3) [b]Pure speculation my friend.[b/]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

I’m not interested in debating dubious rankings from an unidentified source. All I know is my DD plays on an RL team. In bigger tournaments we’ve played other RL teams, GA teams, and an occasional NL team. There’s never been an Aspire team within five bracket levels of her team. If you doubt that, look at the Jefferson Cup brackets and look for Aspire teams.

Maybe Aspire would be competitive with the bottom of the RL table. Even the bottom of the table GA teams would not be competitive at the top of the RL table, much less Aspire teams.

I think you have an overly aspirational view if Aspire.

So on one side of the debate we have a rankings app that is used by many, continues to be tweaked and constantly re ranks teams based on results. On your side of the debate we have your “eye test”.

You can’t cherry pick the top few RL teams and then say the entire RL league is better. Those top RL teams are good. No doubt. But the league as a whole has way more weak teams than strong.

For 2011, the lowest ranked Aspire team is Alexandria at 1265. There are six RL teams (DCSC, LMVSC, VIVA, BRYC, Herndon and SOCA) that are ranked lower than that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

I’m not interested in debating dubious rankings from an unidentified source. All I know is my DD plays on an RL team. In bigger tournaments we’ve played other RL teams, GA teams, and an occasional NL team. There’s never been an Aspire team within five bracket levels of her team. If you doubt that, look at the Jefferson Cup brackets and look for Aspire teams.

Maybe Aspire would be competitive with the bottom of the RL table. Even the bottom of the table GA teams would not be competitive at the top of the RL table, much less Aspire teams.

I think you have an overly aspirational view if Aspire.

So on one side of the debate we have a rankings app that is used by many, continues to be tweaked and constantly re ranks teams based on results. On your side of the debate we have your “eye test”.

You can’t cherry pick the top few RL teams and then say the entire RL league is better. Those top RL teams are good. No doubt. But the league as a whole has way more weak teams than strong.

For 2011, the lowest ranked Aspire team is Alexandria at 1265. There are six RL teams (DCSC, LMVSC, VIVA, BRYC, Herndon and SOCA) that are ranked lower than that.

I think you missed a post where someone went year by year. I also think you can't support your argument by pointing to a few crappy teams in one age group.

RL has 19 teams. I pointed out 6 (roughly a third). Seems more than a few. But by your logic then RL can’t be better since you can only name a few (6) teams better than the first Aspire team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]

Three points:
1) Notice the trend? RL WAS better and maybe still is at older age groups, not so much for younger.
2) Many RL teams listed are in Southern VA. Have to include NC Aspire teams or exclude VA Reign, RU, Beach, etc., to compare apples to apples.
3) GFR is listed in a number of age groups, but is losing a lot of players for next year to ECNL and GA clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

I’m not interested in debating dubious rankings from an unidentified source. All I know is my DD plays on an RL team. In bigger tournaments we’ve played other RL teams, GA teams, and an occasional NL team. There’s never been an Aspire team within five bracket levels of her team. If you doubt that, look at the Jefferson Cup brackets and look for Aspire teams.

Maybe Aspire would be competitive with the bottom of the RL table. Even the bottom of the table GA teams would not be competitive at the top of the RL table, much less Aspire teams.

I think you have an overly aspirational view if Aspire.

So on one side of the debate we have a rankings app that is used by many, continues to be tweaked and constantly re ranks teams based on results. On your side of the debate we have your “eye test”.

You can’t cherry pick the top few RL teams and then say the entire RL league is better. Those top RL teams are good. No doubt. But the league as a whole has way more weak teams than strong.

For 2011, the lowest ranked Aspire team is Alexandria at 1265. There are six RL teams (DCSC, LMVSC, VIVA, BRYC, Herndon and SOCA) that are ranked lower than that.

I think you missed a post where someone went year by year. I also think you can't support your argument by pointing to a few crappy teams in one age group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]

Ouch. Someone's math isn't mathing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

I’m not interested in debating dubious rankings from an unidentified source. All I know is my DD plays on an RL team. In bigger tournaments we’ve played other RL teams, GA teams, and an occasional NL team. There’s never been an Aspire team within five bracket levels of her team. If you doubt that, look at the Jefferson Cup brackets and look for Aspire teams.

Maybe Aspire would be competitive with the bottom of the RL table. Even the bottom of the table GA teams would not be competitive at the top of the RL table, much less Aspire teams.

I think you have an overly aspirational view if Aspire.

So on one side of the debate we have a rankings app that is used by many, continues to be tweaked and constantly re ranks teams based on results. On your side of the debate we have your “eye test”.

You can’t cherry pick the top few RL teams and then say the entire RL league is better. Those top RL teams are good. No doubt. But the league as a whole has way more weak teams than strong.

For 2011, the lowest ranked Aspire team is Alexandria at 1265. There are six RL teams (DCSC, LMVSC, VIVA, BRYC, Herndon and SOCA) that are ranked lower than that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

Largely agree with this analysis for why NVA would want to do this assuming they have a credible partner.

But the notion that Aspire sits above RL in the hierarchy is laughable. There are maybe three clubs at the GA level in NoVa whose GA teams are consistently better than the top RL teams in the area. Several clubs that top out at RL would have little trouble finishing in the top half of the table for GA. They’d be wasting their time to play in Aspire as it currently stands in NoVa.

There’s always overlap in team quality, a strong RL team can absolutely beat a weaker Aspire team on a given day. That’s not the point. The point is structure and platform. Aspire was created specifically as a step above traditional RL competition, with a broader geographic footprint, stronger aggregate competition, and clearer alignment toward national-level pathways.
RL is primarily regional and localized. Aspire pulls from a wider pool and is positioned as a higher competitive tier. That’s reflected in scheduling, travel, and how clubs slot their teams internally. Are there strong RL teams that could compete in Aspire? Sure. But structurally, Aspire sits above RL in the competitive pyramid here. Overlap in individual team strength doesn’t erase the tiering it just shows depth in the region.

hahahahahahaha. I give you credit for sticking to the talking points. No local aspire team would come within 5 goals of VYS, GFR, ARL, BRYC RL teams. The VYS, GFR, ARL, BRYC RL teams would finish upper half of the GA table. Aspire teams do not pull from anywhere. No one is lining up to play Aspire.

BRYC??? Half of their teams had 1 win in ECRL. They are getting absolutely smoked by GA teams and aren’t beating most Aspire teams. Vienna wouldn’t fair much better.

I don't think you understand how bad the local aspire teams are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the point to this whole complicated fake "pathway" to NVA for just the one RBFC team that exists.

From a strategic standpoint, NVA launching an Aspire team in Fairfax with Riverbend makes a lot of sense.

Geography matters more than people admit. Most families prefer a 10–25 minute drive to training. Once you push past 30 minutes multiple nights a week, the pool shrinks fast, especially for multi-kid households. Loudoun and VRSC naturally pull from western Fairfax and Loudoun because of proximity. By placing Aspire’s home base in Fairfax County, NVA opens access to a completely different player base that likely wouldn’t consider driving west consistently.

Fairfax County has over 1.1 million residents and produces one of the deepest youth soccer pools in the region. Yet the top-tier pathway options locally are limited. Great Falls Reston (GFR) offers ECNL-RL, NCSL, and EDP. Vienna competes in the RL. McLean has Aspire, but roster spots are finite and internal competition is tight. For players in central and eastern Fairfax, Aspire in Fairfax becomes a strong, convenient alternative without requiring a Loudoun commute.

From a league positioning standpoint, Aspire generally sits above ECNL-RL in the player development hierarchy, which makes it attractive to families seeking a higher competitive ceiling without jumping immediately to full ECNL travel demands. That naturally creates interest from players currently in RL who feel capped.

It’s also smart portfolio management. Instead of concentrating Aspire talent pools in Loudoun and competing for the same households as VRSC, Fairfax expands the footprint and reduces direct cannibalization. Different geography, different recruiting lanes.

Fairfax is a massive soccer ecosystem with strong rec foundations and competitive club pipelines. Putting Aspire there taps into a dense player base that hasn’t had as many elite pathway options within immediate reach.

This is delusional. The local Aspire teams are made up mostly of ex-NCSL players when the respective clubs went GA. No one is fighting for roster spots on Aspire teams. No rational actor thinks Aspire is better than RL. GA is barely better than RL.

Please explain these rankings then

I agree that most people think that but that is based on how strong RL used to be. Currently if you average the rankings for all teams in mid Atlantic’s south GA, VA RL and Mid Atlantic South Aspire you will see a different story. For instance for 2011 you get

GA - 331
Aspire - 772
RL - 926

RL has a few really good teams but also numerous teams ranked 1000+.

As you have not provided the source for this we will just assume it is made up like the RBFC coaching slate.

Source is the rankings app. Feel free to check the math or do another age group.

I’m not a big fan of rankings – as PP said, outside the top teams rankings are pretty meaningless except across big swathes. But given the focus on Aspire rankings vs RL, I took a look at the rankings app (which, unlike GotSport, at least considers all games rather than just tournaments). Looking in Virginia (sorry, didn’t have time to do MD too):

--2013s: two RL teams (ARL Red & GFR) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) then three more RL teams (RU Blue, Va Reign & BYRC) ahead of the secibd Aspire team (FC Richmond). These RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

--2012s: three RL teams (RU Blue, GFR & Va Reign) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC) and then eight more RL teams (Beach FC, VA United, RU Red, Stafford, ARL Red, VYS, VA SA & PWSI) ahead of the second Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2011s: six RL teams (ARL, RU Blue, Stafford, VA United, VA SA & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2010s: ten RL teams (VYS, VA SA, RU Blue, ARL, GFR, VA United, Valor, Beach, VA Reign & RU Orange) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2009s: seven RL teams (VA SA, GFR, Beach, VA United, RU Blue, VA Reign & ARL) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (VA Rush).

--2008/07s: eleven RL teams (RU Blue, Beach, BYRC, SOCA, ARL, VA Reign, RU Red, VA United, Stafford, VYS & Valor) ranked ahead of the first Aspire team (SYC).

In each of these age groups, these RL teams also ahead of several GA (not Aspire) teams and a couple NL teams.

[Source: Rankings app current VA rankings]