Anonymous wrote:Does it make it any less fun for the players? I mean really. Your feelings decide whether it’s fair or not?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Herndon tournament was for rec all stars. It doesn’t seem fair to pit normal once-a-week-practice-with Larlos-dad kids against what are really selective travel teams. Why not let the rec kids have one tournament to enjoy?

If the Barca kids were stomping everyone, I'd have an issue with it. But they weren't.

Besides, some of these All-Star teams get a ton of training during the season.

Really? Whose? My daughters all star team had 3 practices the week between regular season and the Herndon games. She didn’t know all the girls names on her team Saturday morning. I did not realize a recreational tournament would include non-rec players with “real” coaches. Live and learn!

Did it give them an unfair advantage? Is being labeled a rec team about the level of the player or the type of program?

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you prefer that? That your kid’s team plays against a professionally coached, organized team, that doesn’t have the talent to overwhelm the opposition? I’d much rather expose my rec player to opposition like that, rather than the kickball extravaganza you usually see.

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Herndon tournament was for rec all stars. It doesn’t seem fair to pit normal once-a-week-practice-with Larlos-dad kids against what are really selective travel teams. Why not let the rec kids have one tournament to enjoy?

If the Barca kids were stomping everyone, I'd have an issue with it. But they weren't.

Besides, some of these All-Star teams get a ton of training during the season.

Really? Whose? My daughters all star team had 3 practices the week between regular season and the Herndon games. She didn’t know all the girls names on her team Saturday morning. I did not realize a recreational tournament would include non-rec players with “real” coaches. Live and learn!

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Herndon tournament was for rec all stars. It doesn’t seem fair to pit normal once-a-week-practice-with Larlos-dad kids against what are really selective travel teams. Why not let the rec kids have one tournament to enjoy?

If the Barca kids were stomping everyone, I'd have an issue with it. But they weren't.

Besides, some of these All-Star teams get a ton of training during the season.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:travel clubs (pay to play orgs) should not be in rec tournaments. that's BS.

These are developmental teams that do not play in a league and this was their first tournament. Once they are ready, they will move to a higher level. And by the way, rec is also pay to play, albeit at a lower cost.

Disagree. This is unfair to the real rec teams, which are a few players from each of all the U10 (for example) fall rec teams for a rec league. These rec all stars do not ever play together or practice together the whole year-just for this one tournament. They don’t have professional coaches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:travel clubs (pay to play orgs) should not be in rec tournaments. that's BS.

These are developmental teams that do not play in a league and this was their first tournament. Once they are ready, they will move to a higher level. And by the way, rec is also pay to play, albeit at a lower cost.

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:I ask about rec teams because the Herndon tournament is a rec tournament.

Some of the Barca teams are actually playing at a high level, but "any team in town" might be a stretch.

I think the term "developmental" teams rather than "recreational" is more appropriate. In my opinion, the term recreational team is a bit misleading because most local clubs have a separate recreational program offered at lower cost, but with lower quality and amount of training, and generally there is not much team movement between the rec and travel parts of the program within a club. Barca's goal is to teach the teams/players how to play the game and move them eventually to higher level of competition when they are ready. BRYC does the same thing with some of their girls teams, which is a smarter approach than placing a team in a travel league before the team is ready.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son played in the Herndon Cup for Barca. It was absolutely the right tournament for their development. It’s a largely new team and this was their first external competition, other than a friendly vs a bottom division ncsl team which they beat fairly easily. The objective was to see if they could play barca’s possession game which they have learned the last few months, under pressure of a competion. They performed well in that regard. The boys had fun and bonded as a team. It was a lot of fun to watch even the PK shootout which they lost. It was soccer vs kickball and we won possession in every game. Yes, I know these were rec teams and expected as much. The other teams were also considerably bigger and more physical, which was part of the development test for them - could they continue to play their game and not devolve into kickball. Will be great to see them in the spring when they’ll get travel competition.

Yeah, that seems to be the club's approach to tournaments. They don't enter the entire club into any tournament. They enter 1-2 teams, based on the level of the tournament and the level of the team. i think they seem to be a very player centric program.

How many more rec teams would they have?

That I don't know. I have only noted that they have taken teams to a wide range of tournaments. My DC isn't on a rec level team. Some of the Barca teams are very good and have players that could make any team in town. Maybe the other poster can comment, as his DC's team is.

Very few, if any, could make any team in town. Most teams there are lower level, based on results in tournament and league play so far.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:I ask about rec teams because the Herndon tournament is a rec tournament.

Some of the Barca teams are actually playing at a high level, but "any team in town" might be a stretch.

Anonymous wrote:

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son played in the Herndon Cup for Barca. It was absolutely the right tournament for their development. It’s a largely new team and this was their first external competition, other than a friendly vs a bottom division ncsl team which they beat fairly easily. The objective was to see if they could play barca’s possession game which they have learned the last few months, under pressure of a competion. They performed well in that regard. The boys had fun and bonded as a team. It was a lot of fun to watch even the PK shootout which they lost. It was soccer vs kickball and we won possession in every game. Yes, I know these were rec teams and expected as much. The other teams were also considerably bigger and more physical, which was part of the development test for them - could they continue to play their game and not devolve into kickball. Will be great to see them in the spring when they’ll get travel competition.

Yeah, that seems to be the club's approach to tournaments. They don't enter the entire club into any tournament. They enter 1-2 teams, based on the level of the tournament and the level of the team. i think they seem to be a very player centric program.

How many more rec teams would they have?

That I don't know. I have only noted that they have taken teams to a wide range of tournaments. My DC isn't on a rec level team. Some of the Barca teams are very good and have players that could make any team in town. Maybe the other poster can comment, as his DC's team is.