Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone put the email here. Thinking about DCSC east for my kid but we are in Ward 5 as well.

Hi all,
I am reaching out to let you know that I (along with multiple Brookland Coaches) will be leaving the DC Soccer Club at the end of this spring season. The relationship has been extremely challenging.
I am reaching out to all of you as a courtesy so you can decide what you would like to do next year. I will be coaching in DC next year; however, I must wait for the attorneys to let me know what is feasible for us.
Ryan and I have thoroughly enjoyed creating Brookland FC and we love being a part of the Brookland Community.
We will keep you posted as soon as we can in regards to new details!
Best,
Tom

I will know within the next 3 weeks whether this is true or not. I "believe" that there is an issue with Tom and the Brookland crew with DCSC but hearsay at this point. Not sure if it has reached this level but I will check it out.

This is NOT new for DCSC as they have a history of lawsuits over the years in the academy with coaches. I have no idea what they have going on over there but not impressed with what I have been exposed to.

I would pursue DC XI, WCU, PPA, City Sports, DCYFC and DC Way if you want travel level ball in DC.

If you are complaining about going from NW to NE for competitive soccer, stay in the rec league as you don't belong in this space as a parent. Seriously. Nobody wants your complaining. Save your money. Stay in rec so we can elevate this space. Make your team play up a year to get more competitive. This space is not made for you.

The serious DC players have been traveling to Alexandria, Arlington and Bethesda for years. I would like DC to grow up eventually and put something serious together in the District. The District has the talent.

Brookland soccer parent here. A lot of promises were made by DCSC in terms of more field space, better field space, better access to better tournaments, more support for coaches, and a larger soccer community. 6 pop up lights at Fort Stevens for 3 hours is not going to cut it. The promises that were made were not upheld it seems like. The idea was a great one but I like the idea of Brookland Coaches joining a more communal soccer club. A lot of their coaches are just good people and very transparent, which is hard to find in the youth sports industry in today's world. Maybe they join forces with WCU or DC Way!!!

Well we were with DC Soccer for 6 years with multiple children with a wide spectrum of experiences. We had our first experience with DC Soccer Brookland this past year and it was phenomenal. The cohesiveness and growth of our team and friends' kids' teams were very evident. Need more coaches in the city who put the kids first.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone put the email here. Thinking about DCSC east for my kid but we are in Ward 5 as well.

Hi all,
I am reaching out to let you know that I (along with multiple Brookland Coaches) will be leaving the DC Soccer Club at the end of this spring season. The relationship has been extremely challenging.
I am reaching out to all of you as a courtesy so you can decide what you would like to do next year. I will be coaching in DC next year; however, I must wait for the attorneys to let me know what is feasible for us.
Ryan and I have thoroughly enjoyed creating Brookland FC and we love being a part of the Brookland Community.
We will keep you posted as soon as we can in regards to new details!
Best,
Tom

I will know within the next 3 weeks whether this is true or not. I "believe" that there is an issue with Tom and the Brookland crew with DCSC but hearsay at this point. Not sure if it has reached this level but I will check it out.

This is NOT new for DCSC as they have a history of lawsuits over the years in the academy with coaches. I have no idea what they have going on over there but not impressed with what I have been exposed to.

I would pursue DC XI, WCU, PPA, City Sports, DCYFC and DC Way if you want travel level ball in DC.

If you are complaining about going from NW to NE for competitive soccer, stay in the rec league as you don't belong in this space as a parent. Seriously. Nobody wants your complaining. Save your money. Stay in rec so we can elevate this space. Make your team play up a year to get more competitive. This space is not made for you.

The serious DC players have been traveling to Alexandria, Arlington and Bethesda for years. I would like DC to grow up eventually and put something serious together in the District. The District has the talent.

Yes, but my U10 kid on the 5th-tier team is in no danger of ever playing college soccer unless he really improves a lot, which I don't think is likely -- and his rec team evaporated last year because all of his friends moved to travel, at various clubs and various levels, so it was either move to travel, too, or stop playing soccer at all. And I don't see any reason to haul a 10-year-old who's not in the top two tiers for his age across the city multiple times a week for practice, so I'm perfectly happy with their plans to split into east and west. I haven't complained to the club about practice sites in NE, but I also won't mind if he doesn't have any next year.

My kid only received a “Black” team offer for DCSC for U10 (5th+ ?) and was recruited to Bethesda SC A team in two years. Be careful of the judgment you place on your kids so early. Depends on the kid and how much they want to like to play.


My kids played Takoma and you can always build a team in DCSC rec or become a free agent. Please don’t complain about the lack of options for such a 1st world privilege.

Well, apparently you were right and I was wrong, as my kid now has an offer for the second-tier team for next year, a big jump up. (I would still bet heavily against his chances of playing in college.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012.

How does DSCS extend its ECNL RL offers? Only for known open spots in each Ave group? Rolling as offers are extended and then either accepted or rejected?

If you get an rl offer ask about roster size. My kids u13 team this year was over rostered and not everyone got to play every week. They also play way less games than regular ecnl teams. I think we are heading towards 12 or 13 total foe the year

That’s a good reminder for all clubs/offers, PP. FWIW, at the 2012 tryout they said the roster size would be 18.

If you check the ECNL/RL web page you can see the the boys teams are mostly around 20-22 on rosters. They add over the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012.

How does DSCS extend its ECNL RL offers? Only for known open spots in each Ave group? Rolling as offers are extended and then either accepted or rejected?

If you get an rl offer ask about roster size. My kids u13 team this year was over rostered and not everyone got to play every week. They also play way less games than regular ecnl teams. I think we are heading towards 12 or 13 total foe the year

That’s a good reminder for all clubs/offers, PP. FWIW, at the 2012 tryout they said the roster size would be 18.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012.

How does DSCS extend its ECNL RL offers? Only for known open spots in each Ave group? Rolling as offers are extended and then either accepted or rejected?

If you get an rl offer ask about roster size. My kids u13 team this year was over rostered and not everyone got to play every week. They also play way less games than regular ecnl teams. I think we are heading towards 12 or 13 total foe the year

Anonymous wrote:Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012.

How does DSCS extend its ECNL RL offers? Only for known open spots in each Ave group? Rolling as offers are extended and then either accepted or rejected?

Decent turnout for tryouts for girls, from what I heard. Around 40 for 2012.

Anonymous wrote:How was turnout at tryouts for ECNL-R teams?

+ 1

I am also curious about this

How was turnout at tryouts for ECNL-R teams?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread shows the very frustration with soccer in DC proper. If every club leader, entrenched and new, could drop their egos, focus on development, and create one District Club, no matter the name, it could be a powerhouse, or at least have the chance to be one.

Until that point, you have DCSC, DCYFC (or whatever its new name is), PPA (except for the spendy parts in MOCO), DCXI, City, DC Way, WCU, and whatever the new Brookland FC is going to be competing for talent and field space. I am sure I missed a few.

The number of times my now 16 year old who plays with his school team with kids across a bunch of clubs says if we could take the top 3-4 kids from each club for our travel team, we could be gangsta. Until then, we will drive to the outside the beltway netherlands. He is not wrong.

This extrapolates into the rec and to use Arlingtons term ADP model. Having a unified pipeline or at least structure of 12 rec teams to 8 in between (ADP) teams to 4 Club/Travel teams with a top team to aspire to (ECNL/ENCLR/MLSN whatever) creates a healthier pipeline and field allocation process. Until then, clubs are going to rely on old friend sin DPR, legacy permits and overspending on Fields at RFK permits for half a field and six teams. Kids lose. Directors win.

Correct. I was told their are two problems with doing this:

DC has not official governing body like MD and VA As a result, DCSC is the de facto mob boss and does not give up control.

The current egos are huge in management. This is for each club I have dealt with. They all are guilty that I have encountered thus far.

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread shows the very frustration with soccer in DC proper. If every club leader, entrenched and new, could drop their egos, focus on development, and create one District Club, no matter the name, it could be a powerhouse, or at least have the chance to be one.

Until that point, you have DCSC, DCYFC (or whatever its new name is), PPA (except for the spendy parts in MOCO), DCXI, City, DC Way, WCU, and whatever the new Brookland FC is going to be competing for talent and field space. I am sure I missed a few.

The number of times my now 16 year old who plays with his school team with kids across a bunch of clubs says if we could take the top 3-4 kids from each club for our travel team, we could be gangsta. Until then, we will drive to the outside the beltway netherlands. He is not wrong.

This extrapolates into the rec and to use Arlingtons term ADP model. Having a unified pipeline or at least structure of 12 rec teams to 8 in between (ADP) teams to 4 Club/Travel teams with a top team to aspire to (ECNL/ENCLR/MLSN whatever) creates a healthier pipeline and field allocation process. Until then, clubs are going to rely on old friend sin DPR, legacy permits and overspending on Fields at RFK permits for half a field and six teams. Kids lose. Directors win.

Anonymous wrote:This. There is and there should be soccer available for all kids of all levels and interests. Rec is ok when they are tiny, but rec requires parent coaching and there's no real soccer learning happening unless you happen to have a unique coach. "Travel" soccer indeed should be available to those willing to put in 10 extra hours a week and travel hours for practice, and those who enjoy the sport, like learning and growing, but who aren't interested in making it the overall priority. Smaller clubs and lower-level teams are perfect for this and are just as valid as big, branded clubs and teams that lead to college and beyond.

There's a funny thing in DCUM (and maybe DC) where if it's not at the tippy top of the achievement pyramid, it doesn't count, should be demeaned, etc. But the OVERWHELMING majority of kids playing travel soccer are not playing on MLS Next teams. They are playing on lower levels teams or in lower level leagues -- and they also deserve to get what they want out of it. If DCSC has your kid on the 5th team, I think its reasonable to expect a relatively close field. Getting to Edgewood or JFK can take 40-60 minutes from upper NW during rush hour and that's not what many parents are willing to do.

I agree. It's odd to see how much hostility there is by some (or one?) posters here insisting that if you're not at what they consider the most elite club, it's useless. Especially at younger ages, it seems best to just go with a club that's close by. Stick with that club until/unless a) your kid is on the top team and is way better than others and not being challenged, b) you're not getting good coaching, or c) they stop wanting to play soccer. I suspect (a) is the least likely of the 3 reasons people would switch, actually, but good for you if your kid is in that group.

But if they really are such a great talent, they can switch clubs later on. Clubs are going to take the best players and it's not going to matter that you didn't start there at age 8. Meanwhile, enjoy the shorter travel times to go play soccer. Depends where you live, of course, but Bethesda practices much farther out than Bethesda, right? So for someone in DC the proximity for DCSC is pretty compelling as long as it works for the kid.

But is DCSC really "lower level" anyway? They recently joined ECNL-RL and who knows where it will be in a few years. Again, if your kid is already too good for DCSC or any other club at their age group, yeah go to a club that's got kids at the same level, but I think 99% of people aren't in that situation and so DCSC is a great place to be. Anecdotally I heard people feel it's more organized and well managed than some other clubs, and the coaching has been good for us anyway. We plan to stay there until and unless it's not meeting our needs.

I think this thread shows the very frustration with soccer in DC proper. If every club leader, entrenched and new, could drop their egos, focus on development, and create one District Club, no matter the name, it could be a powerhouse, or at least have the chance to be one.

Until that point, you have DCSC, DCYFC (or whatever its new name is), PPA (except for the spendy parts in MOCO), DCXI, City, DC Way, WCU, and whatever the new Brookland FC is going to be competing for talent and field space. I am sure I missed a few.

The number of times my now 16 year old who plays with his school team with kids across a bunch of clubs says if we could take the top 3-4 kids from each club for our travel team, we could be gangsta. Until then, we will drive to the outside the beltway netherlands. He is not wrong.

Anonymous wrote:We are torn between which team to try out for as we live EOTP but our child attends school WOTP. We’re in Manor Park.

I think this is really about what your kid does after school and how they get home (and relatedly, their age). Our WOTP team has several EOTP families whose kids go to school WOTP and so they found it easier because they can put the kid in after school programming and then pick them up from school and take them to practice. That might make sense for you as well. Or if you'd rather have your kid go home after school and then to practice from there, trying out for DCSC East may make more sense.

As kids get older the practices generally get later, so the kids might be more likely to need to come home first. Plus as they get older they gradually become less likely to do after school programming, and also more able to get themselves home, if there are decent buses to you. So those factors also probably factor in.

You can try out for both, btw, and then decide later as well.