We're right on the border between Arlington and McLean--anyone have any insight into which one offers a better/stronger travel program for young (U9) players?

thanks coach for the NYT story link. fascinating even though i'm only on the 4th of the 10 pages.

i have not thought about college scholarships but with the time and effort and the fees we invest it's inevitable for our mid-income family if DS stays and plays well in travel.

Coach here again...lots of good point made here. At the younger ages, some players are the stars because they just happen to be bigger or faster than everyone else, some because they are truly better. Obviously without seeing the tryouts, I can't tell you specifics of why someone didn't make it. Is travel soccer pointless for young kids because you have no idea what will happen physically after puberty? No, because so much of being a good player is mental.
Keep in mind though, that the US in general is terrible when it comes to developing soccer talent. Most "real" soccer countries think that our method of "pay to play" travel teams, to high school, to college is a terrible system...most countries leave it up to pro teams to discover talent early and train them as they see fit. Check out this really interesting NY Times article for one example:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

But since more people here are probably concerned about college scholarships than building a pro, I would recommend starting in travel as soon as possible, because, for better or worse, that's the best way to climb the latter to the premiere D1 teams.

Anonymous wrote:None of this means that much until the U12/U13 area. Kids who are stars now may or may not be when they begin to reach and pass puberty. IMO this is simply way too young for this kind of competition, and the idea of a parent appealing for travel soccer for an 8 or 9 year old is appalling.

r u against travel soccer for 8/9 yos? just curious.

For those who have or continue to have kids very interested in a more serious game of soccer, I wouldnt wait until u12 to get them in a developmental program. U12 is when it really kicks in competitively but missing the program for 3 years leaves those kids behind. The boys teams are especially competitive and having that training does make a difference. Fast and talented kids always standout but you can't assume that will happen.

Thanks for the compliment but I am a mom not a coach. My ds has played soccer for over 10 years and the post was just my experiences of what we have seen.

Anonymous wrote:Have to agree with pp. kids that have been the "stars" previously may not be as fast/strong when they mature. Understanding the game as a whole is also important. The star kid in rec who can run through everyone may not understand passing or setting up plays or where to be on the field. So many kids seem to think they can dribble through people and this just does not work as they get older. The training part of soccer is also running and getting your core strong.

great post, tks. it sounds like that, besides instincts, a good coach is essential to understanding the game.

Have to agree with pp. kids that have been the "stars" previously may not be as fast/strong when they mature. Understanding the game as a whole is also important. The star kid in rec who can run through everyone may not understand passing or setting up plays or where to be on the field. So many kids seem to think they can dribble through people and this just does not work as they get older. The training part of soccer is also running and getting your core strong.

None of this means that much until the U12/U13 area. Kids who are stars now may or may not be when they begin to reach and pass puberty. IMO this is simply way too young for this kind of competition, and the idea of a parent appealing for travel soccer for an 8 or 9 year old is appalling.

Arlington's Academy program is excellent. If you are "stunned" DS didn't make the team, use this as an opportunity to teach your child to work hard for his goals. There weren't many kids who made it onto U10 from outside, but there were a fair number at U11.

16:46 is dead on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did not make the team. Several boys from his rec team did make it. We're all stunned, as DS has been the clear star of the rec team for 4 years. Tryouts were a joke. No time trials. No dribbling drills. Just 6 hours of playing games. Yes, we're bitter. But more befuddled than anything.

As a former D1 travel coach, I can tell you that time trials and dribbling drills mean nothing at that age. Anyone can look good in drills, and you can see in five minutes of playing games who has speed and who doesn't. What we're looking for are soccer instincts...who seems to have an innate knowledge of how to play the game.

i get what you're saying about soccer instincts, coach, however, for PP's son who's played four years of rec soccer and a star, isn't it a bit surprising that he didn't show enough soccer instincts/knowledge at tryouts? or, on the flip side, is it not uncommon to have a star player excels 4 years of rec soccer without enough soccer instincts for travel? my kids play in U6 so we're ways away from travel tryouts, but i'm curious and fascinated with this topic, now that we've got some friends who got in and some did not.

Anonymous wrote:DS did not make the team. Several boys from his rec team did make it. We're all stunned, as DS has been the clear star of the rec team for 4 years. Tryouts were a joke. No time trials. No dribbling drills. Just 6 hours of playing games. Yes, we're bitter. But more befuddled than anything.

As a former D1 travel coach, I can tell you that time trials and dribbling drills mean nothing at that age. Anyone can look good in drills, and you can see in five minutes of playing games who has speed and who doesn't. What we're looking for are soccer instincts...who seems to have an innate knowledge of how to play the game.

Arl is the same - 200 boys trying and they expanded from 3 to 4 teams. also 4 girls teams.

so is this the year soccer finally picks up momentum? (just kidding!)

Anonymous wrote:DS did not make the team. Several boys from his rec team did make it. We're all stunned, as DS has been the clear star of the rec team for 4 years. Tryouts were a joke. No time trials. No dribbling drills. Just 6 hours of playing games. Yes, we're bitter. But more befuddled than anything.

There were over 130 boys trying out for what was supposed to be 36 travel slots at Stoddert U9. They ended up adding a fourth team for a total of 48 kids. You could tell what the coaches were looking for, and the cut ranges were, for the most part, fairly obvious. While I know many of the kids who made the teams, I am surprised at a few of the omissions, and I am the parent of one of the obvious cuts.

Anonymous wrote:I have known one parent who "appealed" the decision. I felt sorry for the coach and administration. The parent who did this is otherwise a decent fella. Travel soccer just seems to bring out the worst in him. By the way, the appeal was denied.

if your kid was devastated and you really thought he wasn't evaluated at his best would you not have tried to appeal before teaching him a lesson about rejection? check out the school board where people appeal GT acceptance all the time. why is this different?