Anonymous wrote:Is "pre-ECNL" referring to the u12 girls or the u9-12 program too?

Question intended to cover all BRYC elite u9-12 boys or girls clubs, not just u12 girls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, I myself don't like Quan, but the training is very good.

Agree with this 100%. A very good trainer....problem is, he's not a very good game coach. Parents also question his personal relationships with those who pay him for HP Elite training. The kids/parents who pad his wallet have a leg up with regards to the DA team. I've seen this play out the last several years, and that is a total conflict of interest. US Soccer DA decision makers would not be happy with this type of arrangement.

This is absolutely not true. The only reason the kids might have a leg up is because they are TRAINING. Quan does not make decisions based on personal relationships. He doesn't even poach kids who do the training not already at PWSI. You don't have to like Quan but his decisions are always soccer decisions. You don't have to like his selections but nobody is buying their way onto VDA through him.

I like and respect Quan. I think he's a good coach and has integrity. I don't think he would consciously show favoritism to a kid just because his parents pay extra for HP Elite Training.

However, ...

It is definitely a conflict of interest for a DA coach to be running a for-profit supplemental training company within the same geographic area as that coach's DA program.

The training company has a clear financial incentive for it's customers to make DA teams and do well in those teams. When the "training company" and the DA coach are in fact the same person, the conflict is inherent in the situation. I've never seen a COI policy that wouldn't be violated by that sort of relationship.

That being said, ... Ken Kreiger was doing the same thing with DCA / Arlington; Phillip Gyau does the same thing with Bethesda / PG Young Boys; James Meyers was doing the same with Bethesda / Joga/SMI. That's not intended to be a smear on any of them. I believe they are all good people, trying to do the right thing, providing good training and opportunities for players. But conflict of interest policies are designed to address the appearance of impropriety just as much as the reality of it - in part because the reality can be nearly impossible to prove (especially in a sport as subjective as soccer).

The real problem is that US Soccer does not seem to care all that much about conflict of interest policies, from the top down. Hopefully that will start to change with some new leadership after the February election.

Does anyone know what the BRYC 2005 Boys A team is doing this year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody with any insight on how BRYC's pre-ENCL kids are doing without league participation? Do the kids enjoy it? Does more of a focus on development vs. weekly games seem to be paying off? Or is it all too early to tell? I am interested in any insights from those whose kids participate, as well as those that have been able to observe their teams in scrimmages and tournaments.

Most of the kids seem to be happy with they are doing ( or aren't doing) and being successful at it. They've had plenty of training scrimmages and tournaments to keep them busy like a league team. They look pretty good when they play... specific questions though ?

Do you know what this year's BRYC Boys U12 Pre-ECNL team will do at U-13? Will they go into ECNL at that point and do the full blown ECNL travel?

It does not look like this year's BRYC U-13 team is in ECNL - at least from what I can tell from online searches.

Is "pre-ECNL" referring to the u12 girls or the u9-12 program too?

Anonymous wrote:Anybody with any insight on how BRYC's pre-ENCL kids are doing without league participation? Do the kids enjoy it? Does more of a focus on development vs. weekly games seem to be paying off? Or is it all too early to tell? I am interested in any insights from those whose kids participate, as well as those that have been able to observe their teams in scrimmages and tournaments.

Most of the kids seem to be happy with they are doing ( or aren't doing) and being successful at it. They've had plenty of training scrimmages and tournaments to keep them busy like a league team. They look pretty good when they play... specific questions though ?

Any sense whether Arlington/McLean will get DA expansions this year? With DC United academy on its way to Loudoun, they could become more viable options for DC/NOVA residents...

Anybody with any insight on how BRYC's pre-ENCL kids are doing without league participation? Do the kids enjoy it? Does more of a focus on development vs. weekly games seem to be paying off? Or is it all too early to tell? I am interested in any insights from those whose kids participate, as well as those that have been able to observe their teams in scrimmages and tournaments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any one know when McLean is going to hold ID sessions for their U12 DA? Arlington, DCU, and VDA already announced theirs and Arlington's are over.

Question here. Do you mean ID sessions like a college ID session? Or an ID session to get into the DA program? I doubt it's the former, since your player is a U12, but I'm just curious as to what you meant.

I meant ID session/tryouts for the U12 DA team. My son is a U11 not U12.

It's the coaches who make their players use predominantly long-ball tactics in their formative years that you have to watch out for. Direct play is a useful tool that players should have in their arsenal, but being dogmatic about it will not make your players better.

There's nothing wrong with a kid being a ball hog if they're U14-15 or younger. Let them develop their technical ability. A player with good touch can be taught the passing game and playing to the collective once they reach U14. Because of their technical ability, they should be able to have quite a great range of passing ability. It is much more difficult for a player to become technically proficient and a proficient passer in the long term, if the early years of their development weren't focused on technical training. As someone above posted, they're just holding the ball because they're talented and they're trying to express themselves and figure out solutions to situations. The kids will be fine.

Anonymous wrote:Most good players will manifest that behavior, especially at early ages, and most players at HP are pretty good, so there is a real question about cause and effect there. There is nothing I have seen in their training methods over the past 18 months that encourages selfishness on the field, even indirectly, other than improving confidence on the ball. The 2 v 2 and 3v3 drills at the ends of sessions appear to encourage quick and aggressive decision making and reward passing.

I’m not saying it is true or that I agree just that is the knock that coaches throw at HP kids

Most good players will manifest that behavior, especially at early ages, and most players at HP are pretty good, so there is a real question about cause and effect there. There is nothing I have seen in their training methods over the past 18 months that encourages selfishness on the field, even indirectly, other than improving confidence on the ball. The 2 v 2 and 3v3 drills at the ends of sessions appear to encourage quick and aggressive decision making and reward passing.

Anonymous wrote:What are examples of bad habits do these coaches identify?

Coaches tend to think they are ball hogs.

What are examples of bad habits do these coaches identify?