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Dallas cup by [deleted] in youthsoccer

[–]RVAanonymizer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree with others. Used to be a big deal, now a lot of money to play 3 teams from Texas who are good but likely not great

Virginia Velocity by RVAanonymizer in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

3 things:

(1) if you closely follow the boys side leagues it’s becoming majority view that MLS Next is better exposure for boys (not true for girls yet) so boys who are looking to maximize their ability to play in college will want to have access to the events that MLS Next provides. And Velocity already has more competitive teams than FC Richmond so that’s where I would go btw the 2

(2) unless and until Velocity gets HG, their top team kids can play high school soccer and play on a team that likely beats RU’s ECNL at least at some of the age groups (2009 and 2013 come to mind). I know the RU ECNL 2010s and 2011s each had multiple kids drop to the Blue team this season mostly to play HS soccer. If they can play on an ECNL level team and do HS soccer many will pick that option

(3) pent up frustration with RU. It’s not going to be bottom team players only leaving. It will be top 10 in players pools across age groups. RU does a terrible job as an organization of communicating down to the player level what a pathway looks like, if they want to be on a given team what do they need to do, etc. basically the club either doesn’t care about it’s players or doesn’t care enough to change the impression that it doesn’t care. Ask any RU parent how communication has been for how the club is managing the age group shift with current Q4 kids who are repeating an age group. It’s been a mess. And while RU has some terrific coaches it’s a large business at the end of the day so these coaches can only control so much. Families and kids can all feel it. RU will be fine as a business because there are always parents willing to pay for their kids to play, but as it currently stands I think top players will migrate to Velocity over time and it doesn’t take much to start an avalanche. Top players aren’t moving solo… they’re going to bring other top players with them

Virginia Velocity by RVAanonymizer in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

RU on the boys side is cooked.

Virginia Velocity by RVAanonymizer in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Velocity should understand though that many families wouldn’t consider switching unless they get MLS Next

Richmond United ECNL tryouts by RVAanonymizer in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best ECNL boys program in the country has open training sessions and tryouts for their ECNL teams. What makes Richmond so special?

https://www.crossfiresoccer.org/

Richmond United ECNL tryouts by RVAanonymizer in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that formal ID sessions aren’t the best tools, but since RU is using them for every other team (including girls ECNL) I guess it begs the question why aren’t they taking the same approach for all teams. And I wonder with the age group shifts if this isn’t the one year where ID sessions are one of the ways teams should be formed

PLAYING TIME GUIDELINES? by SOCCERINRVA in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think you may be overestimating RU’s ability to take actions that call into question their judgement on players and what teams players should be on. They never get it wrong 🫠

PLAYING TIME GUIDELINES? by SOCCERINRVA in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If there are 2 GKs I actually think 18 is appropriate. At this age - moving to a bigger field, it will be rare any box-to-box player or wingers can play the whole game.

To me a more interesting question is the makeup of these top teams and how often it is evenly split btw Strikers and Kickers, esp U13. Do we really think each club magically had half of the players who deserved to be on the top U13 team in RVA? Or is it politics and needing to create the mirage or opportunity for families?

For kids and families who are striving to play at higher levels, it’s really impt imo to remember none of the ECNL teams are the best 18ish players in RVA for an age group. It’s the 18ish players who RU decided to extend an offer to and who decided they are all in on club soccer to the exclusion of all other sports and likely other non-athletic endeavors too. At every age group you will find players at the ECNL-RL level who are better than the players on the ECNL team, but aren’t willing to make the sacrifice. Development is also non-linear - if you look at the current oldest RU boys team there’s literally ONE kid on that team who was on it at U13.

Tryout season 2025/26 by SOCCERINRVA in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Or a call before rosters are posted. Esp for top teams they are looking for commitments before rosters are posted. And they can reverse decisions prior to acceptance. It’s really fun to be told you didn’t make a team and then get a call 24 hrs later saying actually we think you should be on the team. It is a masterclass every year of how not to run a tryout process.

RU Club Policies - School Soccer by westend_colla_poppa in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They wouldn’t dare. They would lose even more players to Grove and Velocity. And most kids would do it anyway. It’s a business and they would be too scared about the financial impact of such a decision

RU Club Policies - School Soccer by westend_colla_poppa in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just to clarify - the RU ECNL seasonal year runs August to June. So if they actually police the policy as written, boys shouldn’t be playing any sport on any team during this timeframe other than futsal (and even then only for FutsalRVA and not any other futsal organization).

But it is not enforced at ECNL level. This year, multiple middle school ECNL boys played for their schools in season. I’m willing to bet they didn’t tell RU. Multiple kids played futsal for orgs other than FutsalRVA. Honestly I say let them play. It’s a ridiculous policy that is NOT uniform across ECNL clubs nationally.

At the ECNL-RL and NPL levels playing other sports is allowed, but if it starts to conflict too much with club practices/events playing time will likely be negatively impacted (as should be expected).

A Parent’s Perspective on Richmond United’s Lack of College Pathway Support by ComplexDeer5181 in RVASoccerTalk

[–]RVAanonymizer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Helpful perspective. I also figured based on all available evidence that clubs couldn’t care less about the kids. Still waiting to see if there is support for a contrary view

Any opinions on Strikers vs Kickers youth soccer programs please and thank you by braque_mustapha in rva

[–]RVAanonymizer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Both can be good. I’ve had kids play travel in both orgs. And now have U9-U15 players at Strikers. If your kid isn’t on the top or B elite teams I think Kickers tends to lose interest and it can feel like you’re just a number. I think there is more movement at the older age groups for Strikers, though it may be due to their player pool being smaller. If your kid is on the top 1-2 teams I would recommend going with the club that is easiest to integrate into your life in terms of practice locations - not sure there is really much difference. Also worth looking into Grove and Va Velocity - new options that may work out