Generally, Westside Beaverton has a stronger boys' program, T/S (Tualatin/Sherwood) a stronger girls program. (Westside, Eastside, and La Amistad are probably the top boys programs in the area if you are looking have a high-level player).

Westside has a rather intense rivalry with THUSC, given that both clubs largely share the same Beaverton turf--something that regular readers of this forum have often noted.

I've never heard of La Amistad. I can look them up. Do you have any information about them?

La amistad

La Amistad (Spanish for "friendship") is a club that focuses on the local Latino community, and doesn't have much of a web presence. There's a Facebook page that hasn't been updated in a year or so, a Twitter account likewise, a website that has a "training montage" video and little else. Oh, and they've been kicking butt and taking names in several age divisions.

I've heard lots of things through the grapevine, including that fees are very cheap but standards to make the team are very high (functioning, essentially, like many overseas youth clubs function). But they seem to market mainly by word-of-mouth--I have no idea when or where they might schedule tryouts. (I also have no idea whether or not they have any non-Latino players, or what languages coaching is offered in.. and dat's all I'm gun' say 'bout dat.)

This link: http://oysa-2016oregonstatecup.sport...mbr=LASC%20ADF
gives contact information for the head coach of their U11 boys' teams (this was grabbed from OYSA), though the persons listed therein might not be appropriate contacts for prospects.

Speaking generally for the greater Portland and surrounding areas:

Westside was born out of THUSC in the early 90s. THUSC had a strong boys' and girls' program as there really wasn't much competition back then. You also had LO and Southside to the south for boys' and girls' programs, West Villa and FC Portland were boys' clubs who competed with Westside, and the east end of town had Portland Metros, a girls' club which was very competitive with Westside girls and LO girls. Portland Metros merged with FC Portland and later shut down on the east side. THUSC struggled during those years and hired Tom Atencio.

Westside then had problems when they fired two coaches, and one surfaced at FC bring along most of his team, while the other ended up at LO. My daughter and her ODP team mates were being hit up on all of the time to change over to THUSC and then FC, then over to THUSC with offers for college. Tom was big with the Region IV ODP coaching stagg. The writing was on the wall. Some left. We were sick by all of this but my daughter wanted to stay with her club. We watched as her friends from other of her club's teams would tryout for their Westside team then get back in line for the THUSC tryout. They said that they were told that Westside was not going to have a team.

My youngest kids are finishing up soccer now and I see that this is still continuing and I still hear the lies. Nothing has changed in all of these years. Absolutely nothing. I've met really nice people-parents, coaches, kids from all clubs. Many familiar by face and smile but not by name. Sadly, there are some ugly ones too. Inside and how they reveal themselves to the world too.

those la Amistad teams are actually adfportland.org (you'll notice they are listed in OYSA as LASC ADF). ADF is the academy that formed those teams under LASC.

tryout dates are on the website.

To the people who posted it, thanks for all of the information on La Amistad. I doubt my son is a candidate for them, but wouldn't have known anything about them if I hadn't asked.

this all in the midst of state cup?

Westside plays with a sweeper this time of the year to get results.
I wonder if they let parents know about that?

Some Westside terminology

Copa = first team
Samba = Second team
Mundial = Third team
Brazuca = Fourth team.

Sometimes this is further divided up by color--i.e. U11 boys this season has "Copa Red" and "Copa White". Red is the first team (and seems to beat everyone but La Amistad :P), and white is the second team (and U11B Samba the third team; U11B Mundial the fourth; there is no Brazuca at that age division). U12B, OTOH, has only one Copa team, but also has a Brazuca team.

Not sure why they did that, other than possibly the names symbolize different levels of training.

Know what? Using a sweeper? Tryouts information? What?

Well, if the ARs aren't going to bother properly enforcing the offside rule, might as well play a sweeper.

adidas is the club sponsor. The names are based on shoe names. All teams have same levels of training. Hope that helps. I thought you did a good job explaining the U11 breakdown. There were quite a few teams this year. You also have the T/S too.

Suggest starting a new discussion. You're lost in this one.

You're not confusing a smartass response to a troll with serious soccer analysis, are you? ;)

Lots more info about Westside

I hadn't made the shoe connection.

A bit more about Westside's teams, and what they focus on. The top one or two (Copa and possibly Samba--depending on how many "gold" teams can be formed) teams are generally very competitive, and win-focused. Competition for playing time is intense; there is a lot of pressure on players to perform (and on the team to do well in competitive matches). Extra training is offered (and participation expected) during State Cup (and regionals/nationals should they make it that far). The big-name coaches (John Bain, Cony Konstin) are generally found helming these teams.

In the middle (Samba, typically) are teams with a competitive atmosphere--intense practices and a fair bit of pressure--but their purpose (at least at some age levels) seems to be mainly to support the Copa team. Westside doesn't prioritize winning for the second-and-below tiers anywhere near as much. Players from these teams are often borrowed by Copa on rather short notice (when league/tourney rules allow it), even if the lower team is contending for a league title.

Down in Mundial- and Brazuca- land, the teams are very development-focused, and the club generally doesn't care whether these teams win or not. (A couple Westside Mundial teams are actually quite competitive in OYSA Div 2, and can hang with some of the Div 1 teams as well; though premier teams will have no problem beating them handily). Substitution patterns are more reminiscent of rec--everyone gets to play, and sometimes the weaker players get lots of PT; there is little pressure to outdo your teammate. If you miss practice/games due to other commitments, there's far less angst over this. Pedagogical tactics (play from the back! Keep the ball on the ground!) are often preferred at this level. And team rosters are generally small--it's common for Copa to bring 22 kids to a match if allowed (even if only 16 can play), where the Mundial teams at the age group to only have one or two subs. A common complaint--somewhat unfair, but it's easy to see where it comes from--is that WST doesn't care about the lower teams at all. If you're a hyper-competitive player (or parent), you probably don't want to be playing for one of Westside's Mundial or Brazuca teams. OTOH, as a development team, many of the coaches (while not stars) are good and players can learn a lot. (If you are interested in a Mundial team--it's generally easy to get on one mid-season, as there will usually be openings; give the coach a call).

Promotions do occur, but aren't terribly common. Generally, the different teams within an age group practice separately, occasionally scrimmaging against each other--Westside doesn't do "academy-style" practices. (Demotions also occur, but are far rarer; generally promotions happen due to attrition). Westside also actively encourages playing-up (in age) for highly-skilled or bigger-than-average players (their Copa teams are NOT filled with huge kids that try and beat you with size or strength.)

One other point--the fees at Westside are actually a bit lower than other clubs (though not by much); but you pay the same price whether your DD or SS is on the Copa or the Brazuca team. (Washington Timbers, by comparison, charges more for the top-tier teams, and makes more training available at the higher tiers. Playing for ***C's Tier 4 teams is not that more expensive than rec).

How does this compare with other classic clubs? I don't know--this parent only has experience with WST. I know a few parents/kids who have left the club, unhappy; I know others who consider it far better than the club they just left. As in all things, a club that might be right for one child may not be right for another.