New to Area- any clubs on par with PDA or MatchFit?

[Unregistered]

Now that is a mouth-ful of side-lining commentary. It sounds more like you are not actively involved with any of these teams nor at these age groups.
1. The cost of the Bolts/MPS, when all is said and done, does not approach that of the Blazers with a fee of about 2800 (then purchase the uniforms after) and tournament travels to Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and region 1, which, all considered, will bring you to about 10-12,000 dollars per year.....oh...did I mention the Okaroh camp?? I can't say anything about NEFC since I won't claim any knowledge of that club.
2. Former Bolts players who check out other clubs are either not interested in the Academy (or PreAcademy teams), did not make one of these teams, or were not playing too much on these teams. Regardless of what anyone might say, the competition in the PreAcademy and Academy leagues are excellent.

With that said, the training with Okaroh is very good and he is very serious and very geared to win, which means your little tot, if not a star, will not play too much.

I hear that NEFC is very organized with regard to training sessions, but is a large club with multiple facets and angles just like MPS.

NEFC is much cheaper than Bolts/MPS/Blazers in part because there are no required camps. Bolts has the BA camp- not required on paper, but basically is (if you want to stay on BA's good side).

[Unregistered]

nefc is much cheaper than bolts/mps/blazers in part because there are no required camps. Bolts has the ba camp- not required on paper, but basically is (if you want to stay on ba's good side).

really? Just because your son wasnt good enough to stay with the bolts or dap why do you contuine to call out the bolts and ba? We are very happy for you and your child enjoying the nefc experience.

Ps. My child has been on the bolts for 5+ years and he has started every game he has played in and he has never attended a ba or fcgb camp

[Unregistered]

really? Just because your son wasnt good enough to stay with the bolts or dap why do you contuine to call out the bolts and ba? We are very happy for you and your child enjoying the nefc experience.

Ps. My child has been on the bolts for 5+ years and he has started every game he has played in and he has never attended a ba or fcgb camp

My son thinks the BA camp is always one of the best and he has been to many

[Unregistered]

NEFC is much cheaper than Bolts/MPS/Blazers in part because there are no required camps. Bolts has the BA camp- not required on paper, but basically is (if you want to stay on BA's good side).

Not true. Son is in seventh year with the Bolts and has never attended a camp associated with the Bolts or any of its cpaches. Playing time not an iissue.

Now if you play for FO you must attend his camp.

[Unregistered]

NEFC is much cheaper than Bolts/MPS/Blazers in part because there are no required camps. Bolts has the BA camp- not required on paper, but basically is (if you want to stay on BA's good side).

I will take this another step further. The BA camp is very good and not required. This past summer the Bolts offer 1 or 2 weeks of camp run by the Celtic coaches; free for Bolts players.

[Unregistered]

Not true. Son is in seventh year with the Bolts and has never attended a camp associated with the Bolts or any of its cpaches. Playing time not an iissue.

Now if you play for FO you must attend his camp.

He must be either very good or on one of the "B" teams. I know from personal experience and from other Bolts parents that the BA camp is highly touted and recommended by the coaches and if you don't attend you lose a lot of "points" with BA especially if you're in the lower 50 percentile of the "A" team

[Unregistered]

He must be either very good or on one of the "B" teams. I know from personal experience and from other Bolts parents that the BA camp is highly touted and recommended by the coaches and if you don't attend you lose a lot of "points" with BA especially if you're in the lower 50 percentile of the "A" team

Stop the trolling. My son never went to the BA camp and played Academy until college.

[Unregistered]

ever heard of taking something out of context? Politicians do it all the time. You're very good at it.

Want to know another thing that politicians do? They make claims without providing any supporting evidence and expect people to accept those claims.

[Unregistered]

Want to know another thing that politicians do? They make claims without providing any supporting evidence and expect people to accept those claims.

Ditto......or....right back at you.

Now back to the original question:

For U16 and U18: Revs and Bolts offer Academy which is very competitive play. If you make the team and are going to play a good amount then it is worth it. The end of year cost will be around 5-6K.
I do believe that next year will start U14 Academy.

For U13, U14, U15 there is the PreAcademy which is a very competitive league, however, the recent Bolts teams have not faired too well. It does not mean that the training and development is not good, it probably means that many of the kids are not yet sold on the need for PreAcademy and its inherent travel. It is evident that if you start with the Bolts at the younger ages, you are more likely to stay on their teams. This does not, however guarantee that you will get good playtime.

At these younger ages, there are plenty of good clubs, however, you really need to investigate. For these other clubs, playing competitive tournaments and region 1 would probably enhance the experience as well as the cost.

Non Academy clubs that might be worthwhile looking at include MPS (big factory), NEFC (smaller factory for boys), Blazers, Stars. While some clubs might have individual teams that shine, these ones listed are more established clubs with multiple decent teams.

Depending on where these teams travel to, the cost may not be much different, or even more for the non Bolts and Revs teams. The Blazers are freaking expensive and without any guarantee of playing when you travel. The play to win.

For any of this to be worthwhile you should try to get on the top team and make sure that your kid is going to play a fair bit (at least 50% of the game).

You have to keep the following in mind:
Academy teams will keep you from playing for your high school team.
Paying ridiculous amounts of money and/or traveling far for 2-4 practices per week might be a waste of resources and time that eats into your economics, home stability, and schoolwork time.

Good luck

[Unregistered]

Ditto......or....right back at you.

Now back to the original question:

For U16 and U18: Revs and Bolts offer Academy which is very competitive play. If you make the team and are going to play a good amount then it is worth it. The end of year cost will be around 5-6K.
I do believe that next year will start U14 Academy.

For U13, U14, U15 there is the PreAcademy which is a very competitive league, however, the recent Bolts teams have not faired too well. It does not mean that the training and development is not good, it probably means that many of the kids are not yet sold on the need for PreAcademy and its inherent travel. It is evident that if you start with the Bolts at the younger ages, you are more likely to stay on their teams. This does not, however guarantee that you will get good playtime.

At these younger ages, there are plenty of good clubs, however, you really need to investigate. For these other clubs, playing competitive tournaments and region 1 would probably enhance the experience as well as the cost.

Non Academy clubs that might be worthwhile looking at include MPS (big factory), NEFC (smaller factory for boys), Blazers, Stars. While some clubs might have individual teams that shine, these ones listed are more established clubs with multiple decent teams.

Depending on where these teams travel to, the cost may not be much different, or even more for the non Bolts and Revs teams. The Blazers are freaking expensive and without any guarantee of playing when you travel. The play to win.

For any of this to be worthwhile you should try to get on the top team and make sure that your kid is going to play a fair bit (at least 50% of the game).

You have to keep the following in mind:
Academy teams will keep you from playing for your high school team.
Paying ridiculous amounts of money and/or traveling far for 2-4 practices per week might be a waste of resources and time that eats into your economics, home stability, and schoolwork time.

Good luck

In Academy, how do "you make sure that your kid plays at least 50% of the game"? I know for a fact that in the Revs teams there are a lot of bench warmers. It's similar but not as bad in the Bolts Academy teams (probably because the parents are paying and coaches feel a little more obligated to give Johnny a little more playing time). My experience has been if you're in the lower 25 percentile (in the coach's eyes), you won't get anywhere close to 50% playing time. There are a several players on the Revs teams who get almost zero playing time. So they get to practice with the better players bit if you're not playing in games why bother staying on?

So I think a parent needs to have a conversation with the coach before accepting a position and ask him how much playing time he thinks his son will get. If the coach says he doesn't know or "it's tough to say", I wouldn't bother joining.

Regarding the OP's question, for U13, join a few practice sessions with NEFC, Bolts U13 and PreAcad, MPS (Bulldogs, Knights, Crusaders) and WU (depending where you live) and gage your son's level compared to the other players. Ask the coach what he thinks about your son's level compared to the other players (top 25% ,bottom 25% etc..). Join if he's in the top 25 %- just my 2 cents.

[Unregistered]

In Academy, how do "you make sure that your kid plays at least 50% of the game"? I know for a fact that in the Revs teams there are a lot of bench warmers. It's similar but not as bad in the Bolts Academy teams (probably because the parents are paying and coaches feel a little more obligated to give Johnny a little more playing time). My experience has been if you're in the lower 25 percentile (in the coach's eyes), you won't get anywhere close to 50% playing time. There are a several players on the Revs teams who get almost zero playing time. So they get to practice with the better players bit if you're not playing in games why bother staying on?

So I think a parent needs to have a conversation with the coach before accepting a position and ask him how much playing time he thinks his son will get. If the coach says he doesn't know or "it's tough to say", I wouldn't bother joining.

Regarding the OP's question, for U13, join a few practice sessions with NEFC, Bolts U13 and PreAcad, MPS (Bulldogs, Knights, Crusaders) and WU (depending where you live) and gage your son's level compared to the other players. Ask the coach what he thinks about your son's level compared to the other players (top 25% ,bottom 25% etc..). Join if he's in the top 25 %- just my 2 cents.

Already done some research which could save you some time. SU (Bolts U13) and PB (MPS Bulldogs U13) are still doing equal playing time (go figure!). CB/PS (NEFC A team), AP (MPS Knights U13) and TL (WU A U13 team) are all about performance based playing time. Not sure about the others.

[Unregistered]

Already done some research which could save you some time. SU (Bolts U13) and PB (MPS Bulldogs U13) are still doing equal playing time (go figure!). CB/PS (NEFC A team), AP (MPS Knights U13) and TL (WU A U13 team) are all about performance based playing time. Not sure about the others.

NEP has playing time standards and all of the above coaches adhere pretty closely to them.

[Unregistered]

NEP has playing time standards and all of the above coaches adhere pretty closely to them.

Per NEP site: U13-U15:

"It is strongly recommended ALL players get equal playing time to ensure development."

You obviously don't know what you're talking about since one of those teams mentioned does not even play in NEP. And the NEP ones do what they want with respect to playing times. It's not a mandate that they give equal playing time

[Unregistered]

predicting playtime

It is very difficult to predict playtime. Depending on the coach, they might say what you want to hear since they might be trying to fill rosters. This kind of verbal contract is as good as the paper it is written on.

Good advice is for your son to attend some practices, which most coaches would allow. You, of course should watch, if you see that your child is actively engaged and getting many touches with good productivity, then I suspect he will be OK or better. If not, then he probably won't get much playtime. Sometimes it takes more than 2 practices for him/her to get engaged.

The other option is to accept a position on a team and give it some time. If you are in serious doubt then be creative with your payments (dated checks that can be cancelled). If, by the half year mark you are not happy then consider finding other options, keeping in mind that the club already has about 60-70% of the years fee.

Alternatively, you stick out the whole year, benefit from whatever training your child received and move on.

It is trial and error, and decisions are based on past knowledge of the club and coach, your child's abilities, and then what happens.

Taking the word of a coach or DOC is just that..........a 'word'

[Unregistered]

Ditto......or....right back at you.

???

I did provide evidence. You said I took out of context. But when called upon to provide some support, you suggest that I didn't provide any evidence. Huh? I guess you just like to argue.

Anyway, I'm done with this. Waste of my time. FWIW, I agree with the rest of your post, which makes essentially the same points that I made in my original post, although in considerably more detail.