Whats the furthest you would travel?

[Guest]

Lately I've been reading alot on here about how far a club travels for games, and what's excessive. You got two camps bitching about the others, GA clubs saying the ECNL travels as much as they do, and ECNL clubs saying the same. I saw a post last night where someone listed the travels times for the CSA Monmouth games for this coming season. Out of 10 games, travels seem way beyond excessive, with the furthest being 6hrs, one way. Then they have one at 5½, one at 5, two at 4½, one at 3, two at 1½, and two at 1. All times were based from Capelli fields in Tinton Falls. Speaking to someone from the 2009 team, she tells me that they will double up on the far away games for one weekend, but logistically I don't see how that could happen because the really far away games are no where near each other. At least REAL and SJEB luck out because the furthest they will travel is 3hrs, the same as the NJ ECNL teams. I get it, its called travel soccer, and thats what you do, travel. I have friends that consider Tuckahoe Farms a far drive and have no desire to go past there.
What I would love to know is how CSA sold these super far away games on the parents as a good thing.
For any of the CSA Monmouth parents on here, can you please chime in and tell us how its going to work with these far away games? Since the older groups don't start their actual game schedule till the spring, you will have 20 games. Doesn't matter how you say it, you WILL BE traveling to all of these games, and then those teams would need to travel to you for the rematch. I love watching my kid play, but I think I would have to pass on a 12 hr drive, both ways, to watch a 80 minute soccer game. I couldn't care less if my kid played the full 80, I'd still pass on this game. What's everyone's thoughts?

[Guest]

This is a dumb post. Charlottesville, VA is not 3 hours from SJEB. It's 5. If you want to play ECNL and you live south of exit 117 you are facing a 40 minute ride up 287 every night one way 3x a week. Factor that in to your weekend travel discussion.

Would I rather drive 4 hours once versus 2 hours a night to go to a church complex? Absolutely.

MF shore is a joke. You get to drive now an hour an 10 to play home games. Anyone who has a kid who can play high level south of Keyport knows the best option is in Tinton Falls.

[Guest]

Lately I've been reading alot on here about how far a club travels for games, and what's excessive. You got two camps bitching about the others, GA clubs saying the ECNL travels as much as they do, and ECNL clubs saying the same. I saw a post last night where someone listed the travels times for the CSA Monmouth games for this coming season. Out of 10 games, travels seem way beyond excessive, with the furthest being 6hrs, one way. Then they have one at 5½, one at 5, two at 4½, one at 3, two at 1½, and two at 1. All times were based from Capelli fields in Tinton Falls. Speaking to someone from the 2009 team, she tells me that they will double up on the far away games for one weekend, but logistically I don't see how that could happen because the really far away games are no where near each other. At least REAL and SJEB luck out because the furthest they will travel is 3hrs, the same as the NJ ECNL teams. I get it, its called travel soccer, and thats what you do, travel. I have friends that consider Tuckahoe Farms a far drive and have no desire to go past there.
What I would love to know is how CSA sold these super far away games on the parents as a good thing.
For any of the CSA Monmouth parents on here, can you please chime in and tell us how its going to work with these far away games? Since the older groups don't start their actual game schedule till the spring, you will have 20 games. Doesn't matter how you say it, you WILL BE traveling to all of these games, and then those teams would need to travel to you for the rematch. I love watching my kid play, but I think I would have to pass on a 12 hr drive, both ways, to watch a 80 minute soccer game. I couldn't care less if my kid played the full 80, I'd still pass on this game. What's everyone's thoughts?

I believe real and Sjeb will have to go to Pittsburgh and Virginia. If you play on mf shore in elite 64 you travel to Boston Connecticut. I guess the other option for you is to stick to town ball. Most competitive sports, not just soccer require travel , even swimming nationals are in North Carolina twice a year. Pick a sport and find someone that plays competitive and ask same questions.

[Guest]

This is a dumb post. Charlottesville, VA is not 3 hours from SJEB. It's 5. If you want to play ECNL and you live south of exit 117 you are facing a 40 minute ride up 287 every night one way 3x a week. Factor that in to your weekend travel discussion.

Would I rather drive 4 hours once versus 2 hours a night to go to a church complex? Absolutely.

MF shore is a joke. You get to drive now an hour an 10 to play home games. Anyone who has a kid who can play high level south of Keyport knows the best option is in Tinton Falls.

Not sure if you are defending GA or not. So the REAl and SJEB is also traveling 5hrs one way in the GA for games? Thats freaking crazy.
As for travel to practice, I would guess that mostly everyone on here travels at least 40min to a hour one way to practice. If thats to much for you, I suggest staying in rec.
And as for traveling to a "church complex", I not sure what that means. The PDA North fields are nicer than most fields we've played at, with the exception of Capelli in Tinton Falls.

[Guest]

USYS also travels a ton. So does EDP top tier.
And the tournaments are plane rides. It’s all gotten out of control but it’s a business. Some parents were crazy enough to attend Gothia cup in Sweden to play against low level local Swedish clubs - equal to playing EDP local level at Tuckahoe. If your kid loves soccer it’s hard to avoid travel but easy to say no to the nonsense events.

[Guest]

Everyone here is entitled complainers. Imagine if you live in the midwest or west where some games are 12 hours away. Even the clubs down south have to deal with long travel to Miami based clubs.

Everyone will always find a reason to complain when you should actually be happy. Geez.

[Guest]

The GA NE games are doubled up so its 3 longer trips all season. Syracuse/Rochester for example are one weekend. Makes it a bit easier to handle. GA MA now has at least 2 5+ hour rides with Skyline and the Pittsburgh teams

[Guest]

Random thoughts

- excessive travel should always be avoided for younger players. About U13 or so, which is also when the higher level teams form, kids can better tolerate longer rides. There's simply not enough volume of quality players, clubs or leagues to have it be convenient for all

- yes the travel is absurd at times but is something the consumer has no control over other than not participating. It's a choice. If more choose options with less travel then maybe things would change, but the top leagues have more than enough families willing to participate and write checks.

- the travel is known up front. It's not a surprise unless you're not paying attention. The leagues are pretty good about publishing schedules far out so you can plan, especially for showcases.

- find 1-2 families you trust to split the travel. One family does one travel weekend, another the next.

- in the east coast we are lucky compared to many other parts of the US

- if your kid is barely playing then they're on the wrong team to begin with. Long car rides are just salt in the wound. Find them another team where they'll play a ton

- it's a big decision that can impact the whole family. Don't underestimate the impact of the grind and cost over 4+ years.

- you'll never know without trying and can always drop back if it gets to be too much

[Guest]

This is a dumb post. Charlottesville, VA is not 3 hours from SJEB. It's 5. If you want to play ECNL and you live south of exit 117 you are facing a 40 minute ride up 287 every night one way 3x a week. Factor that in to your weekend travel discussion.

Would I rather drive 4 hours once versus 2 hours a night to go to a church complex? Absolutely.

MF shore is a joke. You get to drive now an hour an 10 to play home games. Anyone who has a kid who can play high level south of Keyport knows the best option is in Tinton Falls.

Tinton Falls is the best option as far as travel goes, yes. But what about quality of team and training? Does that factor into your equation at all?

[Guest]

As a poster on the other thread said, people in this area are a little spoiled when it comes to travel times. Some of those divisions have travel of 8hrs plus with only a team or two within a few hours.

[Guest]

As a poster on the other thread said, people in this area are a little spoiled when it comes to travel times. Some of those divisions have travel of 8hrs plus with only a team or two within a few hours.

yea, that is crazy for the teams in places like Iowa.

Personally, my kids is NOT EC[RN]L or GA, but is in a top USYS (not PRO or E64). I think we do enough. Maybe 3 games/tournaments a year with a long enough car ride to require a hotel, and MAYBE 1 flight. My kid has no chance to place at a top D1 school, but she will have a chance to study at top school

[Guest]

yea, that is crazy for the teams in places like Iowa.

Personally, my kids is NOT EC[RN]L or GA, but is in a top USYS (not PRO or E64). I think we do enough. Maybe 3 games/tournaments a year with a long enough car ride to require a hotel, and MAYBE 1 flight. My kid has no chance to place at a top D1 school, but she will have a chance to study at top school

Most top schools are D1 as well. Only a small handful of D3 schools would be considered top schools...mostly NESCAC and UAA schools, plus a few here and there (eg. MIT, Johns Hopkins).

[Guest]

Most top schools are D1 as well. Only a small handful of D3 schools would be considered top schools...mostly NESCAC and UAA schools, plus a few here and there (eg. MIT, Johns Hopkins).

If most top schools are D1 does that mean those students will have to pay their loans back by chance? I mean they should all be making above the $250K combined income to qualify since they went to a top D1 school to begin with and should be making bank. And there are several local D3 schools that are better than the D1 neighbors right here in Jersey.

[Guest]

Everyone here is entitled complainers. Imagine if you live in the midwest or west where some games are 12 hours away. Even the clubs down south have to deal with long travel to Miami based clubs.

Everyone will always find a reason to complain when you should actually be happy. Geez.

But we don't live in the midwest. There are probably many upsides to living in a sparsely populated area. But living in thee densely populated Northeast it is insane that clubs have managed to convince scared and naive parents that they must travel to play high quality soccer. GA is preying on the fears of desperate parents.

[Guest]

But we don't live in the midwest. There are probably many upsides to living in a sparsely populated area. But living in thee densely populated Northeast it is insane that clubs have managed to convince scared and naive parents that they must travel to play high quality soccer. GA is preying on the fears of desperate parents.

wow that's a bit extreme no? Preying on fears? Scared and naive?