Damascus Soccer Club (DSC) has more than twenty teams playing at every level of select soccer offered in the Washington/Baltimore area.

If your child really loves to play soccer, select soccer may be the right choice for him or her. Some frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers are listed here. If you have a question that isn't addressed here, please contact DSC Vice President of Select Soccer.

Select Program FAQ and General Information

How are new select teams formed?

DSC creates new select teams at the U9 level (Age Group Information) each Spring, to begin play in the following Fall. DSC promotes select teams through advertising for spring tryouts on our webpage; EMail to recreational player email addresses; and advertising in the local newspapers. DSC's Director of Coaching and Player Development and Vice President of Travel share responsibility for organizing, scheduling and running the tryouts, including selecting and hiring the select coaches and evaluating and selecting the players. (In addition, several of the current select team coaches assist with the tryouts.)

Each winter, DSC begins the process by advertising for new coaches. DSC wants to provide a challenging learning environment for our players in order for them to be successful at the highest levels. To accomplish this, the Director of Coaching and the VP of Travel interview potential coaching candidates. Our goal is to have coaches who have, at a minimum, a USSF D license, an equivalent foreign license, or demonstrated experience as a player and select coach. We also encourage our recreational coaches to become involved as assistant coaches or team managers.

Once the coaches have been selected, DSC sets the dates for tryouts. The tryout dates usually are set for the end of May and early June - one day during the week and one on the weekend. The players are all rated and then informed whether or not they have earned a team position. Once the new team's roster has been selected, the coach will set the practice schedule, which is usually at least twice a week, sometimes three times a week.

The team will play their league games, play in a tournament or two each season, play at least one session of indoor during the winter, and go to soccer camp(s) in the summer. DSC also supports these newly formed U9 teams financially to ease them into the select
program.

How do I (or my child) get on an existing select team?

DSC's established select teams run tryouts on an ongoing basis to evaluate new players. These teams also open their practices to any potential candidates. If they require a larger tryout, the Director of Coaching and the VP of Travel will try to help out with identifying candidates.

The select leagues are available for players in the U8 through U19 age groups. Beyond U19, they have to enter into the adult leagues.

What do coaches do in tryouts?

The answer differs from coach to coach. At the younger ages, some coaches are looking for athletes that they can turn into soccer players. Others are looking for kids who already have an understanding of touch on the ball and a sense for the game. Still others are looking for children who respond positively to coaching - in other words, they listen and understand what the coach is asking. At the older age groups, it’s fairly plain and simple what a coach is looking for - can the player play and can they fit in with the team.

During the DSC tryouts for new teams (i.e., our spring tryouts for U9), we have a fairly standard format. After a basic warmup, we set up several small fields (30x40) and play small sided games, usually 4v4. All of the players are rated in several categories during the run of play. After the coach has rated everybody, the players will switch fields so they can be seen by another coach. The coaches will compare their notes at the end of the tryouts and select the players. We make it a point to try to contact every player trying out within a week, whether they made the team or not.

How many current select teams does DSC have? What are the age groups?

DSC currently has many teams playing select soccer. For this fall, we have girls teams playing in the Washington Area Girls Soccer League, regarded as one of the best leagues in the country. We have other girls teams playing in the Olney/Bethesda Soccer League, which is the stepping-stone for younger teams before they enter into WAGS. And we have more teams who are playing MSI-Classic as they wait to get into WAGS.

On the boys side, we have teams playing in the National Capitol Soccer League, the most competitive boys league in the area. We also have teams that is playing in OBSL as they await entry into NCSL.

How do the select leagues differ?

As stated earlier, OBSL is a steppingstone to get into WAGS and NCSL. The games in OBSL are all within the state of Maryland, usually a 30 to 60 minute drive. For WAGS and NCSL, there are games as far away as Stafford and Winchester, VA; Baltimore and St Mary’s County, MD; and Harpers Ferry, WV. So, travel could be considerably farther in these leagues.

In terms of competition, OBSL is considered a developmental league, although there are several clubs that feel it necessary to win, win, win to gain a perceived advantage over the other clubs. By the time teams reach WAGS and NCSL, they must be ready for sometimes fierce competition. If not, they could be relegated out of the league. Both of these leagues have a divisional structure that promotes the top teams and relegates the bottom teams. Most of the age groups have 5 divisions with 10 teams in each division. Division 1 is the highest, 5 (or sometimes 6) the lowest. If a team is in the lowest division and they finish in the bottom 5 teams during a season, they will be relegated out of the league. The only method to get back in is to get on the wait list for that age group.
Sometimes, it takes a few seasons, or even a few years, to get back in. In the meantime, these teams can enter the Maryland Premier Soccer League (MPSL), MSI-Classic or the Baltimore Beltway League. These leagues are similar to OBSL, but they also have older age groups.

How about practice time?

Team practices are determined by each coach. Most select teams practice at least twice a week. Some will even practice three of four times a week. Typically, practice sessions run for 90 minutes. Up until the age of 13-14, most of the practice is based on furthering the technical skill of the player and team. The tactics of the practices at these ages will be a bit subtler to the average player or person to pick out. Most coaches at this time aren’t spending a lot of time (if any) worrying about throw-in plays or corner kick plays. Instead they are concentrating on getting the players comfortable with the ball. Once the player demonstrates that comfort, the coach should push them out of their comfort zone. It’s a steady progression: when the players reach 13-14, they should have a very good skill base and at that point, most teams lessen the technical side and concentrate more on team tactics.

Who plays in tournaments?

The majority of the select teams also play in several tournaments each year. Some of these tournaments are local, including our own tournament, the August Cup (www.augustcup.com), which DSC runs in conjunction with Seneca Soccer Club. There are also many tournaments all over the country and abroad. Coaches like to use these away tournaments for team bonding - 16 kids and their parents in a hotel for a weekend is a great way to get to know each other.

Each spring brings the Maryland State Cup. Any team, including a rec team, can enter. The tournament starts at U13 and continues through the older age groups. There is a draw in March and then the knockout round begins in early April. This is "single elimination" play: if you lose, you’re out. Surviving teams go into the next round in late April and then on into June to determine the best team in each age group in the state. The winning teams then go on to play in the Regional tournament and (except for the U13’s) the winners of the Regionals in each age group go on to play in the Nationals. In 2002 and again in 2003, the Nationals were held at the Germantown Soccerplex.

What does it take to be a select coach?

Each coach selected to coach a DSC select team will interview with the Director of Coaching and/or the VP of Travel. DSC has certain criteria that we want all of our coaches to have:

• A passion for the game and a passion for teaching the game

• Ability to demonstrate technique while at the same time know how to have the game teach the player

• A minimum of a USSF D license or foreign equivalent or has played the game at a high level

• Constant re-education through licensing programs, clinics, self-development through reading and study, watching or attending high level games, and playing the game

DSC's goal is to move away from the "parent coach." Quite a few of our current coaches are fathers who have stepped in to coach because no one else was available. Some of them do not meet our technical requirements, but have done a fine job, and we have "grandfathered" them in to our program. However, unless the parent volunteer has an extremely high knowledge of the game through either playing at a high level, or certification, we strongly recommend that they support the team as assistant coach or manager, rather than as head coach.

One of the keys to being a good select coach is the ability to demonstrate technique. The subtleties of technique will separate good coaches from others. We want DSC to be a winning club, but we want to take a long term approach to get there, the basis of which is the ability of our players to be technically sound. Winning every game at the younger age groups doesn’t mean a thing if the players aren’t developing and are left behind at U13 because they still don’t have a decent touch on the ball. Therefore, we stress that coaches have the ability to demonstrate. Some will be better than others. For those that aren’t as good, or those who may have lost some of their ability to play (through injury, etc.), we also request that the team hire a trainer who can take over this role.

Summary

DSC is always striving to give their players and coaches an environment where they are constantly being challenged to reach the next higher level. We provide coaching and player clinics, we have bimonthly select coaches meetings and we encourage all of our players and coaches to strive for new ways to improve themselves. If you need more information on the select program, please contact DSC's VP of Select.

DSC Select Club-Wide Training Program
In the fall of 2006, DSC started a new program for its select players. Each Monday, the club provides several of our select coaches to train our players. This is a unique way of exposing our players to our highest level of coaching while also creating a true club feeling. The players will be taken through several skills stations each session including, dribbling, passing, strikers/finishing, 1st step speed/agility/core, 4v4 play, and we have a separate goalkeeping station run by DSC Goalkeeper Coach, Billy Warren. For 90 minutes the players will be run through each station with the emphasis on individual skill development - this is their time to experiment under the guidance of our coaches. All select players are invited free of charge. We also will be expanding the program to include those DSC rec players at the U7 and U8 level who show the promise of moving on to our select teams in the future. These players will be placed at a spearate station and will receive training from a different coach each session to prepare them for the transition to select play.