Potomac Soccer Association

★Luca Spano

We gave this program three years before making the difficult decision to take our son out. During that time, we consistently observed poor training practices and a lack of meaningful support from management. Communication was lacking, and it often felt like finances were prioritized over the well-being and development of the kids. Ultimately, we did not feel the value matched the cost.”

★Erika Aparaka

Our son joined Potomac Soccer Association in 2022. He actually left his school team so he could devote more time to the club. Initially, we had a wonderful experience with Potomac. Our first experiences with the coaching team were very pleasant. Our son ascended quickly from Gray to Black, where he stayed and remained a steadfast and upbeat member of the team. He approached practice and the game with unmitigated enthusiasm—until this past year. This year the club assigned a very nice and well meaning, but very overextended coach, who seemed to have challenges at times with his personal schedule as well as addressing the socioemotional needs of this assigned age group. There were several instances when after a loss the post-game assessments would have been more appropriate for older players with the means to receive stronger and more pointed feedback. Many of the parents shared their concerns but often held back critique in recognition that not every year and every coach will be a perfect fit. We were one of these families until recently. We place the shift in our experience squarely on Kareem’s incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional behavior. We made the decision to end our son’s club membership with Potomac Soccer after this past spring season. We were unable to move forward with an offer for next year’s Black team. Frankly, he deserved a better finish with Potomac soccer. He joined the club with an earnest desire to play the game and improve his skills. He attended practices consistently and most times we had difficulty getting him to leave the field after the official training was over. Separately, our son experienced a racially motivated assault at school in March which almost cost him his left eye, also robbed him of several weeks of his soccer season. Our son bravely underwent surgery to save his eye followed by examinations that required months of follow up care and multiple medications. Throughout this whole time he powered through his pain and kept asking when he would be able to play soccer again. It was honestly an incredibly difficult experience as his parents to see him suffer, but also inspiring to see his strength, courage, and optimism at such a young age. To the credit of his amazing teammates and their families they rallied around our son during this difficult period. Unfortunately, once he was cleared to play again, we felt that it hindered his opportunity to move up in the club. We did not feel the communication around the offer for a spot on Black was totally forthright, but we were willing to compromise (again) on that if it meant he could stay with the club and team he had grown to love. When we questioned Kareem about a cancelled practice, that is when the true nature of the club’s challenges with coaches was revealed to us. Kareem’s scolding reply to a valid question and the ensuing nastiness of him removing our son altogether from the club without due process helped us come to the decision that we cannot entrust our son to an organization that is unable to engage parents constructively or manage its employees and ensure the safety of its players. We have absolutely no assurance that our son will be assessed fairly in the future. And we still haven’t received an apology directly from Kareem as discussed in an earlier call with Mark Holt, the club’s technical director. It seems Kareem’s ego is holding him back from being accountable for his behavior. Overall, we think many of the families and coaches at Potomac Soccer are absolutely great and care for the kids, but Kareem has revealed himself as a toxic and demoralizing presence to the club. His unprofessional approach to parents, in our opinion causes families to retreat. Our family was the unfortunate example of what can happen when a parent speaks up and sadly it is our son who has had to bear the burden of finding a place he belongs and can be properly developed as an athlete.

★Winston Sirajuddin

Have to say I did not have a good experience with this organization. First there was communication issue as I was looking for a developmental team and instead my son was put into a try out which I did not want him to as he is a beginner.. Second issue is the team players (this is 8-9 year old kids) were very rude and have bully mentality behavior. My son told me later things they said, and coaches are not monitoring this at all. Honestly if I knew this went on I would have said something then. This is just toxic place, the kids weren't good players to talk such nonsense. Definitely got a positive environment. Will definitely look elsewhere in future. Wouldn't want to waste my money on such a place. I'm pretty upset about it, I would say harsher words but I do want parents to know about what goes on in these types of environments.

★Stephanie Rodriguez

I am Beyond disappointed and frustrated in the Potomac Soccer Association. I was so happy to finally find a soccer team for my son because he loves soccer. As any Parent we always try to find the best of the best but unfortunately this did not turn out the way we expected, please do not waste your time! My son was playing for the 2015 team and I soon started to notice this team was not organized. The lack of Communication by the head coach Mathew was insane. I would always text him and never would receive a response. I noticed that he will always go around talking to the parents but never me I could barley get a sentence out of him. My son had broke his elbow right before a game and I had reached out to the head coach explaining what happen yet again no response. After leaving the hospital I messaged him AGAIN stating that my son cannot play for four weeks and AGAIN NO response! So I took it upon myself to email all of the Potomac staff and head Director Laurie Lane explaining my concerns and frustrations and that we as a family we felt neglected and wanted to be out of Potomac and again two weeks later STILL NO RESPONSE! I finally called because they charged me card and I spoke to Laurie the head Director She told me that the coach said he’s reached out to me plenty of times as if I was lying , meaning she read my email never cared to email me back or see what they could do better as a organization! She was rude and she dismissed me saying well I can cancel your account without an apology and no care in the world ! THESE PEOPLE DO NOT CARE ! As a mother you want a team and coach that genuinely cares for your children that are invested in the organization! To be completely honest I feel like they are just racist due to the fact that I am an Hispanic women with African-American son. I felt like I was neglected and treated differently because of that. I would just like to inform everyone especially the people of the brown and black community that this may happen to you if you join this association. This is very unfortunate!

★★★★★Margaret Hay Pieczynski

Great family atmosphere, caring coaches and staff that combines the right amount of development and winning for the benefit of all the players. My daughter loves her Coach who treats her with so much respect. So happy we made the switch from another club 10/10