We are thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic program! The coaches are incredibly dedicated and…read morecaring. I already see the improvements that my son has made because of the high caliber of coaching. The practice/tournament communication is organized and clear. We are thankful to have joined!!

We were fortunate enough to find a better program than team nikos but for the year and a half we…read morewere there both my children lost all their confidence and almost lost their love for basketball. This is a system that if a parent has a check to write they will accept your kid and promise you the world. I think our team won only 7 games out of 60 all season. I asked the owner Steve for a refund because he did not live up to the promise of two coaches per team. In response he called me at work and cussed me out, REALLY! This is not the type of person you want around your kids.

Our son started with Mercadel Basketball when he was 9 years old, and now at 13, we can honestly…read moresay it has been one of the best decisions we've made. Coach Henry and Coach Drew have done an incredible job developing not only our son's basketball skills but also his character, confidence, work ethic, and life skills. They genuinely care about each player and challenge them to become the best version of themselves, both on and off the court. One thing we appreciate most is Coach Henry's and Coach Drew's coaching style. After playing in more than 30 tournaments each year, we've seen a lot of different coaching styles. Some are far too hard on kids, while others don't challenge them enough. Coach Henry and Coach Drew have found the perfect balance. They hold the players accountable, push them to improve, encourage teamwork, continue development all while making each player feel valued and supported. As a Christian family, we also deeply appreciate the values Coach Henry brings to the program. Integrity, respect, humility, and encouragement are evident in the way he leads the team, and that means so much to us. We are so excited that our younger son will be joining Mercadel this August. Watching the growth our older son has experienced over the past four years has given us complete confidence that this is the right place for him as well. We truly feel blessed to be part of the Mercadel Basketball family and are incredibly grateful for everything Coach Henry, Coach Drew, and the entire program have poured into our son. We couldn't recommend Mercadel more highly.

Mercadel is by far the BEST club program in Orange County! The focus on conditioning, skill…read morebuilding and team play has helped our son's competitive drive and court awareness. The leadership is exceptional, they created an environment where everyone supports and cheers for one another. Henry truly cares about the kids and it shows.

Great staff to improve your kids baseball abilities .read more

OCX is the best baseball training our sons have ever received. Ruben and the rest of the OCX…read moretraining staff are very knowledgable when it comes to baseball skills & techniques, and most importantly they are extremely good at teaching them how to perform the fundamental skills safely to prevent injury. My husband and I not only appreciate what the coaches know, but we are also continually impressed that the coaches are good teachers and offer constructive & positive re-enforcement, and that they're tough-love kind of coaches. You can know a lot and be a crappy teacher, but that's not the case with these guys! While the facility offers cage time, private lessons, and group & team training - our sons have had the privilege to play on their OCX Baseball Academy teams. From a parents point of view, our boys have learned a lot from being on these teams. They fully understand the concept of "earned" playing time now. We are grateful for less of the political "BS" that goes on in the local rec leagues - and even more grateful to not be experiencing "Daddy ball" or "coach Dad" anymore.

My son has played soccer for 6 years, 2 seasons with AYSO and 4 with LNYSA, and we've had amazing…read morevolunteer coaches, fair play time and both fun and competitive WINNING seasons. This year we decided to try Elite soccer league to play closer to home, and it turned out to be one of the worst experiences we've had in youth sports. Starting with fees: we paid the standard league registration fees, but right before the first practice we learned we had to pay separately for uniforms and the coach, something no other rec league has ever charged us for, and none of this was communicated upfront. Ironically only league that charged for uniforms and at the same time did not enforce uniforms, there were kids that never once wore the uniform and the coach never addressed it. Now the coaching: they surprised us with a charge for a "pro coach" but what we got was worst than any parent volunteer we've ever had. The coach did nothing but scream the entire season, shouting confusing instructions while the kids were mid play, constantly criticizing and berating them on and off the field for everyone to witness rather than 1 on 1. It was toxic, chaotic and discouraging to watch. The "pro coach" also rarely rotated positions, and never rotated certain kids out. The same kids played the same positions week after week, while others barely got play time. That's unacceptable for a recreational league. It would've been one thing if he had a winning strategy, and kids were positioned to win games, but this wasn't the case, these kids not only lost all but one game; they were absolutely obliterated by HUGE margins (1-9, 0-8, etc.), and he still wouldn't make adjustments. One kid in particular who didn't sit out the entire season, couldn't run, tripped on his own feet and moved like molasses, and no he didn't score one of the 4 goals this team made ALL SEASON, also never wore the uniform. This team played defense the entire time, and never worked on basic offensive skills. It was painful to watch and even worst for the kids' morale. Losing is part of sports and part of learning, that wasn't the issue, it was the constant chaos, negativity, the way these kids were coached (if you can call it that), poor leadership, lack of support, and a toxic tone that made it unbearable. We couldn't wait until this season was over, this was by far the most disappointing program/league we've ever encountered, and any pleasure in attending games was out the window by week two. This was a completely wasted season for my son. We were warned by another mom whose child tried Elite last year, after playing with us at LYNSA the previous 2 years, the experience was so bad her son, he lost interest in soccer all together and hasn't played since; but I never in a million years imagined it could be this bad. I can confidently say, do not waste your money and your child's time with Elite Soccer league. Overall a horrendous experience.

I signed my six-year-old up because the website clearly promised one practice and one game a week…read more Instead, there were no practices at all. I asked for the advertised practices, and Elite said they'd set something up--but after that, they completely ghosted me despite multiple emails and texts. My son only went to one game, and it was such a disaster that he actually lost progress in just that day. Coaches were running around on the field with the kids, shouting instructions as they tried to figure things out, and the coach admitted she didn't know what she was doing and was only volunteering to avoid the cost of hiring a professional coach. This program is misleading, disorganized, and not at all what they advertise.

Playing in the 3v3 league Tuesdays is great. Well organized league, and everyone shows great…read moresportsmanship. Thanks Jeff for putting this together.

This review is long overdue but selfishly I wanted to keep it a secret and not attract "just…read moreanyone" as I have been playing basketball in Jeff's leagues for almost 15 years now with mostly the same group of good people. Most people are like me and never stop playing because it's fun, inclusive and not intimidating. Ages range everywhere from 20s to even 60s with most players aged somewhere in between and all skill levels are welcome. While "Father Time" may have caught up with some of us, the games are still competitive with plenty of good shooters, smart, serious players but most of all good sportsmanship, nice people and lots of fun. Bad attitudes and overly competitive types don't make it in these leagues and get weeded out quickly. If you are someone who values fun and wants to get out there play some ball and maybe make some friends along the way then this is the place for you. If you're not the best player but want to get out there then this is a friendly environment to grow your game. JSC is like a family so if you're a hot head, overly competitive and value winning over having fun then this is definitely not the league for you.

A great place for kids to come after school. Lots of activities and sports. The staff is friendly…read moreand cares for youth away from home.

The Boys and Girls Club holds a very special place in my heart. My dad coached basketball here for…read moreclose to 20 years. Myself, my siblings and my nieces and nephews all had the opportunity to play at this club and it was a carefree and fun experience. The Boys and Girls Club also offer afterschool programs, tutoring, and much more. They are a fantastic organization that gives to many families! I think they do amazing work for our community. Keep it up!

I would highly recommend that if you want to be treated with common decency and respect, do not…read moresign your children up for this program. If their employees treat the parents this way, how do you think they will treat your children when you are not present?

I heard about BPA through a friend that had a great experience with their kids there. I took my son…read moreto try out a lesson, and liked it enough buy a 10 lesson package for $600. Since signing up, the coach has cancelled on us several times (letting us know just a couple of hours before the scheduled time btw), and after multiple attempts to get a hold of him to reschedule, he has completely ghosted us. We had a great interaction for the only lesson we had, so not sure why he won't respond to texts or calls. Due to that, I've tried calling the academy directly over a dozen times over the last 3 weeks, and no one ever picks up the phone. So, they've taken my money, provided no services, and I can't get a hold of anyone to hold them accountable. This is really sad to me given how small and tight the baseball community is here in South County. For whoever the owner or general manager is of the academy, I would love the opportunity to share my experience with you so you understand how you're paying customers are being treated. Also, I'd appreciate my $600 back.

There are some great families in the league some awesome girls but the favoritism and Mom/Dad ball…read moreis blatant, widely known and laughable. To be up front, my daughter makes All Stars/Select so this review is pointing out other qualified players/families who get shafted out for no reason. Qualifications and attitude are not as much a factor as who you know and whose ass you kiss. If you are on the board or friends with someone on the board your daughter is far more likely to make All Stars and Select than another girl who is far more qualified. This is well known chatter and unfortunately people just deal with it. Every year across most division girls don't make All Stars despite being far more qualified than several players that did. This shows in the performance during the All Star season. If the board gave a shit about going deep in All Stars they would make the selection actually based on skills and not "who you know". If the Board wises up this league has a lot of potential but sadly, they care more about hooking friends up with roster spots over fielding a truly skilled competitive. Honestly if you are new to the league and aren't with the "in crowd" or ready to kiss ass, take your daughter elsewhere for a shot at true opportunity.

This is a recreational league in Mission Viejo that is more focused on the "select" and "All Star"…read moreportion of its program than on developing all of its young players. There is not a great vetting system for coaching or its "board" of volunteers. The "board" seems to be in place to forward their own children's individual agendas rather than the population of girls in the entire league. Jesse Matlock who is the current president of the board is not someone who should be dealing with people and is consistently disrespectful and petty. Again he is not interested in the over all well being of the girls in this league but rather his own agenda for his own child. He and the current VP on this board were recently fighting over their own daughters and had to have a board intervention. He is wishy/washy and seems to struggle with power issues especially with women. There are only a few female managers/coaches in the entire league and it feels more like a good ole boys club for middle aged dads to relive their glory days rather than a safe place for young girls to learn and develop in a female sport. The MVGS volunteer board randomly put a new rule in place this past spring season that every family needed to write a check for $200 for volunteer hours. They planned to hold the checks and if volunteer hours weren't met they would cash the check at the end of the season. The problem is if they didn't get all of the volunteer checks on a team then that team didn't receive their uniforms (which were already paid for in each girl's registration) for the girl's first games. How is it legal to withhold a child's paid for uniform because another parent did not write a volunteer check. What if you didn't want your check floating around some random volunteers house until the end of the season. When approached about this Jesse Matlock said peer pressure would make people pay. He was thrilled his black mail scheme saw more people volunteer for the league snack bar. League fundraising is a whole other issue with a real lack of transparency on where funds are actually spent. We were on team that didn't have a tee, had one net and not enough balls. The grounds at William Craycraft are well kept by the city but the park itself is old and run down. The city put a new bathroom in a few years ago and the MVGS league touts that as a major selling point of their program. If decent bathrooms are your league's major selling point that in itself speaks volumes. Our two daughters were abused by this league in a myriad of ways during our few seasons there. I had one daughter get her baby tooth knocked out with a bat one season with no care or follow up on her well being even after weeks of continued bruising and swelling. Both of our daughters had poor coaching experiences again because of lack of vetting. This league brags about the number of girls they get registered but they have a huge turn over. We witnessed several awesome families with highly talented players leave season after season because of politics. If you are not on the board or in their club your daughter will be treated poorly regardless of her talent level. Most of the best players in this league end up in club programs which makes sense but they were definitely ushered out with some mistreatment along the way. This is not a league I would recommend for any young girl. Steer clear. There are better options in south Orange county.