Serious question about GA in VA

[Guest]

Does ECNL have too much of a presence for GA to thrive in VA? What can be done to improve the situation? Keystone FC was just added, Sporting DE is trying to move to PA (which would put them on the Spring schedule due to HS Fall). Are they planning to split/realign the division? What's the fix?

[Guest]

High School does not affect GA. Clubs just schedule around it and work with the High School schedule. PA/NJ/MD/VA have all been together for a few years without any issue.

Honestly, it may be the one of the very very few advantages of GA since it is year round, so girls that don’t play High School aren’t missing an entire season like ECNL. It also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that HS soccer is pretty horrible and where most high level players suffer injuries. Then, again, that could happen just from playing bottom table GA or ECNL teams.

But yeah, no fix. The addition of Keystone does make me wonder if the Metro rumors are true, offsetting a team that could be folding. Metro is currently 13-50-7 across all age groups but if you take away the U18/U19, they are 4-46-7. Metro ASA and Murrieta SC (CA) have the two worst records through all age groups in the entire GA.

[Guest]

rumors are true, parents were told last night

[Guest]

If that’s the case and the club has poor performing teams across all age groups, then this decision makes sense to remove them and make room for another club to give it a go. I don’t think this is a reflection of the league but more on Metro itself. I would hope the same occurs at ECNL where if a club has poor performance across the board they reevaluate their position.

[Guest]

This puts FCV in a weird situation as the sole GA offering in NoVA. Not that Metro was ever really much of an offering but any talent that was at Metro will likely hit up ECNL clubs for spots. The sad fact is at least one club had to go under to help solve some of the dilution in the area.

But no longer having any other GA offering, as bad as Metro was, makes GA the odd man out in NoVA being surrounded by 5 ECNL clubs GA just will not have any branding or mind share in this region. Signing up for FCV now means signing up for a second tier league with the closest away game a hour and a half away.

The ability for FCV to recruit players into GA without any other GA presence will likely prove to be a uphill battle that they just won't win over time.

And lets not mince words, Metro was bad, but the GA brand was not strong enough to draw talent to Metro to begin with. For all of Metro's missteps their biggest problem was always attracting talent and the GA patch was itself not enough of a lure to bring talent in over ECNL clubs.

The question is, can FCV survive being the lone GA outpost in NoVA?

[Guest]

FCV being GA is nice and all but looking at clubs simply because of the league they’re associated with isn’t everything.

[Guest]

This puts FCV in a weird situation as the sole GA offering in NoVA. Not that Metro was ever really much of an offering but any talent that was at Metro will likely hit up ECNL clubs for spots. The sad fact is at least one club had to go under to help solve some of the dilution in the area.

But no longer having any other GA offering, as bad as Metro was, makes GA the odd man out in NoVA being surrounded by 5 ECNL clubs GA just will not have any branding or mind share in this region. Signing up for FCV now means signing up for a second tier league with the closest away game a hour and a half away.

The ability for FCV to recruit players into GA without any other GA presence will likely prove to be a uphill battle that they just won't win over time.

And lets not mince words, Metro was bad, but the GA brand was not strong enough to draw talent to Metro to begin with. For all of Metro's missteps their biggest problem was always attracting talent and the GA patch was itself not enough of a lure to bring talent in over ECNL clubs.

The question is, can FCV survive being the lone GA outpost in NoVA?

Agree with all your points. The only GA teams playing games in Sept and the 1st half of Oct this year were FCV, Metro, Skyline and Sporting Del. If there are only 3 teams, that’s not a lot of competition for the 1st month and a half of the season.

Is it possible Metro will partner elsewhere - or some other partnership will form to add a 2nd GA team in this area?

[Guest]

This puts FCV in a weird situation as the sole GA offering in NoVA. Not that Metro was ever really much of an offering but any talent that was at Metro will likely hit up ECNL clubs for spots. The sad fact is at least one club had to go under to help solve some of the dilution in the area.

But no longer having any other GA offering, as bad as Metro was, makes GA the odd man out in NoVA being surrounded by 5 ECNL clubs GA just will not have any branding or mind share in this region. Signing up for FCV now means signing up for a second tier league with the closest away game a hour and a half away.

The ability for FCV to recruit players into GA without any other GA presence will likely prove to be a uphill battle that they just won't win over time.

And lets not mince words, Metro was bad, but the GA brand was not strong enough to draw talent to Metro to begin with. For all of Metro's missteps their biggest problem was always attracting talent and the GA patch was itself not enough of a lure to bring talent in over ECNL clubs.

The question is, can FCV survive being the lone GA outpost in NoVA?

I don’t know. A case could be made that being the only GA club gives FCV something unique to offer compared with all the ECNL clubs battling with each other. Sometimes better to be the big fish in a small pond

[Guest]

This puts FCV in a weird situation as the sole GA offering in NoVA. Not that Metro was ever really much of an offering but any talent that was at Metro will likely hit up ECNL clubs for spots. The sad fact is at least one club had to go under to help solve some of the dilution in the area.

But no longer having any other GA offering, as bad as Metro was, makes GA the odd man out in NoVA being surrounded by 5 ECNL clubs GA just will not have any branding or mind share in this region. Signing up for FCV now means signing up for a second tier league with the closest away game a hour and a half away.

The ability for FCV to recruit players into GA without any other GA presence will likely prove to be a uphill battle that they just won't win over time.

And lets not mince words, Metro was bad, but the GA brand was not strong enough to draw talent to Metro to begin with. For all of Metro's missteps their biggest problem was always attracting talent and the GA patch was itself not enough of a lure to bring talent in over ECNL clubs.

The question is, can FCV survive being the lone GA outpost in NoVA?

This is an interesting perspective. I think things could also net themselves out. GA could be perceived as an off brand by upcoming talent could push them move more toward the ECNL clubs. But I also think it now provides a unique alternative at a national level that is a draw for some. It remains to be seen, but point well taken with 5 ECNL clubs in NOVA leaving the 1 GA team odd man out. Honestly, I think the best thing for NOVA at the elite level would be to drop tat least 2 of the ECNL clubs so that talent could be pooled across the remaining 3 ECNL teams and 1 GA team. There's just no easy way to have a club in this area competitive at the national level with 7 and possibly soon 6 ECNL/GA teams clustered together. And really make that 8 possibly 7 because BSC is just across the river.

[Guest]

This is an interesting perspective. I think things could also net themselves out. GA could be perceived as an off brand by upcoming talent could push them move more toward the ECNL clubs. But I also think it now provides a unique alternative at a national level that is a draw for some. It remains to be seen, but point well taken with 5 ECNL clubs in NOVA leaving the 1 GA team odd man out. Honestly, I think the best thing for NOVA at the elite level would be to drop tat least 2 of the ECNL clubs so that talent could be pooled across the remaining 3 ECNL teams and 1 GA team. There's just no easy way to have a club in this area competitive at the national level with 7 and possibly soon 6 ECNL/GA teams clustered together. And really make that 8 possibly 7 because BSC is just across the river.

My daughter and I have talked about this; what if we combined all the top ECNL players in the area and formed a team we could compete with the Solar's and other top programs...not going to happen; wishful thinking to create an all star team of all the top talent in the area....now we just focus on her development, improving and showcasing!

[Guest]

My daughter and I have talked about this; what if we combined all the top ECNL players in the area and formed a team we could compete with the Solar's and other top programs...not going to happen; wishful thinking to create an all star team of all the top talent in the area....now we just focus on her development, improving and showcasing!

While this can be done why would you want to do it?

[Guest]

My daughter and I have talked about this; what if we combined all the top ECNL players in the area and formed a team we could compete with the Solar's and other top programs...not going to happen; wishful thinking to create an all star team of all the top talent in the area....now we just focus on her development, improving and showcasing!

And who does that help to have a single super team in the area? Does it help the 80% of players currently on ECNL teams that won’t make the super team? No. Does it help the 5 clubs that lose ECNL teams? No. Does it help parents of the kids on the super teams who now need to drive further to practice fields? No. Does it help the few players who are good enough to make the super team? Maybe but not really if these players were the best on their current ECNL teams they were already getting lots of exposure.

[Guest]

While this can be done why would you want to do it?

good players want to play with other good players. more looks from scouts and college coaches. better training going up against the best day in day out.

[Guest]

I don’t know. A case could be made that being the only GA club gives FCV something unique to offer compared with all the ECNL clubs battling with each other. Sometimes better to be the big fish in a small pond

This is what I was thinking. FCV still has a lot of historical clout and they along with TopHat, Nationals, NEFC, Ukies, Albion ,Lonestar and some other GA heavyweights I could list as well, only really need each other to show-up at these national showcases 12-16 teams is sufficient. If you can ensure you qualify for nationals every year, you will be seen and if you have no competition in your region to qualify each year, it feels like a win to me. It allows a club to focus on player development becuase the results are in the bag in most matchups during the season, play everyone, everyone gets better, everyone gets looked at, and let the best rise to the top. I'm not an FCV parent for the record, but when my DD trained with them we left very impressed with their professional outlook on player development, it wasn't a powerpoint or name dropping, it was personal approach to tracking player's mental, physical, and emotional health that impressed me. Won't name the high profile club my DD does play for, but they do none of this and show little interest in the girls outside of how much they can run and offer game to game, in the name of winning.

[Guest]

Agree with all your points. The only GA teams playing games in Sept and the 1st half of Oct this year were FCV, Metro, Skyline and Sporting Del. If there are only 3 teams, that’s not a lot of competition for the 1st month and a half of the season.

Is it possible Metro will partner elsewhere - or some other partnership will form to add a 2nd GA team in this area?

Metro is dead. I guarantee you will see the coaches at another club. While they may not have gotten the talent, there was a lot of coaches at other clubs that liked their philosophy and training style.