Girls DA/ ECNL

[Unregistered]

DA is the ECNL with weaker teams.

The best players in the state are ALREADY at the two best clubs. Unless there is movement between clubs, that's who will make up the DA teams for each club. That is also assuming that these best players will choose DA. The fact is many won't. Unless you have been to a NT camp by this time, why bother, you aren't going. The training evvironment will be the same, coaches, same, the only difference is you may practice a few more days with players that aren't as skilled as the team you just left. Look at the former u-17 NT rosters from last year. There were SEVERAL u-15s on those rosters and the world cup rosters. The NT coaches and scouts thought so much of the U-17 talent nationwide that they couldn't even fill a whole roster with them. Why would ANYONE in that age group sign on for DA. There's no need to form a league to try to develop kids into NT players. These kids are born, not made. You know those kids because we have all seen them,at some point, in the younger ages. Kids that were just NATURALS. Select the few that truly are great, and develop their skills. Something like now, with the training camps but find a way to get them together more.

[Unregistered]

DA is the ECNL with weaker teams.

What ever league has FC Boston is the weaker league

[Unregistered]

what ever league has fc boston is the weaker league

lmfao!!! :)

[Unregistered]

Totally predictable. Sounds like same thing is happening in Mass.
Stars and Breakers are just entering their current teams. No real effort to identify and recruit the top players in the area for this new league.

Both clubs think their current teams already have the top players in the area.

[Unregistered]

Both clubs think their current teams already have the top players in the area.

For the most part, they do.

[Unregistered]

Ecnl is a great platform for players wishing to play in college. Many of the current national team players at all levels are playing in the league. It may not be the best league to develop national team players. I would say a residential program would be better. Those are few and far in between, think IMG in Florida for girls. However, if us soccer truly created the league to develop better national team players, the league will fail. It is basically the ecnl forced to play during the high school months with less focus on college recruiting. Same players, same coaching, same facilities. Do you really think there will be a focus on development over winning? They are still for profit businesses that need to attract customers. If they are bottom of league of play against ecnl teams and consistently lose, the customers are not going to buy in.

What a blind fool. Can't imagine why your kid flopped and landed at a D3 with such deep insight into high level soccer.

[Unregistered]

What a blind fool. Can't imagine why your kid flopped and landed at a D3 with such deep insight into high level soccer.

Hmmmm......wonder who would author a post this slanted and with so much hatred.

[Unregistered]

Hmmmm......wonder who would author a post this slanted and with so much hatred.

Someone who is tired of you constantly interrupting every discussion on this site that relates to the top one of luv soccer with your ill informed opinions.

[Unregistered]

Someone who is tired of you constantly interrupting every discussion on this site that relates to the top one of luv soccer with your ill informed opinions.

So, in other words, BTNT.

[Unregistered]

Someone who is tired of you constantly interrupting every discussion on this site that relates to the top one of luv soccer with your ill informed opinions.

Paul, your endless stream of invective, lies, distortion, wild speculation, and plain ignorance does not constitute a "discussion."

What happened to the website you started as an alternative to TS--you know, the one where all the "discussion" and "information" can happen non-stop and entirely on your terms? Maybe now is a good time to revisit that project. The naive readers you imagine yourself influencing will surely follow you there.

[Unregistered]

In Connecticut, oakwood is the gda program. They are offering "waivers" to select girls so they can play high school and after the season play gda. Isn't that disingenuous and go against the league and us soccer premise that the best players need less games and more practice under coaches who are more qualified (higher lic)? Doesn't seem like year round development to me. What they are seeing is they are merely getting their own current npl customers to bite. No ECNL players from outside their club signing up. So, what you have is a middle of the pack npl club in the new super league for girl's that is supposed to raise the competition level for your elite player from mass.

Sounds like Oakwood but be the Yankee United if the GDA. CT is at a disadvantage from a population standpoint and it's also a situation where the destination club is not the GDA. Having been around this for a while, I can tell you the CFC is viewed as the leading girls club out of CT. This is going to be messy in CT.

The waivers seems like a desperation move and completely counter to the spirit of what USSF is trying to accomplish.

[Unregistered]

why worry about waivers? if gdap is set up to develop nt players then it really only matters that these studs practice. right btdt?

[Unregistered]

why worry about waivers? if gdap is set up to develop nt players then it really only matters that these studs practice. right btdt?

Yup!! Only players that aren't totally committed to worry about high school soccer. The funny thing is the DA is being created so the NT level players can escape the riff raff so they can focus on becoming the best they can become

[Unregistered]

In other words the bottom of the barrel aka D3 players.

[Unregistered]

why worry about waivers? if gdap is set up to develop nt players then it really only matters that these studs practice. right btdt?

Because it is counter to what GDA is supposed to be. The waiver permits Oakwood's prep school kids from practicing and playing with them for the entire fall (8-10 weeks). The very strong (and likely) rumor at Oakwood is that they are giving 5 waivers to prep school kids only (not public school kids) for the oldest 2 teams. This is very divisive as Glastonbury HS is one of the top schools in the country (3 state titles and counting in CT's largest class) and a 60-game winning streak. None of those players will reportedly be given waivers and many of them play at Oakwood (Oakwood was founded in Glastonbury and their indoor facility is still there). According to USSF, this is the exact problem GDA is supposed to solve by giving top players more practice time/game together. Now, in the Fall, Oakwood teams will have to play with short rosters, less talent, or additional kids playing up ultimately rendering them as a lackluster squad. Oakwood is a small club and the decision to go academy on the girls side will surely result in them losing players from the current NPL structures. They have already come out and say that they will not adhere to 4x practices per week (something they do not currently do on the boys side either). Many of their boys coaches still do not have the required licenses as well. I think this is the part people here in CT are trying to get a hold on. If USSF can't mandate clubs follow their rules whole-heartedly (and we already see that GDA is simply morphing into ECNL 2.0) then what is the benefit over and above the current gold standard? At least in CT, it seems that GDA will not be cheaper, will not have more practices, will not have better coaches, will not have less travel (in fact, because most of the country is set up as it is, travel will be greatly increased and cost will as well).

No outside kids are coming forward to bust down Oakwood's doors and tryout for these teams either in workouts during practice sessions or in last night's open tryouts. Oakwood does waivers on the boys side too, so waivers will not be going away any time soon. I think many academy clubs (at least in smaller metropolitan areas like CT) are more worried about simply filling their rosters than putting together quality sides. I wonder what the big impact of ENPL will be on boys DA will be, especially for non-MLS clubs. When boys DA began there were no national leagues to upstage them; this is not the case for GDA and they are asking for kids to give up a lot when they need not do that. It should get interesting in a few months.