How did thornz acad end up such a mess?

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You are kidding right? Dorrance is right on about some many things that are ****ed up with the federation (as well as some of the things that are good).

GDA is beating ECNL at their own game. "Look at the players WE developed" and "anyone who is any good needs to play ECNL" have been part of the ECNL playbook for years.

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ARe the thorns continuing next year?

Rumor has it they are shopping the program to other clubs in the area but that just pure speculation from the strange people who hang out here.

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Rumor has it they are shopping the program to other clubs in the area but that just pure speculation from the strange people who hang out here.

Eastside or Westside would both be good based on history of developing girls.

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Eastside or Westside would both be good based on history of developing girls.

I completely agree. WST and EST are the perfect choice to run the GDA given their track record for developing girls. I can’t think of more appropriate clubs to run it.

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I completely agree. WST and EST are the perfect choice to run the GDA given their track record for developing girls. I can’t think of more appropriate clubs to run it.

Cynicism aside, can you clarify what you mean for a track record in development?

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neighbor from the north. what is wrong with the thorns? i heard it
was fully funded gda. just curious why so much back and forth.
what is the issue here?

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neighbor from the north. what is wrong with the thorns? i heard it
was fully funded gda. just curious why so much back and forth.
what is the issue here?

Local ECNL clubs don't like the competition--and ECNL has been objecting generally to US Soccer encroaching upon "their" turf for the past year and a half, ever since the GDA was announced.

Of course, most of the complaints are hypocritical in the extreme--particularly the allegations that US Soccer is trying to "monopolize" talent, and set itself up at the top of the pyramid, creating a situation where top talent HAS to play for GDA clubs to be considered for USWNT positions (or possibly even college scholarships), and non-GDA players are excluded from consideration. This is hypocritical because that is how ECNL has operated all throughout it's existence--this message board is full of ECNL parents and coaches proclaiming that the various OYSA affiliated teams all stink, and anyone who plays for one is a second-rater doomed to playing ball at the local community college, and making the dubious claim that not only does ECNL offer better college exposure (it's value proposition), but that the coaching is better as well (not really).

But now that US Soccer has upped the ante with GDA, which offers subsidized training in many cases (the Thorns being an example), ECNL clubs nationwide have been screaming bloody murder.

There are many things to object to about US Soccer's power play--but I feel not one bit of sympathy for the victim. If we are going to have one league which dominates the professional pathway for elite youth players, I'd rather have it be one that exists for the benefit of the national team and provides opportunity for all income levels, rather than one that's only available for upper-class girls and exists mainly for the benefit of lazy college scouts who would rather just attend showcases rather than pounding the pavement looking for talent.

Perhaps if ECNL weren't so obnoxious to their feeder clubs, and didn't engage in rhetoric that amounts to "play with us or forget about a college career", the GDA wouldn't have formed, and US Soccer would have left well enough alone. But ECNL is by and large, getting what they deserve.

[Unregistered]

neighbor from the north. what is wrong with the thorns? i heard it
was fully funded gda. just curious why so much back and forth.
what is the issue here?

Neighbor to the north, maybe similar reasons to why Seattle United pulled out of GDA, I don’t know. Most of the parents I know think ECNL & GDA are both fine options. The only problems are expense, travel & time commitments, & missed school. We often wonder out loud what was wrong with the days before a girl had to travel out of state to play all their games? How did Mia & Michelle and crew ever make it to play in college without driving several hours a day to practice and flying out of state on weekends for games.

[Unregistered]

Local ECNL clubs don't like the competition--and ECNL has been objecting generally to US Soccer encroaching upon "their" turf for the past year and a half, ever since the GDA was announced.

Of course, most of the complaints are hypocritical in the extreme--particularly the allegations that US Soccer is trying to "monopolize" talent, and set itself up at the top of the pyramid, creating a situation where top talent HAS to play for GDA clubs to be considered for USWNT positions (or possibly even college scholarships), and non-GDA players are excluded from consideration. This is hypocritical because that is how ECNL has operated all throughout it's existence--this message board is full of ECNL parents and coaches proclaiming that the various OYSA affiliated teams all stink, and anyone who plays for one is a second-rater doomed to playing ball at the local community college, and making the dubious claim that not only does ECNL offer better college exposure (it's value proposition), but that the coaching is better as well (not really).

But now that US Soccer has upped the ante with GDA, which offers subsidized training in many cases (the Thorns being an example), ECNL clubs nationwide have been screaming bloody murder.

There are many things to object to about US Soccer's power play--but I feel not one bit of sympathy for the victim. If we are going to have one league which dominates the professional pathway for elite youth players, I'd rather have it be one that exists for the benefit of the national team and provides opportunity for all income levels, rather than one that's only available for upper-class girls and exists mainly for the benefit of lazy college scouts who would rather just attend showcases rather than pounding the pavement looking for talent.

Perhaps if ECNL weren't so obnoxious to their feeder clubs, and didn't engage in rhetoric that amounts to "play with us or forget about a college career", the GDA wouldn't have formed, and US Soccer would have left well enough alone. But ECNL is by and large, getting what they deserve.

Nice try. The GDA impact is hit and miss across the country. GDA was a blip in Portland. Seattle was different since Crossfire Premier switched over. Though they are questioning their decision since the competition is so lopsided in the GDA.

ECNL accomplished consolidating girls competition across the country. The introduction of the GDA has split the talent, which ultimately dilutes the number of quality games. Again, look at the lopsidedness in the GDA.

Are you seriously calling scouts lazy? Do you not understand schools have limited budgets to watch and recruit players?

Think before you make stupid posts.

[Unregistered]

neighbor from the north here.

heard seattle united was paying so much money for fields and crap that they
were neglecting the other teams. i think there needs to be a change in the bod and
docs at the club. they have f*cked up too many times and basically make the best
girls leave to other clubs, if they want to play higher level beyond hs.
feeder club for crossfire and eastside. parents are beyond pissed off.
imagine progressive libs foaming at the mouth like a foamy latte. hah.

but the interesting part is rumored that pacnw and wa rush had applied for gda.
pacnw has starfire fields and great coaches. my money is on them. they will gather
all of the girls in pierce/south king counties. crossfire and wpfc will be hurt by this.
wa rush is a dark horse, but they will gather all of the girls north king and snohomish.
if both clubs get gda, it will mark the end of ecnl in wa, for sure. crossfire and reign
will definitely be diluted. popcorn time.

[Unregistered]

Nice try. The GDA impact is hit and miss across the country. GDA was a blip in Portland. Seattle was different since Crossfire Premier switched over. Though they are questioning their decision since the competition is so lopsided in the GDA.

ECNL accomplished consolidating girls competition across the country. The introduction of the GDA has split the talent, which ultimately dilutes the number of quality games. Again, look at the lopsidedness in the GDA.

Are you seriously calling scouts lazy? Do you not understand schools have limited budgets to watch and recruit players?

Think before you make stupid posts.

Do you think the competition would have been less lopsided for Crossfire if they had only done ECNL this year?

US Soccer screwed things up. Same problem if you are in ECNL or GDA. ECNL championships this year is no first team from PDA, Slammers, Eclipse, Colorado Real, Solar, etc...

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Do you think the competition would have been less lopsided for Crossfire if they had only done ECNL this year?

US Soccer screwed things up. Same problem if you are in ECNL or GDA. ECNL championships this year is no first team from PDA, Slammers, Eclipse, Colorado Real, Solar, etc...

US Soccer was mad that the women were doing so well when the men were so awful. So they invented GDA to being their bad ideas to women. Hopefully they can bring women down to the low levels of USMNT.

The stench of failure hangs like a fog over the USMNT.

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US Soccer was mad that the women were doing so well when the men were so awful. So they invented GDA to being their bad ideas to women. Hopefully they can bring women down to the low levels of USMNT.

The stench of failure hangs like a fog over the USMNT.

Since 1995 the women have been doing well on a global stage. Are you really that ignorant?

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US Soccer was mad that the women were doing so well when the men were so awful. So they invented GDA to being their bad ideas to women. Hopefully they can bring women down to the low levels of USMNT.

The stench of failure hangs like a fog over the USMNT.

So you are saying that US Soccer was jealous that women were super successful. So they are moving in on women’s development to try to junk it down to the extremely poor level of the men? That’s a very good possibility.

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So you are saying that US Soccer was jealous that women were super successful. So they are moving in on women’s development to try to junk it down to the extremely poor level of the men? That’s a very good possibility.

Since 1995 the women have been doing well on a global stage. Are you really that ignorant?