Boys 05

[Unregistered]

BS. You have zero credibility. You neither have a son on a DA team, nor do you know a thing about any of those teams. TA is actually not good at all. There are some really good individual players, and some good players who at out of position. However, there is not one Great player, and they are not a really good team. Chemistry issues. Might stem from having a coach who is not even able to be listed ad their coach, or be allowed on the touch line? Either way, you are delusional if you think otherwise. Honestly, I really think a team like Salem would wax their behind. We are entitled to our own opinions, but in this instance there is no way conceivable way TA blows anybody out not named East side. TA would have 2 losses in Oregon at this point.

You are wrong. You have no idea who I am. You are grasping at desperate straws by saying I have zero credibility and don't have a son on a DA team. Remember this is anonymous dumbass. It's hard to even take you seriously. Everything you are saying is false including this. TA would smoke your kids sorry ass and the fact you can't recognize that is the only delusional thing. Someone needs to get TA to do some friendlies and put you in your place.

[Unregistered]

You are wrong. You have no idea who I am. You are grasping at desperate straws by saying I have zero credibility and don't have a son on a DA team. Remember this is anonymous dumbass. It's hard to even take you seriously. Everything you are saying is false including this. TA would smoke your kids sorry ass and the fact you can't recognize that is the only delusional thing. Someone needs to get TA to do some friendlies and put you in your place.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." There's the thunder from down under Dad I know and loathe. Sorry Skippy, your son is not as special and elite as you hoped...or deluded yourself into thinking he was. You b1tch and complain about Oregon DA so much, and attempt to marginalize them, because you want to feel special. TA is DA. No difference. Except you could ha e stayed in Oregon, still lost games, BUT you would have won more games. What an zzz clown.

[Unregistered]

You are wrong. You have no idea who I am. You are grasping at desperate straws by saying I have zero credibility and don't have a son on a DA team. Remember this is anonymous dumbass. It's hard to even take you seriously. Everything you are saying is false including this. TA would smoke your kids sorry ass and the fact you can't recognize that is the only delusional thing. Someone needs to get TA to do some friendlies and put you in your place.

Hello, not the person you were responding to but I wanted to weigh in. First of all, my son is on one of those "top 3 DA teams" and none of the TADA kids previous teams have ever smoked my son's team. My son's team is even better now, so not sure why you would think this? Sounds as though the other poster is correct, and you are neurotically insecure about yourself, and want to justify that your son is on the best team around. Sadly, that just isn't the case. Have you stopped to consider why the Timbers tried to block DA from happening in Oregon for the 2005 age groups? They tried to create demand for their product. Some might argue that is a good thing for Oregon soccer; get all the good to really good players on one team and then compete with other states. However, then the Timbers allowed Billups to buy the academy, bring in a coach without the necessary license here in the US, recruit Billups' son's friends to fill out the roster. TA only got 25% of the best players for this age group. Oh sure, a narrow minded person like yourself, has convinced yourself otherwise, but that is a fact. Your son's team (if you in fact have a son on TS...or a son at all) is ordinary. Plain. Average. Accept this, understand why, and make a better decision next time.

[Unregistered]

Hello, not the person you were responding to but I wanted to weigh in. First of all, my son is on one of those "top 3 DA teams" and none of the TADA kids previous teams have ever smoked my son's team. My son's team is even better now, so not sure why you would think this? Sounds as though the other poster is correct, and you are neurotically insecure about yourself, and want to justify that your son is on the best team around. Sadly, that just isn't the case. Have you stopped to consider why the Timbers tried to block DA from happening in Oregon for the 2005 age groups? They tried to create demand for their product. Some might argue that is a good thing for Oregon soccer; get all the good to really good players on one team and then compete with other states. However, then the Timbers allowed Billups to buy the academy, bring in a coach without the necessary license here in the US, recruit Billups' son's friends to fill out the roster. TA only got 25% of the best players for this age group. Oh sure, a narrow minded person like yourself, has convinced yourself otherwise, but that is a fact. Your son's team (if you in fact have a son on TS...or a son at all) is ordinary. Plain. Average. Accept this, understand why, and make a better decision next time.

Let's set the record straight on a few things here. Timbers actually supported DA and asked DOC's to do it in an effort to create a league they could compete in. Unfortunately, the rest of the DA teams are not strong enough and TA had to go to WA. One may be strong enough to compete (WA Timbers), but that is not enough.

Billups did not buy the academy. Academy programs are not for sale and are funded by the MLS franchise. Billups does not pay for anything at TA. He has some political pull and good relationships, but he is not funding it as you assume. He brought in the coach long before TA was even on his radar. The coach is not licensed because of timing, not because he is unqualified. His required licensing is only offered a couple times a year.

TA has more than 25% of the best players, but certainly not all of them deserve to be there. If people would have followed the model it would have worked and all the best players would be there. The intent by TA was good, but apparently 6-7 of the top players said no. That forces them to go with the left overs. It's too bad for the state because we are behind. We could make a difference if all the best players were playing together. Maybe one team could finally compete on a broader scale.

I do have a son in DA and not on TA. He is on one of the top teams.

Someone pointed out that TA doesn't have the chemistry to beat other DA teams. I agree they lack chemistry, but here are a few individual players that can make up for that against all of these DA teams. WA Timbers may be the only one to give them a challenge, but they still get beat.

[Unregistered]

It doesn't matter who would beat whom in Oregon. What matters is that a 3/4 strength TA and 6 mediocre u13 teams is simply not a good enough environment. Sure that comes out a bit in matches locally or in WA or in CA, but the real problem is in practices: there are too many hangers-on.

The notion that there could be more than 2 teams of kids with elite potential in OR is insane. LISTEN: this doesn't mean that everyone outside those 2 teams is bad, or not deserving of high level coaching and competition. It just means that the current DA looks much more like OYSA clubs have always looked rather than professional development academies. Even the parents are overly obsessed with results and big and/or fast kids chasing down through balls and scoring goals. They, too, would be happier playing competitive club soccer and doing a bit of traveling to tournaments in cool locales. Literally, nothing about the experience would change if you removed the DA patch and a couple of the players weren't there anymore.

How much money would the 6 little DAs lose if they just returned all but a few kids to their club? Why not create a collaborative team among those clubs so they can all claim they're part of a professional pathway? There's just no way that a strong 2nd option rather than 6 disparate options wouldn't benefit kids and, in the end, TA as well.

[Unregistered]

It doesn't matter who would beat whom in Oregon. What matters is that a 3/4 strength TA and 6 mediocre u13 teams is simply not a good enough environment. Sure that comes out a bit in matches locally or in WA or in CA, but the real problem is in practices: there are too many hangers-on.

The notion that there could be more than 2 teams of kids with elite potential in OR is insane. LISTEN: this doesn't mean that everyone outside those 2 teams is bad, or not deserving of high level coaching and competition. It just means that the current DA looks much more like OYSA clubs have always looked rather than professional development academies. Even the parents are overly obsessed with results and big and/or fast kids chasing down through balls and scoring goals. They, too, would be happier playing competitive club soccer and doing a bit of traveling to tournaments in cool locales. Literally, nothing about the experience would change if you removed the DA patch and a couple of the players weren't there anymore.

How much money would the 6 little DAs lose if they just returned all but a few kids to their club? Why not create a collaborative team among those clubs so they can all claim they're part of a professional pathway? There's just no way that a strong 2nd option rather than 6 disparate options wouldn't benefit kids and, in the end, TA as well.

Don't really have an opinion about the thrust of your post, but the concept that running a little DA is a profit center is a misnomer; so I am not sure little DAs would lose any money returning to their club.

[Unregistered]

Don't really have an opinion about the thrust of your post, but the concept that running a little DA is a profit center is a misnomer; so I am not sure little DAs would lose any money returning to their club.

In theory it's a marketing signal to kids in the club and/or considering the club. Removing it unevenly for competing clubs could affect demand. I know that sounds ridiculous but, well, parents.

[Unregistered]

In theory it's a marketing signal to kids in the club and/or considering the club. Removing it unevenly for competing clubs could affect demand. I know that sounds ridiculous but, well, parents.

That is plausible.

[Unregistered]

It doesn't matter who would beat whom in Oregon. What matters is that a 3/4 strength TA and 6 mediocre u13 teams is simply not a good enough environment. Sure that comes out a bit in matches locally or in WA or in CA, but the real problem is in practices: there are too many hangers-on.

The notion that there could be more than 2 teams of kids with elite potential in OR is insane. LISTEN: this doesn't mean that everyone outside those 2 teams is bad, or not deserving of high level coaching and competition. It just means that the current DA looks much more like OYSA clubs have always looked rather than professional development academies. Even the parents are overly obsessed with results and big and/or fast kids chasing down through balls and scoring goals. They, too, would be happier playing competitive club soccer and doing a bit of traveling to tournaments in cool locales. Literally, nothing about the experience would change if you removed the DA patch and a couple of the players weren't there anymore.

How much money would the 6 little DAs lose if they just returned all but a few kids to their club? Why not create a collaborative team among those clubs so they can all claim they're part of a professional pathway? There's just no way that a strong 2nd option rather than 6 disparate options wouldn't benefit kids and, in the end, TA as well.

Iceland does it with 325,000 people in their entire country!

There are enough players in the Portland metro area to field a Senior World Cup team!

The problem is that we do not train the players correctly.

go to a training session....

tell me how long players stand in lines?
are they using their brains and making decisions? The game is 90% mental.

the game isn't fun for kids because the coaches suck! This includes the TA, where they are supposed to be the best of the best! Playing for the TA is like having a job. Just a reminder, this is a game and we do not teach our youth how to play it correctly.

The United States is good at one thing when it comes to soccer. Making money off of tournaments where kids play 5-6 games in 48 hours is completely stupid. I think the worse one is Mt Hood Challenge. They actually advertise that you get "more games". We are all stupid and a part of the problem. It won't change until you all get your heads out of the sand.

[Unregistered]

Iceland does it with 325,000 people in their entire country!

There are enough players in the Portland metro area to field a Senior World Cup team!

The problem is that we do not train the players correctly.

go to a training session....

tell me how long players stand in lines?
are they using their brains and making decisions? The game is 90% mental.

the game isn't fun for kids because the coaches suck! This includes the TA, where they are supposed to be the best of the best! Playing for the TA is like having a job. Just a reminder, this is a game and we do not teach our youth how to play it correctly.

The United States is good at one thing when it comes to soccer. Making money off of tournaments where kids play 5-6 games in 48 hours is completely stupid. I think the worse one is Mt Hood Challenge. They actually advertise that you get "more games". We are all stupid and a part of the problem. It won't change until you all get your heads out of the sand.

How would you design training sessions? Do you know anything about the Icelandic program, other than "they got into the World Cup, so they must be doing something right"?

Rather than simply saying "we suck!", what are your suggestions? The only think I heard is "less standing at practice" (good idea, but my club's training sessions involve very little standing), and complaints about tournaments (also reasonable, but that's not a training issue).

How often should kids train?

What should training sessions look like (assume, for the moment, that we're talking about players with a high level of skill)?

What should coaches teach?

[Unregistered]

Don't really have an opinion about the thrust of your post, but the concept that running a little DA is a profit center is a misnomer; so I am not sure little DAs would lose any money returning to their club.

DA programs are much more expensive to run than equivalent OYSA programs. The club my DS plays for charges the same fee for both.

I don't know where anyone gets the idea that DA is making local clubs money.

[Unregistered]

DA programs are much more expensive to run than equivalent OYSA programs. The club my DS plays for charges the same fee for both.

I don't know where anyone gets the idea that DA is making local clubs money.

Great. That's ideal. If there's no financial incentive to keep so many of them going they can consolidate, improve the level of DA and OYSA simultaneously, and get each closer to fulfilling their mission.

[Unregistered]

Great. That's ideal. If there's no financial incentive to keep so many of them going they can consolidate, improve the level of DA and OYSA simultaneously, and get each closer to fulfilling their mission.

Real simply - Eastside and Westside should drop out. They don't give a rip about the program anyways. Their coaches who are committed to the program would likely land somewhere else.

Problem solved!

[Unregistered]

It doesn't matter who would beat whom in Oregon. What matters is that a 3/4 strength TA and 6 mediocre u13 teams is simply not a good enough environment. Sure that comes out a bit in matches locally or in WA or in CA, but the real problem is in practices: there are too many hangers-on.

The notion that there could be more than 2 teams of kids with elite potential in OR is insane. LISTEN: this doesn't mean that everyone outside those 2 teams is bad, or not deserving of high level coaching and competition. It just means that the current DA looks much more like OYSA clubs have always looked rather than professional development academies. Even the parents are overly obsessed with results and big and/or fast kids chasing down through balls and scoring goals. They, too, would be happier playing competitive club soccer and doing a bit of traveling to tournaments in cool locales. Literally, nothing about the experience would change if you removed the DA patch and a couple of the players weren't there anymore.

How much money would the 6 little DAs lose if they just returned all but a few kids to their club? Why not create a collaborative team among those clubs so they can all claim they're part of a professional pathway? There's just no way that a strong 2nd option rather than 6 disparate options wouldn't benefit kids and, in the end, TA as well.

Again, this is arguing about how pointy the pyramid should be. Doing this would solve one problem (TA would have a quality opponent locally). It would introduce several other problems, though:

1) Access to training. In our region, we probably need more than one or two top teams per age group--simply due to the ability of kids to get to practice. Many Vancouver honks like to boast about large numbers of WashT kids declining the TA, and suggesting that this was because the emperor has no clothes, and the training at Harmony and environment in Harmony is just as good. A few are honest about the real reason--nobody wants to drive from Vancouver to Beaverton (and back) to train, three+ times a week, in our horrible traffic. While seven clubs in the metro area (including TA, and excluding CFC) might be a bit much, three or four (one in Vancouver, one on the east side, one close in or in SW, and one on the west side--Beaverton or Hillsboro) would be a good balance between a reasonable drive to practice, and not having B-teamers on the roster.

2) Even for those B-teamers, the DA structure (perhaps shaved of its more absurd technical requirements) might be beneficial. Some of those B-teamers might blossom into A-teamers; 12 is IMHO too early to thin the herd, especially if you're dealing with kids who start club soccer a bit later in life (and many do for family reasons--families with babies or small children often have no time for club soccer for the older kids).

3) Aggressively separating the A-teamers from the B-teamers, pretty much assumes you ARE thinning the herd at this age--that you are telling a whole bunch of kids "sorry, but the train has left the station and you're not on it. Instead, you get glorified rec." The B-teamers probably benefit far more by training with A-teamers than the A-teamers suffer, assuming there's a critical mass of talent at practice. (And if you have A-team talent stuck on the B-team, such kids can get very bored and frustrated very quickly).

4) What is the reason to "thin the herd", anyway? Limited resources is the main one--if we only have one Elite Coach, only one pee-wee Pep available, it makes sense that he's matched with the top kids. But we're not so limited (and I doubt we could shake a stick at any one of the local coaches and proclaim him Best anyway). Some of this sounds like more ego-tripping, from parents whose kids are on the top half of their squads (or they think so anyway), and who are feeling their snowflake is being held back by his teammates. In other words, the same toxic sideline antics that has plagued youth team sports since forever.

[Unregistered]

Again, this is arguing about how pointy the pyramid should be. Doing this would solve one problem (TA would have a quality opponent locally). It would introduce several other problems, though:

1) Access to training.

2) Even for those B-teamers, the DA structure (perhaps shaved of its more absurd technical requirements) might be beneficial.

3) Aggressively separating the A-teamers from the B-teamers, pretty much assumes you ARE thinning the herd at this age--that you are telling a whole bunch of kids "sorry, but the train has left the station and you're not on it. Instead, you get glorified rec."

4) What is the reason to "thin the herd", anyway?

1) If it's a collab, the location could rotate. If not, then put a team at some reasonable spacing from Beaverton and call it a day.

2) The program isn't for b-teamers. 12 is late to be thinning the herd, and 30+ kids in OR is already stretching the definition of "thinning" when it comes to kids with elite potential. I think part of what drives the thinking of so many little DA parents/defenders is the idea that their kid is a diamond in the rough. This notion is actually perpetuated by the preference for big kids taking important roles on current DA rosters: parents figure, "once my kid gets that big." Guess what: those kids who are big now will someday be bad and average sized, and your average player will be big and of average ability. If coaches are doing their job, they're taking the best soccer players regardless of age, size, etc. No one suddenly becomes an elite player at 15 after not having elite potential at 12. Keep in mind that identifying that potential is the realm of experts, not parents.

3) They're getting glorified competitive/rec NOW. And if you return their coaches to OYSA, along with the vast majority of the rosters, what you're getting is pretty great competitive soccer. Furthermore, if the OYSA matches are being properly scouted (they should be, if there's competition for players happening at the DA level) then the kid who does get missed should be plucked quickly.

4) You "thin the herd" because players can improve faster when they're in a high level training environment with other kids who are high level. That's not controversial, and to label it "ego tripping" to imagine that these teams all have 3-4 players per capable of playing at a more sophisticated level than the rest of the roster is pretty narrow thinking. And remember: there's no reason that the training environment happening today at little DA clubs couldn't be 99% maintained as OYSA clubs. In fact, a few kids would probably grow faster from assuming larger roles on these sides.

It even starts to sound like progress.