Is DA actually worth it?

[Unregistered]

Fact.

Our MA New England region DA teams will be representing MA soccer soon in Cali for the Finals. All have qualified and we all should support that ALONG with the ECNL teams from MA when they fo to face the National championship. NPL and YSL nationals...who cares its all good.

Why can't we just support the girls soccer fo what it is....Best of luck to all MA girls in all the finals coming up.

Because, success could mean someone was wrong. And, we can't have that today now can we?

I have friends on Stars/ECNL and we chat all the time. We both offer the "good lucks" to each other. Expanding the game and increasing the success across all the teams in MA is a good thing and I agree with your statements.

[Unregistered]

Because, success could mean someone was wrong. And, we can't have that today now can we?

I have friends on Stars/ECNL and we chat all the time. We both offer the "good lucks" to each other. Expanding the game and increasing the success across all the teams in MA is a good thing and I agree with your statements.

Expanding what? There's only so many soccer players out there, even fewer who are elite players. All adding GDA did was improve consumer choices (win for them) but it dilutes many of the teams, making for less than satisfying experiences. Your teammates won't be as challenging, nor the competition on a consistent basis. Had GDA been 1/4 the size then we would have seen some true talent consolidation and improvements. ECNL would have had a quality competitor instead of a quantity competitor. I will fault ECNL all day long, but USSF really doesn't know what it's doing either. One more year and we're out of this hot mess, thank goodness.

[Unregistered]

Expanding what? There's only so many soccer players out there, even fewer who are elite players. All adding GDA did was improve consumer choices (win for them) but it dilutes many of the teams, making for less than satisfying experiences. Your teammates won't be as challenging, nor the competition on a consistent basis. Had GDA been 1/4 the size then we would have seen some true talent consolidation and improvements. ECNL would have had a quality competitor instead of a quantity competitor. I will fault ECNL all day long, but USSF really doesn't know what it's doing either. One more year and we're out of this hot mess, thank goodness.

So, your solution is to send ECNL teams to MD to play a crappy team vs. playing one in state?

Does that make any sense to anyone?

If ECNL wasn't exclusionary, and didn't have a pompous attitude by the disciples, this never would've happened.

Having two leagues in which 3/4 of the teams are on a level playing field driving parallel to each other 4 hours away to play in different leagues is a waste.

USSF has their reasons for the size. You can agree or disagree all you want, but they have their reasons

[Unregistered]

So, your solution is to send ECNL teams to MD to play a crappy team vs. playing one in state?

Does that make any sense to anyone?

If ECNL wasn't exclusionary, and didn't have a pompous attitude by the disciples, this never would've happened.

Having two leagues in which 3/4 of the teams are on a level playing field driving parallel to each other 4 hours away to play in different leagues is a waste.

USSF has their reasons for the size. You can agree or disagree all you want, but they have their reasons

GDA is no better in that regard, in fact in the NE it's worse. Empire? Freaking Alby? USSF had the opportunity to do it right, but they did it all wrong. The reason for their size was purely to try and take players and clubs away from ECNL. They should have competed on quality. They could have easily started smaller, or just with the younger ages, or regionally then expanded.

[Unregistered]

GDA is no better in that regard, in fact in the NE it's worse. Empire? Freaking Alby? USSF had the opportunity to do it right, but they did it all wrong. The reason for their size was purely to try and take players and clubs away from ECNL. They should have competed on quality. They could have easily started smaller, or just with the younger ages, or regionally then expanded.

No better, never claimed it to be. Empire has been kicked out for next year. There's ECNL clubs who should be as well, but they won't.

The size was strategic so they could get every player available within a reasonable (up to the individual) driving distance. So, they tried to make it inclusive, but not too inclusive. ECNL took the tact to make it exclusive.

I agree with starting it at the younger ages. To have it dropped on you when well into your HS years was a bad choice.

[Unregistered]

Average goal differentials for NE ECNL U14-U19 (5 groups) are +35 for the top team, -35 bottom team.

Average goal differentials for NE GDA U15-19 (3 groups) are +58 top team, -81 bottom team

I don't have time to do U14s but I assume Empire is last and they're at -98 GD. LISC, who used to be in the NE, has an astounding -138. Seems a little lopsided-ish no?

[Unregistered]

I agree with starting it at the younger ages. To have it dropped on you when well into your HS years was a bad choice.

Which everyone said would hurt them, and it has. Problem is if you're on a poor quality U14 (when the HS isn't an issue) are you really going to give up HS next year? The HS issue isn't all that ails GDA either

[Unregistered]

Expanding what? There's only so many soccer players out there, even fewer who are elite players. All adding GDA did was improve consumer choices (win for them) but it dilutes many of the teams, making for less than satisfying experiences. Your teammates won't be as challenging, nor the competition on a consistent basis. Had GDA been 1/4 the size then we would have seen some true talent consolidation and improvements. ECNL would have had a quality competitor instead of a quantity competitor. I will fault ECNL all day long, but USSF really doesn't know what it's doing either. One more year and we're out of this hot mess, thank goodness.

If your kid is moving on to college in one year and you think that gets you out of the “hot mess”, then you are sadly mistaken. It gets 10x easier for you as the parent and 10x harder for your kid as the college student athlete. Coming on TS talking about which tween/teen league is better will sound moronic in a couple years. Trust me.

[Unregistered]

If your kid is moving on to college in one year and you think that gets you out of the “hot mess”, then you are sadly mistaken. It gets 10x easier for you as the parent and 10x harder for your kid as the college student athlete. Coming on TS talking about which tween/teen league is better will sound moronic in a couple years. Trust me.

It's moronic now. The issue is not team is better or worse. The issue is the good teams, the bad teams, and every team in between all cost a small fortune in time and travel for little benefit. Every team, every club, every player is elite. Few of these so called elite teams even compete against one another and it has simply gotten stupid.

[Unregistered]

If your kid is moving on to college in one year and you think that gets you out of the “hot mess”, then you are sadly mistaken. It gets 10x easier for you as the parent and 10x harder for your kid as the college student athlete. Coming on TS talking about which tween/teen league is better will sound moronic in a couple years. Trust me.

Beating Empire 9-0 isn't going to prepare anyone for college. Much of a player's readiness for college is self-driven, including intensive workouts from now until you walk on the field.

[Unregistered]

Which everyone said would hurt them, and it has. Problem is if you're on a poor quality U14 (when the HS isn't an issue) are you really going to give up HS next year? The HS issue isn't all that ails GDA either

For our club, HS is a non-factor. Might be a for a few players who will have to make a decision, but mostly it's as (I mentioned earlier) a "nice to have", not a "have to have"

A few non-competitive games aside, which is the case with all leagues, no other issues from our perspective.

[Unregistered]

It's moronic now. The issue is not team is better or worse. The issue is the good teams, the bad teams, and every team in between all cost a small fortune in time and travel for little benefit. Every team, every club, every player is elite. Few of these so called elite teams even compete against one another and it has simply gotten stupid.

You’re right. No soccer god is going sort out good teams or players from bad ones and have some epic tournament where every good player and team plays each other regardless of income level or geography. It’s money, politics, and plain bad luck. My take is that the elite clubs choose to play outside their region because a) they can hide the quality of their competition where they can’t locally and b) they are marketing an “experience” where families/players travel like little pros. It just makes honest comparisons harder and doesn’t help the game of soccer or kids’ development one bit. Just block out the marketing and focus on your kid and your goals.

[Unregistered]

You’re right. No soccer god is going sort out good teams or players from bad ones and have some epic tournament where every good player and team plays each other regardless of income level or geography. It’s money, politics, and plain bad luck. My take is that the elite clubs choose to play outside their region because a) they can hide the quality of their competition where they can’t locally and b) they are marketing an “experience” where families/players travel like little pros. It just makes honest comparisons harder and doesn’t help the game of soccer or kids’ development one bit. Just block out the marketing and focus on your kid and your goals.

They do compete against each other in local tournaments. A number of clubs play GPS to get ready for their season. The ECNL clubs play the silly Scorpion Bowl. And SSS often scrimmages Stars - not this year, I don’t think, but every other year my daughter has been in the club.