Has M.A. fallen out of favor with the national teams?

[Unregistered]

Only in your small little mind.

At the end of the day, what the NT is about is being in the group of THE best players in the entire world. The margins for that are incredibly slim and once you get to that level it is not a not a terrible sin to get passed over. Its more of an ego hit than anything. Some of the POV in this discussion is sort of like criticizing a player for not getting elected to the hall of fame. Rather silly when just being in the conversation is an amazing feat.

MA is a great player that is winding down towards the end of her college soccer career. Undoubtedly she has many options available to her so is everyone so sure they understand where she herself wants to go and that her personal goals absolutely include the US National Team? That group isn't exactly a bed of roses and sunshine and there might actually be more attractive options for a player of MA's ilk out there that she is trying to set up with this move.

You are naive. Why do you think MA decided to forego BC for Notre Dame? Because Randy Waldrum, who recruited her to Notre Dame, was better "connected" to the US WNT at the time. Interesting that both Waldrum and MA seem to have fallen out of favor just about the same time that there has been changes at the top of women's soccer.

[Unregistered]

...MA is a great player that is winding down towards the end of her college soccer career....

Wasn't she a freshman last year? Or do you mean "winding down" in the general sense that, when you net it all down, we're all headed towards death from the moment we're born?

[Unregistered]

Only in your small little mind.

At the end of the day, what the NT is about is being in the group of THE best players in the entire world. The margins for that are incredibly slim and once you get to that level it is not a not a terrible sin to get passed over. Its more of an ego hit than anything. Some of the POV in this discussion is sort of like criticizing a player for not getting elected to the hall of fame. Rather silly when just being in the conversation is an amazing feat.

MA is a great player that is winding down towards the end of her college soccer career. Undoubtedly she has many options available to her so is everyone so sure they understand where she herself wants to go and that her personal goals absolutely include the US National Team? That group isn't exactly a bed of roses and sunshine and there might actually be more attractive options for a player of MA's ilk out there that she is trying to set up with this move.

Like most things in life, it is not exactly about who is the "best", but who is the best in the minds of who is in charge. If you don't think it's important to have someone advocating for you, than you are a simpleton.

[Unregistered]

Wasn't she a freshman last year? Or do you mean "winding down" in the general sense that, when you net it all down, we're all headed towards death from the moment we're born?

She'll be entering her junior year, I believe.

[Unregistered]

She'll be entering her junior year, I believe.

If that's "winding down" her soccer career, what would you call the over 40 league I'm playing in?

On second thought, don't answer that, but as a rising junior, shouldn't a player like MA just be approaching the peak of her college performance?

To the other stuff about "what does she want?", there are some pretty good opportunities to play the women's game in Europe. Compensation beats the hell out of NWSL, and I can think of worse gigs that to live in a European city for a couple years as a 20 something pro athlete.

Come on people, give the kid a chance to settle in at USC and see where things go from there.

[Unregistered]

honestly, she was never at the level of the nt at any age. she was heralded but when you saw her on the pitch with other heralded players you realized she didn't have the same ability. her game was great for high school and college and she will do fine as a journeyman pro in some eastern european women's league. great player but just not "hof" caliber as another poster put it.

making the nt is 50% luck once you are in the pool of top 100 players at your age group. the other 50% is politics.

[Unregistered]

honestly, she was never at the level of the nt at any age. she was heralded but when you saw her on the pitch with other heralded players you realized she didn't have the same ability. her game was great for high school and college and she will do fine as a journeyman pro in some eastern european women's league. great player but just not "hof" caliber as another poster put it.

making the nt is 50% luck once you are in the pool of top 100 players at your age group. the other 50% is politics.

Didn't she captain one or two of the NT's in major tournaments? If I remember correctly, wasn't she player of the year in the US at one point, and win a bunch of other awards that don't go to "journeyman" players? This sounds a lot like revisionist history from someone who has always had an axe to grind with this person, and couldn't be happier that her career has hit a bump. I can't imagine what you say to or about your own kids.

[Unregistered]

honestly, she was never at the level of the nt at any age. she was heralded but when you saw her on the pitch with other heralded players you realized she didn't have the same ability. her game was great for high school and college and she will do fine as a journeyman pro in some eastern european women's league. great player but just not "hof" caliber as another poster put it.

making the nt is 50% luck once you are in the pool of top 100 players at your age group. the other 50% is politics.

...says the guy whose kid wouldn't be in the top 1000 of her age group. Your little math exercise is just a way for your to rationalize your own kid's lack of talent. "Oh, she'd be on the NT, except that she was unlucky and the other kids made it only because of politics." Yeah, she was unlucky to have you and your genetic crap as a parent.

[Unregistered]

Didn't she captain one or two of the NT's in major tournaments? If I remember correctly, wasn't she player of the year in the US at one point, and win a bunch of other awards that don't go to "journeyman" players? This sounds a lot like revisionist history from someone who has always had an axe to grind with this person, and couldn't be happier that her career has hit a bump. I can't imagine what you say to or about your own kids.

He's a hater--with no soccer background, apart from his keeper kids. No point trying to engage him through reason or plain common sense.

[Unregistered]

Didn't she captain one or two of the NT's in major tournaments? If I remember correctly, wasn't she player of the year in the US at one point, and win a bunch of other awards that don't go to "journeyman" players? This sounds a lot like revisionist history from someone who has always had an axe to grind with this person, and couldn't be happier that her career has hit a bump. I can't imagine what you say to or about your own kids

I am a different poster responding. She was captain of the U17 WNT, *2013 Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year*and recieved many other awards. She really looked liked she was being fast tracked to the full NT at one point. Her NT coaches spoke very highly of her and then it seemed all of that changed. I think it definitely has to do with politics, although I have heard some who played with and against her that they couldn't understand all the hype. What is interesting is that KM, who also seemed on the fast track, seems also to have fallen out of favor at the same time. Coincidence? Maybe injury? Maybe politics?

[Unregistered]

I am a different poster responding. She was captain of the U17 WNT, *2013 Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year*and recieved many other awards. She really looked liked she was being fast tracked to the full NT at one point. Her NT coaches spoke very highly of her and then it seemed all of that changed. I think it definitely has to do with politics, although I have heard some who played with and against her that they couldn't understand all the hype. What is interesting is that KM, who also seemed on the fast track, seems also to have fallen out of favor at the same time. Coincidence? Maybe injury? Maybe politics?

At some point all of the hype catches up with you. I remember seeing MA at a high school game and thinking she was the best player I'd ever seen. Then I saw her at a club event and realized high school is no environment in which to judge a player. What a difference. I was shocked that she did so well at ND, however, it also made me realize that college play is sometimes more relatable to high school than club or NT play. At any rate, she was well beyond her depth with the NT.

This kind of trajectory shouldn't be that unexpected given the vagaries of high level soccer identification and selection processes. If a for-profit company were responsible for doing it it would look a lot different.

[Unregistered]

He's a hater--with no soccer background, apart from his keeper kids. No point trying to engage him through reason or plain common sense.

No way that was BTDT. He's a huge believer in exceptional talent and genetics. He would NEVER let someone get away with saying that his D's success is due to luck and politics. He'd go off on that one.

[Unregistered]

If that's "winding down" her soccer career, what would you call the over 40 league I'm playing in?

On second thought, don't answer that, but as a rising junior, shouldn't a player like MA just be approaching the peak of her college performance?

To the other stuff about "what does she want?", there are some pretty good opportunities to play the women's game in Europe. Compensation beats the hell out of NWSL, and I can think of worse gigs that to live in a European city for a couple years as a 20 something pro athlete.

Come on people, give the kid a chance to settle in at USC and see where things go from there.

By Junior year every player is starting to think about what comes next. Believe it or not, for some it means that there is only going to be 18 months more of high level soccer in their lives and they will be moving on to other life goals. For others who wish to stay playing there are a myriad of decisions about where to do that that need to be thought out.

[Unregistered]

I am a different poster responding. She was captain of the U17 WNT, *2013 Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year*and recieved many other awards. She really looked liked she was being fast tracked to the full NT at one point. Her NT coaches spoke very highly of her and then it seemed all of that changed. I think it definitely has to do with politics, although I have heard some who played with and against her that they couldn't understand all the hype. What is interesting is that KM, who also seemed on the fast track, seems also to have fallen out of favor at the same time. Coincidence? Maybe injury? Maybe politics?

The consequences of losing and coaching changes always get chalked off to politics. Consider that there was probably someone else somewhere feeling that politics were what was keeping them off the NT while MA was on it. It is all a matter of perspective.

[Unregistered]

At some point all of the hype catches up with you. I remember seeing MA at a high school game and thinking she was the best player I'd ever seen. Then I saw her at a club event and realized high school is no environment in which to judge a player. What a difference. I was shocked that she did so well at ND, however, it also made me realize that college play is sometimes more relatable to high school than club or NT play. At any rate, she was well beyond her depth with the NT.

This kind of trajectory shouldn't be that unexpected given the vagaries of high level soccer identification and selection processes. If a for-profit company were responsible for doing it it would look a lot different.

Well beyond her depth? At one point she was considered THE player in her age category for the WNT.