Soccer Star Supports High School Soccer

[Unregistered]

Your daughter never having desire to play high school sounds like something strange and unhealthy going on psychologically (easy to see where it comes from when you obviously completely miss the comradery aspect of sports and make it all about oneself). You saying that her high school team is one of the best tells me that you both may discover that she is not really any better than her high school peers if she plays so you'd rather not find that out. But she is going to find out this lesson (as far as soccer and many more important things also) sooner than later, and the longer it takes the harsher the impact when she has to face reality.

Why so much anger?

This place is unreal.

[Unregistered]

Disband DA, disband club soccer and let focus on high school soccer. High school soccer is the best platform for player development. Don’t take the enjoy out of soccer. Kids are having fun and many of them are moving to professional clubs.

You obviously aren't part of DA, so why do you care?

[Unregistered]

Pretty well put. It's funny, my D is in DA now but we will consider our options every year, as we always do. She never had any desire to play HS (and her HS is one of the top in the state), so missing it initially wasn't a huge deal. She liked having something of hers that none of her classmates had. But, that swings the other way as well.

We caught a few games this year, and she goes to lots of other teams' games (FB, BB, etc.) and likes the school spirit. At one point, she said to me "One thing I think I'd miss by not playing HS is scoring a winning PK and having the crowd rush the field or something like that". I agreed, saying "I can guarantee if you score a winning PK in a DA showcase, no offense, but I am not running on that field".

There's a mercenary feel to club soccer; not that it's bad in any way. Just, it's individual and while you have to be a good teammate, in the end only your own success is the goal. Nobody will, or should, remember the results of any of these games. In HS, I think that's a bit different.

Is either one "bad" or "good"? I don't think so. Just that there is a lot to consider and where you live is a factor (i.e. some teammates are definitely moving to HS, some will never due to the quality of the teams).

Ganz' point about the passion is worth considering.

This is no slight on being a part of DA, as our experiences are nothing but positive. Really don't have anything bad to say about the experience so far ($$$ aside). The club, training, etc. has been top notch and it's a big improvement in game quality than last year. Still, lots to consider.

So she has the same exact trainers as last year. She gets to train one more day a week than last year. She gets to play a few quality teams but mostly lose to some teams that really aren't any better than what they played prior to DA. The 2 SU teams are 8-19 with the wins coming against the clubs that are just awful. What's so much better than last year?

Oh, and most girls want to play in HS especially if the team is any good. Heck plenty are willing to play on some lousy teams. I'm not saying your kid is abnormal, but she is well outside of typical. If more were like her this debate about HS soccer wouldn't even exist. She was always free to not play HS before DA came along.

[Unregistered]

So she has the same exact trainers as last year. She gets to train one more day a week than last year. She gets to play a few quality teams but mostly lose to some teams that really aren't any better than what they played prior to DA. The 2 SU teams are 8-19 with the wins coming against the clubs that are just awful. What's so much better than last year?

Oh, and most girls want to play in HS especially if the team is any good. Heck plenty are willing to play on some lousy teams. I'm not saying your kid is abnormal, but she is well outside of typical. If more were like her this debate about HS soccer wouldn't even exist. She was always free to not play HS before DA came along.

Training and trainers are better. Oversight is better.

Competition is better (games are all very close vs. last year when some were 10+ wins). Teams are absolutely better. The worst team is better than the worst we played last year. The best teams are the same as we played last year.

Have you polled every HS kid? How do you determine what is important to an individual? I mean...are you saying they all think the same? I thought we just moved away from the robots, but now you are indicating all kids have the same interests?

[Unregistered]

Training and trainers are better. Oversight is better.

Competition is better (games are all very close vs. last year when some were 10+ wins). Teams are absolutely better. The worst team is better than the worst we played last year. The best teams are the same as we played last year.

Have you polled every HS kid? How do you determine what is important to an individual? I mean...are you saying they all think the same? I thought we just moved away from the robots, but now you are indicating all kids have the same interests?

But, again:

You obviously aren't part of DA, so why do you care?

[Unregistered]

You obviously aren't part of DA, so why do you care?

I do care about the quality of soccer. Unfortunately there are a lot of moronic parents here TS talking with little knowledge of the type of environment needed to developing world class players. JF as good as she is in her hay days, she will struggle in today’s NT setup. The days of pure athletes dominating the game are over.

[Unregistered]

I am not supportive of DA and GDA for a number of reasons. First of all the DA has NOT improved the men’s side and there are many DA programs that are very weak. Second missing out on high school play is detrimental. I know many right now that say they don’t miss it but that’s because they believe in the GDA program and while that fuels them each week to train and not miss out on the social aspects of high school team and spirit, it is negatively affecting them.

I know a family with two boys who were part of DA programs and never played high school, both of them graduated and went to NESCAC schools because the thought of D1 soccer after so many years was just far too much, in other words they burned out. And yes they were both excellent players who loved the game. Tough to see that enthusiastic and talented 11 year old grow up to be wanted by top D1 programs and turn them down.

And finally is the sacrifice worth it? Are they getting the absolute best training? Are they improving more than they would with a 8-9 month club season vs 10-11 months? The sub ruling sucks and some kids ride the bench far too much. The inability to compete in local tournaments suck too since we have a plethora of excellent schools here in the northeast that will attend tournaments especially if they are invited and want to watch a particular player. Yes they do go to local DA games, however many of those are lop sided and don’t showcase players that well.

I get it though, its a top league and the competition can be very good and many families and players want exposure and this is their only local option. I get it, even if I don’t like it.

[Unregistered]

I do care about the quality of soccer. Unfortunately there are a lot of moronic parents here TS talking with little knowledge of the type of environment needed to developing world class players. JF as good as she is in her hay days, she will struggle in today’s NT setup. The days of pure athletes dominating the game are over.

Agreed. And, for us, the quality of soccer with the program we are currently in is the best available to us under the current circumstances. Not saying we are all in forever, but so far, zero regrets.

[Unregistered]

Why be such a *****? Internet Tough Guy approach works for you? Really?

1) NPL; which was a combination of good games and blow-outs, pure waste of time

2) Just a kid dreaming, why piss all over it?

3) We are happy with it and the DA training matches the other alternatives in New England (first hand experience)

4) Who says she doesn't enjoy playing with her DA friends?

Cause Seacoast has always screwed kids and you need to wake up. Go ask players how much they care about development and how much they help with college search. They do nothing and only want you money. I am sure she is a great kid, but she will go no where in DAP. Ask all the boys!

[Unregistered]

Cause Seacoast has always screwed kids and you need to wake up. Go ask players how much they care about development and how much they help with college search. They do nothing and only want you money. I am sure she is a great kid, but she will go no where in DAP. Ask all the boys!

But, again...why do YOU care? I mean, do you want to comment on my kid's Algebra grades? Her ski lessons? Swim team?

Where do you think we think she's going, that she won't get there with DA?

The boys we know in the program are actually very happy with it, but that's a different program so I don't consider the two equally.

We have never been wronged by Seacoast, and sorry you have. It's clear your agenda is showing and it's quite unhealthy. Be happy with whatever choices you have made.

[Unregistered]

I do care about the quality of soccer. Unfortunately there are a lot of moronic parents here TS talking with little knowledge of the type of environment needed to developing world class players. JF as good as she is in her hay days, she will struggle in today’s NT setup. The days of pure athletes dominating the game are over.

Foudy, Hamm, Chastain, and Lilly were the pioneers and in NO WAY were Foudy and Lilly superior athletes... Hamm and Chastain were excellent athletes - probably with Scurry the GK the most athletic on the USWNT.

The current USMNT program has done nothing but get worse since DA was implemented 11 years ago. Our players are less athletic, less capable of competing on an international level (as a team - individually they are getting opportunities). As a whole the state of soccer has NOT benefited from the DA structure.

Don't forget - in this country the most athletically superior athletes don't play soccer. They play other sports. So trying to structure the system here to match what happens overseas with less athletic players makes no sense - but that's what we do.

[Unregistered]

Foudy, Hamm, Chastain, and Lilly were the pioneers and in NO WAY were Foudy and Lilly superior athletes... Hamm and Chastain were excellent athletes - probably with Scurry the GK the most athletic on the USWNT.

The current USMNT program has done nothing but get worse since DA was implemented 11 years ago. Our players are less athletic, less capable of competing on an international level (as a team - individually they are getting opportunities). As a whole the state of soccer has NOT benefited from the DA structure.

Don't forget - in this country the most athletically superior athletes don't play soccer. They play other sports. So trying to structure the system here to match what happens overseas with less athletic players makes no sense - but that's what we do.

When the pioneers were playing the overall women’s game was terrible at best. USNWT was the big fish in the little pond. Now it is a different story. Everybody have caught up to us and in the next cycle it will be a new ball game. Euro teams are getting better due to investments made by the pro clubs and NT programs. Look how bad the U17 performed in the World Cup.

[Unregistered]

Foudy, Hamm, Chastain, and Lilly were the pioneers and in NO WAY were Foudy and Lilly superior athletes... Hamm and Chastain were excellent athletes - probably with Scurry the GK the most athletic on the USWNT.

The current USMNT program has done nothing but get worse since DA was implemented 11 years ago. Our players are less athletic, less capable of competing on an international level (as a team - individually they are getting opportunities). As a whole the state of soccer has NOT benefited from the DA structure.

Don't forget - in this country the most athletically superior athletes don't play soccer. They play other sports. So trying to structure the system here to match what happens overseas with less athletic players makes no sense - but that's what we do.

Your last point is true for men but not for women. Soccer is the #1 female sport in the US (basketball is too but that's height dependent). International women's teams are closing the gap on the US. GDA isn't going to fix that.

[Unregistered]

Your last point is true for men but not for women. Soccer is the #1 female sport in the US (basketball is too but that's height dependent). International women's teams are closing the gap on the US. GDA isn't going to fix that.

Not advocating for or against, but can you explain "why" in your last sentence?

In this simpleton's view:

We had no GDA, women's teams were the greatest, but the world caught up

We now have GDA which was put in place to improve it. How do we know it will, or won't, fix it after 18 months?

[Unregistered]

Not advocating for or against, but can you explain "why" in your last sentence?

In this simpleton's view:

We had no GDA, women's teams were the greatest, but the world caught up

We now have GDA which was put in place to improve it. How do we know it will, or won't, fix it after 18 months?

Meant to add, the US won because we had the best athletes. Now, our skill level has dropped off from other countries. So, wouldn't a program dedicating more to skill help to alleviate that?

If what GDA is doing and why will help, I have no idea. But, just curious as to the meaning of your post.