PDA is a wrecking crew

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i think the only fact that we can agree on is that no matter how many times a week they practice-they practice better than pretty much anyone else

and the proof is sitting in the trophy case

But I thought playing to win was detrimental to development?

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Correct, CFC (not a “top” ECNL club, but mid-table) even practices 3x a week between team practices and technical training. Clubs like PDA probably do more.

I mean, if you call the 3rd CFC practice "technical" and have all the coaches sitting around checking their phones the whole time while having girls do the same drills over and over with little thought, is it really a "practice"?

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I mean, if you call the 3rd CFC practice "technical" and have all the coaches sitting around checking their phones the whole time while having girls do the same drills over and over with little thought, is it really a "practice"?

They need to make sure the bribes hit the bank account

[Unregistered]

Simple point

You are either on one of the few teams that plays PDA competitively in ECNL or you aren’t. If not, stop with the drama. Kudos to the girls playing at the top (no idea where the boys are). Nuff said.

Go to sleep GDA. Sleepy time. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.

[Unregistered]

Again and sorry for saying "whining", you are correct this is 100% about your child and that they are in the correct place and getting developed the way she needs to be developed to again you are 100% right that she is PREPARED to COMPETE in college. My point was and is that in the Northeast I think she is in pretty good hands whether its GDA or ECNL or NPL. I really feel that the letters on your shirt or the letters of the league that your child plays in is irrelevant to the passion inside of your child. It seems that you have the right attitude in that you know this is 100% about her. I hope and know she will be prepared as you as a parent I am sure you will have her in the right place. Keep up the great work and you are right NEVER SETTLE.

What are you talking about? The northeast is the weakest region in the entire GDA

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What are you talking about? The northeast is the weakest region in the entire GDA

NEFC is the one club in the northeast that is reasonably competitive nationally. If they could get in to ECNL, they would drop GDA in a hot second. That is a fact.

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NEFC is the one club in the northeast that is reasonably competitive nationally. If they could get in to ECNL, they would drop GDA in a hot second. That is a fact.

No way. ECNL is run by a select few clubs and so in the long run will suffer from being both undemocratic and also lacking an outside governing force. This red herring of allowing HS soccer or not will become irrelevant in less than 2 years as the current middle school kids age into high school years. Yes, PDA wants to push ECNL but thats because they run it. US Soccer, like it or not, will push their own agenda with DA.

DA may morph into something else over time but it will remain and be pushed as the top league because the federation has too much invested in it and will not want to appear defeated by a league that is basically run by one club. They will leverage monetary incentives, NT call ups and anything else at their disposal to push their league up. USSF may suck at soccer decisions but they are very good at business, which is all this is.

[Unregistered]

No way. ECNL is run by a select few clubs and so in the long run will suffer from being both undemocratic and also lacking an outside governing force. This red herring of allowing HS soccer or not will become irrelevant in less than 2 years as the current middle school kids age into high school years. Yes, PDA wants to push ECNL but thats because they run it. US Soccer, like it or not, will push their own agenda with DA.

DA may morph into something else over time but it will remain and be pushed as the top league because the federation has too much invested in it and will not want to appear defeated by a league that is basically run by one club. They will leverage monetary incentives, NT call ups and anything else at their disposal to push their league up. USSF may suck at soccer decisions but they are very good at business, which is all this is.

How does PDA run the ECNL? Honest question as I don’t know the history.

[Unregistered]

holy sh-t did i just see people agree and hope for the best for each other on talking Soccer? This is rare and good to see.

We all want to win and have fun and have the kids enjoy their experiences, while also keeping an eye on a bigger prize at the end. Whether you do it by going to a big poweherhouse like PDA or you do it by a different route in DA or a smaller ECNL clun, in the end just enjoy it. It will all be over before too long and the kids need to not get caught up chasing the "next" thing and not enjoying their present. Only young once!

it comes down to how you define "winning". for mine, the soccer journey is about becoming a relevant player at a top soccer school. I dont think winning HS, Club or even College titles necessarily impacts her quest that much. of course, you enjoy the route you take to get here , if indeed you do, but for her, winning is doing the things she can to reach her goal.

[Unregistered]

So you’re saying PDA goes 3/4 in national Championship games on two practices a week?

the point is who cares? Lets see how many of these national champion players end up making meaningful contributions on the soccer field for teams that have quality.

look at reality. there are maybe 15 elite teams year in year out in Womens college soccer. The vast majority are at the top of the ACC and Pac-12. if there were all these elite players all over the place, there would be 50 teams vying for the top slots, maybe even 100.

In general, parents are being snowed into believing winning = great players. Then the best "offer" they get is from Liberty (no disrespect)

[Unregistered]

i think the only fact that we can agree on is that no matter how many times a week they practice-they practice better than pretty much anyone else

and the proof is sitting in the trophy case

sure, if you goal is to win Club titles. not sure how that helps the players tho

[Unregistered]

But I thought playing to win was detrimental to development?

actually it may well be detrimental to the development of some players. thats not really the point of the conversation tho is it.

[Unregistered]

How does PDA run the ECNL? Honest question as I don’t know the history.

they founded it with a group of other powerful national clubs

[Unregistered]

they founded it with a group of other powerful national clubs

Board of directors (with hawks, eclipse and stars).
They block additions of any clubs in NJ to ECNL so that every other club is just a feeder stream to PDA.
Granted themselves 2 teams in ECNL.
Look at their income statement - even for 2016 its $4m with $700k in profit

[Unregistered]

No way. ECNL is run by a select few clubs and so in the long run will suffer from being both undemocratic and also lacking an outside governing force. This red herring of allowing HS soccer or not will become irrelevant in less than 2 years as the current middle school kids age into high school years. Yes, PDA wants to push ECNL but thats because they run it. US Soccer, like it or not, will push their own agenda with DA.

DA may morph into something else over time but it will remain and be pushed as the top league because the federation has too much invested in it and will not want to appear defeated by a league that is basically run by one club. They will leverage monetary incentives, NT call ups and anything else at their disposal to push their league up. USSF may suck at soccer decisions but they are very good at business, which is all this is.

Funny, the FC Stars YNT players are still receiving those call ups despite playing ECNL... and if people are choosing GDA for their kid based on YNT call-ups (especially if you live in CT or another small state that rarely produces YNT players), you should take a long, hard look at you kid's ability.

You are correct that ECNL is a closed league and founding members have the ability to decide who gets in. But US Soccer replacing FC Stars/PDA with Secoast in the NE does not make that league stronger. They added SSS for next year and many of that club's top-team players jumped ship to play ECNL. GDA may be stronger in some parts of the country, but not in the northeast.

And I will say again--100%--if NEFC were invited to join ECNL tomorrow, they would.