DA promotion/relegation is here

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In the land of the blind, the one eyed person is king


Very successful in crap league

This comment wins the internet for today.

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Hey big guy - we're talking about boys. OW boys did ok because the NE is weak. Just wait and see how they do nationally. It won't be pretty. The girls did well because some of the competition is gawd awful, and will only get worse next year. Being the top dog in a small state is no real feat

Boys 19's beating the 4th ranked team in the country and beating Weston as well...

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In the land of castraded men, Pinocchio is king

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It means no more MLS games for lower level academies, and they can play more local tournaments and schedule friendlies, in lieu of playing MLS and stronger DA programs.

They will never do that as it would show the level is not as different as they tell everyone

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They will never do that as it would show the level is not as different as they tell everyone

Exactly. Who are they going to play? Take a chance to lose to local teams that cost less and have less travel and restrictions? They'll just have to play more games against other low level DA clubs like Seacoast, possibly even travel more to try and fill weekends.

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Boys 19's beating the 4th ranked team in the country and beating Weston as well...

I would love to see the average that each oakwood parent paid for soccer this year at U15 and up on the boys side. This year alone were two west coast trips, Europe, North Carolina and who knows where else. US Soccer ...... Making soccer affordable for all.

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I would love to see the average that each oakwood parent paid for soccer this year at U15 and up on the boys side. This year alone were two west coast trips, Europe, North Carolina and who knows where else. US Soccer ...... Making soccer affordable for all.

What does it matter to you?

It's their money to choose to spend as they wish for their kids.

They want to pay for two West Coast trips and others to North Carolina and Europe. So what?

Why does that put a burr in your saddle? Because you can't afford to do the same? Because your kid got passed over by this club?

One thing's for sure, they are pumping money into the economy. No problem with that, right?

[Unregistered]

What does it matter to you?

It's their money to choose to spend as they wish for their kids.

They want to pay for two West Coast trips and others to North Carolina and Europe. So what?

Why does that put a burr in your saddle? Because you can't afford to do the same? Because your kid got passed over by this club?

One thing's for sure, they are pumping money into the economy. No problem with that, right?

What is the purpose of US Soccer running the DA league? They are not making the NT any stronger? They purportedly are supposed to be lowering the cost of soccer for anyone that wants to play but OW (with Travel) has to be, BY FAR, the most expensive club in CT (maybe the country). They are mid-tier at best on the field and ridiculously expensive any way you look at it. Talk about driving the cost of soccer up for all! US Soccer is an absolute joke .... evidence #1 .... 2018 WC and the USMNT absence. They need to get out of running leagues ..... they are killing the sport.

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What is the purpose of US Soccer running the DA league? They are not making the NT any stronger? They purportedly are supposed to be lowering the cost of soccer for anyone that wants to play but OW (with Travel) has to be, BY FAR, the most expensive club in CT (maybe the country). They are mid-tier at best on the field and ridiculously expensive any way you look at it. Talk about driving the cost of soccer up for all! US Soccer is an absolute joke .... evidence #1 .... 2018 WC and the USMNT absence. They need to get out of running leagues ..... they are killing the sport.

OK, you've cast your stone.

So what do you propose instead? Do you think these leagues would run effectively and fairly without oversight from the USSF or some other like organization? Baseball used to think that, but then we had that little incident involving the Black Sox and suddenly, there was a Commissioner! All professional leagues have oversight. All national youth programs in every sport has national oversight. Do you think Little League would have survived without national oversight to eliminate the cheating, set the standards, etc?

USSF has stated its purpose for creating the Academy program. The growing stream of DA graduated players who are now getting MLS contracts and even foreign contracts is not by chance, regardless of your bias.

Oakwood chooses to charge the fees it does. The USSF doesn't set those fees. The USSF has nothing to do with how Oakwood sets its fees, raises funds or uses their monies within the club.

And the failure of the USMNT to make the World Cup has little to do with the development academy and everything to do with coaching leadership and player selection philosophy, tossed with a bit of poor game coaching from Mr. Klinsmann and Mr. Arena. We certainly didn't fail because of lack of talent.

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This will cut out even more of the kids who don't live near an MLS club. And by "don't live near" I don't mean 2 hours away, I mean 4+ hours away. US Soccer should make the top level better, but it also needs to cast a wider net at the younger ages so the best players can be ID-ed.

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This will cut out even more of the kids who don't live near an MLS club. And by "don't live near" I don't mean 2 hours away, I mean 4+ hours away. US Soccer should make the top level better, but it also needs to cast a wider net at the younger ages so the best players can be ID-ed.

They need to scour the country for talent, not run leagues!

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What is the purpose of US Soccer running the DA league? They are not making the NT any stronger? They purportedly are supposed to be lowering the cost of soccer for anyone that wants to play but OW (with Travel) has to be, BY FAR, the most expensive club in CT (maybe the country). They are mid-tier at best on the field and ridiculously expensive any way you look at it. Talk about driving the cost of soccer up for all! US Soccer is an absolute joke .... evidence #1 .... 2018 WC and the USMNT absence. They need to get out of running leagues ..... they are killing the sport.

I agree with much of what you say, however, one thing OW does do right is lots of fundraising and finding sponsors to lower their fees. All clubs are supposed to strive to lower fees for players. Are OW fees cheap? No. But they are cheaper than some other clubs, including way overpriced Beachside. The trips I agree are completely absurd, and so is much of the BDA travel in general. USSF is not improving soccer and it's still largely a league for those who can afford it. The only place it's really about the talent is the MLS clubs. But if you're not close enough to one and can't afford non MLS, you may be shut out unless you're fortunate enough to get a rare scholarship

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They need to scour the country for talent, not run leagues!

They don't even do that very well

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Oakwood chooses to charge the fees it does. The USSF doesn't set those fees. The USSF has nothing to do with how Oakwood sets its fees, raises funds or uses their monies within the club.

And the failure of the USMNT to make the World Cup has little to do with the development academy and everything to do with coaching leadership and player selection philosophy, tossed with a bit of poor game coaching from Mr. Klinsmann and Mr. Arena. We certainly didn't fail because of lack of talent.

But that's one of the issues with DA overall - USSF relies on for profit clubs, businesses, to shoulder the burden of training the nation's top players. Clubs are supposed to take profit hits (by lowering their fees) and MLS clubs have to pay to train loads of boys, 99.8% have no pro potential. And yes the league does bear some responsibility for not developing NT players. Why? Because at any one club there might be 1 or 2 NT players, if even that many. They're training with players not at the same skill level, playing against teams not at the same skill level. Yes there's the occasional NT camp etc but the bulk of their training is with their clubs, not with similar level players who can challenge them more. Yes more players are moving into MLS, but so are more international players who get rejected from the world's top academies, not US trained ones. And more top players are going abroad because they will get better playing abroad than playing for MLS. Rosters at many top college programs have multiple international players. Why? Because even those rejected are often times better than what we have here.

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The talent getting developed in the 15-18 y.o. zone is amazing - witness results in USYNT international matches - and see performances of some of our young MNT call ups. But they are all really getting developed at the pro academies, but they have to play up 2-3 years to get the challenges you discuss.

The DA system needs tweaking to ensure the top kids in that zone are more consistently challenged *outside* of YNT camps and tournaments. Non-pro DA will have a place as both a feeder to the pro sides but also for top talent to be engaged as they progress towards college. It will be a balancing act as USSF is putting more pressure on non-pro clubs in this HS zone - but that's their prerogative.

I think the biggest challenge is those teen superstars that could develop into legit world class players are instead playing at D1 for premier schools. And how could you fault them? Scholarship to Stanford? Done and done. Sure they'll get YNT call ups but they are missing the 18-20 zone where the best internationals step up to the men's game. This is where we fall down in development.