North East Girls Development League (NEGDL)

[Unregistered]

Talking about the League, no idea what you’re talking about

Agree. W+f is that guy trying to say?

[Unregistered]

Of course it’ll last. It’s the clubs that are all committed to DA.

And how long will GDA last?

[Unregistered]

This reminds me of how the CCSL started. This structure won’t last and guaranteed they start to let non-GDA clubs in.

Really its just a pre DA league, a way to hook families in earlier before DA starts at U14. They won't let others in because clubs won't want families of younger players (who haven't decided in HS yet) knowing there's good competition in their backyard.

[Unregistered]

Agree. W+f is that guy trying to say?

No idea, yet he calls others dumb azz

[Unregistered]

Week one. 11 and 12 year old girls spending 10 hours round trip in a car for a 60-70 minute soccer game. Epping to Morris Plains, NJ.

Good God, parents.

Do none of you recognize how insane and sad this is?

"know it all, none of your business OW parent should be on here momentarily to rip your comment and defend the club's honor.

The reality is that this isn't necessarily a "parent" issue. Most of the negative comments on this endeavor are coming from parents who are on the tail end of this the club soccer journey. As they say, hind sight vision is always 20/20. Parents of U17 and U18 players (even the best ones) fully realize that that this plan of running 11 and 12 years around the Northeast is pure lunacy and driven by club profits.

At 11 and 12 years old there isn't much that separates a great travel player vs an Oakwood, FSA, Ginga or CFC player. These kids are developing mentally and physically and they are still a few years away from knowing if they will be able to keep up with the high level club game at say U15. Regardless of training at the young ages, some players simply don't have the physical attributes to keep up with the pace, skill and quick decision making needed to play DA or ECNL at 16 and 17 when it matters most.

Regardless of what anyone at any one of these clubs tells you, no less than 50% of these rosters will churn within 36 months of the U12 year. For some the jump to the full field 11v11 game will be an immediate disqualifier. For others, giving up the weekend and all non soccer activities for the sake of 70 minute 9v9 game will do them in. For many, the realities of the club stressing results and not having equal playing does them in and lastly there is the reality of better players coming in from the outside. Clubs are only loyal to players to a certain extent. The best player on my daughter's U11 team will come off the bench this year as HS senior. The bottom line is that no less than half of the kids on these rosters will NOT be on the DA or ECNL teams by U15. There was a poster here for years that would post the Oakwood roster churn each year. His point was that the clubs don't develop players but rather they aggregate talent. That seems extreme but I definitely believe for these teams to be good, the majority has to be recruited from the outside.

Like many things in life, some things need to be learned on their own. 95% of the posts here on club trashing nonsense but occasionally you find some legit advice as it might pertain to training, recruiting etc. As parents we all want the best of our kids and want to put them in the very best position to succeed. Throughout this amazing journey with my daughters we've definitely made mistakes. Wasted time on ODP (total scam), didn't take a enough time off(summer teams), bought too many expensive cleats and had a few missteps with recruiting.

Sorry for the long post and if you found it useless or already knew it all. My advice on all of this is that playing in a league like this at 11 and 12 is categorically unnecessary. You'll spend more time behind the windshield then you will at the soccer game. Plenty of traffic and windshield time awaits the players that are going to chase the college game. No need to jump in now, let them be kids. Make an informed decision and don't blindly follow the pirates from the club looking to get into your wallet. If your kid has game there's always a roster spot at any age and on any team. trust me!

[Unregistered]

Thank you for enlightening my mind

Doubt that's possible. You've been sold a lie that your D is some kind of special and "needs" to travel to play these other special kids and gosh darn it, you're going to live and die by that lie.

And before you come up with "oh, sorry your kid was cut", let me assure you my kid said no thanks to trying out. We're just not that stupid.

But hey, good for you. I hear all the super elite 11 year olds are attending an oceanfront tournament in Arizona next weekend. You should check it out.

[Unregistered]

^ good post. There is no need for 11 year olds to be driving all over. Find the best training and competition you can within a reasonable distance, see where your player takes and what they want. Try not to let them give up other things because soccer has become too demanding. The middle school years really separate the wheat from the chaff for soccer and other activities. Kids are trying to figure out what they're good at and passionate about. It doesn't all have to be super competitive. I can't tell you how many kids I've seen focus hard on one thing early, only to lose interest or not be able to move up the ladder later on. Then what?

[Unregistered]

"know it all, none of your business OW parent should be on here momentarily to rip your comment and defend the club's honor.

The reality is that this isn't necessarily a "parent" issue. Most of the negative comments on this endeavor are coming from parents who are on the tail end of this the club soccer journey. As they say, hind sight vision is always 20/20. Parents of U17 and U18 players (even the best ones) fully realize that that this plan of running 11 and 12 years around the Northeast is pure lunacy and driven by club profits.

At 11 and 12 years old there isn't much that separates a great travel player vs an Oakwood, FSA, Ginga or CFC player. These kids are developing mentally and physically and they are still a few years away from knowing if they will be able to keep up with the high level club game at say U15. Regardless of training at the young ages, some players simply don't have the physical attributes to keep up with the pace, skill and quick decision making needed to play DA or ECNL at 16 and 17 when it matters most.

Regardless of what anyone at any one of these clubs tells you, no less than 50% of these rosters will churn within 36 months of the U12 year. For some the jump to the full field 11v11 game will be an immediate disqualifier. For others, giving up the weekend and all non soccer activities for the sake of 70 minute 9v9 game will do them in. For many, the realities of the club stressing results and not having equal playing does them in and lastly there is the reality of better players coming in from the outside. Clubs are only loyal to players to a certain extent. The best player on my daughter's U11 team will come off the bench this year as HS senior. The bottom line is that no less than half of the kids on these rosters will NOT be on the DA or ECNL teams by U15. There was a poster here for years that would post the Oakwood roster churn each year. His point was that the clubs don't develop players but rather they aggregate talent. That seems extreme but I definitely believe for these teams to be good, the majority has to be recruited from the outside.

Like many things in life, some things need to be learned on their own. 95% of the posts here on club trashing nonsense but occasionally you find some legit advice as it might pertain to training, recruiting etc. As parents we all want the best of our kids and want to put them in the very best position to succeed. Throughout this amazing journey with my daughters we've definitely made mistakes. Wasted time on ODP (total scam), didn't take a enough time off(summer teams), bought too many expensive cleats and had a few missteps with recruiting.

Sorry for the long post and if you found it useless or already knew it all. My advice on all of this is that playing in a league like this at 11 and 12 is categorically unnecessary. You'll spend more time behind the windshield then you will at the soccer game. Plenty of traffic and windshield time awaits the players that are going to chase the college game. No need to jump in now, let them be kids. Make an informed decision and don't blindly follow the pirates from the club looking to get into your wallet. If your kid has game there's always a roster spot at any age and on any team. trust me!

Good post and you've clearly been through it.

I decided not to pursue this with my kid. There was peer pressure from the parent group and I'm sure she'd get better but in my gut it seemed over the top. We also have other kids and didn't want trips for one soccer game dominating our weekends when they are so young.

Whether right or wrong, you helped validate some of my thoughts.

[Unregistered]

Doubt that's possible. You've been sold a lie that your D is some kind of special and "needs" to travel to play these other special kids and gosh darn it, you're going to live and die by that lie.

And before you come up with "oh, sorry your kid was cut", let me assure you my kid said no thanks to trying out. We're just not that stupid.

But hey, good for you. I hear all the super elite 11 year olds are attending an oceanfront tournament in Arizona next weekend. You should check it out.

the part that no one mentions is the ulittles at Oakwood get pounded by CT ulittle teams. And in the end 90% of these ulittles are cast aside around U14. That's the Oakwood way.

[Unregistered]

Of course it’ll last. It’s the clubs that are all committed to DA.

I agree it will last. It is a great way for these super DA clubs not to play local competition and have close games or losses. It allows them to maintain their air of superiority without proving it .... the funny thing is that without playing the other local teams often, OW will lose recruiting power which it needs to stay competitive after U13 when they typically replace 75% of their teams for kids from other clubs.

[Unregistered]

I agree that you all are crazier than most of the OW parents.

[Unregistered]

I agree that you all are crazier than most of the OW parents.

Reality sucks doesn't it

[Unregistered]

All i know is my kid's team has one away trip this fall and we are playing games on both saturday and sunday. Basically it takes the place of doing one of those fall tournaments, so all in the travel is really no different than it was before.

Is that really worse than playing EDP and going from LI to Albany?

[Unregistered]

All i know is my kid's team has one away trip this fall and we are playing games on both saturday and sunday. Basically it takes the place of doing one of those fall tournaments, so all in the travel is really no different than it was before.

Is that really worse than playing EDP and going from LI to Albany?

Have fun in the spring dummy .... what comes around goes around .... do you think all of the other clubs caved to OW and agreed to travel long distances to play them in Portland all of the time?

[Unregistered]

All i know is my kid's team has one away trip this fall and we are playing games on both saturday and sunday. Basically it takes the place of doing one of those fall tournaments, so all in the travel is really no different than it was before.

Is that really worse than playing EDP and going from LI to Albany?

Way BETTER off doing a few tournaments. Kids enjoy a weekend away and you typically get some unique competition.

The problem with the travel is some of the teams are poor.

No one is going to lay down a compelling argument for traveling around the Northeast with 5th and 6th graders. Its just plain stupid.