Girls Academy League rules

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PDA White more kick and run than Blue and that is saying something.

#rememberthe11

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Considering the only other ones were White and MF until PDA South? What's your point? They are still consistently better than most of the GAL league in NE and MA.

My kid plays on a PDA Blue and "the powers to be" decided not no organize competition up close, so I am well aware of the fact that to play a meaningful game we travel 3 hours one way, and typically spend time in a hotel. We play 2 games, 1 is competitive, 6 hours in a car. $300 spent in hotel, food, gas. I don't care to get into the reasons why this is the case.

That's laughable from a league that claims to care about development. Thats burning 2 days for one game where 1/3 of the team plays for 10 minutes. It is NOT development, it is the opposite. Anyone that claims that any league that spends that much time on useless pretentious BS (ECNL/NL/GDA) is full of crap.

[Unregistered]

My kid plays on a PDA Blue and "the powers to be" decided not no organize competition up close, so I am well aware of the fact that to play a meaningful game we travel 3 hours one way, and typically spend time in a hotel. We play 2 games, 1 is competitive, 6 hours in a car. $300 spent in hotel, food, gas. I don't care to get into the reasons why this is the case.

That's laughable from a league that claims to care about development. Thats burning 2 days for one game where 1/3 of the team plays for 10 minutes. It is NOT development, it is the opposite. Anyone that claims that any league that spends that much time on useless pretentious BS (ECNL/NL/GDA) is full of crap.

Totally agree with you. That extra time could have been used by the kid to take on an extra sport, to study, do various different things...In these social distancing days when we are not driving around our kids anywhere, I can see that the stress level of my daughters as well as us parents is much lower. Hopefully, these couple of months will force a rethink of what is important, what works for the kids and the family, and what does not.

[Unregistered]

My kid plays on a PDA Blue and "the powers to be" decided not no organize competition up close, so I am well aware of the fact that to play a meaningful game we travel 3 hours one way, and typically spend time in a hotel. We play 2 games, 1 is competitive, 6 hours in a car. $300 spent in hotel, food, gas. I don't care to get into the reasons why this is the case.

That's laughable from a league that claims to care about development. Thats burning 2 days for one game where 1/3 of the team plays for 10 minutes. It is NOT development, it is the opposite. Anyone that claims that any league that spends that much time on useless pretentious BS (ECNL/NL/GDA) is full of crap.

If you’re not a fan then why do you do it? Does not make sense....

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If you’re not a fan then why do you do it? Does not make sense....

Many a times people learn from their mistakes.

Having paid the whole year's worth of fees to PDA, if my daughter were playing there, I would also try to make the most of the year while thinking about alternatives for the next year.

And I thank this person for sharing their experience.

[Unregistered]

Totally agree with you. That extra time could have been used by the kid to take on an extra sport, to study, do various different things...In these social distancing days when we are not driving around our kids anywhere, I can see that the stress level of my daughters as well as us parents is much lower. Hopefully, these couple of months will force a rethink of what is important, what works for the kids and the family, and what does not.

That is definitely happening with many families. Then there's the many families that have no choice but to cut spending on everything but necessities. Youth sports across the board will see a contraction. Some clubs and even leagues won't make it.

[Unregistered]

Totally agree with you. That extra time could have been used by the kid to take on an extra sport, to study, do various different things...In these social distancing days when we are not driving around our kids anywhere, I can see that the stress level of my daughters as well as us parents is much lower. Hopefully, these couple of months will force a rethink of what is important, what works for the kids and the family, and what does not.

On the flip side, my kid and our family enjoyed the road trips together and spending the weekends with her teammates and their families, and that this social distancing is stressful because she can't be with her friends.

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On the flip side, my kid and our family enjoyed the road trips together and spending the weekends with her teammates and their families, and that this social distancing is stressful because she can't be with her friends.

Of course, but that doesn't mean all the travel is necessary or even beneficial for development. Travel isn't necessary to build family or social bonds. In fact, so much travel puts a strain on relationships outside the family or team because you have less time for it.

[Unregistered]

Totally agree with you. That extra time could have been used by the kid to take on an extra sport, to study, do various different things...In these social distancing days when we are not driving around our kids anywhere, I can see that the stress level of my daughters as well as us parents is much lower. Hopefully, these couple of months will force a rethink of what is important, what works for the kids and the family, and what does not.

If we want more free time, here's an idea.

We work too much and go to school for too many hours in this country. School and work should not be more than 5 - 6 hours a day. Fridays should be off. There's some extra time to relieve this stress and spend time with family.

But since most Americans have to work paycheck to paycheck, they have to work a lot leading to tremendous stress and time away from the family.

[Unregistered]

If you’re not a fan then why do you do it? Does not make sense....

i'm not a fan of dumbasses like you or the people that run the leagues. im a fan of soccer and i wholeheartedly think that spending 8 hours in a car for a game where 1/3 of the roster sits on a bench has nothing to do with development. if you believe in a league - you are part of the problem.

any smart coach can find local competition that would be better utilized for training and development purposes. my older son (who just played club for fun) had such an experience. not only they scrimmaged teams that were younger or older, they also scrimmaged girls teams as well. a lot of the games were close, but some were blow outs, and at which point the coaches would adjust the parameters of the game. but the most important thing is that we'd just drive 30-45 minutes to a game, instead of spending a whole weekend. that allowed us to practice combination plays, set plays, penalties etc. that was soccer.

now switching it back to my younger kids experience. we would only scrimmage against the "teams that would not compete with us, or that would be in the evil GDA" as not to give any legitimacy to another NJ club or to another league. we would drive to connecticut and maryland and participate in meaningless blow-out games. in those games our goalie would face 1 shot during each game. our backup goalie would face zero. in competitive games that 1/3 of the squad would see zero minutes, but still travel 8 hours back and forth. we couldn't scrimmage against PF or STA because they were in GDA. crazy, back then they were "not competitive teams" even though some of our players went to STA, and some came from STA. its all about keeping that ECNL grip on the state and who plays who and which parents can puff their chests and pretend to be better. none of it is about real development and real soccer.

[Unregistered]

i'm not a fan of dumbasses like you or the people that run the leagues. im a fan of soccer and i wholeheartedly think that spending 8 hours in a car for a game where 1/3 of the roster sits on a bench has nothing to do with development. if you believe in a league - you are part of the problem.

any smart coach can find local competition that would be better utilized for training and development purposes. my older son (who just played club for fun) had such an experience. not only they scrimmaged teams that were younger or older, they also scrimmaged girls teams as well. a lot of the games were close, but some were blow outs, and at which point the coaches would adjust the parameters of the game. but the most important thing is that we'd just drive 30-45 minutes to a game, instead of spending a whole weekend. that allowed us to practice combination plays, set plays, penalties etc. that was soccer.

now switching it back to my younger kids experience. we would only scrimmage against the "teams that would not compete with us, or that would be in the evil GDA" as not to give any legitimacy to another NJ club or to another league. we would drive to connecticut and maryland and participate in meaningless blow-out games. in those games our goalie would face 1 shot during each game. our backup goalie would face zero. in competitive games that 1/3 of the squad would see zero minutes, but still travel 8 hours back and forth. we couldn't scrimmage against PF or STA because they were in GDA. crazy, back then they were "not competitive teams" even though some of our players went to STA, and some came from STA. its all about keeping that ECNL grip on the state and who plays who and which parents can puff their chests and pretend to be better. none of it is about real development and real soccer.

Applause. Join the movement. Boycott these leagues and clubs! Promote the good ones so the good people know the truth.

[Unregistered]

Soooo which are the good ones (clubs) and why? What’s the formula?

[Unregistered]

Soooo which are the good ones (clubs) and why? What’s the formula?

NONE!!!! It's all BS.

Focus on getting your kid playing time vs real competition, really good skill training, being showcased at the highest % possible, having good talent to practice with all the time and learn from multiple coaches along the way.

You can find some good coaches. The clubs are all the same. $$$$

[Unregistered]

i'm not a fan of dumbasses like you or the people that run the leagues. im a fan of soccer and i wholeheartedly think that spending 8 hours in a car for a game where 1/3 of the roster sits on a bench has nothing to do with development. if you believe in a league - you are part of the problem.

any smart coach can find local competition that would be better utilized for training and development purposes. my older son (who just played club for fun) had such an experience. not only they scrimmaged teams that were younger or older, they also scrimmaged girls teams as well. a lot of the games were close, but some were blow outs, and at which point the coaches would adjust the parameters of the game. but the most important thing is that we'd just drive 30-45 minutes to a game, instead of spending a whole weekend. that allowed us to practice combination plays, set plays, penalties etc. that was soccer.

now switching it back to my younger kids experience. we would only scrimmage against the "teams that would not compete with us, or that would be in the evil GDA" as not to give any legitimacy to another NJ club or to another league. we would drive to connecticut and maryland and participate in meaningless blow-out games. in those games our goalie would face 1 shot during each game. our backup goalie would face zero. in competitive games that 1/3 of the squad would see zero minutes, but still travel 8 hours back and forth. we couldn't scrimmage against PF or STA because they were in GDA. crazy, back then they were "not competitive teams" even though some of our players went to STA, and some came from STA. its all about keeping that ECNL grip on the state and who plays who and which parents can puff their chests and pretend to be better. none of it is about real development and real soccer.

Fake PDA fan....can see right through it.

[Unregistered]

NONE!!!! It's all BS.

Focus on getting your kid playing time vs real competition, really good skill training, being showcased at the highest % possible, having good talent to practice with all the time and learn from multiple coaches along the way.

You can find some good coaches. The clubs are all the same. $$$$

That is not true. Look at township clubs that have good coaches and staff. Not many but there are some. Ignore these other "elite clubs".