DA single year of age

[Unregistered]

To proclaim that 4 months into GDA because a kid was committed without being in DA as a reflection on “where one needs to play in order play in college” says nothing.

1. Kids got commmitted without playing in ECNL too.
2. Nobody ever said one needed to be in GDA now, especially current juniors and seniors. Those kids would stay the course and be just fine not playing in DA.
3. GDA is far to young to speculate on its overall affect on the landscape. Other pathways existed in conjunction with ECNL before DA and other pathways will exist with GDA as well.

If your the same poster who said "GDA is DOOMED" then you are backpedaling on your argument.

1. Kids continue to get committed without ECNL but over the last several years, it was the league of choice for D1 coaches and scouts to spend their travel budgets on. Sure, a bunch came to CASL and Jefferson Cup on the East Coast but the ECNL Showcases have been the where ALL the A list colleges went to.

2. This point is fair but as an 01 GDA parent, the attention from schools so far has been awesome. This is important because when you look at the first GDA showcase, the college coach attendance was over 300, essentially matching the decade established ECNL. However, ECNL Boys showcase college attendance was not nearly as robust as the established Boys DA attendance.

3. Disagree here. While ECNL will not be going anywhere, it is more than fair to speculate that GDA will in short time; render ECNL the same as ECNL rendered NPL and Travel leagues. Once those Juniors and Seniors graduate, ECNL will start to feel the migration of the better players (Where DA Clubs are available) to GDA. It will not happen over night, but it will happen. ECNL trying to combat this by adding more clubs but in the end, that serves to make ECNL less "elite".


Having said all that, there will always be paths available to kids to play college if that is what they desire. Local schools will always show up at State Cups and regional tournaments to be sure.

[Unregistered]

Obviously, the person who said "GDA is DOOMED" was being sarcastic.