"All in clubs"

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Wow, just wow. You are so far out in left field its sad. Do you actually think recruiting is driving the DA? If your kid is marked at a true DA level talent then their college career is basically a forgone conclusion. They'll be snapped up by one of the top programs in the country with almost zero effort on either of your parts. That is just what happens. The problem is parents who's kids are destined for lower level college programs think that they can manufacture recruiting interest like that simply by joining an ECNL teams and travelling all over the country with them. That's a gross miscalculation. The simple truth is if their kids work real hard on their soccer game and they realistically target an appropriate level program within this region things will fall in place much easier than they think. Look at the college ranks once you get outside the top 25 D1 teams 95% of all college rosters are comprised of kids from either the same state as the school or one touching it. You don't need the DA or ECNL, what most of your kids need is a 3rd or 4th training session a week and some objective advice about where your kids project in the college game.

the problem is that in order to operate DA needs all those non DA level players. USSF only cares about the top 5% at most. The rest are practice cones but cones that are needed to pay the bills, fill rosters and make logistics work. Shrink DA and watch the quality vastly improve.

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Advantages in getting customer. Sure. Producing better players? I dont see how any of this helps. All the things you propose seem centered om making sure kids can continue to play with friends. Do we go to the same lengths to make sure our kids are in the same classes becasue they are good friends? or is that done by ability and interests?

It has nothing to do with friendships. End if He year birthdays dinner have a fall team come 8th grade. They have the composite team come senior year. College coaches are looking at fields and have no idea what year a kids is graduating. The talented players able to cut the mustard with teams largely comprised of kids graduating the year before them are not compared to kids of their same graduating year. Birth year shifted the RAC which may have been helpful for 10 NT kids nationwide but messed it up for those seeking college play.

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End of year birthdays have no team come fall of 8th grade

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#27 and #29 are spot on. This whole illusion is one big ego trap for parents who cannot see reality.

if you really want to know who the top youth players currently are , look at the schools they attract interest form to and when that started. if you want to see if they will continue to be top players, look at how hard they work at getting better.

And by schools, I mean specifics, dont give me ACC or Big 10 or Power 5. Yes, there are kids with less talent who will out work or out desire these kids at some point, but the universe of real talent is small and those who work hard even smaller.

Im skeptical of top kids who want HS. Just being honest. It sounds like the adulation is more important than actually getting better. I watched the HS all American game this year and frankly it was poor soccer with many kids who were good, but nowhere near top level.

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I'm not sure what you are saying them, that unless you are the on the "radar screen of the national team" then you should not be in the GDA? If so, then pool is way too small to run as a team-based league.

USSF can't rely on clubs to provide the development without incentivizing them to do it. So they either need to create their own outposts (via franchises they control) or make it way, way smaller.

Needs to be way smaller and much more selective (check). Shouldn't be run as a team based league (check). But there's no revenue in that model, and it concedes a lot of space to US Club, which USSF has been unhappy about (check, check, and check).

Stepping back for a moment, you may come to see that GDA is a solution in search of a problem. Truth is, the clubs and colleges and now professional leagues are producing plenty of talent for the WNT to pick from.

The more I think about it, it's the parents' not so hidden desire to have their kid called into a YNT camp that is creating much of the fuss, including the excitement around GDA. USSF presented DA as the pathway to YNT camp, and far too many people out there think their kid is deserving of a call-up, if only their clubs trained them better, their coaches spent more time coaching and less time on the phone, they weren't being dragged down by less talented teammates, the coach would play them the whole game and always in their "best" position, the weather was better here in New England, etc, etc.

The other piece that no one should underestimate is that a GNT camp appearance generally opens up the college scholarship wallet like nobody's business, and I have to believe that's been a motivator for many families of younger players who have chosen to throw their lot in with GDA. It's the scholarship opportunities that the vast majority are after, well, that and the ability to talk over cocktails about how little Mia will be a sensation at the next level. ;)

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It has nothing to do with friendships. End if He year birthdays dinner have a fall team come 8th grade. They have the composite team come senior year. College coaches are looking at fields and have no idea what year a kids is graduating. The talented players able to cut the mustard with teams largely comprised of kids graduating the year before them are not compared to kids of their same graduating year. Birth year shifted the RAC which may have been helpful for 10 NT kids nationwide but messed it up for those seeking college play.

If you think College coaches dont know all there is to know about the player they care about then ....It seems that the motivation here is to design college recruiting supermarket, BUT for whom?

Not the top kids, they dont need it. not the kids who are going to proactively try and match skills and interests with schools, they can do that themselves. So for whom? the random mid level kid who has no clue what they want who will decide based on and offer from Random U in a state across the country based on watching for 15 mins at a showcase ?


I would love to see the percentages of College offers that are a direct result of random interest and the quality of schools making them

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If you think College coaches dont know all there is to know about the player they care about then ....It seems that the motivation here is to design college recruiting supermarket, BUT for whom?

Not the top kids, they dont need it. not the kids who are going to proactively try and match skills and interests with schools, they can do that themselves. So for whom? the random mid level kid who has no clue what they want who will decide based on and offer from Random U in a state across the country based on watching for 15 mins at a showcase ?


I would love to see the percentages of College offers that are a direct result of random interest and the quality of schools making them

Agreed too kids not recruited on random interest. Nor are offers made on 15 minutes of recruiting. But would be better to compare sophomores with sophomores and juniors with juniors. If kid is NT quality let them go for the u16/17 da team and leave ecnl alone.

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the problem is that in order to operate DA needs all those non DA level players. USSF only cares about the top 5% at most. The rest are practice cones but cones that are needed to pay the bills, fill rosters and make logistics work. Shrink DA and watch the quality vastly improve.

Why soo negative. What you are suggesting is a regional pool/team competing bi-monthly. When you get to the top NPL level and up the margins/gaps are not the big. After that favoritism plays a role in players selection. What I consider potential you may see as a weakness. Everything is subject to how one’s ideal.

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Needs to be way smaller and much more selective (check). Shouldn't be run as a team based league (check). But there's no revenue in that model, and it concedes a lot of space to US Club, which USSF has been unhappy about (check, check, and check).

Stepping back for a moment, you may come to see that GDA is a solution in search of a problem. Truth is, the clubs and colleges and now professional leagues are producing plenty of talent for the WNT to pick from.

The more I think about it, it's the parents' not so hidden desire to have their kid called into a YNT camp that is creating much of the fuss, including the excitement around GDA. USSF presented DA as the pathway to YNT camp, and far too many people out there think their kid is deserving of a call-up, if only their clubs trained them better, their coaches spent more time coaching and less time on the phone, they weren't being dragged down by less talented teammates, the coach would play them the whole game and always in their "best" position, the weather was better here in New England, etc, etc.

The other piece that no one should underestimate is that a GNT camp appearance generally opens up the college scholarship wallet like nobody's business, and I have to believe that's been a motivator for many families of younger players who have chosen to throw their lot in with GDA. It's the scholarship opportunities that the vast majority are after, well, that and the ability to talk over cocktails about how little Mia will be a sensation at the next level. ;)

Being great opens all those doors. So why does no one really focus on that part? Because its hard and does require sacrifice. I never felt that the environment of ECNL or GDA made my kids a player. she did. there is development to be had in both league but the player has to make it and take it. No one else ( few exceptions) is really interested in the palyer as a single entity. its more about what can that player do for me in teh short term as opposed to how can I help that player get better

its telling how very few club coaches will say - hey coach A (at a rival club) is doing a great job with player b. shes really developed into a special player. Instead they say, come join my team .

as a group in the NE, we dont celebrate our elite players and support them. we bad mouth them on message boards and silently hope they fail so our kids can get a chance ( they wont) most are not in that league. We think they are merely advantaged or in some special case that they dont deserve or didnt earn.

its a sad crab in a basket mentality that permeates the whole thing. most parents think writing a check makes them just as good as the best and Clubs are not in the business of telling them anything else

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Why soo negative. What you are suggesting is a regional pool/team competing bi-monthly. When you get to the top NPL level and up the margins/gaps are not the big. After that favoritism plays a role in players selection. What I consider potential you may see as a weakness. Everything is subject to how one’s ideal.

Many DA teams only got a handful of really good players then had to fill the rosters with lower quality ones. The ones in the middle stayed in ECNL. Both leagues were diluted in the process with large gaps in the quality of talent and competition (LISC anyone?). If DA tightens up the number of clubs those top players who still want DA will have to congregate at those fewer clubs, strengthening the teams and level of competition.

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Many DA teams only got a handful of really good players then had to fill the rosters with lower quality ones. The ones in the middle stayed in ECNL. Both leagues were diluted in the process with large gaps in the quality of talent and competition (LISC anyone?). If DA tightens up the number of clubs those top players who still want DA will have to congregate at those fewer clubs, strengthening the teams and level of competition.

And either travelling much further each weekend since the division will need to be combined with Atlantic, or playing the same clubs 4-5x a year.

At Stars, the better players mostly stayed in ECNL, so DA did not even get all of the really good players.

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Many DA teams only got a handful of really good players then had to fill the rosters with lower quality ones. The ones in the middle stayed in ECNL. Both leagues were diluted in the process with large gaps in the quality of talent and competition (LISC anyone?). If DA tightens up the number of clubs those top players who still want DA will have to congregate at those fewer clubs, strengthening the teams and level of competition.

Assuming the mass of talent that knows no nt service is in their cards decided that the ecnl is a preferable situation, what is best for a top talent. Gda with roster fillers to train and compete with or ecnl with the vast middle to train and compete with?

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Assuming the mass of talent that knows no nt service is in their cards decided that the ecnl is a preferable situation, what is best for a top talent. Gda with roster fillers to train and compete with or ecnl with the vast middle to train and compete with?

Neither, that is the problem. A team that has a wide gap from top to bottom will be frustrating and ineffective for the highest players. You need players that can challenge, mount pressure and keep the pace extremely high. As soon as that is not possible with half the squad being "cones", then many drills become relatively useless as they are merely going through the motions.

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Assuming the mass of talent that knows no nt service is in their cards decided that the ecnl is a preferable situation, what is best for a top talent. Gda with roster fillers to train and compete with or ecnl with the vast middle to train and compete with?

There's no one who can argue with a straight face that an appreciable difference between GDA and ECNL exists in reality. Both have tiers of players, some being "fillers" that really don't measure up, but 95-99% of the talent discussed is not NT caliber. Given that a large portion of the players that opted to remain in ECNL were players who already had their college commitments sorted out and had no compelling reason or interest in jumping to DA, referring to those as a "vast middle" seems silly.

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Neither, that is the problem. A team that has a wide gap from top to bottom will be frustrating and ineffective for the highest players. You need players that can challenge, mount pressure and keep the pace extremely high. As soon as that is not possible with half the squad being "cones", then many drills become relatively useless as they are merely going through the motions.

its not the talent tho. people focus so much on that. its the desire. I can solve the talent problem in every practice by adding better players form outside the club. I can fix the desire problem.

Ive never believed that its frustrating for players with the right attitude. They control most of their practice environment. If outside things distract you significantly, then you are doing something wrong