This whole mess is caused by-----

[Unregistered]

It was puffery from the start.

and what about the Clubs that are meeting the standards ?

[Unregistered]

i dont understand this mindset. players dont say ohhh I have interest in NT. Or nah ..I want College but not NT. They practice, they play and ability and desire opens up certain doors to them. Some they choose to go thru, some they dont. Its not a separate universe of players based on what they want. This is the USSF mistake. you should be focused on trying to sponsor efforts that improve ALL players. That means working WITH the Clubs not as competition becasue in reality you do not have the resources to do it yourselves.

Kids and families will then make choices based on relative ability. A club like PDA should have the ability to provide the right level of training to any player at differing price points and profit margins. A super club should make enough money from doing it all. the margin on the elite player is probably going to be a lot smaller. The solution is not taking your ball and saying im going home. it s working together for the good of american soccer.

Both sides have made this mess. Every player is impacted. Continuing to build separate tracks is not going to make us collectively better. we need to be far more honest in assessing talent and providing avenues that are consistent with it without blocking off the routes to moving "up" the ladder as players get better.

USSF has no interest in working with other leagues. They wanted the whole pie (other poster's analogy). That's why they started GDA and made it as large as it was.

[Unregistered]

and what about the Clubs that are meeting the standards ?

Many are, just not all. Some never should have gotten a badge to begin with. Even at some good clubs some players have decided it isn't for them. Hopefully clubs find others who want it to fill the gaps.

[Unregistered]

Here's what needs to happen (geography aside, in a perfect world): The set of players is finite right? We don't have more players just because there's more leagues. Same sized pie. GDA should shrink down to 25% of what it was originally; ECNL should shrink by a corresponding 25% so that it's at 75% capacity from the current. Total still adds up to 100.
That way to top players wanting to do DA get what they want, the remaining majority of players who have no interest in NT and just want to play in college get what they want.

I get what you are saying, but 25% of the ECNL is still a ton of kids, and to my way of thinking, ropes in far too many kids than is necessary to meet the actual needs of the YNT program. The majority of kids who choose GDA, but who aren't of any interest to the NTs will (eventually) realize this, to be followed soon thereafter by the realization that they've foregone HS soccer, as well as the opportunity to participate in other sports or really any other activities -- in essence that they've been chewed up and spit out by US Soccer in service to those very few players who will ever get called into camp.

I don't deny that this is what happens every day in the European clubs, for example, but if people really stopped for a minute to consider what the end game is in the US, they should realize it's college and a diploma in something other than soccer.

If a kid happens to be, or become, one of those rare players that is uniquely talented and is also laser focused on becoming a professional soccer player, then the NT will find them. You sure don't need GDA to do that.

[Unregistered]

i dont understand this mindset. players dont say ohhh I have interest in NT. Or nah ..I want College but not NT. They practice, they play and ability and desire opens up certain doors to them. Some they choose to go thru, some they dont. Its not a separate universe of players based on what they want. This is the USSF mistake. you should be focused on trying to sponsor efforts that improve ALL players. That means working WITH the Clubs not as competition becasue in reality you do not have the resources to do it yourselves.

Kids and families will then make choices based on relative ability. A club like PDA should have the ability to provide the right level of training to any player at differing price points and profit margins. A super club should make enough money from doing it all. the margin on the elite player is probably going to be a lot smaller. The solution is not taking your ball and saying im going home. it s working together for the good of american soccer.

Both sides have made this mess. Every player is impacted. Continuing to build separate tracks is not going to make us collectively better. we need to be far more honest in assessing talent and providing avenues that are consistent with it without blocking off the routes to moving "up" the ladder as players get better.

Thank you for this. I was getting tired of the only-kids-who-play-DA-want-to-be-on-the-NT. Isn't that most kids' dream who are playing on a top team? Last I checked, the only kids on the NT were at Stars and Select. Personally, I wish our club would go back to ECNL. It was great last year, and I haven't seen a difference this year, and people who say that DA is different are not being honest. It is a lot - a lot - of travel and expense for games that are sometimes weaker than when our daughter was in NPL, and there are the same squeaky wheels trying to get their kids playing time. Before you dump on me, my daughter is a starter and plays almost every minute.

[Unregistered]

You overlook the fact that there was no oversight, and USSF approved these clubs. Some families/players did not get what they were told.

Again ..implementation. Something the CLUBS controlled. We have no idea what the penalty for failure will or wont be. its not even thru year one.

To some, one game less is a good thing.

[Unregistered]

You overlook the fact that there was no oversight, and USSF approved these clubs. Some families/players did not get what they were told.

Of course mistakes were made, but was including PDA a mistake? clearly it was. No on likes iterating to the solution because there are casualties, but that is inevitable. if it continues, GDA will evolve to the right "size" and club composition.

ECNL will continue expand becasue there is never a shortage of folks who will buy that story.

The USSF are in a terrible position. Staffed by some really arrogant ignorant people who dont have the humility to say, we got it wrong, but we will get it right. They have lost the right for do-overs. I get that. However, the idea in essence is not bad, its just poorly executed, too big and done in isolation. its two bullies trying to own the schoolyard.

[Unregistered]

Some families/players did not get what they were told.

Parents gobbled up a coach selling DA as a "proven pathway" to their Little Mia getting her "college commitment" and I have zero sympathy for them being so gullible.

[Unregistered]

You overlook the fact that there was no oversight, and USSF approved these clubs. Some families/players did not get what they were told.

there is no oversight in the ECNL. the only difference is the USSF are held to a higher standard. I think one thing that is overlooked is that the USSF were horrified by some of the behaviors in these Clubs.

I spoke to a College coach at a top 10 program who told me he was embarrassed by some of the language and yelling coming from coaches directed at players during showcases.

all these issues are collective ones that as a soccer community no one tires to address because the overriding aim is to make money and turn a blind eye unless directly impacted. I bet almost every roster has kids who really dont belong and every family knows it.

[Unregistered]

all these issues are collective ones that as a soccer community no one tires to address because the overriding aim is to make money and turn a blind eye unless directly impacted. I bet almost every roster has kids who really dont belong and every family knows it.

Pay-to-play understatement of the century.

[Unregistered]

...there is never a shortage of folks who will buy that story.

Actually THIS is the pay-to-play understatement of the century.

[Unregistered]

which is why any comment should really be accompanied with a description of HOW it increases the chances of making players better. Im not on either side her but I do give the GDA credit for that. At least they laid their cards on the table, even if they were misguided.

ECNL does no such thing. Lots of catchy marketing slogans and a clear understanding that IF you get enough girls together often enough you will licuk into some who actually want to get better and will. you can then posterize those as amazing young women and products of yiur great "system" to hook in a few more. Its brilliant, it really is, but the fact that some of these very same Clubs cannot or will not do the GDA is telling. why not?

All it is is teaching the very same game over a longer period with a slightly different competition structure and some rules like facilities, refs and coaching certification. Why is that so hard? Its not. Its just not as economical viable and where you to be successful at ti, it potentially damages the brand you have equity in.

I really want the ECNL Clubs who are leaving to answer a few questions

1. Why is the kid who is only good enough to play 15 m per game on the GDA roster in the first place

2. What does HS soccer REALLY mean to your player pool.

3. Why are rosters so large

4. Why so many showcases.

5. How do you pay your coaches and why are qualifications NOT a good thing?

6. Why do the board NOT enforce their own rules

to start with.

[Unregistered]

Here's what needs to happen (geography aside, in a perfect world): The set of players is finite right? We don't have more players just because there's more leagues. Same sized pie. GDA should shrink down to 25% of what it was originally; ECNL should shrink by a corresponding 25% so that it's at 75% capacity from the current. Total still adds up to 100.
That way to top players wanting to do DA get what they want, the remaining majority of players who have no interest in NT and just want to play in college get what they want.

Geography can't be dismissed across the US. I agree that GDA needs to shrink substantially, and by doing so, GDA needs to stop being a league and focus on the development component. It's not practical and cost-ineffective to force costly travel for weekly games as currently structured. It would be even worse with 25% of the current clubs.

Acceptance to GDA should have been something that was coveted...instead they had to scrape players to fill the rosters because they was just too much competition for the same players. Make it an elite thing and those who truly want it will find their way there. Otherwise, it is just going to limp along with watered down talent and lack competitive games as a league.

[Unregistered]

Thank you for this. I was getting tired of the only-kids-who-play-DA-want-to-be-on-the-NT. Isn't that most kids' dream who are playing on a top team? Last I checked, the only kids on the NT were at Stars and Select. Personally, I wish our club would go back to ECNL. It was great last year, and I haven't seen a difference this year, and people who say that DA is different are not being honest. It is a lot - a lot - of travel and expense for games that are sometimes weaker than when our daughter was in NPL, and there are the same squeaky wheels trying to get their kids playing time. Before you dump on me, my daughter is a starter and plays almost every minute.

People on this site don't want to hear this POV.

[Unregistered]

Geography can't be dismissed across the US. I agree that GDA needs to shrink substantially, and by doing so, GDA needs to stop being a league and focus on the development component. It's not practical and cost-ineffective to force costly travel for weekly games as currently structured. It would be even worse with 25% of the current clubs.

Acceptance to GDA should have been something that was coveted...instead they had to scrape players to fill the rosters because they was just too much competition for the same players. Make it an elite thing and those who truly want it will find their way there. Otherwise, it is just going to limp along with watered down talent and lack competitive games as a league.

This is a good point, but USSF wants the money that comes from all the rosters.