ECNL-DA club jumping season is upon us

[Unregistered]

A prior poster in response to the subbing rules stated that GDA was designed to prepare girls for WNT competition (90 minutes of fitness!). Another posted shared WNT aspirations realistically apply to 2 girls per team.

No one is saying GDA is wrong in its development philosophy. They were simply wrong in gauging market demand. ECNL is the preferred choice for most families because it fulfills its' promise of college pathway, and allows HS. Not saying ECNL is better, just saying the majority of better players are choosing it. Because of that, the majority of better clubs are now choosing ECNL too. It doesn't look good for GDA.

Really not sure they did much if any market research before the launch. I would say everything going on was predictable if the customers had just been consulted.

[Unregistered]

Really not sure they did much if any market research before the launch. I would say everything going on was predictable if the customers had just been consulted.

USSF doesn't care about customers. Let's be very honest: USSF is a top-down, control-orientnted organization that only cares about the USNT's. Grassroots soccer is very low on the list of priorities and that is what club soccer is considered. GDA is a step above that in their mind, hence the coaching licensing requirements, no-HS rules, substitutions rules, etc, but the reality is the entire GDA package isn't particularlly well suited for development and it certainly isnt' customer friendly. Add in the dicrepency between fully funded men's MLS DA and Pay2Play girls DA, it gets worse.

USSF is a dinosaur and shouldn't be in charge of youth soccer development in this country. Let them deal with the NT's, that's all they really care about, and leave youth soccer to those who understand the customer and the landscape.

[Unregistered]

please explain? what exactly doe GDA do to benefit two girls a year

For the few kids a year that actually have a shot at the USWNT it gives USSF a smaller pool to look at to identify players.

[Unregistered]

For the few kids a year that actually have a shot at the USWNT it gives USSF a smaller pool to look at to identify players.

In other words, it just makes their jobs easier. Got it.

[Unregistered]

In other words, it just makes their jobs easier. Got it.

How does watching a player dominate in a weak league make their job easier? Are the big fish stronger out of a small pond or out of a big pond?

[Unregistered]

How does watching a player dominate in a weak league make their job easier? Are the big fish stronger out of a small pond or out of a big pond?

op here and yes that is also correct. They did a better job when ODP was still a thing and kids from all over competed for spots

[Unregistered]

In other words, it just makes their jobs easier. Got it.

Yes, just like with the birth year change. The entire youth soccer world got torn apart so a handful of people at USSF wouldn't have to think about whether a few players were born before or after August 1st.

[Unregistered]

Yes, just like with the birth year change. The entire youth soccer world got torn apart so a handful of people at USSF wouldn't have to think about whether a few players were born before or after August 1st.

I'm one of the few people who agree with the birth year change. There's no consistency across the country as far as school cutoff, so I think it's the best solution.

[Unregistered]

I'm one of the few people who agree with the birth year change. There's no consistency across the country as far as school cutoff, so I think it's the best solution.

The prior method made it much more likely that teams with 8th graders and seniors could continue to field during the HS season. The new method forces a bunch of 8th graders and seniors to choose between not playing at all or finding new teams during the HS season.

[Unregistered]

I'm one of the few people who agree with the birth year change. There's no consistency across the country as far as school cutoff, so I think it's the best solution.

I'm sure you do - you must have a Jan-March kid?

Also it wasn't based on school start dates but Aug 1, which covered pretty much everyone. It worked just fine - very few kids were left out and it was nothing compared to the thousands of 8th and 12th graders getting hosed each year.

[Unregistered]

I'm sure you do - you must have a Jan-March kid?

Also it wasn't based on school start dates but Aug 1, which covered pretty much everyone. It worked just fine - very few kids were left out and it was nothing compared to the thousands of 8th and 12th graders getting hosed each year.

My kid is a June baby, but that really doesn't have much to do with it. I just think it's better to have all kids playing against other kids the same age. If you changed the calendar year to start Aug 1, I'd think that was the best cutoff.

[Unregistered]

My kid is a June baby, but that really doesn't have much to do with it. I just think it's better to have all kids playing against other kids the same age. If you changed the calendar year to start Aug 1, I'd think that was the best cutoff.

They are playing kids of the same age whether you use calendar year or Aug 1.

[Unregistered]

My kid is a June baby, but that really doesn't have much to do with it. I just think it's better to have all kids playing against other kids the same age. If you changed the calendar year to start Aug 1, I'd think that was the best cutoff.

Man, you did NOT think that one through very well, eh? Or perhaps you're just being unclear in your second sentence...

A 12 month cycle, whether it starts Jan 1, Aug 1 or March 30th, places all kids born within that 12 month period into a single group. One can pick any arbitrary date to start and end the cycle, but a date that has some LOGIC attached to it would be a date that allows kids within the same academic class to play together. August 1 worked pretty well, because kids with fall birthdays still ended up playing with their classmates. That also ensured that 8th and 12th graders with fall birthdays didn't have to scramble to find teams.

[Unregistered]

^^^this.
I will add that at high level teams, most of those 8th graders that lost a season, will take the place of their younger grade mates as senior because they have been playing “up” a year. Some of those that love birth year (those same players that would not make top team I’d school year) won’t love it come senior year.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;2680469]Quick summary. 101 ECNL clubs. 46 GDA clubs. They all want into ECNL. ECNL is cherry picking the GDA clubs it wants. The more clubs that leave GDA, the worse the travel gets.

Wednesday is April 1. Lot of clubs traditionally have ECNL tryouts in May. Whatever further defections that are going to occur amongst the remaining 46 GDA clubs this year will likely be announced in the next two weeks.