Seacoast United to join GDA

[Unregistered]

Other than the no tuition DA teams like NE Revolution, which DA teams are losing money?

If it's the teams themselves telling you that they are 'losing money' on a pay-to-play DA team then you can add the 'used car salesman' badge right alongside the 'pyramid scheme' badge.

The ONLY way that FOR PROFIT clubs like Seacoast could claim to be 'losing money' on a DA program is with fancy accounting.

1 x coach, 1 x assistant coach, 1 x backup coach, 1 x GK coach, 1 x senior backup coach, 1 x coaching director, 1 x coaching director manager, take a share of facility fees, minus the mandatory payment towards capital upgrades, 1 x marketing person, 1 x marketing assistant, carbon tax...

*sucks air through teeth* "so you see, we're actually losing money by only charging you $x,xxx per year"

[Unregistered]

I hope other NPL parents are strong enough to say “no thanks” to joining the DA league. Let other suckers chase that badge, and keep our NPL teams intact.

[Unregistered]

I hope other NPL parents are strong enough to say “no thanks” to joining the DA league. Let other suckers chase that badge, and keep our NPL teams intact.

Me too. I'm worried that they're going to fall for the hype. I hope people really do their research!

[Unregistered]

Ditto!!!!

[Unregistered]

I hope other NPL parents are strong enough to say “no thanks” to joining the DA league. Let other suckers chase that badge, and keep our NPL teams intact.

We are going GDA all the way

[Unregistered]

The only way GDA works for a club is if the club has many locations and at least 4 teams at the central location. That way the talent pool is such that a very competitive 18 girls with at least 12 elite players who can fill a roster. Seacoast is lucky to get 18 on their NPL teams in Epping and lucky to have only 1-2 truly elite players.

So they will field teams with hopefuls and they will lose out on high school and in game after game. Not fun.

Good luck.

[Unregistered]

The only way GDA works for a club is if the club has many locations and at least 4 teams at the central location. That way the talent pool is such that a very competitive 18 girls with at least 12 elite players who can fill a roster. Seacoast is lucky to get 18 on their NPL teams in Epping and lucky to have only 1-2 truly elite players.

So they will field teams with hopefuls and they will lose out on high school and in game after game. Not fun.

Good luck.

Yes, totally agree with all of this, and the NPL teams will be ruined. Shame because whether parents realize it or not, most of those girls are at the right level for them now at NPL. They are going to be giving up a lot to have a poor experience.

[Unregistered]

Surprised with so much negativity. A few threads back there were a lot of people saying how there is such a need for a higher level program in NH to help players not have to travel. My daughter is no where near the level of NPL or academy, however for any good players in this area I am happy that a club has now presented girls an option to play on this platform. For too often it was about boys, and girls had to drive hours to access a higher level. Good luck to everyone.

[Unregistered]

Surprised with so much negativity. A few threads back there were a lot of people saying how there is such a need for a higher level program in NH to help players not have to travel. My daughter is no where near the level of NPL or academy, however for any good players in this area I am happy that a club has now presented girls an option to play on this platform. For too often it was about boys, and girls had to drive hours to access a higher level. Good luck to everyone.

Or is it so much? My feeling is it is a couple of clubs just spewing negative comments. Any club in this area having DA or ECNL for girls is a good thing, whether it be GPS, Seacoast or another.

[Unregistered]

Surprised with so much negativity. A few threads back there were a lot of people saying how there is such a need for a higher level program in NH to help players not have to travel. My daughter is no where near the level of NPL or academy, however for any good players in this area I am happy that a club has now presented girls an option to play on this platform. For too often it was about boys, and girls had to drive hours to access a higher level. Good luck to everyone.

Honestly, I think the negativity is coming from families already in Seacoast. Many of us know our NPL teams should not compete at the GDA level, but surely some families will jump ship for the new badge. Now we will have girls with no business playing DA getting killed and weakened NPL teams getting killed. This new opportunity destroys what was already working just fine for many kids.

For those of us who don't want GDA, and there are plenty, our options just got worse. Not willing to play GDA so either stick with watered down NPL team, should it still exist, or now WE have to drive an hour plus for NPL practices if we go to a new team. Meanwhile GDA teams probably don't have enough true elite players to amount to much. Seems like no one wins.

[Unregistered]

Honestly, I think the negativity is coming from families already in Seacoast. Many of us know our NPL teams should not compete at the GDA level, but surely some families will jump ship for the new badge. Now we will have girls with no business playing DA getting killed and weakened NPL teams getting killed. This new opportunity destroys what was already working just fine for many kids.

For those of us who don't want GDA, and there are plenty, our options just got worse. Not willing to play GDA so either stick with watered down NPL team, should it still exist, or now WE have to drive an hour plus for NPL practices if we go to a new team. Meanwhile GDA teams probably don't have enough true elite players to amount to much. Seems like no one wins.

I agree with this. Doesn’t Seacoast look at their own situation on the boys’ side? Yes, they have Academy for boys and yes there is a draw there for some... but they are never a destination Academy team. The 2nd teams (would be npl) are second fiddle. This same scenario will play out with girls too. How many truly elite girls are at Seacoast now per age group? Maybe 1 or 2? So, for the sake of those 1 or 2, they are changing things so dramatically? Either the above is true OR the GDA is just not strong at all. In other words, if a lot of the NPL team is taken on to Academy, then we’ll all know that GDA is pretty weak. This is not meant as an insult to those players, it is meant to pull the curtain away for people to see reality.

[Unregistered]

I agree with this. Doesn’t Seacoast look at their own situation on the boys’ side? Yes, they have Academy for boys and yes there is a draw there for some... but they are never a destination Academy team. The 2nd teams (would be npl) are second fiddle. This same scenario will play out with girls too. How many truly elite girls are at Seacoast now per age group? Maybe 1 or 2? So, for the sake of those 1 or 2, they are changing things so dramatically? Either the above is true OR the GDA is just not strong at all. In other words, if a lot of the NPL team is taken on to Academy, then we’ll all know that GDA is pretty weak. This is not meant as an insult to those players, it is meant to pull the curtain away for people to see reality.

If our NPL team gets hacked the way I fear it might, we may have to follow along just for competition. Or, go find another club...which it's too late to find anything competitive.

And, to be clear, I expect my kid to make this team, and that is not a compliment really. That means this is just watered down.

[Unregistered]

Complete fvckin' mess they've made. Several mid-level teams and with virtually no real competition here in NH, they should've been able to secure every reasonable talent. Instead, people left for other clubs...would rather drive 2x as long. Now, we'll take half of the remaining and put them in GDA, and the other half will wallow in NPL where they barely deserved to be there anyway.

Sorry Seacoast, I'm a short-timer there but I'm out.

[Unregistered]

Complete fvckin' mess they've made. Several mid-level teams and with virtually no real competition here in NH, they should've been able to secure every reasonable talent. Instead, people left for other clubs...would rather drive 2x as long. Now, we'll take half of the remaining and put them in GDA, and the other half will wallow in NPL where they barely deserved to be there anyway.

Sorry Seacoast, I'm a short-timer there but I'm out.

I hope enough people say no thanks to GDA that they have to reconsider. No way my family is putting in that kind of travel and money to play on a team that isn't able to be competitive. Yes, we are decent in NPL but not killing it every single weekend. If DA is as good as it supposedly is, then we will be destroyed by competition. If we're not destroyed, then the competition isn't really better than NPL so why are we driving to NY?

Unfortunately there are always going to be families who think playing on this team means their kid is the real deal and when we say there are only a couple of truly elite players, they assume that means their kid. So some will bite. I just hope it's not enough. It's too late to find another NPL team for next season probably but I will seriously consider moving my D back to an NEP team for a season and looking next year rather than doing even a single year of GDA. I think it's a complete farce.

[Unregistered]

I hope enough people say no thanks to GDA that they have to reconsider. No way my family is putting in that kind of travel and money to play on a team that isn't able to be competitive. Yes, we are decent in NPL but not killing it every single weekend. If DA is as good as it supposedly is, then we will be destroyed by competition. If we're not destroyed, then the competition isn't really better than NPL so why are we driving to NY?

Unfortunately there are always going to be families who think playing on this team means their kid is the real deal and when we say there are only a couple of truly elite players, they assume that means their kid. So some will bite. I just hope it's not enough. It's too late to find another NPL team for next season probably but I will seriously consider moving my D back to an NEP team for a season and looking next year rather than doing even a single year of GDA. I think it's a complete farce.

Agreed 100%.

I already know of some who can't wait to sign up.....