DA Is Killing SUSC

[Unregistered]

So as a SUSC parent - I can say we are moving on from the club next season because they have dismantled what was a viable and highly competitive, competent club. I am the father of a 02 NPL player (current sophomore - will be junior next season) and I have never been so disappointed with the club as I have been in the last 4 weeks.

Lets' be clear - this is not a playing time issue - my daughter plays almost every minute of every game. This is an integrity issue and an issue about killing what was a great club in the past. Our daughter has played for SUSC since their grass roots program (9 years now) and we can't do it anymore.

DA killed the other programs and they over extended themselves. We have to regularly call up not 1 or 2 players, but 5 or 6 to play NPL games and lose in the process. We just found out they will call up 6 players again for their next tournament.

U16/17DA is 6-19-1 with a goal differential of -27....
U15 is 6-19-2 with a goal differential of -28...

The players are just not there - SUSC cant compete and the watering down of the talent has lead us and other parents to seek some better opportunities next year with other clubs.

[Unregistered]

So, say there is no DA. Most of those players would then be in NPL, and those players would then be in NEP, and so on and so on.

So, wouldn't the solution just be to put the teams in their proper leagues? i.e if you have an NPL team with NEP quality, put them in NEP. Those same players would be in the same league they were in anyway. Or, even better, decline the NPL offer and play NEP as that is the correct level for the players.

[Unregistered]

DA introduced at the older ages, where girls are already established in HS, was always going to be a challenge. Best player in the girls program didn't play DA.

This should be viewed as a 4-year experiment, so the '04, '05 and '06 girls can run through the full cycle and then you see.

I understand some don't want to be tied to the results of the experiment that they won't see as they will be gone.

[Unregistered]

So, say there is no DA. Most of those players would then be in NPL, and those players would then be in NEP, and so on and so on.

So, wouldn't the solution just be to put the teams in their proper leagues? i.e if you have an NPL team with NEP quality, put them in NEP. Those same players would be in the same league they were in anyway. Or, even better, decline the NPL offer and play NEP as that is the correct level for the players.

Different poster than above comments, but yes... and I would say that is the point of the OP saying "DA Is Killing SUSC".

Imo, there are not enough good players to support DA for either Girls or Boys at SUSC and the draw is certainly not there either to get players to make a move to them. So, yes... the solution would be to put the teams in their proper leagues, but that league cannot be DA (obviously...) as there isn't enough talent there. Once you try to force kids into DA (they go willingly obviously, but I just mean that you accept non-DA caliber players into DA) then that snowballs down to other teams. In other words, now your NPL teams will be lower quality, etc.... That's just my opinion anyway based on certain age groups... there may be others that the model does work for.

[Unregistered]

Different poster than above comments, but yes... and I would say that is the point of the OP saying "DA Is Killing SUSC".

Imo, there are not enough good players to support DA for either Girls or Boys at SUSC and the draw is certainly not there either to get players to make a move to them. So, yes... the solution would be to put the teams in their proper leagues, but that league cannot be DA (obviously...) as there isn't enough talent there. Once you try to force kids into DA (they go willingly obviously, but I just mean that you accept non-DA caliber players into DA) then that snowballs down to other teams. In other words, now your NPL teams will be lower quality, etc.... That's just my opinion anyway based on certain age groups... there may be others that the model does work for.

Seems the youngest age group is holding their own. I think that will see how that goes.

[Unregistered]

US Soccer added SUSC to GDA because they needed to "replace" FC Stars when they left. It was a complete joke. US Soccer HAD to know that SUSC could not attract the talent and depth needed to replace Stars, but they wanted to keep the same number of teams in the NE. Seacoast never should have taken the badge.

[Unregistered]

Seems the youngest age group is holding their own. I think that will see how that goes.

Girls or Boys? It's been an ongoing issue for the boys for years now so I'm not sure why/what would change at this point? Girls... not sure since it's so new, but I have a hard time seeing them getting enough quality to keep it going. My youngest is off to college next year so I'm at the tail end of the fun.

[Unregistered]

US Soccer added SUSC to GDA because they needed to "replace" FC Stars when they left. It was a complete joke. US Soccer HAD to know that SUSC could not attract the talent and depth needed to replace Stars, but they wanted to keep the same number of teams in the NE. Seacoast never should have taken the badge.

Yes, it was geographically significant. And, no, SUSC I wouldn't think they are going to compete just with NH girls. Thin as it is, and some of the better ones fight their way to Lancaster. Instead, they are trying to capture the North Shore. No idea if it will work, but that's where they have to look. The last year in NPL was a horrid mess, IMO.

[Unregistered]

Girls or Boys? It's been an ongoing issue for the boys for years now so I'm not sure why/what would change at this point? Girls... not sure since it's so new, but I have a hard time seeing them getting enough quality to keep it going. My youngest is off to college next year so I'm at the tail end of the fun.

Girls U14 looks to be running around .500 ball (no standings so hard to tell and don't care enough to calculate). But, looks they are playing in one-goal games a lot which tells me they are competitive

[Unregistered]

Girls U14 looks to be running around .500 ball (no standings so hard to tell and don't care enough to calculate). But, looks they are playing in one-goal games a lot which tells me they are competitive

it is my understanding that US Soccer does not keep standings for U14 GDA because that's for ID purposes only and if the first player pool... I might be wrong but that is what we were told.

[Unregistered]

it is my understanding that US Soccer does not keep standings for U14 GDA because that's for ID purposes only and if the first player pool... I might be wrong but that is what we were told.

Makes sense. It goes against my nature of wanting to win everything, but not as important at that age.

[Unregistered]

OP is correct - I went to the informational meeting last year and the lure of "national pool" was put out there. So here is a sobering fact for the soccer moms and dads in this forum:

From the US Soccer national pools ages U14 - U18 there are only 5 New England girls on the pool rosters. That's all... 5!

3 are from FC Stars... the very club that dropped DA that SUSC inherited. The other two are from CT.

NH does not have the players or quality of player to compete on a national level in GDA. You can let it run its course for 4 years as an experiment but SUSC might have to pull the plug sooner than later to stay in business with the really low numbers of players at the NPL and below teams. My daughter also plays for the NPL 04 SUSC and her team is not doing well at all this year and the talent level has dropped significantly. They are 1-5-3 on the season.

[Unregistered]

I know pretty soon Mr. "Play GDA or don't, don't worry about anyone else" will show up, so I'll preemptively answer that.

The reason we're concerned is because for those of us with solid NPL level players who don't want to push for GDA, the club has effectively removed a sensible option. No one is faulting the players who went GDA, they were offered an option and took it. I'm disappointed in the club for not realizing (or caring) that they don't have the depth other clubs do, to support both GDA and decent NPL teams and so a good option for that mid-level player was removed from our market.

No, you can't please everyone but people aren't wrong to express their disappointment.

[Unregistered]

^^ Good times

(Been here all along)

[Unregistered]

I know pretty soon Mr. "Play GDA or don't, don't worry about anyone else" will show up, so I'll preemptively answer that.

The reason we're concerned is because for those of us with solid NPL level players who don't want to push for GDA, the club has effectively removed a sensible option. No one is faulting the players who went GDA, they were offered an option and took it. I'm disappointed in the club for not realizing (or caring) that they don't have the depth other clubs do, to support both GDA and decent NPL teams and so a good option for that mid-level player was removed from our market.

No, you can't please everyone but people aren't wrong to express their disappointment.

OP here - exactly!!! Instead of rostering 20 full time girls for GDA - they decided to roster 16 but now carry 30 in their GDA player pool. Ten of those girls should be playing NPL and allowing the NPL program to compete and be successful. Nope. SUSC wants their check for DA and now playing NPL looks like a "demotion" for those girls and parents.