Good article

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https://sports.yahoo.com/us-soccer-g...000044659.html

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http://talking-soccer.com/TS4/forum/...teresting-read

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OMG - what a good summary of a mess DA, GA, ECNL were and still are. Not a word of EDP lol

some quotes to give a sense: "The ECNL's done a really good job of [that],” says Robertson, who leads a GA club. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's almost like a cult following that they have. It's not just the kids that wear the sweatshirts. You've got, like, grown adults that spend $100 to wear ECNL hoodies.”

"I'll get a lot of people that hate me for saying this, but 95% of clubs rely on, ‘Hey, we have this patch, so we have an exclusive pathway.’ So they don't have to really focus on actually developing players.”"

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OMG - what a good summary of a mess DA, GA, ECNL were and still are. Not a word of EDP lol

some quotes to give a sense: "The ECNL's done a really good job of [that],” says Robertson, who leads a GA club. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's almost like a cult following that they have. It's not just the kids that wear the sweatshirts. You've got, like, grown adults that spend $100 to wear ECNL hoodies.”

"I'll get a lot of people that hate me for saying this, but 95% of clubs rely on, ‘Hey, we have this patch, so we have an exclusive pathway.’ So they don't have to really focus on actually developing players.”"

Robertson sounds like a jealous teenager. I would love to know what it is the the GA is doing so differently that is developing players? There is no special hidden secret to development. He is jealous that the ECNL is getting the lion share of talent, plain and simple. And why does he care how much someone decides to spend in a sweatshirt? Maybe he should be worried more about his dismal decision to host a national playoff on a sod farm that is sub par in a state where weather is never guaranteed. On top of all that they decided to hold it the same exact weekend as the ECNL national playoff, which made college’s have to decide on which playoff they would rather go to. How did that play itself out?

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Not saying, Robertson is a saint, but is he wrong? I don't think so.

Existing US youth soccer structure is likely to lead USWNT to be 2nd tier the (near?) future.

The only way it'll actually get better, is when NWSL starts to pull in more and more $ and decides to run club affiliated academies as is done in EU.

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Not saying, Robertson is a saint, but is he wrong? I don't think so.

Existing US youth soccer structure is likely to lead USWNT to be 2nd tier the (near?) future.

The only way it'll actually get better, is when NWSL starts to pull in more and more $ and decides to run club affiliated academies as is done in EU.

Robertson may not be wrong, but what is GA doing that is any different/better from ECNL in terms of player development?

[Guest]

OMG - what a good summary of a mess DA, GA, ECNL were and still are. Not a word of EDP lol

some quotes to give a sense: "The ECNL's done a really good job of [that],” says Robertson, who leads a GA club. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's almost like a cult following that they have. It's not just the kids that wear the sweatshirts. You've got, like, grown adults that spend $100 to wear ECNL hoodies.”

"I'll get a lot of people that hate me for saying this, but 95% of clubs rely on, ‘Hey, we have this patch, so we have an exclusive pathway.’ So they don't have to really focus on actually developing players.”"

Robertson is Director at Nationals, they train players and from what I've seen over the years from the younger ages aren't afraid of having their girls compete against boys. On the other hand you also have GA clubs that pimp merch and have crazy parents in it on the side lines...cough...cough...TopHat...

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Robertson sounds like a jealous teenager. I would love to know what it is the the GA is doing so differently that is developing players? There is no special hidden secret to development. He is jealous that the ECNL is getting the lion share of talent, plain and simple. And why does he care how much someone decides to spend in a sweatshirt? Maybe he should be worried more about his dismal decision to host a national playoff on a sod farm that is sub par in a state where weather is never guaranteed. On top of all that they decided to hold it the same exact weekend as the ECNL national playoff, which made college’s have to decide on which playoff they would rather go to. How did that play itself out?

You are an idiot....GA hosted the last 2 years in San Diego and moved it to the East Coast this year. They want a single location large enough to host the entire event which leaves a lot of places off the list. The Turf Farm owners had more to do with the issues then the weather as they cancelled the first day and gave issues with the others as those fields were planned to be cultivated right after. A majority of space they could have used wasn't. Second, in late June, no place on the east coast has guarantied weather and no league is going to keep a major event on 1 side of the country. And 3rd, do you even have a kid in either league? GA playoffs were 21-27th with finals on July 6-9th and ECNL playoffs were the 24-30th with finals on July 14-17th. Even with the slight overlap, a majority of colleges sent scouts to both events.

FYI - GA has the event dates and location for 23-24 and guess were playoffs are being held again this year.....

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Robertson may not be wrong, but what is GA doing that is any different/better from ECNL in terms of player development?

Well, mandating amount of training which ECNL does not, relegated (a few) clubs that haven't been able to compete, no club loyalty clause in bylaws would be among the starters. ECNL does not even enforce their own rules and clubs only do it when it benefits them.

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The European girls will start crossing the pond in droves sooner than later and will take the coveted scholarships from the underdeveloped ECNL, GA, and USYS players.

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Not saying, Robertson is a saint, but is he wrong? I don't think so.

Existing US youth soccer structure is likely to lead USWNT to be 2nd tier the (near?) future.

The only way it'll actually get better, is when NWSL starts to pull in more and more $ and decides to run club affiliated academies as is done in EU.

So people who complain about ecnl having a few events that require ridiculous travel are now going to have these kids travel regularly all across the country to compete against the other academies? It’s not Europe! We can’t do what they do. Also in Europe the women’s leagues are propped up by the men’s league’s. In the USA the men’s league is not profitable enough to support a women’s league and the women’s league is a joke and almost a league played by volunteer players. Bc they barely make enough money to support themselves

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Robertson is Director at Nationals, they train players and from what I've seen over the years from the younger ages aren't afraid of having their girls compete against boys. On the other hand you also have GA clubs that pimp merch and have crazy parents in it on the side lines...cough...cough...TopHat...

Have never seen any halfway decent girls club team afraid to compete against boys. Is that a big deal?

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Well, mandating amount of training which ECNL does not, relegated (a few) clubs that haven't been able to compete, no club loyalty clause in bylaws would be among the starters. ECNL does not even enforce their own rules and clubs only do it when it benefits them.

Other than mandating the volume of training (which may/may not be a positive towards better player development), how do those other things help player development? Relegating clubs that haven't been able to compete places wins/losses over player development, no?

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Well, mandating amount of training which ECNL does not, relegated (a few) clubs that haven't been able to compete, no club loyalty clause in bylaws would be among the starters. ECNL does not even enforce their own rules and clubs only do it when it benefits them.

A club loyalty clause? So you mean that once you choose a club you are locked into that club? I hope that’s not what you are talking about. Bc now as a paying customer when your kid gets treated poorly you can take your money somewhere else. You give clubs the power to never let your kid play anywhere else and see what happens. I could possibly see a scenario where if the clubs are forgoing all expenses, travel included, where that may fly. But short of that I would never ever agree to stick with one club.

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So people who complain about ecnl having a few events that require ridiculous travel are now going to have these kids travel regularly all across the country to compete against the other academies? It’s not Europe! We can’t do what they do. Also in Europe the women’s leagues are propped up by the men’s league’s. In the USA the men’s league is not profitable enough to support a women’s league and the women’s league is a joke and almost a league played by volunteer players. Bc they barely make enough money to support themselves

this is why I said : "The only way it'll actually get better, is when NWSL starts to pull in more and more $ and decides to run club affiliated academies as is done in EU.". WHEN (and if) this happens is anyone's guess. I just think this is the only way out of the ECNL/GA/USYS/EDP/ODP/"whatever other acronym league" mess we have.