GA vs ECNL

[Unregistered]

Perhaps PDA wakes up one day and says hey I want to join “the best platform for girls in the country”. Why would they want to play Barca and Man City in tournaments when they can play powerhouses like LISC, Metro United, CSA and Baltimore Armour? Do you think their application is in for GA?

Taking PDA one step back to its GDA days. It all comes down to money.

When PDA was at GDA they used to charge the same amount for ECNL as for GDA. And that's for a 10 month (GDA) vs 6 month (ECNL) programs

Coaches realized they were effectively giving away $30k in easy "extra sessions" that they would be forcing their players to do otherwise. On top of that, GDA really meant they were truly failing at their jobs. Literally, the conflicts of coaching at Rutgers meant that they had no real coaching staff for the first 4-5 months of the GDA season, so they had to bring in some kind of a sub-coach that could do the job. So that's really losing another $10K to pay someone to pretend to be a coach. There were small differences in terms of a roster, but PDA rarely exceeds 22-24 players on a team (unlike MF that has 34 on one of theirs).

Further, minimum coaching standards required that PDA would have to spend on average upwards of $15k per team to get their licenses up to standard (B license - waived the first year).

After the first season, with huge revenue losses compared to ECNL, they pretended that GDA was a "wrong platform" because of HS and because of "substitutions". Meanwhile there is no real difference for the bottom players in terms of play time as GDA had a guaranteed "25% minimum play time" for every rostered player. The excuses were cute, but everyone in the room always knew the pure pay-to-play platform was too tempting compared to idealistic dream pipe from US Soccer.

[Unregistered]

PDA is always ducking CSA. They don't want to awaken the sleeping giant.

The original poster here clearly biased as a ‘GA’ dad. Probably an STA or CSA coach. The facts are pretty clear. All the top clubs are in the ECNL. The top players and coaches are leaving GA clubs in droves. The reality is a hard one for GA parents and coaches to take. PDA teams would probably beat all STA and CSA teams at least 6-0 in every age group. PDA White and MFA would also easily handle. I’m sure there are good coaches in those clubs who work really hard but development is about playing with and against the best. It seems there are a few Dads on here who think they know it all about development. It’s not your profession so why pretend to be so educated. Maybe it’s coaches who are just trying to convince themselves.

[Unregistered]

Sure

PDA is always ducking CSA. They don't want to awaken the sleeping giant.

CSA couldn't be themselves in a scrimmage.

Giant what is the question of the day.

Most applicable answer would be, what is "waste of money" Alex.

[Unregistered]

PDA Blue player moved to STA GA. She's playing for UNC next year and was on the U19 National Team calls this year. Check your sources.

Get your info straight buddy. She came to STA for DA and stayed after the collapse. She was already on the NT and UNC radar. Stop giving GAL credit for something they had nothing to do with.

[Unregistered]

Get your info straight buddy. She came to STA for DA and stayed after the collapse. She was already on the NT and UNC radar. Stop giving GAL credit for something they had nothing to do with.

Exactly. She's the only person still left on the NT radar from a team of 4 who stayed. She left because PDA was going ECNL.

[Unregistered]

Sims @ STA?

She has the most loyal parents. Too bad she is leaving with her husband though. Don't worry, Newman has it all worked out

[Unregistered]

Get your info straight buddy. She came to STA for DA and stayed after the collapse. She was already on the NT and UNC radar. Stop giving GAL credit for something they had nothing to do with.

Most players aren't going to move as seniors let alone anyone with NT credentials - it doesn't matter at that point for them.

[Unregistered]

My D was at a DA/GA club for 4+ years since very young and i would say they definitely had a clear style and provided a soccer education. However, they did not have a lot of demand so the team was built on promoting B team kids and not really added from outside. This is good (if your kid was a B team player) or bad (if you wanted the best players pushing each other forward) all based on perspective.

Now at ecnl club it is clearly more about the individual and less about team tactics and to an extent she gets frustrated that a more talented group of players is playing a less sophisticated style and more reliant on individuals and athleticism. The coaches also make it clear that there is huge demand and replacing players is how they try to improve and no one is ever safe. Its competitive in the true sense of the word.

The reality is also that her current ecnl club would beat her previous ga club at every age group, easily. This also doesnt mean that the GA club does not have a number of players who could move over pretty easily. They definitely can. Its more lack of depth that differentiates the clubs and that does sort of fall in line with how the clubs view putting teams together. No mistake, ecnl is serious and a far more mentally pressurized environment simply due to the demand on their product.

[Unregistered]

My D was at a DA/GA club for 4+ years since very young and i would say they definitely had a clear style and provided a soccer education. However, they did not have a lot of demand so the team was built on promoting B team kids and not really added from outside. This is good (if your kid was a B team player) or bad (if you wanted the best players pushing each other forward) all based on perspective.

Now at ecnl club it is clearly more about the individual and less about team tactics and to an extent she gets frustrated that a more talented group of players is playing a less sophisticated style and more reliant on individuals and athleticism. The coaches also make it clear that there is huge demand and replacing players is how they try to improve and no one is ever safe. Its competitive in the true sense of the word.

The reality is also that her current ecnl club would beat her previous ga club at every age group, easily. This also doesnt mean that the GA club does not have a number of players who could move over pretty easily. They definitely can. Its more lack of depth that differentiates the clubs and that does sort of fall in line with how the clubs view putting teams together. No mistake, ecnl is serious and a far more mentally pressurized environment simply due to the demand on their product.

I agree with some of it, biggest being the depth. Doesn't mean players are pushed and others aren't always coming in, but I'm not going to admit that the players 10-16 on our GA team lack the quality they should. So, I agree that some starters aren't pushed as hard as they could be, but also they are being recruited and getting placements so it doesn't minimize their quality. It does bring down the entire product, though.

[Unregistered]

CSA tried to play PDA Blue several times snd they keep ducking. Playing up, pulling out of tourneys etc. the Penn Fusion tourney just a recent example.

Or maybe they don't want to waste their time beating the piss out of CSA. You can only beat a dead horse for so long.

[Unregistered]

I agree with some of it, biggest being the depth. Doesn't mean players are pushed and others aren't always coming in, but I'm not going to admit that the players 10-16 on our GA team lack the quality they should. So, I agree that some starters aren't pushed as hard as they could be, but also they are being recruited and getting placements so it doesn't minimize their quality. It does bring down the entire product, though.

I moved my daughter from GA club to ECNL (not PDA). Wish we trained three times a week but the sessions are far more intense and the depth of player is impressive. There is genuine competition for places and she says that is obvious in the sessions. She does a lot of technical stuff on her own but feels her understanding of the game and ability to play quickly has significantly improved. At GA she said she could just dribble past everyone but in ECNL games she has to combine and pass more.

[Unregistered]

Or maybe they don't want to waste their time beating the piss out of CSA. You can only beat a dead horse for so long.

I was referring to CSA Bergen as they have better teams than Monmouth.

[Unregistered]

Taking PDA one step back to its GDA days. It all comes down to money.

When PDA was at GDA they used to charge the same amount for ECNL as for GDA. And that's for a 10 month (GDA) vs 6 month (ECNL) programs

Coaches realized they were effectively giving away $30k in easy "extra sessions" that they would be forcing their players to do otherwise. On top of that, GDA really meant they were truly failing at their jobs. Literally, the conflicts of coaching at Rutgers meant that they had no real coaching staff for the first 4-5 months of the GDA season, so they had to bring in some kind of a sub-coach that could do the job. So that's really losing another $10K to pay someone to pretend to be a coach. There were small differences in terms of a roster, but PDA rarely exceeds 22-24 players on a team (unlike MF that has 34 on one of theirs).

Further, minimum coaching standards required that PDA would have to spend on average upwards of $15k per team to get their licenses up to standard (B license - waived the first year).

After the first season, with huge revenue losses compared to ECNL, they pretended that GDA was a "wrong platform" because of HS and because of "substitutions". Meanwhile there is no real difference for the bottom players in terms of play time as GDA had a guaranteed "25% minimum play time" for every rostered player. The excuses were cute, but everyone in the room always knew the pure pay-to-play platform was too tempting compared to idealistic dream pipe from US Soccer.

Obviously you don't know how the DA worked. http://www.ussoccerda.com/doclib/201...EGULATIONS.pdf Recommended not required and it was starting not playing. Many clubs would start a player for them to play the first 5-10min then be subbed out for the rest of the game.

L. 25% Minimum Start Recommendation
All U-13 through U-18/19 full-time Academy players, including goalkeepers, are recommended but not required to start in at least 25% of their club’s Academy games during the season. The official record of player starts will be on the game report and player statistics available publicly online. The DA Club is responsible for keeping track of starts by Academy players and must notify the DA Staff about potential exceptions as soon as possible.
1. If a player is released by the club and the player failed to start 25% of the Academy games for the season, the club must submit a written explanation to DA Staff within ten (10) days of the player’s release. The DA Staff reserves the right to refuse to release the player if the release is to avoid the 25% start recommendations.
2. If a player is added midseason, the player should start at least 25% of the team’s remaining Academy games during the season.
3. The DA Staff will have the authority, upon request by the club, to allow exceptions to this recommendation in special circumstances (e.g. a serious injury suffered by a player).
4. Suggested Playing Time Recommendations for U-13: For the U-13 age group, players are expected to play a minimum of 50% of game minutes per month and recommended to start 25% of games, as part of the individual player development plan.
5. U.S. Soccer reserves the right to fine a club or disallow the addition of new players as a
penalty for failing to make reasonable efforts for all players meet the 25% minimum start recommendation. The DA will also take this into consideration when reviewing a club’s
membership for renewal.

[Unregistered]

I moved my daughter from GA club to ECNL (not PDA). Wish we trained three times a week but the sessions are far more intense and the depth of player is impressive. There is genuine competition for places and she says that is obvious in the sessions. She does a lot of technical stuff on her own but feels her understanding of the game and ability to play quickly has significantly improved. At GA she said she could just dribble past everyone but in ECNL games she has to combine and pass more.

We had players on our GA team that could hardly execute a simple pass and also others that played other sports. Not surprised. Quality over quantity for sure. You can train 4x a week if the training is poor and you do not have a full squad cause they are at lacrosse or track what good is it????

[Unregistered]

You are all just repeating yourselves for the last four pages. We all know the soccer landscape and where they rate as far as the best opportunities for those players who want to play in college. ECNL is the top platform and nothing else is close for overall exposure. The top programs are PDA Blue, Penn Fusion, SUSA, World Class. On the next level because of its platform is the rest of ECNL and then comes everyone else. That’s it! Everything else is just details.