How About That WNT

[Unregistered]

No? You don't think a program that requires you to be dedicated to the program, and not take 3 months off to have a kick-about with your friends isn't different?

You don't think a program that requires you to let other sports take a back seat and keep soccer as your primary (sole?) sport isn't different?

You don't think a program that enabled all teams, all clubs, to fall under the same umbrella vs. haven't separate entities isn't different?

You don't think a program that advocates a style across all levels to ensure compatibility and easier identification for candidates isn't different?

You don't think a program that advocates development over results isn't different?

I don't think a program that limits the pool of available talent early and often is a path to success in the international game.

[Unregistered]

No? You don't think a program that requires you to be dedicated to the program, and not take 3 months off to have a kick-about with your friends isn't different?

You don't think a program that requires you to let other sports take a back seat and keep soccer as your primary (sole?) sport isn't different?

You don't think a program that enabled all teams, all clubs, to fall under the same umbrella vs. haven't separate entities isn't different?

You don't think a program that advocates a style across all levels to ensure compatibility and easier identification for candidates isn't different?

You don't think a program that advocates development over results isn't different?

im not OP but i really wished GDA had stayed relevant. My kid plays ECNL now and its clear there's been some migration of top players there and the level is great but it does not change that all of those things you mention should have been solved for through GDA. USSF really screwed up.

[Unregistered]

That's simply not true. If a player from anywhere proved capable (in their eyes) of playing the way they wanted, and would be able to commit in the manner they wanted, of course they were welcome.

But, if a great player in another league is a one-trick pony and has proven their commitment to the game stops for 3 months for social reasons, then no, they won't take that player. And, they shouldn't.

So, the campaign to ensure the initiative failed was successful. We all reap what we sow. Nobody cares, though....they'll cheer them when they win, ignore them when the fail, and still only really worry about scholarship dollars.

The teams went from mostly ECNL players to mostly GDA players. Clubs who had been sending multiple players from ECNL all of a sudden were sending 1 or none.

[Unregistered]

I do not disagree that pro soccer for women is not a viable path. Although the limited fan base that exists to support the game includes lots of lbgtq community which some posters on here just do not seem to appreciate The gda just wanted the market and the money. There was nothing about their model that was going to make usa into some soccer powerhouse anymore than what we already had.

BDA has been around for 12 (or more?) years now and the MNT performance is worse than ever before. At least the men's NT used to qualify. USSF took no lessons learned from BDA/MNT and applied it to GDA. We suck at identifying and developing talent. We don't need a massive national system with lots of average players; we need a more honed sophisticated system for the nations' top talent to compete professionally/internationally. This all the while other nations were really ramping up their women's game and putting serious resources behind it. Then there's the lack of a pro network for the women here - NWSL is a joke and many of our top players are going abroad to play and get paid better for it.

[Unregistered]

The teams went from mostly ECNL players to mostly GDA players. Clubs who had been sending multiple players from ECNL all of a sudden were sending 1 or none.

MF Shore teams are the best in the state, and even beyond NJ! RT really knows how to get things done. Now some of his 09's are being scouted by UNC coaches. MF Shore is the future of soccer!

[Unregistered]

The teams went from mostly ECNL players to mostly GDA players. Clubs who had been sending multiple players from ECNL all of a sudden were sending 1 or none.

Such arbitrary nonsense. A player had to switch leagues or say good bye. What a disappointing lost opportunity to fundamentally rejigger youth soccer. Ship has sailed now for ever.

[Unregistered]

Such arbitrary nonsense. A player had to switch leagues or say good bye. What a disappointing lost opportunity to fundamentally rejigger youth soccer. Ship has sailed now for ever.

We are the shore!

[Unregistered]

That is contradictory though. You can't have everyone learning and playing the same style and expect to produce a championship team. Players should be taught how to play different styles and formations (not just 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 variants) as that dictates how a position is played. US Soccer failed with the GDA on many different levels but the biggest was that they wanted the top spot at all costs and dictate how things were done for everyone. US Soccer is going down hill fast. The MNT is made up of mostly Euro trained players how long before the WNT will need to be as well.

Some of our better female players are already going abroad to play rather than slog it out here professionally. Other nations are putting big$ behind the women's game and the culture is much more supportive of the sport

[Unregistered]

im not OP but i really wished GDA had stayed relevant. My kid plays ECNL now and its clear there's been some migration of top players there and the level is great but it does not change that all of those things you mention should have been solved for through GDA. USSF really screwed up.

USSF lost the marketing game, that's where they screwed up.

While I don't know anyone who bought into it for the NT promise, they seemed to mention that more than the college promise. That's where ECNL has/had it over them, and (IMO) why it failed.

Yes, they pushed the college angle and my kid will end up playing there because of it, but ECNL has one real message: This gets you into college (real or not, that's the message).

It quickly turned into us vs. them, instead of us and them. Neither are blameless, but I don't put it all on USSF. They tried, they lost because of their message, not the application.

[Unregistered]

USSF lost the marketing game, that's where they screwed up.

While I don't know anyone who bought into it for the NT promise, they seemed to mention that more than the college promise. That's where ECNL has/had it over them, and (IMO) why it failed.

Yes, they pushed the college angle and my kid will end up playing there because of it, but ECNL has one real message: This gets you into college (real or not, that's the message).

It quickly turned into us vs. them, instead of us and them. Neither are blameless, but I don't put it all on USSF. They tried, they lost because of their message, not the application.

Disagree - marketing wasn't really a big issue. The structure from the get go was. They decided to go big from the start, not taking into account what a formidable competitor ECNL would be - and not just because ECNL wasn't going to give up easily but because for many girls who didn't want to give up HS ECNL offered them a path to college without having to give it up. GDA could have started with the younger non HS ages and built from there (prove it's a quality program before the HS decision is made). They could have started with a strong region and expanded out from there (start with the west, south, show that college coaches were coming in droves). Nope, they ad to go national with all age groups. That meant letting in some clubs that shouldn't have been there but were badly needed for geographic coverage. Then BOOM year one a dozen good clubs dropped out. that sent a really bad signal. USSF then also let in more weak clubs to fill those holes. Next year same thing happens, death spiral continued. Didn't help that there was no pro club support, no substantive USSF $ put behind it, no free-to-play like there is for top boy players.

[Unregistered]

BDA has been around for 12 (or more?) years now and the MNT performance is worse than ever before. At least the men's NT used to qualify. USSF took no lessons learned from BDA/MNT and applied it to GDA. We suck at identifying and developing talent. We don't need a massive national system with lots of average players; we need a more honed sophisticated system for the nations' top talent to compete professionally/internationally. This all the while other nations were really ramping up their women's game and putting serious resources behind it. Then there's the lack of a pro network for the women here - NWSL is a joke and many of our top players are going abroad to play and get paid better for it.

BDA did not actually suck, it just took time before any of those players would emerge. I would say that BDA/MLSN is finally bearing fruit but it was a really rough journey and a lot also had to do with the back and forth MLS vs Europe philosophy of US Soccer's top management. We do now have quite a few players who came through DA/MLS at least a little bit. There does need to be some acknowledgement that at the upper ages, the best kids need to have the path to European leagues open.

[Unregistered]

Did they do any market research? Doubt it. But who cares really? From the way it was rolled out it, it is very clear that the entire thing was just about taking control of the high level soccer country club and all the money that comes with it. It was never about fundamentally changing anything for us youth soccer.

The only way to do that is to change the business incentives and they are what they are. The money on the girls side comes from the families of the players and the system is set up to maximize that.

If there was money to be made from finding and developing soccer talent...than that would get accomplished. But that is not driving the bus.

[Unregistered]

BDA did not actually suck, it just took time before any of those players would emerge. I would say that BDA/MLSN is finally bearing fruit but it was a really rough journey and a lot also had to do with the back and forth MLS vs Europe philosophy of US Soccer's top management. We do now have quite a few players who came through DA/MLS at least a little bit. There does need to be some acknowledgement that at the upper ages, the best kids need to have the path to European leagues open.

Not suck so much but there a lot of lessons USSF didn't take/didn't try to alter the girls program. USSF decided not to do GDA shorty after BDA and let ECNL dig their trenches, establish a strong top-of-the-hill position. BDA built up over time and with essentially no strong national competition. USSF assumed it would be easy the second time. Having the free-to-play MLS component and MLS support was also a key difference maker for the boys side. NWSL teams can barely pay their utility bills let alone support girls teams in any fashion.

The reasoning and intent behind GDA was there, the execution was a mess and also too little too late.

[Unregistered]

How did this turn into a “let’s blame GDA”?

Bunch of parents here that were never part of it, don’t know what it stood for, can’t tell how it was implemented outside of NJ - all jumping on with opinions.

a) 10 month training- never really happened at PDA because the coaches were busy with Rutgers, so coaches were available for 4-5 months maximum
b) 3 training sessions - that also didn’t happen at PDA because PDA kept the same fee structure as ECNL and didn’t think it was worth it in the first place
c) video review - never happened because PDA coaches were only paying attention to future Rutgers players, and lest be honest, they couldn’t tell a difference between a volley and pass, or weak and dominant foot
d) stuck with the 23-30 players on the team

Can’t blame PDA for trying to keep the money flowing, but that’s what really happened here. PDA wanted to keep the gravy train rolling rather than improve soccer development in the GDA spirit.

Other than that, GDA had massive problems with:
- useless travel idea
- cost and availability in urban areas
- lack of planned training. Eg Boys DA would be playing small field futsal in winter but GDA had nothing organized.

Obviously none of these issues are addressed by ECNL or GAL.

Still we have a bunch of parents bitching and blaming instead of looking for solutions.

[Unregistered]

You can try to turn this into blame the parents but we are just dumb soccer parents. Sorry...This is not on us.