Thorns Academy Year 2

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I'm not rooting for the demise of thorns academy. I'm mocking this bogus, substandard, sham of a product they are trying to sell. The second they get a team that is a true, on age, elite team that realistically can compete to win state cup or regionals or ANY premier bracket of a showcase tournament I will be their biggest fan. This team is none of that.

Winning state cup should be a no-brainer when you supposedly pluck all the best players from their club teams and then play against those teams. But it doesn't seem to work out that way for the Thorns. Maybe that's because all the top players have better options.

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Funny how even the most ardent Timbers lemmings / supporters can't even make lemonade out of this rotten lemon.

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Funny how even the most ardent Timbers lemmings / supporters can't even make lemonade out of this rotten lemon.

Even the most ardent timbers supporter knows that putting frosting on a turd doesn't make it a cupcake.

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Eventually the Thorns Academy will tun the two ECNL clubs out.

ECNL is just too expensive and the quality is not good.

Encl if you include parent travel is about $1,200 per month. That's not bad.

[Unregistered]

Eventually the Thorns Academy will tun the two ECNL clubs out.

ECNL is just too expensive and the quality is not good.

Thorns Academy will be lucky if it survives long enough to shut down gracefully. All the good players from last year left and they had to hold special tryouts for rec players and toddlers just to fill their rosters this year.

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Three reasons off the top:

1) it isn't any better than your typical club program (and worse than some club's programs) that costs a lot less than Thorns Academy

2) it kills off the option of playing on your club team AND doing ODP at the HS ages.

3) it needlessly fragments girls elite youth soccer in Oregon for the sole benefit of the Timbers bottom line.

Hits proverbial nail on head regarding Thorns Academy.

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Is there no more state ODP now for the high school years? Is the Thorns Academy team the state ODP team?

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the EclubLeague folks are out in force today. Anxiety? Why even read this chatroom if you are happy?

[Unregistered]

I'm not rooting for the demise of thorns academy. I'm mocking this bogus, substandard, sham of a product they are trying to sell. The second they get a team that is a true, on age, elite team that realistically can compete to win state cup or regionals or ANY premier bracket of a showcase tournament I will be their biggest fan. This team is none of that.

let me help you out. The Thorns is not about competition. You have ECNL for that.
Once clubs figure out that it's not about the league or tourneys you play in and about developing kids in a true academy style then we will be moving in the right direction. Our region is sooooooo far behind Region I on the East coast. It's coming though.

[Unregistered]

I am rooting for the Thorns program as I believe it is more sustainable as well as affordable. All this talk about competition and playing with and against the best. These seem to be mutually exclusive options in Oregon because of the dilution of talent. If the academy takes off, then our girls will at a minimum get to play WITH the best and the Against the best will follow.

To me playing Against the best has little value if you are not up for the challenge. I am already seeing the reliance of key players to carry the team. When playing against the best this doesn't work. It creates bad habits in the better players because they are taught that you cannot rely on your teammates.

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the EclubLeague folks are out in force today. Anxiety? Why even read this chatroom if you are happy?

We only do it to get ol' 10K/year, GW loving, Timbers lemming caveman all riled up.

[Unregistered]

I am rooting for the Thorns program as I believe it is more sustainable as well as affordable. All this talk about competition and playing with and against the best. These seem to be mutually exclusive options in Oregon because of the dilution of talent. If the academy takes off, then our girls will at a minimum get to play WITH the best and the Against the best will follow.

To me playing Against the best has little value if you are not up for the challenge. I am already seeing the reliance of key players to carry the team. When playing against the best this doesn't work. It creates bad habits in the better players because they are taught that you cannot rely on your teammates.

$5K per year to play in the same leagues and tournaments that any club team can play in is "affordable" and "sustainable"? The girls in ECNL are already playing with and against the best - top talent that is committed to getting even better. Thorns Academy players simply like having the Thorns patch on their jersey and telling everyone they "hang" with Alex Morgan.

[Unregistered]

$5K per year to play in the same leagues and tournaments that any club team can play in is "affordable" and "sustainable"? The girls in ECNL are already playing with and against the best - top talent that is committed to getting even better. Thorns Academy players simply like having the Thorns patch on their jersey and telling everyone they "hang" with Alex Morgan.

Your daughter must be on a different team than ours. Half to three quarters of the girls on my daughters team would never make a true academy team. She did play against some of the best getting beat as much as 5-0 per game. So no, that is not playing WITH the best. My hope is that the academy will take off and we can consolidate the real talent back to one team. To me development is more worthwhile than getting stomped by great teams.

To each his or her own,.

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Your daughter must be on a different team than ours. Half to three quarters of the girls on my daughters team would never make a true academy team. She did play against some of the best getting beat as much as 5-0 per game. So no, that is not playing WITH the best. My hope is that the academy will take off and we can consolidate the real talent back to one team. To me development is more worthwhile than getting stomped by great teams.

To each his or her own,.

Well, none of those "great" players bothered with the Thorns Academy this year either. And very few are hanging out at TA clubs. So the vast majority must be at the ECNL clubs. If they're not that great, so be it. But they're the best Oregon has to offer.

[Unregistered]

Well, none of those "great" players bothered with the Thorns Academy this year either. And very few are hanging out at TA clubs. So the vast majority must be at the ECNL clubs. If they're not that great, so be it. But they're the best Oregon has to offer.

In your mind perhaps, in my mind they all need alot of work. So, I am rooting for a solution that will have the power to consolidate and be more affordable. I personally believe the Academy will take off and over time will attract more girls. We are looking into the possibility of discovery play out of Seattle and playing Thorns for local practice. Best of both.