girls dap update

[Unregistered]

I will suggest that ussf very much wants to expand high level girls youth soccer to minority groups. Take a look at the us men's team roster and then the women's team. Look at the youth team rosters. The ecnl is a white upper middle class league. How many ecnl rosters are a third minority?

Also ussf is setting up a new league. Clubs interested must apply. Many or even most will be existing ecnl clubs but ussf cannot openly favor a club simply because
it was in the ecnl, or discriminate against a club because it was not in ecnl.

I would add -- ecnl has nothing to offer to them. It is a website. No fields, no hard assets, no 3rd party relationships that ussf does not already have and a contact list that ussf does not need. Will it be successful out of the box? Yes, of course. The ecnl, in its present form, filled the time gap until the ussf woke up and realized that it had to have a girls' D.A.

What will happen next? Clubs will apply for D.A. membership this Fall and selections will be made by the end of the year. There is certainly room for a refurbished ecnl. Clubs that are not accepted will likely attempt to continue the league. I would not expect too many changes in the first year. Clubs that become part of the D.A. program well likely use the ECNL as their "B" team.

The issue is whether the ECNL will continue to be a good recruiting opportunity. If the top 600-800 girls in each age group are playing DAP, will college coaches come out to look at the "B" teams? Will it make sense for parents to spend the money to do all that travel based on the recruitment opportunities in this new DAP world? I would think you try it for a year or two and see. Maybe the league reverts back to how it worked the first few years with games played at the tournaments, and teams playing in other state/ regional leagues. It might work out very nicely.

[Unregistered]

I would add -- ecnl has nothing to offer to them. It is a website. No fields, no hard assets, no 3rd party relationships that ussf does not already have and a contact list that ussf does not need. Will it be successful out of the box? Yes, of course. The ecnl, in its present form, filled the time gap until the ussf woke up and realized that it had to have a girls' D.A.

What will happen next? Clubs will apply for D.A. membership this Fall and selections will be made by the end of the year. There is certainly room for a refurbished ecnl. Clubs that are not accepted will likely attempt to continue the league. I would not expect too many changes in the first year. Clubs that become part of the D.A. program well likely use the ECNL as their "B" team.

The issue is whether the ECNL will continue to be a good recruiting opportunity. If the top 600-800 girls in each age group are playing DAP, will college coaches come out to look at the "B" teams? Will it make sense for parents to spend the money to do all that travel based on the recruitment opportunities in this new DAP world? I would think you try it for a year or two and see. Maybe the league reverts back to how it worked the first few years with games played at the tournaments, and teams playing in other state/ regional leagues. It might work out very nicely.

The DA will not be successful unless they allow girls to play HS. No way around that.

[Unregistered]

I would add -- ecnl has nothing to offer to them. It is a website. No fields, no hard assets, no 3rd party relationships that ussf does not already have and a contact list that ussf does not need. Will it be successful out of the box? Yes, of course. The ecnl, in its present form, filled the time gap until the ussf woke up and realized that it had to have a girls' D.A.

What will happen next? Clubs will apply for D.A. membership this Fall and selections will be made by the end of the year. There is certainly room for a refurbished ecnl. Clubs that are not accepted will likely attempt to continue the league. I would not expect too many changes in the first year. Clubs that become part of the D.A. program well likely use the ECNL as their "B" team.

The issue is whether the ECNL will continue to be a good recruiting opportunity. If the top 600-800 girls in each age group are playing DAP, will college coaches come out to look at the "B" teams? Will it make sense for parents to spend the money to do all that travel based on the recruitment opportunities in this new DAP world? I would think you try it for a year or two and see. Maybe the league reverts back to how it worked the first few years with games played at the tournaments, and teams playing in other state/ regional leagues. It might work out very nicely.

You just described the current format of ECNL as college rosters are filled with ECNL alumni and they waste very little time scouring the corners for B teams in hopes to find a good player.

BTW, no matter who is running or what is called it will be expensive because flying isn't cheap. All the current ECNL haters be careful what you hate on because if you are doing this then you too will be footing the bill for air travel etc

[Unregistered]

I would add -- ecnl has nothing to offer to them. It is a website. No fields, no hard assets, no 3rd party relationships that ussf does not already have and a contact list that ussf does not need. Will it be successful out of the box? Yes, of course. The ecnl, in its present form, filled the time gap until the ussf woke up and realized that it had to have a girls' D.A.

What will happen next? Clubs will apply for D.A. membership this Fall and selections will be made by the end of the year. There is certainly room for a refurbished ecnl. Clubs that are not accepted will likely attempt to continue the league. I would not expect too many changes in the first year. Clubs that become part of the D.A. program well likely use the ECNL as their "B" team.

The issue is whether the ECNL will continue to be a good recruiting opportunity. If the top 600-800 girls in each age group are playing DAP, will college coaches come out to look at the "B" teams? Will it make sense for parents to spend the money to do all that travel based on the recruitment opportunities in this new DAP world? I would think you try it for a year or two and see. Maybe the league reverts back to how it worked the first few years with games played at the tournaments, and teams playing in other state/ regional leagues. It might work out very nicely.

DA will be stillborn. The top ECNL clubs aren't moving. They have control of their destinies right now and they don't want to be told what to do by US Soccer. Also, 99% of girls want to play HS soccer and participate in more than juts 4 practices per week. Those girls will choose ECNL over the DA every time. US Soccer will figure this out eventually. It might take some time and they'll be stubborn but when the whole thing implodes we can only hope that the whole lot of them get fired.

[Unregistered]

The DA will not be successful unless they allow girls to play HS. No way around that.

This is the major problem they are trying to solve.

[Unregistered]

This is the major problem they are trying to solve.

There are several problems with the DA proposal:

No HS soccer
No tournaments
No state cup
Half as many games per year as most kids play today (and 99% want to play more, not train more)
Substitution rules that don't allow players to re-enter the game
Too few teams with huge travel for EVERY game
Will be marketed as "tier 1" and the price will be double that of ECNL when in reality the quality level will be below that of ECNL

[Unregistered]

This is the major problem they are trying to solve.

US Soccer isn't trying to solve it. They've declared that there will be no HS soccer for girls in the DA.

[Unregistered]

Of course all girls play HS soccer now - there is basically no alternative so all the players play HS. The elite players who want to make a YNT will certainly pass up HS soccer no problem. The USSF will help subsidize the GDAP in the first few years so that it will be cheaper than ECNL It will take a couple years to really take off but eventually it will.

[Unregistered]

I've been around a lot of elite players over the years and 98% of them play high school and have a lot of fun playing high school.

If the DA does not allow HS, it will not be successful. It might get some good players but will miss out on most elite players.

[Unregistered]

Of course all girls play HS soccer now - there is basically no alternative so all the players play HS. The elite players who want to make a YNT will certainly pass up HS soccer no problem. The USSF will help subsidize the GDAP in the first few years so that it will be cheaper than ECNL It will take a couple years to really take off but eventually it will.

USSF can make the DA free and it will still fail. Just watch.

[Unregistered]

I've been around a lot of elite players over the years and 98% of them play high school and have a lot of fun playing high school.

If the DA does not allow HS, it will not be successful. It might get some good players but will miss out on most elite players.

You don't think that is exactly what was said when the DA prohibit boys from playing high school? How's that working out now? Every tryout is crammed with kids. It's the best league. Guys come back and play high school soccer their senior year. Girls will do the same.

[Unregistered]

I've been around a lot of elite players over the years and 98% of them play high school and have a lot of fun playing high school.

If the DA does not allow HS, it will not be successful. It might get some good players but will miss out on most elite players.

Yes this will be different than the boys side.

High school is 5x more fun than club and an important phase in life. Hundreds of people in the stands vs ten for club.

The dap will not draw the best players if they prohibit HS soccer.

[Unregistered]

Yes this will be different than the boys side.

High school is 5x more fun than club and an important phase in life. Hundreds of people in the stands vs ten for club.

The dap will not draw the best players if they prohibit HS soccer.

Everyone knows that. That's why the DA will not succeed. They might limo it along for a while but it will not take off

[Unregistered]

You don't think that is exactly what was said when the DA prohibit boys from playing high school? How's that working out now? Every tryout is crammed with kids. It's the best league. Guys come back and play high school soccer their senior year. Girls will do the same.

The boys DA is actually failing miserably. It's purpose is to develop boys to play pro. Most, however, are deciding to play college instead. Why do you think the MLS keeps bringing in players from overseas? Because they are failing to develop their own talent - and Portland Timbers have the worst development record of all MLS clubs.

[Unregistered]

Yes this will be different than the boys side.

High school is 5x more fun than club and an important phase in life. Hundreds of people in the stands vs ten for club.

The dap will not draw the best players if they prohibit HS soccer.

We were never fans of HS soccer. Probably because our HS soccer team over the top sucked!!! I think HS soccer is lots of fun for the average club players who really shine on a HS soccer team. We know many high level players who forego HS soccer at least their senior year and move on to college early. They don't want to risk the injury from poor level of play. I can't imagine HS soccer having very much of an impact on a true DA team.