girls dap update

[Unregistered]

From FLA thread:

10yrs of DA system have utterly failed.

The belief that you can build a strong national soccer team by focusing only on the top 1% is so misguided.

Losing to Guatamala is NOT Klinsmans fault.
It is the fault of the elitist pay-to-play soccer system that developed a small number of players, while having no concern for trying to strengthen the grassroots of soccer in this country.

This is all on the DA system. Not Klinsman.

Wouldn't this apply to ECNL as well?

[Unregistered]

Wouldn't this apply to ECNL as well?

Ecnl is producing great national team players. The girls coming up through ecnl make up almost entire youth national teams. Ecnl has proven positive results; DA the opposite.

[Unregistered]

How has it failed? Based on one game? The men's team is doing quite well considering the comparative competition in the men's side is much better than on the women's. Well over half of all women soccer players in the world are from the US. The women's competition just isn't as good...yet.

Grassroots efforts are spearheaded by parents, not national level coaches. Don't wait for a national team program to do your job for you. Get out there and coach a neighborhood team, start a low cost club, host free trainings, etc.

Seriously? Our men's side sucks. We can't get our top athletes interested in soccer.

[Unregistered]

Seriously? Our men's side sucks. We can't get our top athletes interested in soccer.

They did pretty well in the last world cup.

The best athlete fallacy is a convenient excuse, but isn't the whole solution. Soccer is a training intensive sport. The best athletes can't just show up in late HS or college and dominate like they can in football and basketball where athleticism is king. They need to develop over years starting at a young age.

More training, less travel, local games, and a bigger commitment from the players themselves to practice outside of training sessions is the solution. From the ages of 10-18 the kids from the traditional soccer power countries are playing soccer 15-20hrs per week. Ours are playing 5-7. More athleticism isn't the answer.

[Unregistered]

They did pretty well in the last world cup.

The best athlete fallacy is a convenient excuse, but isn't the whole solution. Soccer is a training intensive sport. The best athletes can't just show up in late HS or college and dominate like they can in football and basketball where athleticism is king. They need to develop over years starting at a young age.

More training, less travel, local games, and a bigger commitment from the players themselves to practice outside of training sessions is the solution. From the ages of 10-18 the kids from the traditional soccer power countries are playing soccer 15-20hrs per week. Ours are playing 5-7. More athleticism isn't the answer.

Why would a top US male athletes pick a sport where he has to spend at least 15-20hrs/wk playing when they could spend 5hs/wk on basketball or football and 10 on homework and end up with better chances at athletic and academic money and a much better future? That's why most US male soccer players are boys who couldn't be a top player in football/basketball but could do quite well in soccer simply by training extensively.

[Unregistered]

Why would a top US male athletes pick a sport where he has to spend at least 15-20hrs/wk playing when they could spend 5hs/wk on basketball or football and 10 on homework and end up with better chances at athletic and academic money and a much better future? That's why most US male soccer players are boys who couldn't be a top player in football/basketball but could do quite well in soccer simply by training extensively.

You've reiterated a portion of the problem, but offered no solution. In every sport there are stars who beat out better athletes simply by out training them. Was Peyton Manning the most athletically gifted QB? No. He trained harder than most. The same goes for guys like Iniesta, Lahm, and Messi. These are among the best players ever in their position. They're certainly not the most athletic to have ever played. They trained harder. A willingness to train is at least equal to athletic ability in determining success in a sport. In a perfect world, the best athletes would also be the most willing to train. That's rarely the case.

As for what can be done to make it better, clubs can streamline the process offering more trainings, fewer games, and less travel. More touches on the ball will make better players, not more showcase tournaments. Training/playing 15-20hrs per week is the standard for the world's elite.

[Unregistered]

You've reiterated a portion of the problem, but offered no solution. In every sport there are stars who beat out better athletes simply by out training them. Was Peyton Manning the most athletically gifted QB? No. He trained harder than most. The same goes for guys like Iniesta, Lahm, and Messi. These are among the best players ever in their position. They're certainly not the most athletic to have ever played. They trained harder. A willingness to train is at least equal to athletic ability in determining success in a sport. In a perfect world, the best athletes would also be the most willing to train. That's rarely the case.

As for what can be done to make it better, clubs can streamline the process offering more trainings, fewer games, and less travel. More touches on the ball will make better players, not more showcase tournaments. Training/playing 15-20hrs per week is the standard for the world's elite.

True but most US players, particularly girls, have college as the end game so those 15-20 hours are spent on homework and studying instead. Much better payoff with a good college degree than playing in the women's pro league for 7k-35k/yr for a few years, then zip. Not too much better on the men's side. Until US pro soccer has the lure of $$$ like football & basketball, we won't have a #1 in world ranked men's team. The US women don't have football so many of best athletes do soccer for college title 9. Luckily, other countries don't support girl's sports like the US does, so we've managed to stay on top.

[Unregistered]

They did pretty well in the last world cup.

The best athlete fallacy is a convenient excuse, but isn't the whole solution. Soccer is a training intensive sport. The best athletes can't just show up in late HS or college and dominate like they can in football and basketball where athleticism is king. They need to develop over years starting at a young age.

More training, less travel, local games, and a bigger commitment from the players themselves to practice outside of training sessions is the solution. From the ages of 10-18 the kids from the traditional soccer power countries are playing soccer 15-20hrs per week. Ours are playing 5-7. More athleticism isn't the answer.

I agree that more training is the key, but saying that football and basketball players don't train long hours is absurd. College and professional level athletes in the major sports bust their asses in the gym and on the field. A day never goes by that a high level athlete does not spend a couple of hours on either technical or physical training related to what ever sport they participate in. The idea that soccer players have top train more than other sports is just plain ignorant.

[Unregistered]

I agree that more training is the key, but saying that football and basketball players don't train long hours is absurd. College and professional level athletes in the major sports bust their asses in the gym and on the field. A day never goes by that a high level athlete does not spend a couple of hours on either technical or physical training related to what ever sport they participate in. The idea that soccer players have top train more than other sports is just plain ignorant.

It's not that athletes in other sports don't train as hard or harder, it's that those other sports rely more on athleticism than technical skills. Of course there are always exceptions, but overall a great athlete can show up to a football field and excel at many positions quickly. A lot of times that same big/strong/fast athlete can do well if they transition to playing basketball. The same can't be said for soccer. That same athlete won't just pick-up on how become proficient with their feet as quickly as they can become proficient in other sports.

Soccer/tennis/hockey all require more specific skills training than many other sports. Athleticism only gets you so far. This is mainly my point. To raise the collective level of play at every age, the players need to be training and practicing soccer specific skills more. Otherwise, we shouldn't expect things to magically improve at our highest levels even if the best athletes show up.

[Unregistered]

True but most US players, particularly girls, have college as the end game so those 15-20 hours are spent on homework and studying instead. Much better payoff with a good college degree than playing in the women's pro league for 7k-35k/yr for a few years, then zip. Not too much better on the men's side. Until US pro soccer has the lure of $$$ like football & basketball, we won't have a #1 in world ranked men's team. The US women don't have football so many of best athletes do soccer for college title 9. Luckily, other countries don't support girl's sports like the US does, so we've managed to stay on top.

Very true. However, why can't they train/practice 15-20hrs and also study 15-20hrs? Good grades and good soccer don't have to be mutually exclusive. The key is probably to find a way to combine soccer time with leisure time. Isn't that what other countries are doing? It's not realistic to expect clubs to support all of those hours. How do we get more kids playing outside of pay to play club settings? Futsal in the parks?

[Unregistered]

It's not that athletes in other sports don't train as hard or harder, it's that those other sports rely more on athleticism than technical skills. Of course there are always exceptions, but overall a great athlete can show up to a football field and excel at many positions quickly. A lot of times that same big/strong/fast athlete can do well if they transition to playing basketball. The same can't be said for soccer. That same athlete won't just pick-up on how become proficient with their feet as quickly as they can become proficient in other sports.

Soccer/tennis/hockey all require more specific skills training than many other sports. Athleticism only gets you so far. This is mainly my point. To raise the collective level of play at every age, the players need to be training and practicing soccer specific skills more. Otherwise, we shouldn't expect things to magically improve at our highest levels even if the best athletes show up.

You must not be a good basketball or football player. To think you can just be an athlete and do well in basketball and football at the highest level. Frankly to me that's an insult.

Let me throw you a 50 mph slant pass and see if you can get away from the defender, catch the ball, and then and proceed at break away speed or prevent the defender from knocking the ball away.

Let me stick you in front of a college basketball guard and see you can defend the dribble penetration one on one. You'd get dunked on 9 out of 10 times.

Let me take the 300 lb athlete and see if he can power rush a 360 lb offensive lineman and succeed at tackling a running back or sacking the QB.

Let me take the Robert Griffin and stick him in the QB position and see if he can just run away from folks. Nope. Gets broken in half on the regular. Better learn how to throw like Payton and read the defense (skill not athleticism).

I could go on an on. The point being athletes are only valuable if they have the skills to excel at beating other athletes. Athletes without skills are called normal people. So believe it or not you need just as much technical coaching and work in football and basketball as soccer. Trust and believe it.

[Unregistered]

You must not be a good basketball or football player. To think you can just be an athlete and do well in basketball and football at the highest level. Frankly to me that's an insult.

Let me throw you a 50 mph slant pass and see if you can get away from the defender, catch the ball, and then and proceed at break away speed or prevent the defender from knocking the ball away.

Let me stick you in front of a college basketball guard and see you can defend the dribble penetration one on one. You'd get dunked on 9 out of 10 times.

Let me take the 300 lb athlete and see if he can power rush a 360 lb offensive lineman and succeed at tackling a running back or sacking the QB.

Let me take the Robert Griffin and stick him in the QB position and see if he can just run away from folks. Nope. Gets broken in half on the regular. Better learn how to throw like Payton and read the defense (skill not athleticism).

I could go on an on. The point being athletes are only valuable if they have the skills to excel at beating other athletes. Athletes without skills are called normal people. So believe it or not you need just as much technical coaching and work in football and basketball as soccer. Trust and believe it.

I don't disagree but it would seem that very good athletes can compensate for not having tremendous skill in many sports. We have a family member who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks but didn't start football until his junior year in college. Same athlete lettered in 3 sports during college: Track, Basketball and Football; won a silver medal in the Olympics and is being invited back to the US Olympic training camp this summer for a event that he never participated in. Oddly enough most of his youth he played basketball and soccer. There are people who have tremendous athleticism that gives them an edge in many sports.

[Unregistered]

You must not be a good basketball or football player. To think you can just be an athlete and do well in basketball and football at the highest level. Frankly to me that's an insult.

Let me throw you a 50 mph slant pass and see if you can get away from the defender, catch the ball, and then and proceed at break away speed or prevent the defender from knocking the ball away.

Let me stick you in front of a college basketball guard and see you can defend the dribble penetration one on one. You'd get dunked on 9 out of 10 times.

Let me take the 300 lb athlete and see if he can power rush a 360 lb offensive lineman and succeed at tackling a running back or sacking the QB.

Let me take the Robert Griffin and stick him in the QB position and see if he can just run away from folks. Nope. Gets broken in half on the regular. Better learn how to throw like Payton and read the defense (skill not athleticism).

I could go on an on. The point being athletes are only valuable if they have the skills to excel at beating other athletes. Athletes without skills are called normal people. So believe it or not you need just as much technical coaching and work in football and basketball as soccer. Trust and believe it.

So, are you saying that if one of the example athletes you'd mentioned were to commit 3-4 months per year to soccer growing up he could compete with the Messi's of the world? No chance. You can't just out-athlete your way to dominating on a soccer field like you can in football. Basketball is a bit different in that it basically comes with a height requirement, then athleticism and skills.

My point is our great athletes won't beat other countries without matching their commitment to training/practicing in youth.

[Unregistered]

So, are you saying that if one of the example athletes you'd mentioned were to commit 3-4 months per year to soccer growing up he could compete with the Messi's of the world? No chance. You can't just out-athlete your way to dominating on a soccer field like you can in football. Basketball is a bit different in that it basically comes with a height requirement, then athleticism and skills.

My point is our great athletes won't beat other countries without matching their commitment to training/practicing in youth.

I don't think that is what the poster was saying. Nor do I think that 99.99% of any population anywhere could compete with the Messi's of the world even if they train 80 hours a week.

[Unregistered]

Final nail in the coffin for girls DA in the Pacific NW. Seattle United Reign Academy is about to announce that they are joining the ECNL this fall.