End of GDA

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Boys DA outlived it's usefulness now that MLS is larger and able to spend more money on development. Girls DA never made sense in an environment where the needs were already being met by a long-established league - unless you consider a money grab for US Soccer "sensical"

Good riddance to both

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Boys DA outlived it's usefulness now that MLS is larger and able to spend more money on development. Girls DA never made sense in an environment where the needs were already being met by a long-established league - unless you consider a money grab for US Soccer "sensical"

Good riddance to both

US Soccer didn't make any money off of DA, dumbass. It cost millions a year to operate. Between covid killing off the main revenue sources (professional and national team matches) and the women's team lawsuit, it probably became an expensive luxury.

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US Soccer didn't make any money off of DA, dumbass. It cost millions a year to operate. Between covid killing off the main revenue sources (professional and national team matches) and the women's team lawsuit, it probably became an expensive luxury.

GDA was nothing but a money grab. US Soccer saw how much parents were willing to pay to clubs for ECNL and they wanted some of that. So they created the GDA money grab - too bad what they had to offer for the money grab was something a lot worse than ECNL - no surprise it died off as quickly as it did. COVID-19 or not, GDA was dead in the water.

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GDA was nothing but a money grab. US Soccer saw how much parents were willing to pay to clubs for ECNL and they wanted some of that. So they created the GDA money grab - too bad what they had to offer for the money grab was something a lot worse than ECNL - no surprise it died off as quickly as it did. COVID-19 or not, GDA was dead in the water.

Clubs didn't pay US Soccer to be in the DA.

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GDA was nothing but a money grab. US Soccer saw how much parents were willing to pay to clubs for ECNL and they wanted some of that. So they created the GDA money grab - too bad what they had to offer for the money grab was something a lot worse than ECNL - no surprise it died off as quickly as it did. COVID-19 or not, GDA was dead in the water.

Most of the money that a family pays to an ECNL club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Club Soccer.

Most of the money that a family pays to an DA/GDA club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Soccer.

So no, US Soccer wasn't profiting off the DA any more than US Club or the ECNL office is. And US Soccer was supporting it a lot more--ECNL clubs have to pay for everything themselves.

[Unregistered]

Most of the money that a family pays to an ECNL club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Club Soccer.

Most of the money that a family pays to an DA/GDA club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Soccer.

So no, US Soccer wasn't profiting off the DA any more than US Club or the ECNL office is. And US Soccer was supporting it a lot more--ECNL clubs have to pay for everything themselves.

why did GDA suck so badly then? Why did there GDA showcases feel like amateur hour, and ECNL look and feel like it soon much better run?

[Unregistered]

Most of the money that a family pays to an ECNL club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Club Soccer.

Most of the money that a family pays to an DA/GDA club stays with the club, or pays the club's expenses (mainly payroll). Very little goes to US Soccer.

So no, US Soccer wasn't profiting off the DA any more than US Club or the ECNL office is. And US Soccer was supporting it a lot more--ECNL clubs have to pay for everything themselves.

US Soccer spent $ 12 million per year in the DA, US Club takes in $ 1.5 million per from ECNL

[Unregistered]

Sorry to hear about GDA face planting. What a mess.

[Unregistered]

why did GDA suck so badly then? Why did there GDA showcases feel like amateur hour, and ECNL look and feel like it soon much better run?

The GDA sucked because US Soccer doesn’t understand women’s soccer period. The GDA was broken from the start because it was focused .5% of players as opposed to ECNL which is focused on consolidating top players to improve development and provide an effective pathway to collegiate soccer. This is just the start.... then you have to look at subbing rules to how teams traveled to restrictions like nonHS soccer. The GDA was appallingly bad and misguided.

[Unregistered]

social game

why did GDA suck so badly then? Why did there GDA showcases feel like amateur hour, and ECNL look and feel like it soon much better run?

Simple, for girls soccer is a social club with ribbons in their hair and matching hoodies.

The GDA tried to create an elite league. What the girls want is to play high school soccer with their friends, and then all the rich kids travel together in the ENCL.

Women's soccer in the USA ins't that good, just most of the world really doesn't care. Anyone like Japan who puts together a half effort can beat the US women's social team.

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Simple, for girls soccer is a social club with ribbons in their hair and matching hoodies.

The GDA tried to create an elite league. What the girls want is to play high school soccer with their friends, and then all the rich kids travel together in the ENCL.

Women's soccer in the USA ins't that good, just most of the world really doesn't care. Anyone like Japan who puts together a half effort can beat the US women's social team.

Yes, it was fun watching all of those other countries beat the USWNT last year in the World Cup. Your bias is showing, but you are accidentally right on one point. The GDA tried to create an elite league - true. The problem was there weren't enough elite girls players to fill all the rosters, so the quality of most of the players was far, far from elite, as evidenced by some of the very average college commits from Thorns the last few years.

If GDA wanted to be elite, they needed to be selective. Making 9 clubs - one for every NWSL team - would have been a start. They still wouldn't have captured all of the elite talent in the nation because we just aren't set up to do that geographically. Even with the glut of GDA clubs, there were large swaths of the country (Hawaii, for example) not represented by a GDA club. 9 clubs, while not perfect, would have limited the number of "elite" players per birth year to around 90 - which, of course is still WAY too big to be "elite," but it's a lot better than what they had. Unless you truly believe there are 690 "elite" female players per birth year in the United States (69 clubs times 20 players per team divided by 2 birth years per team).

The downfall of GDA was greed. And stupidity, I suppose. They weren't making a profit on GDA (although a lot of mediocre coaches, DOC's, and administrators made a comfortable living working in GDA), so it wasn't greed to make money. It was greed seeing another platform - ECNL - succeed - and instead of trying to improve that platform or work with that platform, wanting to have the entire pie to themselves.

[Unregistered]

Making 9 clubs - one for every NWSL team - would have been a start.

So you would have had two teams in the NW and none in California....not that would have been a great start.

How about all 9 in California would have been a better start.

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Making 9 clubs - one for every NWSL team - would have been a start.

So you would have had two teams in the NW and none in California....not that would have been a great start.

How about all 9 in California would have been a better start.

All 9 in California or all 9 linked with the current NWSL teams - both options are better than what we had which was an “elite” league that took girls cut from high school programs.

[Unregistered]

With the end of GDA, does ECNL now pursue the option to go back to school year given their focus on pathway to college soccer?

[Unregistered]

With the end of GDA, does ECNL now pursue the option to go back to school year given their focus on pathway to college soccer?

What???