DA is Dead! Good Riddance.

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Amy Griffin sent a team snap message to the whole reign players families prior to this post announcing the collapse of the DA, the Reigns short term plans, and their long term plans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdbpmeUODME

Haha. STFU, you ashhole.

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Amy Griffin sent a team snap message to the whole reign players families prior to this post announcing the collapse of the DA, the Reigns short term plans, and their long term plans.

What did she say?

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That’s a choice. Again, not all rcl clubs cost $10k. Significant options are available.

You don't know many people on a budget, do you? Not talking about 10K I'm talking about what it costs to play RCL with the club closest to your home...$2K is too much for a lot of people.

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Laff. Attention dads: it is your ego-driven, chest puffing caused your butt hurt. You caused the kid's suffering by not paying attention what was going on. I will let you on a little secret. This was planned months ago in 2019. You do not have a new MLS DA like league pop up overnight. There was been whispers about this from reliable sources, if you had the connections. Duh. Noticed how some people left mid-season from the Reign and other clubs? Scrambling to find a good place before the SHTF pre the real SHTF COVID-19. Oh, the irony of it all. Haha. Sorry, I do feel bad for the kids who were mislead by their parents.

You still do not get what GDA was all about, do you? Christ, I love tech workers. Big brains, no fcking common sense. GDA was about IDing all potential YNT players. END OF STORY. Not about your little Mia playing in college or bragging about her shiny US Soccer badge. How do you even keep your job, if you still have one? Those kids will land anywhere they want to go. The rest need to scramble. Well, maybe you were one in the know and just virtue signaling your shock. Play nice, dad.

Wow, you sure know everything, don't you?

Not a dad, not a tech worker, no kids directly affected by this disaster, no virtue signaling.

You're mocking people for "allowing themselves" to get screwed over by US Soccer. You don't give an F about the kids who've just had the rug pulled out from under them at a time when they've lost just about every form of normalcy in their lives. You're just enjoying feeling superior to other parents because in your mind, you're one of the "smart" ones. That's just being an a-hole.

Yes, there have been rumbles about the demise of the DA. Obviously MLS has been trying to take over on the boys side, and girls side has been losing teams to ECNL. That's because US Soccer is incompetent. No one could have predicted the COVID19 crisis would happen and give cover to the US Soccer leadership-- who've been in power less than a month!-- to make a sudden decision that hurts a lot of kids. I'm not saying DA didn't need an overhaul etc but this change was made without any plans to support teams and players on the girls side. It's crappy and not anything that can be called leadership. Go ahead and feel superior. If that's how you feel when kids get hurt, I'm sure you're a real prize parent.

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What did she say?

Standard platitudes announcing the demise of the DA.

Short term they will continue their online curriculum through May 29th
* Trainer provided age appropriate workout plan
* Techne Futbol app skills training
* 2 instructional sessions per week (nutrition, defending, mental strength, how to break the line)
* 1 team meeting per week
* Homework (keeping and submitting training logs, analyzing game videos based on previous instruction, etc)

Long term listed the very concrete steps that have been put in motion and clear timelines about when they will have feedback on the results of those steps. The steps are exactly those that a reasonable person would expect a club looking to provide their teams high level competition would expect under the given circumstances.

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Where is Reign going to play? Can’t imagine they get ECNL for the Fall over clubs like CrossFire, PAC, WPFC, Seattle U, etc.

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Where is Reign going to play? Can’t imagine they get ECNL for the Fall over clubs like CrossFire, PAC, WPFC, Seattle U, etc.

All those clubs you mentioned are already in ECNL, plus Eastside. There are currently 16 teams in ECNL's PNW conference and 7 teams in the DA's NW conference, including Reign. I heard chatter on twitter that ECNL doesn't have the capacity to absorb all these teams...but Reign U17s have several USYNT players. Other DA teams in NW Conf like the Earthquakes have great players that ECNL would want in their league...I mean, all the girls are good and deserve a league to play in, but I'm just being pragmatic that coaches and directors always want "stars." What alternative is there for all these DA teams? There's no other league for kids at that skill level. ECNL seems to have better leadership than US Soccer, so maybe they will find a way to accommodate all of these players across the country who got screwed over.

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Like the RCL, the member clubs of the ECNL in Washington decide who gets in. No chance they admit Reign.

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All those clubs you mentioned are already in ECNL, plus Eastside. There are currently 16 teams in ECNL's PNW conference and 7 teams in the DA's NW conference, including Reign. I heard chatter on twitter that ECNL doesn't have the capacity to absorb all these teams...but Reign U17s have several USYNT players. Other DA teams in NW Conf like the Earthquakes have great players that ECNL would want in their league...I mean, all the girls are good and deserve a league to play in, but I'm just being pragmatic that coaches and directors always want "stars." What alternative is there for all these DA teams? There's no other league for kids at that skill level. ECNL seems to have better leadership than US Soccer, so maybe they will find a way to accommodate all of these players across the country who got screwed over.

There are currently 5 Seattle area ECNL teams and two Oregon teams. Adding Reign + probably Thorns would be super easy. All the kids and teams currently playing in “elite” leagues would then have a spot (side note: “elite” is a very flexible term, and the interpretations on here range from limiting it to basically those capable of knocking a WNT player off the roster to including anyone on any ECNL or DA roster, but I’m using it in the relatively broad sense as that’s basically the pool of players looking to play in college, which is what these teams and leagues are really about once kids hit high school). Teams would basically stay intact, and kids on current ECNL teams wouldn’t lose their spots to DA kids (as they otherwise will). Families from all the clubs would all save $1000+ in travel costs from not having to fly for as many league games, which in the current economy will make a difference to a lot more people than it did two months ago. The likelihood of getting more games in despite subsequent waves of the pandemic would be higher than it would with league games in California or Utah. And intense local rivalries would develop, giving all the clubs an incentive to innovate and get better (and each and every one of them can).

Over the past five years, ECNL has moved towards being a much more inclusive league. Five years ago it was just XF and WPFC, then Reign got a spot, then SU, and finally Eastside and Pac. That kind of expansion has happened nationwide, and the size of the league doubled even after it lost a bunch of strong clubs to DA. Christian Lavers, the ECNL President, said yesterday in an article in the Athletic that ECNL will be “significantly” expanding girls’ membership in light of the recent development. There are surely some coaches and DOC’s in the old boys club around the country and some parents of kids on existing teams who want to keep clubs like Reign (and 40 or so others similarly situated across the country) out, but those people are looking out for themselves and not the kids or the long term good of the game.

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;2694458]There are currently 5 Seattle area ECNL teams and two Oregon teams. Adding Reign + probably Thorns would be super easy. All the kids and teams currently playing in “elite” leagues would then have a spot (side note: “elite” is a very flexible term, and the interpretations on here range from limiting it to basically those capable of knocking a WNT player off the roster to including anyone on any ECNL or DA roster, but I’m using it in the relatively broad sense as that’s basically the pool of players looking to play in college, which is what these teams and leagues are really about once kids hit high school). Teams would basically stay intact, and kids on current ECNL teams wouldn’t lose their spots to DA kids (as they otherwise will). Families from all the clubs would all save $1000+ in travel costs from not having to fly for as many league games, which in the current economy will make a difference to a lot more people than it did two months ago. The likelihood of getting more games in despite subsequent waves of the pandemic would be higher than it would with league games in California or Utah. And intense local rivalries would develop, giving all the clubs an incentive to innovate and get better (and each and every one of them can).

Either subtract 1 or if you have to add, add Gunners and Spokane. If the folks north of Seattle could get their act together, I would add them before Reign or Thorns.

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Wow, you sure know everything, don't you?

Not a dad, not a tech worker, no kids directly affected by this disaster, no virtue signaling.

You're mocking people for "allowing themselves" to get screwed over by US Soccer. You don't give an F about the kids who've just had the rug pulled out from under them at a time when they've lost just about every form of normalcy in their lives. You're just enjoying feeling superior to other parents because in your mind, you're one of the "smart" ones. That's just being an a-hole.

Yes, there have been rumbles about the demise of the DA. Obviously MLS has been trying to take over on the boys side, and girls side has been losing teams to ECNL. That's because US Soccer is incompetent. No one could have predicted the COVID19 crisis would happen and give cover to the US Soccer leadership-- who've been in power less than a month!-- to make a sudden decision that hurts a lot of kids. I'm not saying DA didn't need an overhaul etc but this change was made without any plans to support teams and players on the girls side. It's crappy and not anything that can be called leadership. Go ahead and feel superior. If that's how you feel when kids get hurt, I'm sure you're a real prize parent.

Did you have a kid? Then, it is your responsibility to protect and to take care of them. Truly weak to trying to externalize the ownership, hence the blame. I know it is hard to accept it, but if you actually take a moment and read carefully what I am about to write, then things will be a bit more clear. I promise I will be gentle.

We are part of very small group of parents and players. We knew what we were signing up for at this very high level of soccer. We are not innocent, so really suck it up, buttercup. I was there during the initial meetings with the Reign when KC said GDA is about finding NT players. Period. This is not about playing in college, but you can come along for the ride if you wish to play in college since most of you will not make it. If that punch didn't knock you out, then you get what you deserve. But still people signed the contracts with the blood of their kids. You own it. You are not here to have fun and giggles.

Put things into perspective about the Reign. We are talking about 100 kids of about 18 x 6 age groups. 18 kids per age group. Let that sink in again. The focus here is for NT players OR players who want to play in college. U13, U14 are not really that affected, besides the obvious affects of COVID-19, because they are not recruiting age. If they are NT material, then all of this doesn't matter. U18/19 are mostly done and should know where they are going. U15, 16, 17 are the ones who really got hurt by b/c these groups are the prime recruiting age groups. So, we are talking about 50 girls. 50 GIRLS that you are weeping and gnashing of teeth. We have 700,000+ people recently unemployed in Wa State and a global pandemic. Seriously, relax.

You can comfort yourself by saying to yourself, your kids, and everyone else, "I didn't see it coming! The rug was pulled out from under us. Shame on you US Soccer!" Seriously, go fck yourself. You didn't see the hot war between ECNL and GDA? This is all about money and power over you and your kids for the mythical prizes of scholarship money for college, playing pro, and ultimately the NT. ECNL was out to destroy GDA from the beginning and ECNL won. That is the bet you should have placed.

The Reign used to be Seattle United and Eastside combined for all of the resources. Then, ECNL offered SU an ECNL franchise. Bye bye SU. Then, Eastside was offered an ECNL. Then, the Reign was all alone. Smart parents left in between these battles. The Reign was so depleted for players, they took anyone to fill in the ranks. Probably 1/3-1/2 of each team couldn't make any ECNL team. The truly crazy stayed. What you are crying for are the truly, truly crazy kool-aide drinking by the gallon parents at the Reign. This is what a last stand battle looks like after losing the war.

Do I feel bad for 100 players at the Reign? Yes, as much as the 1000's and 1000's kids playing all sports, not just soccer. It sucks badly. Do I feel bad for the parents who stayed behind and gambled? You know the answer. They know the answer. No worries, these 100 kids will land somewhere at another club. Of course, this doesn't mean they will all make an ECNL club. Many will not. That is sad rub of it all. Parents believe that their kids are so elite by being on the Reign and it is not true. From playing with the same girls over the years, I know which girls are good or bad. We all know each other. You will see during tryouts. I am done with this. It is over. Good luck and stay safe all.

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Like the RCL, the member clubs of the ECNL in Washington decide who gets in. No chance they admit Reign.

There is no way the Reign Academy are getting into the ECNL. Not happening.

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There is no way the Reign Academy are getting into the ECNL. Not happening.

May be true but someone will start up a league very soon that will claim they are better than GDA and ECNL.....The SUPER ELITE LEAGUE. There will always be some parents that will eat this stuff up. Lets all just hope there is some soccer left in 2020.

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Did you have a kid? Then, it is your responsibility to protect and to take care of them. Truly weak to trying to externalize the ownership, hence the blame. I know it is hard to accept it, but if you actually take a moment and read carefully what I am about to write, then things will be a bit more clear. I promise I will be gentle.

We are part of very small group of parents and players. We knew what we were signing up for at this very high level of soccer. We are not innocent, so really suck it up, buttercup. I was there during the initial meetings with the Reign when KC said GDA is about finding NT players. Period. This is not about playing in college, but you can come along for the ride if you wish to play in college since most of you will not make it. If that punch didn't knock you out, then you get what you deserve. But still people signed the contracts with the blood of their kids. You own it. You are not here to have fun and giggles.

Put things into perspective about the Reign. We are talking about 100 kids of about 18 x 6 age groups. 18 kids per age group. Let that sink in again. The focus here is for NT players OR players who want to play in college. U13, U14 are not really that affected, besides the obvious affects of COVID-19, because they are not recruiting age. If they are NT material, then all of this doesn't matter. U18/19 are mostly done and should know where they are going. U15, 16, 17 are the ones who really got hurt by b/c these groups are the prime recruiting age groups. So, we are talking about 50 girls. 50 GIRLS that you are weeping and gnashing of teeth. We have 700,000+ people recently unemployed in Wa State and a global pandemic. Seriously, relax.

You can comfort yourself by saying to yourself, your kids, and everyone else, "I didn't see it coming! The rug was pulled out from under us. Shame on you US Soccer!" Seriously, go fck yourself. You didn't see the hot war between ECNL and GDA? This is all about money and power over you and your kids for the mythical prizes of scholarship money for college, playing pro, and ultimately the NT. ECNL was out to destroy GDA from the beginning and ECNL won. That is the bet you should have placed.

The Reign used to be Seattle United and Eastside combined for all of the resources. Then, ECNL offered SU an ECNL franchise. Bye bye SU. Then, Eastside was offered an ECNL. Then, the Reign was all alone. Smart parents left in between these battles. The Reign was so depleted for players, they took anyone to fill in the ranks. Probably 1/3-1/2 of each team couldn't make any ECNL team. The truly crazy stayed. What you are crying for are the truly, truly crazy kool-aide drinking by the gallon parents at the Reign. This is what a last stand battle looks like after losing the war.

Do I feel bad for 100 players at the Reign? Yes, as much as the 1000's and 1000's kids playing all sports, not just soccer. It sucks badly. Do I feel bad for the parents who stayed behind and gambled? You know the answer. They know the answer. No worries, these 100 kids will land somewhere at another club. Of course, this doesn't mean they will all make an ECNL club. Many will not. That is sad rub of it all. Parents believe that their kids are so elite by being on the Reign and it is not true. From playing with the same girls over the years, I know which girls are good or bad. We all know each other. You will see during tryouts. I am done with this. It is over. Good luck and stay safe all.

Interesting post, and understand the perspective, but disagree with most of it, especially the holier-than-thou nonsense that you’re smart and other people are crazy because you picked some other club for your kid. I mean great, have a cookie. Yes, you’re right that if Reign doesn’t find a suitable competitive platform players who leave will find spots somewhere else, and the best players will find spots on the best teams. But on the rest:

1. The notion that Reign has just been about the YNT kids is BS. They’ve done well by a lot of kids and families who are or will be playing for strong college teams around the country, many of whom are not YNT players. The non-YNT player commitments for the 2019-21 classes are significantly stronger than those of any other local club other than XF and maybe PAC for some years, and arguably on par with XF. The club also has done a good job promoting kids to the YNT’s. One of my kids, who probably was never in the mix for a YNT spot, chose to go to Reign initially because it was the ECNL pathway within her club, and she chose to stay even after her club chose to leave and even after she got to the point where she could have started for any team around because she liked the coaching, liked her teammates, liked the connection with the NWSL team, liked the competition, and was loyal to the new organization her old club had previously advocated. That was her choice, and it didn’t have anything to do with kool aid or craziness— I would have liked to see her play hs. My sense is that many others have had similar experiences. Some families have also been disappointed with Reign, and I’d agree that Reign has had its share of stumbles and hasn’t always lived up to its lofty vision and promises and that a few kids have sort of fallen through the cracks without any defensible excuse. But that’s true at any club — for some reason a few of those who have been disappointed with their experiences with Reign or who get their kicks out of knocking them down even though their kids have never played there are particularly outspoken on this ridiculous anonymous message board that makes you try to figure out what “fill in the blank is > usm” to post anything (whatever happened to the old and much better site??!).

2. Remember way back three years ago when GDA started? Every club wanted in and thought ECNL was going to fail. WPFC applied and wasn’t accepted. So did PAC. XF, SU and Eastside told their families US Soccer knew what it was doing, provided the best pathway for development, that high school soccer didn’t matter. XF made its ECNL teams it’s B teams and almost all of its best players went DA. This wasn’t a few crazy parents who naively thought their kid was making a YNT even though she wasn’t good enough. It was parents from clubs around town and across the country reasonably trusting that the stronger local clubs and US Soccer knew what they were doing and had some degree of competence. But we’ve all been jerked around between the age group change, the shuffling and reshuffling of DA and ECNL, and now this. Don’t pretend the other clubs weren’t complicit and don’t have some responsibility for the overall mess and trying to fix it— Eastside and SU both partnered with Reign, told their kids Reign was the top of their pyramid, and told their best players to go there, and then bailed because their leadership didn’t get the amount of control they wanted or couldn’t get their coaches spots in the Reign program or couldn’t find enough space to have their egos and the Reign’s in the same room or whatever and were given ECNL slots as pawns in this nationwide ECNL v DA war. When they moved no one had any crystal ball and knew ECNL would win. That only became clear a month ago when Real Colorado and NC Courage dropped DA. Until then (and even until this week), DA could have remained perfectly viable and maybe even won in the long term if they weren’t so stupid and stubborn in refusing to give up on their no hs rule and some of their so-called standards that made DA expensive to operate. But it turns out US Soccer is both totally incompetent and totally chickensh**.

3. It’s not just about 100 or so kids at Reign, and the 30-40 kids or so on current ECNL teams who would now be on B teams or ECNL teams with even more absurdly bloated rosters, with a that mad scramble somehow happening in the midst of a pandemic when no one can even see anyone play for who knows how long. There are 40 or so DA clubs around the country in roughly the same boat. It’s about finding a way to get all the stronger clubs around the country under the same umbrella and building an integrated program that will work better for everyone in the long term, including by controlling the ridiculous costs for parents. It’s absurd that Reign hasn’t played XF or SU or Pac in the past two years (not their choice, they would have happily scheduled friendlier any time), and that teams like Earthquakes and Cal Thorns don’t play Mustang and MVLA in the Bay Area. Allowing most of the DA teams into ECNL would fix that, and fix it for the long term.

4. There’s no reason to think Reign is disappearing. They were just acquired by OL. AG seems committed for the long hall and seems to care deeply about both the WA soccer community and trying to build something over the long term that will be successful. Youth soccer clubs, even the relatively bad ones (ones far less successful and stable than any we are talking about), are hard to lose money on as the necessary expenses are fairly modest and predictable the charges to parents significantly exceed those expenses. Reign and the other DA clubs will either get into ECNL or they will form some other competitive platform that will still allow their players to have high level play. If it’s not ECNL, some good players will leave, and other players from other clubs will take their places.

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May be true but someone will start up a league very soon that will claim they are better than GDA and ECNL.....The SUPER ELITE LEAGUE. There will always be some parents that will eat this stuff up. Lets all just hope there is some soccer left in 2020.

There's like 40 teams in the DA. ECNL can't absorb them all. Creating another league may be the only option.