DA is Dead! Good Riddance.

[Unregistered]

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.

Fantastic response!

[Unregistered]

none

"1. 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."

"2. 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."

"4. There’s no reason to think Reign is disappearing."

1. Commitments -- Not even close to true just on a straight up eye test comparing commitments across clubs. 2020's are nowhere near Pac, WPFC, XF's commitment list... One of the Reign 2020s committed while at XF. Another was been at EFC, XF, Reign, SU and back to Reign just this year, so share the credit there. They only posted I think 2 or 3 commitments, right? U17s-decent group of individuals, largely due to national camps, but team is poor and was going to fragment regardless of DA status. I think only the kids with national team call ups have committed and they are all from SU and EFC.

2. Failed partnerships -- Issue was also due to lack of financial transparency. It's a big issue with Reign. Most clubs are non-profits and have to report their finances every year, and parents (board members, etc) have some involvement in setting expectations, setting budgets, over-seeing how money is spent. Reign is for-profit and doesn't need to be transparent, and wouldn't even be transparent with its financial partners - SU and EFC. And yes, a partnership requires collaboration between organizations, without that it's a failed partnership regardless of egos. Reign just wanted their money, that was it. They were arrogant about it, just like the failed leadership of the US federation and not a lot of goodwill outside their bubble. Amy Griffin inherited that history.

4. I would assume Reign will not disappear. But their players are largely leaving for more stable ground. It's all in motion and was before this announcement. If they try to pull together a former DA league, that will require a lot of travel given the lack of teams in the region. So they will play RCL if they don't get ECNL and arrange friendlies with a few former DA clubs. Tough given COVID-19 situation, and tough to convince players it's stable and worth while when college recruiting is on the line. Colleges will be thankful given budget issues and will be focusing on ECNL at this point. Most youth national teams are on hold for a year, so they can't use that carrot anymore, and is that were those players would want to compete anyway?

[Unregistered]

1. Commitments -- Not even close to true just on a straight up eye test comparing commitments across clubs. 2020's are nowhere near Pac, WPFC, XF's commitment list... One of the Reign 2020s committed while at XF. Another was been at EFC, XF, Reign, SU and back to Reign just this year, so share the credit there. They only posted I think 2 or 3 commitments, right? U17s-decent group of individuals, largely due to national camps, but team is poor and was going to fragment regardless of DA status. I think only the kids with national team call ups have committed and they are all from SU and EFC.

2. Failed partnerships -- Issue was also due to lack of financial transparency. It's a big issue with Reign. Most clubs are non-profits and have to report their finances every year, and parents (board members, etc) have some involvement in setting expectations, setting budgets, over-seeing how money is spent. Reign is for-profit and doesn't need to be transparent, and wouldn't even be transparent with its financial partners - SU and EFC. And yes, a partnership requires collaboration between organizations, without that it's a failed partnership regardless of egos. Reign just wanted their money, that was it. They were arrogant about it, just like the failed leadership of the US federation and not a lot of goodwill outside their bubble. Amy Griffin inherited that history.

4. I would assume Reign will not disappear. But their players are largely leaving for more stable ground. It's all in motion and was before this announcement. If they try to pull together a former DA league, that will require a lot of travel given the lack of teams in the region. So they will play RCL if they don't get ECNL and arrange friendlies with a few former DA clubs. Tough given COVID-19 situation, and tough to convince players it's stable and worth while when college recruiting is on the line. Colleges will be thankful given budget issues and will be focusing on ECNL at this point. Most youth national teams are on hold for a year, so they can't use that carrot anymore, and is that were those players would want to compete anyway?

1. Commitments: 2019 — Oregon x2, TCU, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, USF, Villanova, Colorado State, Western x2, Rider; 2020 — relatively low #’s of players that grad year, but Harvard, Gonzaga, UW and maybe a couple others. 2021 — Notre Dame, UW, Clemson, Princeton, already etc. Stacks up well with anyone. You’re right prior clubs share some credit (as they do with the XF players who started elsewhere), and that in all cases at all the clubs the credit really goes principally to the player.

2. I’m not sure there was any transparency issue so much as an inability by all involved to get on the same page or compromise on budgets or priorities. I think there was a lack of appreciation from both sides’ leadership of what the other brought to the table, some opportunism by the existing clubs when the ECNL opportunities arose, and some idiocy on the part of US Soccer that made GDA harder for everyone. Reign wasn’t blameless for those partnerships not working. The clubs weren’t either. “For profit” isn’t really a thing in women’s pro sports, but you’re right that Reign had an NWSL team to run too, and that its partner clubs didn’t seem to have much of any interest in contributing to its success. Club finances are fairly opaque too, and while the clubs are “non profits” their biggest expense line is payroll, which among other things makes them a lot different from most non-profits. Money going into the Reign program wasn’t helping the clubs meet the other components of their budgets (although that’s also true of their ECNL programs now).

3. I’m sure some people will move back and forth however it shakes out. No one will need to do anything for a while as there probably won’t be any soccer June at the earliest, and we’ll all be lucky if it happens then. Reign doesn’t meet the technical requirements for RCL (being part of USYSA and under the umbrella of a rec association with a geographic territory) so it won’t be there. Seems like ECNL is trying to create some kind of transitional platform to get most of the DA teams in the fold and merge them
together (probably in a two tier format of 70 or so teams per tier) over a couple years. That could work if it’s set up in a way that the former DA clubs aren’t treated like second class citizens, have some cross-play with the existing ECNL, and share some showcases. Something like:
— Year 1: Existing DA NW division (+ maybe Spokane and/or Rush to get some more local games) remains intact, with 1 game against each of the ECNL teams as part of league play. ECNL takes over the DA showcase venues and runs a couple more showcases, open to both ECNL teams and transitional DA teams. There are separate playoffs foe both the existing ECNL and transitional da teams and winners meet in a final.
— Year 2: based on year 1 results, teams are divided into A and B ECNL brackets with promotion and relegation.

Something like that could work for most if not all parts of the country, but would require the existing ECNL clubs to be willing to face a bit more competition over time and recognize there are some financial and other advantages to their families going that route. If they aren’t willing to do that, clubs like Tophat, FC Dallas, La Roca, Beach, Legends, etc will surely from their own thing and include clubs like Reign and others and it will end up like the dueling Nike and AAU and Under Armour circuits in basketball.

[Unregistered]

GDA was never and would never work here in the NW. The only places it had a slim chance to succeed would have been SoCal or Texas....that is it.

Top the bleeding now and let these girls from the Reign find another club. We all know they didnt start there so the transition should be too difficult.

Also 90% of the Reign girls you that were mentioned about playing college were going to play in college no matter what club they were from.

.....bring back ODP and make it free.

[Unregistered]

My kid had a mixed experience with Reign and moved on, but I seriously am grossed out by the way some people on here are taking pleasure in the end of the DA. And please quit trashing the players! These girls are tremendous athletes. The snarking about commitments is so gross. You're talking about people. KIDS. If you're happy your kid didn't play DA, good for you! Don't be a jerk. And all the coaches who've had their careers disrupted -- it sucks. We really don't have time for people to be nasty right now. But crisis reveals character, as they say.

[Unregistered]

Well now everyone at least will get to see GDA and ECNL teams duel it out for real on a regular basis instead of having to mentally spar about which are the better teams lol

[Unregistered]

Completely agree with this statement. The quality of some local clubs will increase. The Reign players must not be all that bad as you see club coaches scrambling like cockroaches to pick them up. I am afraid some people may be disappointed going into the new season.

[Unregistered]

1. Commitments -- Not even close to true just on a straight up eye test comparing commitments across clubs. 2020's are nowhere near Pac, WPFC, XF's commitment list... One of the Reign 2020s committed while at XF. Another was been at EFC, XF, Reign, SU and back to Reign just this year, so share the credit there. They only posted I think 2 or 3 commitments, right? U17s-decent group of individuals, largely due to national camps, but team is poor and was going to fragment regardless of DA status. I think only the kids with national team call ups have committed and they are all from SU and EFC.

2. Failed partnerships -- Issue was also due to lack of financial transparency. It's a big issue with Reign. Most clubs are non-profits and have to report their finances every year, and parents (board members, etc) have some involvement in setting expectations, setting budgets, over-seeing how money is spent. Reign is for-profit and doesn't need to be transparent, and wouldn't even be transparent with its financial partners - SU and EFC. And yes, a partnership requires collaboration between organizations, without that it's a failed partnership regardless of egos. Reign just wanted their money, that was it. They were arrogant about it, just like the failed leadership of the US federation and not a lot of goodwill outside their bubble. Amy Griffin inherited that history.

4. I would assume Reign will not disappear. But their players are largely leaving for more stable ground. It's all in motion and was before this announcement. If they try to pull together a former DA league, that will require a lot of travel given the lack of teams in the region. So they will play RCL if they don't get ECNL and arrange friendlies with a few former DA clubs. Tough given COVID-19 situation, and tough to convince players it's stable and worth while when college recruiting is on the line. Colleges will be thankful given budget issues and will be focusing on ECNL at this point. Most youth national teams are on hold for a year, so they can't use that carrot anymore, and is that were those players would want to compete anyway?

No way they will let Reign in RCL, their "region" overlaps clubs already in the RCL and they can't meet the min number of teams required for membership. I highly doubt they will be allowed in ECNL. Their only option is going to be pspl where their development teams are or to create their own league with other displaced DA teams. No talented player will stick around for either of those options. Anyone believing the Reign will last this out is drunk on the koolaid. I feel bad for them, it's a really crappy confluence of being a new club, DA pulling the rug out from under them, and corona making it very difficult to work out any feasible solution. Feel worse for the kids, hope their families didn't burn bridges at the clubs they left to go to Reign.

[Unregistered]

Here is Exhibit A in the explanation of why American soccer player production and culture lags so far behind the rest of the world:

“No talented player will stick around for either of those options.”

The “options” being referred to are LEAGUES. Americans are so obsessed with LEAGUES they fail to see that our nation of over 100 million registered youth players cannot produce 1/100th if the soccer talent produced by Belgium, a nation with a total population of 11 million.

Rephrasing that idiotic Exhibit A statement to make more sense:

“An intelligent player (and necessarily their intelligent parents) would not care about RCL, PSPL, ECNL or any other frickin’ “L”. They would find a club that has an identifiable philosophy and style that can actually teach, coaches who care about teaching and learning more than the number of teams they coach so they can make money, and an environment conducive to learning and enjoyment. An intelligent player (and their intelligent parents) know leagues do not develop players, and that the so-called “elite” leagues keep on serving as the platform for starry-eyed players and parents who go on to be themselves the proof that the US continues to churn out players the rest of the world is not interested in.”

What would happen if the amount of time spent on this board obsessing about DA/ECNL/PSPL/RCL was focused instead on things soccer coaches need to teach soccer players so they can be competitive at the highest international levels?

Mind-blowing, no?

[Unregistered]

TDS: Federation Leaves Players, Clubs in a Lurch

After more than a decade of pushing forward the notion that the U.S. Soccer Federation ran a league to produce world-class players, the plug was pulled on the Development Academy on Wednesday.

And granted these are difficult times. In the midst of a global pandemic, sports are not the highest priority. It’s unclear when soccer will resume at any level, and not just in the United States. There is time to figure out a place for thousands of players and hundreds of clubs to play.

But the manner in which the new U.S. Soccer leadership, and whoever else was involved in the decision executed it, could’ve been accompanied with just a bit more transparency.

Or, at the very least, a clearer road forward.

Just look at this paragraph from the released statement.

“We know that you will have a lot of questions about what this means for the future of your club, and we recognize those concerns. While we do not have all the answers on what the future will look like across the youth soccer landscape, as the governing body of the sport in the United States we are committed to doing as much as we can to assist during these extremely challenging times.”

Shouldn’t the governing body of a nation’s soccer federation, at least have an idea of what is next? Maybe not all the answers, but a general framework?

In the process of making this decision – and with its new leaders, CEO Will Wilson, and president Cindy Parlow-Cone, with at least a bit of familiarity in the youth space – couldn’t it be accompanied by a road map for its clubs and players? They could've improvised an outline from this Mike Woitalla column in Soccer America. Set some guideposts for an announcement such as this. Maybe a bit more explanation than just the economic fallout from Covid-19.

Met Oval, a club based in New York, released its own statement in conjunction with nine other clubs in the Northeast, illustrating their displeasure about the process.

“This announcement from US Soccer was never formally communicated, nor discussed with our Academy club members, and the lack of communication from US Soccer is disappointing,” Met Oval Sporting Director Jeffrey Saunders wrote.

It was no secret that the U.S. Soccer Federation was considering shuttering the Dev. Academy. Sources had told TopDrawerSoccer that former CEO Dan Flynn had looked at this before leaving last year. And with the Federation losing money through its legal battle with the U.S. women’s national team, mounting legal fees from other lawsuits, this appears to be a decision about the bottom line. It was a big line item on the budget over the past few years. Per a report from ESPN in December, the USSF was projected to spend $9 million on legal fees in 2020. All large organizations are sure to face legal fees and battles, but that seems kind of crazy, when those resources could be allocated in so many different ways.

For the organization that is supposed to promote the growth of the game in the United States, the DA is just a small portion of the playing population in the country. But the move is a shocking abandonment of leadership. During a current legal battle with the USWNT, it’s now leaving thousands of girls without a place to play. The ECNL has added a couple of teams, but some of the best teams, that have players in the U.S. youth women's national team pool, now don't have a league to compete in once games resume.

MLS and ECNL have already announced a host of moves, but mostly on the boys side. Details are sure to come from leagues and clubs around the nation – and there is time. But with a bit more leadership and a clearer plan in place, the decision to cut the DA could’ve been handled much better. Instead, the closing sentence of the statement carries with it a sense of optimism, but no vision on how to get there.

[Unregistered]

Here is Exhibit A in the explanation of why American soccer player production and culture lags so far behind the rest of the world:

“No talented player will stick around for either of those options.”

The “options” being referred to are LEAGUES. Americans are so obsessed with LEAGUES they fail to see that our nation of over 100 million registered youth players cannot produce 1/100th if the soccer talent produced by Belgium, a nation with a total population of 11 million.

Rephrasing that idiotic Exhibit A statement to make more sense:

“An intelligent player (and necessarily their intelligent parents) would not care about RCL, PSPL, ECNL or any other frickin’ “L”. They would find a club that has an identifiable philosophy and style that can actually teach, coaches who care about teaching and learning more than the number of teams they coach so they can make money, and an environment conducive to learning and enjoyment. An intelligent player (and their intelligent parents) know leagues do not develop players, and that the so-called “elite” leagues keep on serving as the platform for starry-eyed players and parents who go on to be themselves the proof that the US continues to churn out players the rest of the world is not interested in.”

What would happen if the amount of time spent on this board obsessing about DA/ECNL/PSPL/RCL was focused instead on things soccer coaches need to teach soccer players so they can be competitive at the highest international levels?

Mind-blowing, no?

Well said! Something else to consider. Not only does Belgium have a population of 11M, they have 34 professional clubs in just TWO leagues. That's it. TWO leagues. Yes the US is bigger geographically, but the paradigm is still valid. In Washington, we should have ONEPay more attention to the quality of your club than which league you play in.

Something else. My DD's coach does zoom calls and other things with her and her teammates that are important during this time. Take a guess how many calls or reach-outs my DD got from GDA? Zero. And it makes sense. The league is not invested in my daughter's development. The club/team is what is most important, now more than ever. All this fuss about leagues just shows how uneducated we are as a soccer nation.

[Unregistered]

Here is Exhibit A in the explanation of why American soccer player production and culture lags so far behind the rest of the world:

“No talented player will stick around for either of those options.”

The “options” being referred to are LEAGUES. Americans are so obsessed with LEAGUES they fail to see that our nation of over 100 million registered youth players cannot produce 1/100th if the soccer talent produced by Belgium, a nation with a total population of 11 million.

Rephrasing that idiotic Exhibit A statement to make more sense:

“An intelligent player (and necessarily their intelligent parents) would not care about RCL, PSPL, ECNL or any other frickin’ “L”. They would find a club that has an identifiable philosophy and style that can actually teach, coaches who care about teaching and learning more than the number of teams they coach so they can make money, and an environment conducive to learning and enjoyment. An intelligent player (and their intelligent parents) know leagues do not develop players, and that the so-called “elite” leagues keep on serving as the platform for starry-eyed players and parents who go on to be themselves the proof that the US continues to churn out players the rest of the world is not interested in.”

What would happen if the amount of time spent on this board obsessing about DA/ECNL/PSPL/RCL was focused instead on things soccer coaches need to teach soccer players so they can be competitive at the highest international levels?

Mind-blowing, no?

How many of us really care about our whether our soccer coaches are able to teach soccer such that our DDs can be competitive at the highest international levels? I'm simply pleased that my DD is on a good team, playing great competition in ECNL, with a chance to play competitively in college if she invests in herself, while enjoying the social element of playing for her HS and developing leadership skills. Yes, it's unfortunate that GDA screwed the Reign over... but in the past few years, couldn't see it coming? Hope the Reign DDs will be able to find new teams... but let's be realistic... there isn't going to be any kumbaya moment of leagues getting together to do the right thing. Let's be real, US soccer is a capitalist enterprise... like ALL other-than-recreational US youth sports leagues are...

[Unregistered]

How many of us really care about our whether our soccer coaches are able to teach soccer such that our DDs can be competitive at the highest international levels? I'm simply pleased that my DD is on a good team, playing great competition in ECNL, with a chance to play competitively in college if she invests in herself, while enjoying the social element of playing for her HS and developing leadership skills. Yes, it's unfortunate that GDA screwed the Reign over... but in the past few years, couldn't see it coming? Hope the Reign DDs will be able to find new teams... but let's be realistic... there isn't going to be any kumbaya moment of leagues getting together to do the right thing. Let's be real, US soccer is a capitalist enterprise... like ALL other-than-recreational US youth sports leagues are...

That's the issue right there. Too many of you are focused on competition and leagues instead of how talented players are really made. Would you send your kid to a school where its recess all day long and they take science, math and reading tests on Saturdays? Everyone would get F's and that's the same grade we are getting in world soccer. Leagues are the tests and our players are not being educated.

If anyone out there does not care about a proper soccer education for our kids, they are the real problem and their kids are suffering for it. In the meantime, legions of properly educated players in Europe are being trained to come to the US and take your DD's spot on that college team you thought GDA or ECNL would help your daughter get.

Check it out: https://www.sportsrecruitingusa.com/girls-soccer-spain

Yes, COVID-19 might shelter your DDs and DSs for a while, but better educated players will be coming here to take your kids spot. Ironically, they will be coming for the school education, not the soccer. Wrap your head around that concept??!!

[Unregistered]

No way they will let Reign in RCL, their "region" overlaps clubs already in the RCL and they can't meet the min number of teams required for membership. I highly doubt they will be allowed in ECNL. Their only option is going to be pspl where their development teams are or to create their own league with other displaced DA teams. No talented player will stick around for either of those options. Anyone believing the Reign will last this out is drunk on the koolaid. I feel bad for them, it's a really crappy confluence of being a new club, DA pulling the rug out from under them, and corona making it very difficult to work out any feasible solution. Feel worse for the kids, hope their families didn't burn bridges at the clubs they left to go to Reign.

My kid plans to stay with Reign unless Reign is unable to (a) find a viable platform that (b) allows high school play (c) doesn’t cost significantly more than the other options and (d) avoid significant losses or changes to its coaching slate. She’s talented enough to find a spot elsewhere. But she’s very happy with the coaching, training, and teammates at Reign. She likes the club’s overall environment and philosophy and the connections with the NWSL team. Even in the current environment, the club has provided meaningful online development opportunities and training programs to keep pushing things forward with several sessions each week. She has improved significantly as a player during her time there. She’s confident Reign will do its best find a workable playing solution, appreciates they’ve been up front in saying it may take a bit of time to work through how best to respond to the developments of the past week, and realizes there is no need to make a rash decision because the soccer world will be shut down for the next month or more and the options that are out there now will still be there when it reopens. She has several years of club soccer left, has seen older kids go thru the whole arc of club soccer and end up playing in college (or not), knows that soccer needs to be taken year by year, that the landscape changes each year, and that some of the kids who seem like stars now won’t be in a couple of years (due to physical developments, social habits, or the exposure of the failure to develop a weaker foot or decent touch getting exposed as other kids catch up athletically, which are all things that can and do happen at all clubs). She thinks she’s in the best place for her short and long term development now (particularly given that she’ll no longer need to choose whether to skip high school play), but recognizes that may change at some point. She had an overall good experience at her old club too, knows folks from there and other clubs, and hasn’t burned any bridges, but she has preferred her experience at Reign by a large margin and is not interested in leaving. Her thought process isn’t driven by Kool Aid or a lack of intelligence, and she owns it. I’m sure others can and will make decisions to leave from one club to another for their own reasons, and don’t doubt those decisions are being made for reasons that make sense for the individuals involved.

What’s clear is this: the coaches and parents reaching out to Reign players and parents and saying they know where Reign will end up, that it won’t be ECNL or will be worse than ECNL or that having an ECNL badge on your shirt is the be all and end all, and that Reign will suffer some substantial long term negative impact due to the loss of DA are lying and making stuff up. They are not only hypocrites because of their prior criticism of Reign for “recruiting,” but they are recruiting and trying to discourage people from staying at or joining Reign based on their perceived self interest in an effort to create and exploit fear and uncertainty rather than by selling the qualities of their own club. It’s no better than repeatedly trolling people on a message board that could be better used to share constructive information, experience, and advice.

[Unregistered]

That's the issue right there. Too many of you are focused on competition and leagues instead of how talented players are really made. Would you send your kid to a school where its recess all day long and they take science, math and reading tests on Saturdays? Everyone would get F's and that's the same grade we are getting in world soccer. Leagues are the tests and our players are not being educated.

If anyone out there does not care about a proper soccer education for our kids, they are the real problem and their kids are suffering for it. In the meantime, legions of properly educated players in Europe are being trained to come to the US and take your DD's spot on that college team you thought GDA or ECNL would help your daughter get.

Check it out: https://www.sportsrecruitingusa.com/girls-soccer-spain

Yes, COVID-19 might shelter your DDs and DSs for a while, but better educated players will be coming here to take your kids spot. Ironically, they will be coming for the school education, not the soccer. Wrap your head around that concept??!!

Puhhahahhaa! This utterly laughable.

I should be worried about my child's soccer *education* in world soccer??? ... and my child is *suffering* for lack of it? ... Are you serious?

Everything else must be just dandy for you if you are ACTUALLY fretting about *properly educated* European players coming to TAKE roster spots among the 60,000+ ncaa M/W players. Gee.. thanks... after looking at the world soccer recruiting website you linked... I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight... Phew... good thing we can take shelter under this COVID pandemic!

"... but better educated players will be coming here to take your kids spot. Ironically, they will be coming for the school education, not the soccer. "

Yeah... this makes a lot of sense. As if because they are better [soccer] educated foreign players per your logic, they will certainly displace my child from his/her college of choice and the potential to play soccer there without even considering perhaps a more significant education? ... the applicant's academic education and merit in the first place. All the power to you ... no doubt your DD/DS will get into your school of choice and be set in life because of your precious DD/DS's *soccer education*.

Your concept, sir, is genius!