Dpl

[Unregistered]

What is the story with the Development Player Academy League and how does it fit in with the other NW leagues? It looks like there is a new NW conference.

[Unregistered]

What is the story with the Development Player Academy League and how does it fit in with the other NW leagues? It looks like there is a new NW conference.

From what I understand it is girls only and partnered with GA to be their “B” league. I assume all of the clubs already in GA will also be in. That probably kills RCL and PSPL statewide leagues.

[Unregistered]

How can there possibly be room for another league in our area?

[Unregistered]

How can there possibly be room for another league in our area?

Because WYS and PSPL are run by a few incompetent people that care more about their salary than actual players and clubs. It won’t be another league, it will replace existing ones.

[Unregistered]

none

On the girls side, the DPL is the former name of the league that has become the Girls Academy. It was set up by DA clubs (back when the DA existed) mostly in Texas, SoCal and SE that needed a league for their "B" teams to play in if they didn't make the DA. Given that DA had dual birth year for their top teams (U16/17 combined and U18/19 combined) they knew they'd lose a lot of the younger aged kids in those combined ages if they didn't have a platform for them to compete in. Some clubs, like Crossfire, had ECNL as their B team which was a solid alternative for those kids. However, ECNL kicked out most DA clubs. Those DA clubs - again mostly in socal, TX and FL - created the DPL. Then when DA folded and those teams were not allowed into the ECNL, they transformed the DPL into the GAL (needed to rebrand it so it wasn't seen as a former B League) and expanded to the rest of the country.

[Unregistered]

I love how each new super elite travel league will be the death of RCL.

There are some parents that see a value to playing locally. Plenty of talent in the Seattle area to support development for 99% of the players without getting on a plane for a kids soccer game.

[Unregistered]

Spokane Surf into the DPL.

[Unregistered]

From what I understand it is girls only and partnered with GA to be their “B” league. I assume all of the clubs already in GA will also be in. That probably kills RCL and PSPL statewide leagues.

The only thing that will kill the RCL/PSPL will be ECNL expanding deeper into States/Regions. DA on the girls side didn't survive to begin with and the GA is already on thin ice. DDP is just an excuse to try to get non-"A" team players into a system where they think they can play their way up, and for Tier 3/4 Clubs to add development branding.

That being said, ECNL regional expansion shouldn't be ignored. It will be the future of top-flight girls competitive soccer in the NW in the next couple of years.