Girls Development Academy

Are you kidding, you think that Blues 01 and 02 ECNL Baker has a drop off and can't compete with the DA teams. Wrong.
Ok, time to chime in. Blues Baker is a different situation all together. Baker convinced his parents NOT to go DA and to keep their Championship ECNL team intact. As a matter of fact, a lot of his players are enrolled at J Serra. Remember DA players don’t play High School...ECNL players can play High School. Baker gets to keep his ECNL team intact and he gets to keep his Championship High School Team stacked. I’m pretty sure other then Blues being the exception. A Club that has both DA and ECNL teams, the DA team is the stronger of the two. As for being looked at by US Soccer...DA has US Reps at training sessions and games. Now parents will get on here and talk about how good their DD is and how they really want to play high school and stay on their ECNL team. But if they made the team they would be playing DA. Argue all you want but it’s true.
 
I know one player who left Baker to Play DA, she is a Freshman in High School and is also on the Varsity Tennis team. Needless to say, she is not enrolled at JSerra.....
 
Are you kidding, you think that Blues 01 and 02 ECNL Baker has a drop off and can't compete with the DA teams. Wrong.

What are you talking about? When did I say Baker's kickball team lost talent? The original comment I responded to was there was not a drop in ECNL talent. That is a dumb statement and I called it out. ECNL is not just SoCal Blues. So many girls that had no chance of making ECNL last year are now playing because of the player movement to GDA. ECNL has lost talent. It is stupid to say otherwise.
 
45 USYNT staff? So you are saying around 10 coaches/scouts per age group?

US Soccer needs to take a close look at where they are spending their money, if that is true.[/QUOTE

With 78 teams per age group, 10 per age group is not a lot, and there were at the least 50-60 college scouts at each game, with the exception of the last game which maybe had 12-15.
The couple of DOCs who I have talked to never believed the combined age group would last very long. I suspect outside of the pilot divisions next year would be the last year of the combined U15/16 age group.

The U18/19 would remain combined to account for trapped seniors.[/QUOTE
It's fair that you're a champion for the ECNL and I can certainly respect your stance at the moment. And there's no arguing that the ability to play other sports (not necessarily HS soccer) is great for the girls, and that before GDA, talent was more concentrated. But there has to be a bit of trepidation building up over there right?

Have there been any recent ECNL events that drew 415 college coaches, let alone 45 YNT staff? I heard that the ECNL events this year (AZ + FL) are averaging around 250 coaches attending with the Fall Phoenix event garnering somewhere in the 100s. I understand that is still good exposure but how long will this last considering that 415 attended the weakest GDA Showcase of the year and that budgets are tight for those guys? Not to mention, a few college coaches that attended the Fall ECNL event in Phoenix I spoke with at Silverlakes each mentioned that they were astounded at the drop off in talent they witnessed there. Furthermore, we were recently told directly from our regional US Soccer representative that going forward, scouting for the MTCs, as well as the invitations extended would be done exclusively within GDA. While it makes a lot of sense in my area, I understand that it isn't as logical in some areas (NoCal, Vegas, etc). My guess is that it is a power play to force the hands of many more top clubs, in hopes of squelching the logistical excuses many have to not participate.

Interested to hear the theory you mentioned you have --

Good luck to you and your player.
If by "travel to away games" they mean "travel to play games in So Cal," then I think it would only be 2 games per team that will be cancelled. Since the odds of their winning those games were so slim in the first place, simply recording those games as forfeits would seem reasonable.
It is my understanding that a forfeit usually only always one goal to opposing team. In this case beBurlingame cause
What is the pilot program they are doing and how will it work.
Yep, that's how forfeits work in just about every tournament/league. The compromise is they give you the win without playing, but only give you credit for one goal.

I don't know what they plan to do, but recording forfeits seems the best option here. We're talking about maybe 8 forfeited games vs about 100 total DA games Burlingame teams will play this season. And voiding other games that were actually played creates its own set of problems. For one, not all DA clubs play the same opponents. So the clubs that had Burlingame on the schedule this year would end up a game short in determining their standings. Further, any girls on the DA scoring leaderboards that had played Burlingame would have actual goals scored taken away. Your proposal just makes a difficult situation worse.
100 games?? Seriously? DA teams do not play 100 games per age group. Are you counting DA all ages and all non DA games. Just eliminate league games , games counted toward standings and all those scores. If they were averaging 5-6 against them per game, that gives the teams they played an unfair advantage for playoffs, as opposed to only 1 goal awarded for games to be forfeited. It does matter.
 
Are you kidding, you think that Blues 01 and 02 ECNL Baker has a drop off and can't compete with the DA teams. Wrong.
I guess if you don't mind getting hit with an angry, flying clipboard, that team will be highly competitive, until they graduate next year.
 
It is my understanding that a forfeit usually only always one goal to opposing team. In this case beBurlingame cause


100 games?? Seriously? DA teams do not play 100 games per age group. Are you counting DA all ages and all non DA games. Just eliminate league games , games counted toward standings and all those scores. If they were averaging 5-6 against them per game, that gives the teams they played an unfair advantage for playoffs, as opposed to only 1 goal awarded for games to be forfeited. It does matter.
GF/GA only count in cases of a tie breaker, so it’s really not that big of a deal standings wise...You still get the 3 points.
 
What are you talking about? When did I say Baker's kickball team lost talent? The original comment I responded to was there was not a drop in ECNL talent. That is a dumb statement and I called it out. ECNL is not just SoCal Blues. So many girls that had no chance of making ECNL last year are now playing because of the player movement to GDA. ECNL has lost talent. It is stupid to say otherwise.

Luckily colleges recruit players not teams. It's everybody for themselves when it comes to getting offers. You don't even need to be on a great team. The player just has to be great.
 
It is my understanding that a forfeit usually only always one goal to opposing team. In this case beBurlingame cause


100 games?? Seriously? DA teams do not play 100 games per age group. Are you counting DA all ages and all non DA games. Just eliminate league games , games counted toward standings and all those scores. If they were averaging 5-6 against them per game, that gives the teams they played an unfair advantage for playoffs, as opposed to only 1 goal awarded for games to be forfeited. It does matter.
Yes, counting all games and all age groups, it looks like 8 would have to be forfeited out of 100 total DA games on Burlingame's schedule for the season.

What you need to consider is that DA teams play some games out of their division. Take Burlingame's U15 team for example. So far they have played (and lost) four league games against So Cal teams (Real So Cal, LA Premier, Legends and Beach). They have two remaining games in So Cal (LA Galaxy and Eagles) that look like they will have to be forfeited. There's also one home game left against a So Cal team (LAFC). If you void those 7 games, all 7 of those teams will be one game short when it comes to determining the final standings of the 14 teams in the Southwest - U-15 West Division.

And yes, LA Galaxy and Eagles will be deprived of an opportunity to run up the score in their games, but there are 7 teams in the Southwest - U-15 West Division that aren't schedule to play Burlingame at all. Any team from So Cal that had Burlingame on the schedule got a benefit this season (forfeit or no).
 
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Sure shales ... who hasn't? And of course the ECNL events are still attracting the crowds ... They are 9+ years and 40+ Showcases in aren't they? GDA has been around a few months and has had 1, which makes these numbers even more telling doesn't it? Saying that the reason for the large numbers at GDA Winter was due to 'curiosity' sounds a bit like a desperate reach.

I did not, however, attend the Fall Phoenix event ... But it'd be tough to argue that the perennial powerhouses attending from SoCal and NTX weren't a massive let down considering that they are second or third teams for the most part now. Regardless, I'd have a tough time believing that 1/3+ of all coaches that attended the event would've been at one match at the same time but this isn't all that relevant here.

I'll preface this by saying for the o2s and older, it doesn't matter either way. But the real meat of my point is that there has to be a bit of anxiety building up in those on the ECNL side of things with 03s and younger given the reality of the changing landscape. I know, I know ... You're stuck in Vegas so have to convince yourselves otherwise and root like hell for the relevance of the ECNL to continue -- I'd be doing the same thing. In all likelihood however, you can expect (whether you like it or not) that the GDA will eventually come to you.

I gather from your response that you didn't buy much of what I said, but let's just say for grins that what I mentioned about what our US Soccer MTC rep (any a couple of the US Soccer liaisons from clubs in my area) told us was true. Wouldn't it be a bit naive to believe that USSDA won't follow through on what they directly told us in an effort to potentially draw top talent from non GDA clubs to GDA clubs (consolidation) in the coming year? In turn, in some areas (NoCal, Vagas) those clubs that have denied a GDA invitation might reconsider given they are either losing talent to GDA clubs or have pressure from unsatisfied parents and kiddos. We've literally already witnessed this happening ... twice actually.

That being said, I am also intrigued as to what will come about with the deep pool of '03 GDA talent in SoCal next year ... very unfortunate situation.


You cannot be that clueless @Chris Knight ...well perhaps you can be. It's not desperation to state the obvious. GDA essentially FORCED all teams to be in Florida during semester exams or face the consequences. Obviously, getting girls committed wasn't on their minds as who would do such a foolish thing and jeopardize grades? Oh wait ...we already know the answer. The girls played second fiddle once again to their male counterparts who obviously had the better dates. Furthermore , we all know the one club in NorCal who didn't show up who recently got the axe. Just taking a quick glance, Burlingame isn't the only club giving up over 5 goals per game. One can look at IMG as a testament to that argument.

As for the Phoenix event in Fall, myself and many others were there. I know what I saw in Phoenix , and I know what you didn't see. Again foolish to assume colleges and U.S. scouts are only there for SoCal and Texas and that ECNL is filled with second and third tier teams.

I don't have to convince myself about ECNL's relevance as I'm getting the desired results. Would I like for it to be more competitive...absolutely. Unfortunately that's hard to do with 21 "Elite" teams in SoCal. As for being "stuck" in Vegas...that she is not. It's a choice to have my DD play here. Seriously not convinced about the GDA product.

Just looking over the YNT rosters, players are from all of the country and not just exclusively SoCal or Texas. NorCal sends a lot of its players , and they are still primarily ECNL. So, keep believing that MTC Rep if you want. If you believe that YNT will only be players from GDA, then I'd like to sale you ocean front property in Idaho.
 
My dd attended Florida and managed just fine with her finals and grades.

You are missing my point. Why put the girls in that situation? Your DD did fine , honestly glad to hear. I know several girls who didn't attend because it was the week of exams, the week prior to exams, or in A.P. Classes the essay portion of exams. Parents didn't want to risk it.
 
GF/GA only count in cases of a tie breaker, so it’s really not that big of a deal standings wise...You still get the 3 points.
GF/GA only count in cases of a tie breaker, so it’s really not that big of a deal standings wise...You still get the 3 points.
For league standings it does count. Since Burlingame has lost every single game, that is a win for all the teams that have played them, thus if the record is tied you look at goals for and against. Simple eliminate any game counting for league and all is righted. Tournament games don't count.
 
You cannot be that clueless @Chris Knight ...well perhaps you can be. It's not desperation to state the obvious. GDA essentially FORCED all teams to be in Florida during semester exams or face the consequences. Obviously, getting girls committed wasn't on their minds as who would do such a foolish thing and jeopardize grades? Oh wait ...we already know the answer. The girls played second fiddle once again to their male counterparts who obviously had the better dates. Furthermore , we all know the one club in NorCal who didn't show up who recently got the axe. Just taking a quick glance, Burlingame isn't the only club giving up over 5 goals per game. One can look at IMG as a testament to that argument.

As for the Phoenix event in Fall, myself and many others were there. I know what I saw in Phoenix , and I know what you didn't see. Again foolish to assume colleges and U.S. scouts are only there for SoCal and Texas and that ECNL is filled with second and third tier teams.

I don't have to convince myself about ECNL's relevance as I'm getting the desired results. Would I like for it to be more competitive...absolutely. Unfortunately that's hard to do with 21 "Elite" teams in SoCal. As for being "stuck" in Vegas...that she is not. It's a choice to have my DD play here. Seriously not convinced about the GDA product.

Just looking over the YNT rosters, players are from all of the country and not just exclusively SoCal or Texas. NorCal sends a lot of its players , and they are still primarily ECNL. So, keep believing that MTC Rep if you want. If you believe that YNT will only be players from GDA, then I'd like to sale you ocean front property in Idaho.
Well since YNT is a two year cycle and very little changes in off years, and DA has only been around for a few months there probably is a lot of ECNL players. The next few years will be telling.
 
You are missing my point. Why put the girls in that situation? Your DD did fine , honestly glad to hear. I know several girls who didn't attend because it was the week of exams, the week prior to exams, or in A.P. Classes the essay portion of exams. Parents didn't want to risk it.

There are only so many weekends when this event could take place. You have finals and Christmas coming up fast. Thanksgiving weekend just occurred. Obviously they need to pick a weekend after the College season is over so coaches can attend. So your left with Thanksgiving weekend when the later rounds of college playoffs is still occurring, the next weekend when the boys showcase occurred (and their DA program has been established for years) and the weekend that the event occurred. I think they chose the right weekend. There is a lot of downtime between games so there is plenty of time to study.
 
For league standings it does count. Since Burlingame has lost every single game, that is a win for all the teams that have played them, thus if the record is tied you look at goals for and against. Simple eliminate any game counting for league and all is righted. Tournament games don't count.
Yes it does seem unfair. Maybe just make all the Burlingame games forfeits? That'd work too without changing win/loss records. I wondered why non-league games count anyway.
 
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Yes it does seem unfair. Maybe just make all the Burlingame games forfeits? That'd work too without changing win/loss records. I wondered why non-league games count anyway.
While Burlingame's U15 team has lost every game, its other 3 teams actually managed two wins and a tie among them. And then there's the home games yet to be played. Who knows, maybe they'll get inspired and win another game or two.

Forfeits always stink (mostly because the girls get cheated out of a game). But I wouldn't call them unfair. Forfeits can happen for a variety of reasons. That's why there is a rule established ahead of time for how to account for them in the teams' records.
 
There are only so many weekends when this event could take place. You have finals and Christmas coming up fast. Thanksgiving weekend just occurred. Obviously they need to pick a weekend after the College season is over so coaches can attend. So your left with Thanksgiving weekend when the later rounds of college playoffs is still occurring, the next weekend when the boys showcase occurred (and their DA program has been established for years) and the weekend that the event occurred. I think they chose the right weekend. There is a lot of downtime between games so there is plenty of time to study.

US soccer needs to alternate the dates each year for the boys DA showcase and the girls DA showcase. Problem solved, or at least solved every other year.
 
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