Yes, this is the real reason it was created.
Girls DPL?
- Thread starter Soccerreccos
- Start date
Yes, this is the real reason it was created.
But it was sold as this. The problem is that people are buying this and talking as if it is assumed that DPL is superior to these other leagues. Just because you repeat it 100 times doesn't make it true. I'm just calling it out every time I see it.
And neither was ECNL after DA came with exception of Bakers which is why ECNL is apparently forcing the clubs hands now.
They are not thrilled with their product.
Time will tell though
It seems you are saying the intention of the 9 So Cal DA/DPL clubs in forming DPL was to help put a better DA product on the field. If that's true, then DPL doesn't seem to have served its purpose. Based on the goal differential analysis I did earlier (in a separate thread), the median DA ranking of the 4 DA/ECNL clubs in So Cal is 15.5 (out of 69 DA clubs nationally). By comparison the median DA ranking of the 9 So Cal DA/DPL clubs is 44 (49 if you take out Legends and Beach). Further, there are 46 DA clubs in the country that have neither ECNL nor DPL teams, including 3 of the top 10. So it is not like it was impossible for the DA/DPL clubs to operate or succeed without placing their B teams in a closed league.
This is not a matter of just picking which league works best for my daughter's situation. Imagine if your cable company (the only one that serviced your area) suddenly informed you they would be splitting their channel line up into two different packages (one with the odd numbered channels and the other with the even number channels). And imagine if they forced you to pick one or the other (you couldn't chose both). Wouldn't you be upset that you no longer had access to all your favorite channels? Maybe one package would be somewhat better or worse for your situation, but you are still worse overall.
This is why, as a consumer of club soccer services, the formation of DPL upsets me so much (and why it should upset the parents of the DPL clubs too).
Of course, this wouldn't be as much of a problem if all the best non-DA/ECNL players suddenly moved to DPL. But I see no indication that happened or has any prospect of happening.
As others have pointed out, this is a business. It appears the So Cal clubs that were lucky enough to be granted a DA franchise rushed to gain the maximum competitive advantage from that fortuitous development and decided (wrongly in my view) that colluding to form DPL was the best way to do that. They were also likely enticed by the fact that there are so many DA clubs in such close proximity here in So Cal that is was actually possible to do something like this.
As a business executive myself, I would have taken a different tact. I would have focused on giving my customers the best product possible to suit their needs. And I would have done that first and foremost by making the quality of my new flagship product (DA) as high as possible. I would also offer a range of complementary products (teams) that fit the specific needs of a range of other customers. And in so doing I'd want each of those teams (B, C, etc.) to be placed at the optimal level of competitive play for my customers. Further, I would have recognized that locking my secondary product (team) into a given set of opponents would be a detriment to my customers and, ultimately, a competitive disadvantage.
When you think about ECNL and DA, they are closed leagues but they actually have a promotion and demotion feature because clubs can be added or cut from the league depending on performance. But with DPL presumably there is no way to add or cut teams unless something happens with that club's DA teams (different teams in a different league).
This may be a business, but in my view the clubs are not being managed as a good business should be. As a customer, I hope for something better.
Ghostwriter
SILVER
I agree that DPL isn t equal to ECNL this year. I agree that DA/ECNL clubs had a huge advantage this year over DA/DPL clubs. That was expected for almost a generation ECNL has been the standard bearer in Girls Club Soccer. So all the ECNL team's had depth beyond that of any other Non-Ecnl club. Beach and Legends were the closes to the ECNL clubs. I don't look at DPL as a failed program after one fall season in contrary the mere fact people are talking about it is a win. I think it will take years to see how this all plays out. Entering this past season DA and ECNL were looked at as equals but in reality DA has moved ahead of ECNL. ECNL is clearly above DPL but DPL has seperated themselves from SCDSL and CSL. If you look at a DA/ECNL club their A team is DA, their B team is ECNL, and their C team is their top team in SCDSL. If DA didn't come up with DPL they would be competing and selling their B team competing against DA/ECNL clubs C team. From a competitive stance that would be counterproductive to try and close the gap that naturally existed coming into this year.
What about teams from clubs that are not in DA or ECNL? There are enough age groups in the California Regional League where teams from these clubs seem to be consistently beating DPL teams. My guess is that the better DPL clubs will continue to seek out this competition. People tend to argue the most about the things that matter least, which is why this SCDSL v. DPL v. CSL continues to generate posts (there is no big difference in level of play).
Three DA/DPL clubs were in ECNL the season prior to this year. They have been average so far in DA (much less competitive than even Beach or Legends). So ECNL experience, by itself, doesn't seem to give a club that big of a competitive advantage.
On the other hand the 4 So Cal DA/ECNL clubs were not just in ECNL last year, they had consistently been among the top clubs in ECNL nationally. They were good then and they are good now (and were good before ECNL was formed in 2009).
Further, there are no DA/ECNL clubs in CSL, so if the CSL clubs moved their B teams back to CSL (and they made Premier) they would face a slate of DA club B teams and other clubs' A teams.
On the other hand, it's true that the dual DA/ECNL clubs (Slammers, So Cal Blues, and Surf/WC) have C teams in SCDSL. So a DA club's B team playing SCDSL might have up to 4 of its 10 league games against DA/ECNL "C" teams. I'm not sure that carries the ignominy you attribute to it. But failing to make Champions might.
P.S. DA didn't come up with DPL. The DPL member clubs did. It has no affiliation with DA.
I just wish the DPL players and parents stop calling it DA. It is nauseating to have to continually explain to parents that they bought a load of crap.
There you go again, you have to slip in one of these lines in every post. It’s not going to work. As pointed out above, the FACTS simply don’t back you up. Your attempt at logic, i.e. “well if C teams play in SCDSL they can’t possibly be better than B teams in DPL,. . . .” doesn’t work because you fail to take into account all the variables.
Ghost, seriously, how long have you been around? My dd’s play in SCDSL (after playing CSL last year) and I would not argue that that SCDSL is better than DPL or CSL. It’s pretty much all the same sh*#%t.
The way I see it, you have about 2-4 elite teams in each age group (definitely DA teams here) followed by 10-15 excellent teams (mostly rest of DA, mid to top ECNL, and maybe a top DPL, CSL, or SCDSL), followed by about 20-25 very good teams (lowest DA, mid to low ECNL, & top DPL, SCDSL, CSL).
The difference between the groups, up or down, is not much and on any given day a lower group team can beat a higher one (almost impossible to beat a team two levels higher).
The difference within the groups is minimal, that’s why I think it’s useless to try and argue which league is better. For the most part, the top teams from DPL, SCDSL, and CSL are in the “very good” team category. Pretty much the same or similar level imo.
Ghostwriter
SILVER
Honestly I can care less about DPL, ECNL, SCDSL, CSL, DA, CRL. My perspective wasn't who had better team's it was about club marketing and the existing hierarchy in Girls Club Soccer. When I referenced the hierarchy of DA, ECNL, DPL, SCDSL, and CSL it wasn't on individual team's, age groups, or who's team is better. It was purely on a marketing level and perception. None of this matters and obvisouly there is some deep seeded angst by some posters in regards to this topic. I tried turning on a light bulb in a dark room only to find out the light switch doesn't work.
Then why didn’t you say so. If you had said, “DPL has separated themselves, perception wise, from SCDSL and CSL” we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I can’t control people’s perception. They can perceive what they want to perceive.
However, you didn’t qualify your statement, you said it as if it was a fact. That’s the one and only issue I have. Just because clubs and parents say it is so doesn’t make it so.
However, you didn’t qualify your statement, you said it as if it was a fact. That’s the one and only issue I have. Just because clubs and parents say it is so doesn’t make it so.
This is the quote I am referring to.
To Striker's point, I've heard of clubs not currently ECNL members suggesting that they hope to be joining the league next year (2019).
I'd imagine that if ECNL boots clubs that also have DA, those clubs will move their 2nd team to DPL as well (so in SD, Surf ECNL becomes Surf DPL, while Sharks and perhaps a new club or two are ECNL).
I'd imagine that if ECNL boots clubs that also have DA, those clubs will move their 2nd team to DPL as well (so in SD, Surf ECNL becomes Surf DPL, while Sharks and perhaps a new club or two are ECNL).
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
I think all of you are arguing over a topic that is silly. Each and every league has the same right to exist. None of us had anything to do with the formation of any of these leagues. We are only arguing over who plays who in 9 or 10 games when most teams play 40 to 50 games in a year or more. If DPL didn't exist some of the CSL parents would be complaining why they are not Premier. Some of the SCDSL parents would be complaining why they would not be Flight #1 (oops I meant in the Champions Division since almost any team can be flight 1). And yes this includes some of the DPL teams that would not be in Premier or Champions League. While the very best teams are no longer beating each other up over the short league schedule, the side benefit is that more teams have had a chance to move up to their top of their leagues and play better competition. All three leagues will get a chance to prove themselves when they play each other in National Cup anyway.
I can also tell you that while I never had the chance to witness ECNL in the past, the quality of play I have seen in my limited exposure to the DA so far beyond anything in DPL, SCDSL or CSL.
I can also tell you that while I never had the chance to witness ECNL in the past, the quality of play I have seen in my limited exposure to the DA so far beyond anything in DPL, SCDSL or CSL.
It only started when posters started claiming, ecplicitly or implicitly, that DPL was a superior league. Your issue should be with them.
As expected. Nobody in their right mind can argue that.
Now the newly minted DP to DA crowd is especially how shall we say "cocky"
Do these people not know we see their league?!
When does ECNL announce new clubs? I assume that IF they were going to make a club choose, they would do it prior to deciding how many and where new clubs are needed.
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Please learn how to spell "explicitly" (lol). Also you seem to have forgotten how this topic started. This thread started as a good discussion about schedules and then usual agitators started dumping on DPL.