Girls Development Academy

Desert Hound said:
Question is...what exactly are they testing?

Also..what happens in the showcases? I guess they get hammered playing u16/17 teams.
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I imagine in showcases they will take their best combined team 2002/03, just like every other club outside the Frontier League. The 2003 age band will be for league play only.
 
ajaxahi said:
1) Age groups for the current 17/18 season are 2004, 2003, 2001/02, 1999/2000. Age groups for the upcoming 18/19 season are 2005(and a sprinkling of 06s), 2004, 2002/03, 2000/01. The setup appears to be unchanged from last year, just with age groups moved up one year, so why are so many posters surprised?

2) As some have commented here, the approach girls DA is taking seems to be one of “funneling” players as they get older. Casting a bigger net with the younger age groups and whittling down the talent as the players get older. Maybe I’m missing something, but this approach to identifying players seems totally logical to me.
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^ THANK YOU!!!
 
Simisoccerfan said:
All 78 clubs did not have a single age band for U16/U17 this year. None of them had it. There was a single age band for U15's this year. 03's are graduating up (as is all other ages) to the U16/17 age group. The fact that they are testing one division of U16/17 as a U16 age group is something new in the structure.
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You are correct, 78 clubs had single age bands for the 03's, now only 9 clubs in the Frontier division will have single age band for 03's, U16 going forward.
 
ajaxahi said:
Seems like a lot of people are upset about the recent girls DA age group news. With respect to those who are complaining, and as an outsider with no inside information, I just have a few thoughts/observations based on common sense.

1) Age groups for the current 17/18 season are 2004, 2003, 2001/02, 1999/2000. Age groups for the upcoming 18/19 season are 2005(and a sprinkling of 06s), 2004, 2002/03, 2000/01. The setup appears to be unchanged from last year, just with age groups moved up one year, so why are so many posters surprised?

2) As some have commented here, the approach girls DA is taking seems to be one of “funneling” players as they get older. Casting a bigger net with the younger age groups and whittling down the talent as the players get older. Maybe I’m missing something, but this approach to identifying players seems totally logical to me.

3) I have heard many people on and off this forum observe that the talent pool in girls DA is diluted this year, with only a handful of “elite”players (i.e. true USYNT pool prospects) on each team and many clubs offering spots to players people consider to be not part of Socal’s “elite” talent. If this is true then combining age groups is an obvious way to address this and concentrate talent as players get older.

4) Some attribute the watering down of player talent to girls DA admitting too many clubs into the program. To fix this issue they propose shrinking the number of girls DA clubs. It seems to me that part of the reason DA chose to concentrate talent through dual age bands in the older years instead of admitting fewer clubs is so they can have a broader geographic reach, again with the goal of casting a broader net to identify talent. Fewer clubs means longer drives and maybe missing out on a few gems whose families couldn’t make it work.

5) Some are complaining about how the girls DA setup is messing with their college recruiting plans. It seems pretty obvious to me that your college recruiting plans are not the DA’s top priority. The truth is DA might not be the best fit for everyone’s player, but luckily if your player is good enough there seems to be plenty of other options to get exposure and get recruited.

DA is obviously not for everyone. Do your homework, stop trying to “keep up with the Joneses,” and find the best situation/league/coach/group of players for your daughter so she can achieve her soccer dreas, whatever they might be. Good luck to all of you and your players!
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Agree with most of your post except, why do 03's continue with single age band in Frontier division if US soccer is funneling talent? US soccer has always been able to identify talent, nothing new there. You ask why so many people are surprised, well if you had been at the US soccer presentation on DA you wouldn't be wondering. Well, end of discussion.
 
Lambchop said:
Agree with most of your post except, why do 03's continue with single age band in Frontier division if US soccer is funneling talent? US soccer has always been able to identify talent, nothing new there. You ask why so many people are surprised, well if you had been at the US soccer presentation on DA you wouldn't be wondering. Well, end of discussion.
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Obviously despite Ajax's well thought out reply you still cannot accept the truth. So here what you want. US soccer's favorite Division is the Frontier Division because they bribe US Soccer. Many of the US Soccer employees also have 03 dd's in the Frontier Division and many have buddies that coach in the Frontier Division. They want to make sure every other kid is screwed and gets second crack at colleges after the 03
Frontier girls are placed. So they lied to you to lure you away from ECNL where your dd would have gotten a lot of college offers. You fell for it hard and they are glad you are suffering. Happy?
 
Lambchop said:
You are correct, 78 clubs had single age bands for the 03's, now only 9 clubs in the Frontier division will have single age band for 03's, U16 going forward.
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I'm sure you understand what "beta testing" is. Let it go. US Soccer folks don't care about the individual ants on the farm. They care about staying employed, making money, making the final sixteen of the World Cup on the senior men's side, winning World Cups and Olympics at the senior women's level and finally development. In that order.

Sad but true so don't go getting your panties in a bunch. Focus on your player. Good luck to you and your daughter.
 
Fact said:
Obviously despite Ajax's well thought out reply you still cannot accept the truth. So here what you want. US soccer's favorite Division is the Frontier Division because they bribe US Soccer. Many of the US Soccer employees also have 03 dd's in the Frontier Division and many have buddies that coach in the Frontier Division. They want to make sure every other kid is screwed and gets second crack at colleges after the 03
Frontier girls are placed. So they lied to you to lure you away from ECNL where your dd would have gotten a lot of college o ffers. You fell for it hard and they are glad you are suffering. Happy?
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Someone posted earlier that Frontier division had 11 players from their 9 clubs going to National camp and
So. Cal had 4 from their 14 clubs in this age group, I guess more talent there, you may be more correct than you realize. You are right, players fell for the "development" agenda.
 
Fact said:
Obviously despite Ajax's well thought out reply you still cannot accept the truth. So here what you want. US soccer's favorite Division is the Frontier Division because they bribe US Soccer. Many of the US Soccer employees also have 03 dd's in the Frontier Division and many have buddies that coach in the Frontier Division. They want to make sure every other kid is screwed and gets second crack at colleges after the 03
Frontier girls are placed. So they lied to you to lure you away from ECNL where your dd would have gotten a lot of college offers. You fell for it hard and they are glad you are suffering. Happy?
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Thanks Facts for exposing more of the political hacks that is titled USSDA. You should see the NT training list; there some doozies there. I guess with So Cal domination at the showcase was too much for US Soccer.
 
So can those who know help me out with something.? Cal South has a roster unfreeze November/December. Is there something similar for DA? When can a player move from one DA team to another? Please forgive me if this is been answered already. I looked and could not find a discussion about this specifically.
 
smellycleats said:
So can those who know help me out with something.? Cal South has a roster unfreeze November/December. Is there something similar for DA? When can a player move from one DA team to another? Please forgive me if this is been answered already. I looked and could not find a discussion about this specifically.
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Season ends June 28 for girls I believe, boys a few days later. DA girls are able to tryout for different clubs, teams etc. after that. Of course we all know the phone is ringing for months before this.
 
Lambchop said:
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.
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Interesting if you look on DA schedules, it has a Feb 10(future) game Galaxy vs Burlingame U14s listed as 3-0 Galaxy win. If that was the compromise, shouldn't all the games then be 3-0? Anyone know? I don't care much but it is curious.
 
Real Deal said:
Interesting if you look on DA schedules, it has a Feb 10(future) game Galaxy vs Burlingame U14s listed as 3-0 Galaxy win. If that was the compromise, shouldn't all the games then be 3-0? Anyone know? I don't care much but it is curious.
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Absolutely, but then we know it won't happen. Gosh it would take goals away from the leaders.
 
Lambchop said:
Absolutely, but then we know it won't happen. Gosh it would take goals away from the leaders.
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Speaking of goals for the leaders-- when is soccer, as a whole, gonna take PKs out as a "goal scored?" Come on, that is mostly a gimme based on who the coach allows to take the PKs as most players can hit one. I cracked up a couple days ago when Ronaldo had a "brace" in a game that was actually because he made 2 pks in one game. I think that should be a different stat (uh, like maybe, "PKs scored"?). Whomever takes the PKs gets some freebie goals. As for kids, that could be like 5-6 extra freebie goals in a league season. It should at least get a ** or something so it is "noted" as a PK instead of an actual goal.
 
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smellycleats said:
So can those who know help me out with something.? Cal South has a roster unfreeze November/December. Is there something similar for DA? When can a player move from one DA team to another? Please forgive me if this is been answered already. I looked and could not find a discussion about this specifically.
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All DA clubs have an "add/transfer" window in which new players can be added and players can transfer from one DA club to another. You can also add DP players after October, I believe.
 
Real Deal said:
Speaking of goals for the leaders-- when is soccer, as a whole, gonna take PKs out as a "goal scored?" Come on, that is mostly a gimme based on who the coach allows to take the PKs as most players can hit one. I cracked up a couple days ago when Ronaldo had a "brace" in a game that was actually because he made 2 pks in one game. I think that should be a different stat (uh, like maybe, "PKs scored"?). Whomever takes the PKs gets some freebie goals. As for kids, that could be like 5-6 extra freebie goals in a league season. It should at least get a ** or something so it is "noted" as a PK instead of an actual goal.
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They are not freebies and they count the same as any other goal. Many times in a player's career he will have scoring chances a lot easier than one-on-one from 12 yards, and those all count.

However, in my opinion, balls that go in the net during the tiebreaker circus should not be counted as heavily as regular PK goals. In fact, I would be in favor of eliminating the circus completely.
 
Real Deal said:
Speaking of goals for the leaders-- when is soccer, as a whole, gonna take PKs out as a "goal scored?" Come on, that is mostly a gimme based on who the coach allows to take the PKs as most players can hit one.
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While we’re at it, let’s take away the “clean sheet” when the GK is never meaningfully challenged. They should have a stat like an error in baseball. If you could have and should have had the save but you didn’t, then it’s an error. That would give a truer evaluation of a keeper based on how many actual shots they make a difference on.
 
espola said:
They are not freebies and they count the same as any other goal. Many times in a player's career he will have scoring chances a lot easier than one-on-one from 12 yards, and those all count.

However, in my opinion, balls that go in the net during the tiebreaker circus should not be counted as heavily as regular PK goals. In fact, I would be in favor of eliminating the circus completely.
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Aw come on. Keeper is not allowed to come off his line during a pk so no way is a 1v1 as easy since the keeper can come out and challenge. Any play where the shooter is moving, and the defenders and keeper can challenge, is harder than a PK.


Justafan said:
While we’re at it, let’s take away the “clean sheet” when the GK is never meaningfully challenged. They should have a stat like an error in baseball. If you could have and should have had the save but you didn’t, then it’s an error. That would give a truer evaluation of a keeper based on how many actual shots they make a difference on.
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"Error" is an interesting idea for a stat. Soccer needs more stats in the USA as we need it to be a viable Fantasy Sport to truly be popular :D.

It's also not great that goals and saves are the only commonly noted stats here, and not assists, key passes (defined as either passes that start a goal or passes that the forward should've put in, but didn't), defensive tackles, or anything else. A cherry-pickin forward can look pretty good on paper, even if it's the mids and D doing all the work. Europe is fixing that and adding stat categories. We need that too. We ❤️ stats!
 
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Real Deal said:
Aw come on. Keeper is not allowed to come off his line during a pk so no way is a 1v1 as easy since the keeper can come out and challenge. Any play where the shooter is moving, and the defenders and keeper can challenge, is harder than a PK.
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Keeper knows where the shot is coming from, and the shooter is allowed only oine shot. If the shooter had the ball in the same situation in live play he would be an idiot not to try a feint or dribble in closer.
 
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