El Clasico
GOLD
That's a lot faith in a system that has yet to get it done in ten years of trying...
Girls Development Academy
- Thread starter Swoosh
- Start date
That's a lot faith in a system that has yet to get it done in ten years of trying...
GoWest
GOLD
Rumblings include 15-25 current DA clubs on the fence about leaving. Is there that much discontent with the upstart league? Things must be pretty tangled for major clubs like Hawks, Mass and PDA to simply pull the plug.
Well, parents do have a say. That may be feeding the discontent?
GoWest
GOLD
@davin posted this link on the ECNL thread. Good read. Thanks davin.
http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news...-soccer-leaving-us-girls-development-academy/
http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news...-soccer-leaving-us-girls-development-academy/
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
I have heard the same mostly for the 02 age.
I'm not sure where people are getting that the boys aren't better players coming through the DA. If this comes from the US National team that losts, they weren't Academy players. Take a look at the players who are U20 and below and see how these young men are starting to be invited to big European teams. We perform well in the international tournaments at the U23 and below. It's the top team we have suffered at and nearly every player that was on the squad that bowed out was a seasoned professional.
When our younger national teams and DA teams play, it doesn't look very different than what you are seeing in Europe or South America. People were complaining about us looking a very tight game to the younger England team and then England went and won the tourney by a much bigger margin versus a "more established" European foe in the finals.
I like the way Tad Ramos said it, paraphrasing here... "No MLS club wants to give our 18 year old young men a chance even when they are captain of our US Youth Team Squads and Player of the Tournament, but will DP a 18 year old from South America in a minute.". Well these young men that we are ignoring and devauling are being noticed across the pond by the best soccer countries in the world.
And for those doing the comparing.... Our neighbors to the immediate South have a development and club system that has been in place much longer than ours. Also, their pro league is valued higher than ours for competition level. They have players that have been going to Europe and playing top tier longer than we have been. Still, they haven't went any further than we have in the World Cup. And they were a game a way from not qualifying for the World Cup itself and wouldn't have gotten there without a win from our team.
Now look at the countries that are not in the World Cup and their soccer tradition compared to ours. All this to say. This ish ain't easy and there is no magic formula.
El Clasico
GOLD
This response helps understand the biggest problem we have here in the US. That here in the US, first you have to figure out what the problem is and you clearly don't. You can't fix something if don't know where it is broke. The problem in the states is not the "athlete" but the people developing them and the people selecting them. Of course we have talent that is wanted "across the pond" because they see some of our athletes, the ones who also happen to be soccer players, and say, "we should go get that guy, he has potential and, unlike the Americans, we know what to do with him and how to develop that potential. As pathetic as the MLS is, to blame them for the lack of development in our youth is comical.
Not to be taken as a dig on you but you would have to go south and across the pond and spend as much time in their system as you have in ours to see the difference...which you clearly have not done.
Bottom line...you don't know what you don't know.
I have two 04’s in DA and we have decided to move them for next year so they can play multiple sports in high school. We will do Freshman year this way and if they decide soccer is all they want we will look to come back to DA the following year. It is tough giving up 4 hours a night between the drive and practice that many nights a week when we have a top non DA team practicing 2 minutes from our house.
I think your post is the nicest bitch-slap I have read in a few years.
Something I have yet to see brought up yet is that it may not be a coincidence that the 3 "big" clubs who are leaving the DA for ECNL (PDA, Hawks, and PDA) all list their club leader as an ECNL board member.
It could be interpreted that the DA defections are likely as much about politics as it is about soccer (echoing the Dallas Sting debacle last year, when another club with an ECNL board member agreed to forego DA in return for being given a 2nd ECNL spot for their ill-prepared Austin franchise).
We are going to clear up something - you don't know where I've been and what I've done so keep those opinions to yourself.
Also - this discussion saying we are behind the world - is strictly on the men's side as our Women have dominated world soccer for decades and we can continue to do so as the game grows if we don't sit on our laurels and truly develop these young girls instead of just throwing them out to win and not learn.
Thing is we have people wanting to instill the culture of these other places into the game HERE. It's not going to work. Nothing is wrong with these other cultures, so it isn't a slight and I understand wanting to take what is successful around the globe and implementing it here to get things going down the right path. Bringing the greatest coaches from around the world to set the baseline of technique and tactics is fine (my boys club does just that), but they can't bring the culture. If you really analyze what makes the game special in other places in the world, it's the culture of the game that each country has. The DNA for each and every country that sets them apart from it's neighbor and competitors.
If you have truly traveled the world you know one thing, Americans do things our way even if it is stupid and ass backwards. You also know that somehow we make that crap work for us because we are a strange bunch of people. What we need to do is create the AMERICAN identity of soccer. Take what everyone else does, keep what works for us and toss the rest. Just like the US Women did from day one. Until we make the game ours and mold our play to our ideals, designs, athletes, coaches, lifestyles and thinking processes we will remain a 2nd tier team because it will be unnatural. Stop trying to have us be European or South American. We're not them. We don't think the same. Embrace who we are and mold the game to us and we will flourish.
It's OK to be in the quarter finals of the World Cup or miss it once in a while. This is part of the growing pains. This is the journey to greatness and it's not going to happen right away. Like all the great coaches in soccer say, "We must suffer to win!".
Don't jump in with instigating statements please. Add to the conversation or step out of it.
For any of those parents that have had their kids playing high level soccer in So Cal, I call bull. What's the difference with the 4th day when little Jane or Tommy were already doing an extra day of skills privates and athletic improvement? Nada.
I'll even counter and say if the 4th day is a true film day (which it isn't for a lot of clubs right now), it's an improvement because watching the game (you and the best in the world) is a vital part of learning the game.
We aren't broke. We are soccer youth. We are young teenagers playing the game vs the grown ups. We aren't suppose to be the best in the world. Our growth has to come from within through mistakes and successes alike. We are a DEVELOPING FUTBOL COUNTRY.
We are the 4th sport in our own country. 4th sport. 4th sport. 4th sport.
And we still get the same results as most of the other grown up countries around the world. When the game takes hold here and we get crazy for it like the rest of the world we will take off and not look back. The game is great, we just don't love it enough yet to get the results that people would like to see. It will happen.
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
If four days a week of practice is too much for your kid, don't play DA. If they want to play HS, don't play DA. DA is not for everyone but does work well for those that don't want to play HS and are serious about soccer. The nice thing is that there are choices out there. So start with understanding what is important to your kid and then find the level of play and league that works for them.
MakeAPlay
DA
I disagree. If a kid is an academic star in challenging classes, is in student government, plays other sports and/or has a social life than it is way too much. During the college season they have essentially 2 practice days a week and 2 walkthrough/film days.
MakeAPlay
DA
Most girls regret not playing high school. Almost all of the WNT played high school soccer including the 2 players that didn't play college soccer.
MakeAPlay
DA
I disagree. Soccer is not new in America and next to football is the highest youth participation sport. We are broke and it's has more to do with Capitalism and our economic/political culture than our sports culture.
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
I don't agree with your comment that most girls regret not playing HS. Your kid is in college along with her peers. DA did not exist when they were in HS so playing HS was the norm. So unless you have another kid currently playing HS I think times have changed and you may not have the current perspective. From a parent perspective I loved HS. Friday night games with packed stands. Newspaper articles. It feeds a parent's ego. From my dd perspective she was extremely frustrated by the quality of play (even though we won league) and the quality of training. She won't be playing HS during here senior season and is looking forward to having a break since DA shuts down for about 5 weeks during December/January. I have asked my dd whether this has been discussed with her current DA players and she tells me that really no one misses HS. Personally I think its the parents that miss it more.
This is very telling about you.