2018-2019 DPL Season

I get a kick out of the DPL haters.

I will try to summarize.

- It will never happen. No club is going to offer something called DPL. etc etc.
- What? it is only 9 games? What kind of league is that. Leagues need to play more than 9 games.
- It is only 9 games and the competition sucks. Why bother?
- This year...rumor of fall and spring. What? now these players can't play in other leagues? That sucks. Now they are in a closed circuit.
- Now announced fall and spring 24 games including some nice showcases? Well that is not good. Playing the same teams all year (like DA and ECNL). So they can't play in other So Cal leagues? That sucks. DPL is terrible.
- Only a couple of showcases? (conveniently forgetting that these teams can sign up and play in other events outside what is currently being considered).
- Oh and as always...the DPL teams suck for the most part.

I may have missed a few in there. But that kind of summarizes the progression of the criticism of DPL...usually by the same few people as well.
Actually, you are missing perhaps the most important critique. DPL teams are great...at the top (see Beach DPL 03's). The problem is teams are placed in this top-level gaming circuit strictly based on the league their sister teams happen to play in, not on anything they accomplish themselves. Given DPL's structure, there is no practical way to ensure that DPL teams will face consistently good competition, which is the best way for youth players to develop.

Further, it's not just the DPL players that are affected. Pulling out the 4-6 top teams from each SCDSL age group means the teams in SCDSL Discovery (formerly Champions) and National Cup will be of more inconsistent quality too. I'm sure no one is crying for Slammers, but that's an unfortunate result for kids on top teams from smaller clubs who may not have the resources to support a full DA or ECNL program. And it can impact the DPL clubs themselves too. At the 02 level, the Beach DPL team and Beach Chirgwin team are both outstanding and both deserve to play consistently good competition, which simply isn't going to happen this season.

If all the best players not otherwise in DA or ECNL somehow end up playing in DPL some day, I suppose this problem will be minimized. The league's founders and cheerleaders like you seem to be counting on that. But, if the results from National Cup and tournaments like SilverLakes Summer Showcase are any indication, we are nowhere near that. And given the lack of participation of Slammers (or Strikers or Blues or San Diego Soccer Club or ...) I can't imagine we will get there anytime soon.

This is not just a closed league - it is a merit-less league. Teams can neither earn their way in (like CRL or the NorCal NPL) nor openly register and earn a top-level placement based on talent (CSL and SCDSL).
 
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The league's founders and cheerleaders like you seem to be counting on that.
I have never been a cheerleader of/for DPL. I am curious as to how it develops, but you will not find posts of mine talking about how great DPL is.

From an AZ perspective we are rather diluted now with 2 DA, 2 ECNL and 2 DPL teams per age group. A total of 2 teams per age group which was what it was up until the end of this past season was about right. That said...again from an AZ perspective it is better to have a DD playing on one of these teams and playing So Cal teams vs playing in an AZ league due to the level of competition.
 
Since DP's are now called PT's is the DPL going to change its name to PTL? Seriously the new rules announced last week prohibiting PT players from playing HS should have all the DPL member clubs worried since the whole premise of DPL is that DPL is the equivalent of ECNL except that DD's on DPL teams can get called up to play DA. Now with the rule change, if a DD on a DPL team player gets called up as a PT, she can't play high school soccer. I guess now on every DPL team there will be two groups of girls - PT and HS.
 
Since DP's are now called PT's is the DPL going to change its name to PTL? Seriously the new rules announced last week prohibiting PT players from playing HS should have all the DPL member clubs worried since the whole premise of DPL is that DPL is the equivalent of ECNL except that DD's on DPL teams can get called up to play DA. Now with the rule change, if a DD on a DPL team player gets called up as a PT, she can't play high school soccer. I guess now on every DPL team there will be two groups of girls - PT and HS.
At least it's not confusing.
The realist in me thinks the timing of all of this is just a coincidence.
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that the SCDSL Flights being released prior to DA making this PT Player announcement stinks a little. Not sure if SCDSL or DA is the culprit or the victim though. Ultimately, it sucks for kids that thought they were getting one thing and now it might be different.
Here's what I say - If your kid is good enough to make a DA team (or ECNL team if they only have ECNL) and will get lots of playing time - Play DA. If your kid is on the bench or a DPL player - I think you should find the best coach that is closest to your house and enjoy the ride regardless of flight or name on the jersey.

Edit: Let me add that if your kid has dreams of playing DA but didn't make the cut this year - Go back and tryout again the following year. Kick ass. Chase that dream. But don't think the dream gets easier because you are on the DPL team.
 
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Quick glance at a few 05 and 04 teams and it looks like a lot of Sunday games.
Does this mean that these players can guest with DA, SCDSL or Coast teams within their club on Saturdays?
Also - It appears that there is a break in games from November 25th until March 3rd. What happens during this 3 month gap?

Full DA teams do not have this break.
 
24 game season. Plays same opponents on a weekend as DA. Sometimes same day sometimes the next day. DPL takes the same Arizona trip for our club as the DA. DPL plays league games at Silverlakes Thanksgiving. This is a much better schedule than last year.
 
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