Discovery and college

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Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.
 
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.

Discovery last season was just another league division with a new name from what I heard... yeah can play those sanctioned tournments (Surf, Man City) or showcases (Vegas, Legends, etc) if your team gets accepted.

With the new NCCA rules showcases maybe not that popular anymore unless u16-17+
 
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.

Discovery does NOT attract college coaches. Plus, many of the top Discovery teams in Socal will be leaving due to many of the players moving to ECNL where college coaches will most likely be spending their time.
 
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.
What club was your team with that you are being dropped?
 
What club was your team with that you are being dropped?
Probably because the club found a shiny new toy (coach) that was willing to bring his team over. (I have no insight on this at all. Pure speculation on my part. But why else would an entire team move from dpl to Discovery)
 
DPL is it's own closed league. Discovery in just another name for the highest tier of SCDSL. Moving from DPL back to SCDSL does not guarantee a spot in Discovery. Saying your team is dropping from DPL to Discovery implies that DPL is superior....minus Lengends (speaking of 02s) the teams in SCDSL Discovery and other levels regularly beat the DPL teams in CRL, showcases etc....There are clubs such as RSC and Beach where some of their SCDSL teams are stronger than their DPL teams.
 
Discovery last season was just another league division with a new name from what I heard... yeah can play those sanctioned tournments (Surf, Man City) or showcases (Vegas, Legends, etc) if your team gets accepted.

With the new NCCA rules showcases maybe not that popular anymore unless u16-17+
If I'm reading the new rules correctly, doesn't it means there really is no reason to have showcases for U16 and younger?
 
The rule modification says: Effective May 1, 2019, college coaches will be allowed to directly initiate recruiting-related discussions with potential recruits starting on June 15 at the end of the player’s sophomore year. This is two and a half months earlier than the previous date of September 1 for players entering their junior year.

Note that the recruiting rules changed a year ago, and that this modification allows contact sooner. Also note this is for coaches to initiate contact, players have been and still can contact coaches on their own.
 
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.

As previously mentioned, Discovery was just another tier within SCDSL. There were no scouts at any of our games and the Discovery showcase which we didnt participate in due to CRL games was a bust. There were only 6 teams I believe and if my memory is correct 3 did not play in discovery and 2 of the 3 that did were the bottom of Discovery.

The difference between DPL and say Discovery is all over the board in terms of which is a higher level of play. The talent in SoCal is so spread out and everyone has their reasons for going one direction or the other. In our case specifically, we did not lose to any DPL teams from SoCal or out of state DPL teams this past year. Not sure that really is an effective measurement but that's how it played out for us.

As for other showcases, there were no restrictions and you were free to play in as many as your team wanted. As mentioned in a previous post, several teams are either moving to ECNL, ECNL II or being dispersed between the two for a few of the larger clubs that are not participating in DA. I'm not sure where that leaves Discovery in terms of the actual level of play going forward. Moving teams up from SCDSL Champions would be more semantics that anything else. Discovery was over sold, under delivered, and the only real upside (debatable) was all teams in your age group played in Norco around the same time every weekend so there was at least consistency with the field quality as opposed to the varying quality/condition of home fields for the various clubs.

So goes the business of youth soccer I suppose as everyone chases the carrot.
 
The rule modification says: Effective May 1, 2019, college coaches will be allowed to directly initiate recruiting-related discussions with potential recruits starting on June 15 at the end of the player’s sophomore year. This is two and a half months earlier than the previous date of September 1 for players entering their junior year.

Note that the recruiting rules changed a year ago, and that this modification allows contact sooner. Also note this is for coaches to initiate contact, players have been and still can contact coaches on their own.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-adopts-rules-curb-early-recruiting

"The proposal for most sports would allow communication — either from or to a coach — June 15 after the sophomore year of high school and would allow visits beginning Aug. 1 before the junior year of high school."

I could be wrong, but I read it as no contact "to" a coach either before June 15.
 
If I'm reading the new rules correctly, doesn't it means there really is no reason to have showcases for U16 and younger?
No that would be incorrect.

While the coaches cannot communicate with the kids, they still need to see who is out there. So there is absolutely value to doing showcases at U16 and younger.
 
As previously mentioned, Discovery was just another tier within SCDSL. There were no scouts at any of our games and the Discovery showcase which we didnt participate in due to CRL games was a bust. There were only 6 teams I believe and if my memory is correct 3 did not play in discovery and 2 of the 3 that did were the bottom of Discovery.

The difference between DPL and say Discovery is all over the board in terms of which is a higher level of play. The talent in SoCal is so spread out and everyone has their reasons for going one direction or the other. In our case specifically, we did not lose to any DPL teams from SoCal or out of state DPL teams this past year. Not sure that really is an effective measurement but that's how it played out for us...

So goes the business of youth soccer I suppose as everyone chases the carrot.

We played Discovery as well and completely agree with your assessment - especially that talent is spread out. We also beat every DPL team we faced. We struggled against top SoCal ECNL teams. We did not play any DA teams this season, but we beat one last season. We probably would have struggled against top DA teams this season as well, but DA coaches were nevertheless openly recruiting our players.

D1 and academic D3 coaches from SoCal colleges would come to our Discovery games in Norco occasionally to watch the players on our team that they were recruiting. Because they are in the middle of their own seasons, it seems that is about as good as it gets.

The majority of the team is playing college soccer next year - some D1 and others academic D3. We were fortunate to have a great coach and dedicated families and players. That is what made the difference. We happened to be in Discovery, but we would have had the same experience in any league as long as our team’s internal management systems remained the same.

No college coach ever asked our players about what league our team played, but every coach asked about our players’ GPA and standardized test scores. We always kept this in mind, and it had the effect of limiting how much we all chased.

To the original poster, good luck finding what is best for your player.
 
I have to agree with that question as well. Why no value for boys?

They don't go to college?

There absolutely is value for them as well going to showcases younger than U16 going forward.
Boys mature so much later that games before U16 do not show how they might play and compare to other players when they are in college.
 
Boys mature so much later that games before U16 do not show how they might play and compare to other players when they are in college.

That and the fact <U16 is middle school or freshman in high school for 4 yr schools for most boys in SoCal.

With so many so-called showcases or ID camps hard to see the value for boys that are Sophomores going to be Juniors in the summer going forward with the new rules.

The overused /marketed showcases or camps have spread things out so much that unless a set of specific coaches/schools will be attending that a player is interested in they can become boring for the players and little or no value to them.

Personally I think the better tournments, playoffs, and coaches coming to practices (setup by your college coordinate or coaches) to see interested players are more motivating and a better value than just another showcase or camp. I would say they had/have 10x or more college types following them that way as opposed to some college showcases they attended but did get some interest in those as well, so I would say limited value and not a great bang for the buck or time.
 
College coaches are generally NOT going to ECNL or Discovery or Premier or any other league games or league showcases on a fishing expedition to see what amazing recruits they may find.

They go to games of all stripes, even high school games in some markets, to see specific kids that they have specific interest in recruiting/assessing.

Sure, the showcases and high caliber events such as Surf Cup or Jefferson Cup attract a lot of coaches simply because there are many teams in a concentrated area for 2-3 days and they can see a dozen of the kids they are already interested in.

Is there a chance that your kid may make a splash and have a moment in front of a coach that was there to recruit someone else? Sure. But it would have to check lots of other boxes both ways from fit, to geography, to grades, to position, etc. for there to be a match.

Your kid gets on the radar screen in good old fashioned ways like reaching out to coaches from programs that they are interested in and explaining their interest and providing a video tape and bragging about their grades and other accomplishments. If your kid is at the right level and plays the right style and position the coach will make every effort to seem him/her play - wherever!

These pissing contests over which league or which showcase has the most coaches are hilarious and maddening because it reeks of both total ignorance of the process and a gross lack of self belief.
 
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.
It is true that Discovery league is just another league; however, DPL is also just another league - no better or worse than Discovery.
 
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