Boys DA rumors

So you guys were told that u13 will go away for the 2019-20 season?
We haven't officially been told that but our club is making plans for us to play up an age group again. From my personal conversations and from what I gathered from talking to the other parents on the team is that the current DA U12-13 will be grandfathered in.

I am not saying that it is a done deal, I am just saying that the mood changed within our club about a month ago. Again, this is a team that is directly effected by this change so they have been very upfront about what they are hearing from USDA
 
I don’t think that will be the case. It’s going to be more of the same only that they will go back to play csl gold or scdsl flight one
And that’s what DA is now the flight ones move to DA the C team becomes the B team and B becomes the A or DA2 or Pre academy
The competition still going to be the same
That’s how it was before they added the U12-14 DA
I think it’s a smart move. Youngers may not like it but at u16 splitting the teams to one age group makes a lot of sense ask any 03players right now they want DA.
Having gone thru it last year on the short side DA it was cool at first but if it goes away you are not missing out much at u12-u13 even at u 14
With the regions separated
I actually agree with you 100%. The more people I talk to who have had kids in U12-13 DA say the same thing. Our team will be playing up an age group so we will find plenty of good competition that way.
 
I don't think a team can just play up ,doesn't it have to be approved by the league? My DD team always spoke about it but rumor was league said no?
 
I don't think a team can just play up ,doesn't it have to be approved by the league? My DD team always spoke about it but rumor was league said no?
League approved our team this season. We played '07 flight 1 as a '08 team, but we will play all tournaments with the '08
 
It is admittedly strange that the kids at the higher end of the talent pool of their age group essentially take a step backwards in competitiveness. To go from U11 with 3 refs to U12 with 1 referee. The season with State/National Cup and other big tournaments adds a little excitement, and then they go to playing the same 9 teams 3-4times a year.

It feels weird telling a parent with their future MLS star child that "if the DA really cared if the ball went 1 inch over the sideline, then they would hire AR's". The referee has to guestimate offsides. There are subs on the fly allowed and DA doesn't really keep score. The interchangeable 22 man roster where they split them into 2 games. It all definitely has a "4phun" kind of vibe to it. At the same time, while DA doesn't really emphasize winning because they want to promote development, the coaches sure seem to emphasize winning and I have seen some kids go with little playing time.

1 possible benefit is that the referees doing the solo U12 DA games are definitely way better than the average Center referee if you stayed in CSL, SDCSL, SDDA etc. So while you don't have the accuracy of correct out of bounds and offside calls, you will have the rule accuracy as well as the foul recognition and card selection (relative) consistency.

Going into it I thought it was odd that my son would be going from 3 refs to 1 ref. I perceived that as a step back. However, the single DA refs we've had this year have been substantially better (for the most part) than the 3 ref crews we had last year in SCDSL flight 1. They've done a surprisingly great job with offside calls. They certainly haven't been perfect with sidelines calls, but the benefit is that they err on the side of playing on. I would much rather have play continue on a ball that is an inch or two outside of the touchline than have the game stopped for a throw in.

As far as playing time goes, it hasn't been an issue for my son's team. If everyone's healthy and not on vacation we still only have two subs per team. We could actually us another sub or two.
 
Going into it I thought it was odd that my son would be going from 3 refs to 1 ref. I perceived that as a step back. However, the single DA refs we've had this year have been substantially better (for the most part) than the 3 ref crews we had last year in SCDSL flight 1. They've done a surprisingly great job with offside calls. They certainly haven't been perfect with sidelines calls, but the benefit is that they err on the side of playing on. I would much rather have play continue on a ball that is an inch or two outside of the touchline than have the game stopped for a throw in.

As far as playing time goes, it hasn't been an issue for my son's team. If everyone's healthy and not on vacation we still only have two subs per team. We could actually us another sub or two.
How about the travel? and playing same team 3- 4 times and no tournaments... I know my son missed playing tournaments and I did too.
 
My biggest annoyance with the DA so far is the ban on outside soccer. I'm down with no high school team, but at the younger ages it seems really counter productive to limit kids soccer. I know at least one club around here that won't even let kids play rec pickup futsal. That's total crap -- the ussf supposedly promotes futsal with their u12 showcase, then pressures kids to not actually play any futsal.
 
How about the travel? and playing same team 3- 4 times and no tournaments... I know my son missed playing tournaments and I did too.

We had a unique situation last year in that we were in the only SD team in our SCDSL bracket, so we actually have had a lot less travel this year than last year. We played 4 tourneys before league started and are going to play in a January tournament with a DA bracket.

My biggest annoyance with the DA so far is the ban on outside soccer. I'm down with no high school team, but at the younger ages it seems really counter productive to limit kids soccer. I know at least one club around here that won't even let kids play rec pickup futsal. That's total crap -- the ussf supposedly promotes futsal with their u12 showcase, then pressures kids to not actually play any futsal.

Some clubs I guess are pretty strict, others take a "don't ask, don't tell" approach when it comes to playing Mex league, indoor soccer and futsal. There is no specific prohibition on futsal in the USSDA rules. I would argue that "futsal is futsal" and "soccer is soccer". Sometimes asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission. ;)
 
Some clubs I guess are pretty strict, others take a "don't ask, don't tell" approach when it comes to playing Mex league, indoor soccer and futsal. There is no specific prohibition on futsal in the USSDA rules. I would argue that "futsal is futsal" and "soccer is soccer". Sometimes asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission. ;)

Agreed. I just think they should make it perfectly clear that outside futsal is allowed and encouraged. the up and coming clubs that are applying for expansion feel they need to strictly follow the rules, and since the rules aren't clear, they err on the side of caution and expressly ban futsal. Result is less player development. Kids shouldn't feel their roster spot is in jeopardy just for playing pickup futsal.
 
The reduction continues,. This years changes to fewer 20 odd games for u16+ is topic for conversation. I know Teddy at the Pats was concerned going into the Showcase that his olders only played 4 games first half. Tough one first FL showcase game in sunny, windy conditions but the east teams are doing pretty good so far...

futsal going from required and having showcases to not at all it's kind of disappointing
 
No mention of the u13s (2007s).

Can we "assume" that U13 will continue at least another year? Who knows...US Soccer is so bad about getting their message out (among many other things). This U-12 press release is barely intelligible, 90% rationalization, 10% substance. They can't even hire a USMNT coach. The first thing they need to do after they hire a coach is fire their PR department. Some of the public comments made by their director/officers about the DA and coach licensing have been absurd.
 
Same for U16/17 03/04' .... will be evaluating the response to interest form before making a decision we were told although some think it's likely to stay combined.
That would be a mistake. But they’ve been making that mistake for years. Why should we really expect anything different next year? Par for USSDA.
 
it was the opinion of our DA coach last year, who was privy to some of Double Pass's evaluation of US Soccer some years ago, that U12/U13 was almost too late to begin the type of rigorous strategic and skills based training that the academies offered. In order to properly prime the US pipeline for talent that could compete on an international level, DA type training needed to start even earlier.
 
@timbuck: true; however, having standards (such as minimum coaching licensing levels, strategy/ curriculum, etc) is much more difficult without the structure of a national organization.

what I would hope, is that USSDA publishes a curriculum for clubs for each of the younger age levels, and provides resources (or at least opportunities) for coaches to be sufficiently trained to execute the curricula.

additionally, without the DA, the waters get muddy again. Where do you go to get the top level training? in socal, is it: scdsl flight one, csl gold, ecnl, odp, etc, etc.
 
@timbuck: true; however, having standards (such as minimum coaching licensing levels, strategy/ curriculum, etc) is much more difficult without the structure of a national organization.

what I would hope, is that USSDA publishes a curriculum for clubs for each of the younger age levels, and provides resources (or at least opportunities) for coaches to be sufficiently trained to execute the curricula.

additionally, without the DA, the waters get muddy again. Where do you go to get the top level training? in socal, is it: scdsl flight one, csl gold, ecnl, odp, etc, etc.

Leagues don't train anybody. Club/team/coach does that.
 
Leagues don't train anybody. Club/team/coach does that.
Well, yes ... and no. In order for a coach's training/ instruction to have max impact, the player needs to be surrounded by other high quality players and teams. This is where the league comes in. From what I've experienced in CSL Gold, ECNL, and SCDSL, the variance in coach/player/ and team quality is pretty large. Personally, I think the environment of the DA will produce more higher quality players. Anyway, that's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.
 
Well, yes ... and no. In order for a coach's training/ instruction to have max impact, the player needs to be surrounded by other high quality players and teams. This is where the league comes in. From what I've experienced in CSL Gold, ECNL, and SCDSL, the variance in coach/player/ and team quality is pretty large. Personally, I think the environment of the DA will produce more higher quality players. Anyway, that's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

Not without player (and parents) commitment to the program, and actual good coaches who can (and will) train to the program.

What DA has done as a league is to scare many good players away.
 
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