Girls Development Academy

MakeAPlay said:
Nice try. My daughter would disagree with you but okay. You are right ECNL did little it was all magic.
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My honest belief is Strikers and/or Surf did it. I think ECNL just gave the competitive platform. I am trying to be educated, not troll. What did ECNL specifically do? They have no minimum coaching standards etc. correct? If you know something please share...
 
LadiesMan217 said:
My honest belief is Strikers and/or Surf did it. I think ECNL just gave the competitive platform. I am trying to be educated, not troll. What did ECNL specifically do? They have no minimum coaching standards etc. correct? If you know something please share...
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It seems like playing with and against top talent would develop a player.
 
LadiesMan217 said:
My honest belief is Strikers and/or Surf did it. I think ECNL just gave the competitive platform. I am trying to be educated, not troll. What did ECNL specifically do? They have no minimum coaching standards etc. correct? If you know something please share...
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The ECNL provided the teammates and competition along with the more motivated and dedicated coaches that pushed my daughter to constantly hone her craft into what it is today. She was motivated to constantly work on improving every aspect of her game and to strive to be the best player on the pitch. The ECNL contained the majority of the elite players in the USA which constantly gave her the ability to measure herself against the best. Her performance in this cauldron focused her not only athletically but also academically (I told her I wouldn't spend the money without her getting straight A's). It developed her time management, it forced her to have to make grown up decisions (I have to skip the dance/movie/whatever because of a game). The ECNL did plenty to develop my player but like any major project it took a village (ECNL, her coaches, her parents, her teammates) in order to get her to where she is today and it will continue to be a group effort to get her to where she wants to go.
 
MakeAPlay said:
The ECNL provided the teammates and competition along with the more motivated and dedicated coaches that pushed my daughter to constantly hone her craft into what it is today. She was motivated to constantly work on improving every aspect of her game and to strive to be the best player on the pitch. The ECNL contained the majority of the elite players in the USA which constantly gave her the ability to measure herself against the best. Her performance in this cauldron focused her not only athletically but also academically (I told her I wouldn't spend the money without her getting straight A's). It developed her time management, it forced her to have to make grown up decisions (I have to skip the dance/movie/whatever because of a game). The ECNL did plenty to develop my player but like any major project it took a village (ECNL, her coaches, her parents, her teammates) in order to get her to where she is today and it will continue to be a group effort to get her to where she wants to go.
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Thanks. I understand your train of thought on how the ECNL developed your DD.
 
MakeAPlay said:
http://www.soccerwire.com/news/club...ademy-adds-17-new-clubs-for-2017-2018-season/

On the boys side there seems to be waaaay too many DA clubs. I see that Rebels was added. You have to seriously wonder if there is enough elite level talent in San Diego to support 5 academy clubs. US soccer talks about developing talent for the national team but the reality is that it is about control and access to a revenue stream. Madoff would be proud.
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Rebels was added at the U12 age group only. There is plenty of talent in San Diego at this level for multiple academy teams. When it comes to the national team recruitment, they aren't recruiting out of the U12 age group. But this does give them control over the development of the players that are coming out of the rebels geographical location, which will eventually feed into the academy clubs that have the age groups that they recruit from.
 
DefenseWins said:
Rebels was added at the U12 age group only. There is plenty of talent in San Diego at this level for multiple academy teams. When it comes to the national team recruitment, they aren't recruiting out of the U12 age group. But this does give them control over the development of the players that are coming out of the rebels geographical location, which will eventually feed into the academy clubs that have the age groups that they recruit from.
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I keep hearing that there is enough talent but I am talking elite level talent. I just am not convinced that there are 90 elite kids in any birth year in all of SoCal. I have a pretty high bar for what I consider elite.
 
outside! said:
The what about the ELITE Clubs National League?
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In 5 years of my daughter playing in the ECNL I didn't think that all of the players where elite even in a small market like San Diego where Surf had most of the best players in each age group on one team. Some age groups are a little different than other. The 99/98 Surf team has a roster of top players many of which are elite.

Elite players are easy to recognize. They are the players that dominate games between top level teams. In SoCal per age group there are 30 kids or less that qualify. I think the problem is threefold. First, most don't recognize elite talent because their idea of elite is their kid. Second, unless you go see the top teams play each other, it is hard to see who is dominating those games. Finally, elite at 12 isn't elite at 18 and as players age it is easier to recognize who is truly elite and who is just an early bloomer.
 
MakeAPlay said:
I keep hearing that there is enough talent but I am talking elite level talent. I just am not convinced that there are 90 elite kids in any birth year in all of SoCal. I have a pretty high bar for what I consider elite.
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I think most parents of elite kids who play on elite teams have a very skewed view of what elite is, and as you mentioned, we hold that standard very high.

I've seen players whom I didn't consider 'elite' move on and have success with other 'elite' teams (as have you I'm sure). It's not always because the coach is a better coach, I've seen situations where that player just fits better into a different system, or into a different set of players. Exposing and developing their individual strengths, allowing that player to master them, and eventually rise to 'elite' status. I personally think having too few 'inclusive' teams at the younger age groups leaves out a lot of 'talented' kids with 'elite' potential. It forces the 'talented' kids at that moment to play a certain way (because we are a society that likes to win) that won't necessarily develop them to their fullest 'elite' potential. These types of players are being completely shut out of our current system. A system that US Soccer has no control over. Therefore, I think it's completely reasonable for US Soccer to want to control the pipeline that feeds their system.

You're right, elite players are easy to recognize. What is not so easy to recognize is 'talent' with 'elite' potential, and how to develop that.
 
Let me play devil's advocate here MAP. Are there 90 elite players in San Diego County or Orange County or LA County at any given age group, not likely. With ECNL, I doubt very few teams at any age level have more than four or five elite level players on their roster.

However at U12, I have no issues with more Academy teams than less Academy teams. With any sport, those that dominate at 12 years old may not be elite level talent at college age. Conversely, the players who dominate at college level age may be average/above average at 12 years old. Let more players in at this age and see how it washes out.

If the parents are willing to pay the price and the player is willing to make the commitment to Academy, then why should we limit the amount of teams?
 
bababooey said:
Let me play devil's advocate here MAP. Are there 90 elite players in San Diego County or Orange County or LA County at any given age group, not likely. With ECNL, I doubt very few teams at any age level have more than four or five elite level players on their roster.

However at U12, I have no issues with more Academy teams than less Academy teams. With any sport, those that dominate at 12 years old may not be elite level talent at college age. Conversely, the players who dominate at college level age may be average/above average at 12 years old. Let more players in at this age and see how it washes out.

If the parents are willing to pay the price and the player is willing to make the commitment to Academy, then why should we limit the amount of teams?
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Lets say We invite the semi's of SCDSL and CSL then hold open tryouts to just those league members. How do you think 4 teams out of that group of players would fair again the SW ECNL in a league format? Wait no discovery players though.
 
The Driver said:
Lets say We invite the semi's of SCDSL and CSL then hold open tryouts to just those league members. How do you think 4 teams out of that group of players would fair again the SW ECNL in a league format? Wait no discovery players though.
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ECNL would wax all of the teams. They could play their bench and beat almost all of them.
 
DefenseWins said:
I think most parents of elite kids who play on elite teams have a very skewed view of what elite is, and as you mentioned, we hold that standard very high.

I've seen players whom I didn't consider 'elite' move on and have success with other 'elite' teams (as have you I'm sure). It's not always because the coach is a better coach, I've seen situations where that player just fits better into a different system, or into a different set of players. Exposing and developing their individual strengths, allowing that player to master them, and eventually rise to 'elite' status. I personally think having too few 'inclusive' teams at the younger age groups leaves out a lot of 'talented' kids with 'elite' potential. It forces the 'talented' kids at that moment to play a certain way (because we are a society that likes to win) that won't necessarily develop them to their fullest 'elite' potential. These types of players are being completely shut out of our current system. A system that US Soccer has no control over. Therefore, I think it's completely reasonable for US Soccer to want to control the pipeline that feeds their system.

You're right, elite players are easy to recognize. What is not so easy to recognize is 'talent' with 'elite' potential, and how to develop that.
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I agree with you. My daughter was a relatively late bloomer. She would always make the ODP cut down to 24 or 36 players but was an alternate to regional's until her freshman year of high school. In my opinion, the only reason that she didn't fall through the cracks is that she had good coaches that knew that she had the tools to be successful and simply continued to push her to improve.

I agree that more teams at a younger age would cast a wider net and catch more of the elite players. I just don't think that is what they are doing. As it seems to me, they are diluting the player pool and the odds of putting together a super team (which benefits the truly elite players the most) are much lower. It won't prevent the extremely special players from showing that they are special but it may affect the next level of players that benefit from playing with the best. We will see soon enough.
 
MakeAPlay said:
ECNL would wax all of the teams. They could play their bench and beat almost all of them.
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The last two times Surf played Carlsbad '99, Carlsbad dominated both games 2-0. Carlsbad out passed them, out dribbled them, was more creative and out shot them. One of those games was the 1/4 finals of Surf Cup (I don't think they were playing their bench). The next season, that Surf team lost impact players to Albion. This age group is one of the reasons I believe the ECNL monopoly in San Diego county was counterproductive. With the talk of late bloomers, I know there have been impact players on the WNT that bloomed in late college. Now GDA is repeating the same close system mistake that ECNL had, but at least it solved some SoCal issues and to be honest I don't really care about the rest of the country. SoCal does have enough elite players to field a team that could compete with the National Team at any age group. The US is so big, I think regional teams make more sense.
 
outside! said:
The last two times Surf played Carlsbad '99, Carlsbad dominated both games 2-0. Carlsbad out passed them, out dribbled them, was more creative and out shot them. One of those games was the 1/4 finals of Surf Cup (I don't think they were playing their bench). The next season, that Surf team lost impact players to Albion. This age group is one of the reasons I believe the ECNL monopoly in San Diego county was counterproductive. With the talk of late bloomers, I know there have been impact players on the WNT that bloomed in late college. Now GDA is repeating the same close system mistake that ECNL had, but at least it solved some SoCal issues and to be honest I don't really care about the rest of the country. SoCal does have enough elite players to field a team that could compete with the National Team at any age group. The US is so big, I think regional teams make more sense.
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Outside, I admire your passion and it may be true in your daughter's isolated age group but it simply is not true when you look at all of the age groups. Regarding a SoCal team beating a national team it simply isn't true. The younger aged youth national teams routinely scrimmage CalSouth all star and ODP teams that are older aged and lose to them. I have seen them with my own eyes. I would bet that the U16 YNT could beat any U17/18 team in SoCal including the ones with YNT players. I have seen it happen. My daughter was on an all star team along with two other players that were on the YNT and they lost to the U16 YNT last season.
 
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