Girls DPL?

[QUOTE="But now we have DA too. So there is a second top-level national league (made up mostly of what had been 2nd tier clubs). But again people were willing to accept it because it was what US Soccer wanted and was supposed to have higher level coaching and better training than ECNL.[/QUOTE]

Hmmm ... ? Aren't all of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs among those that accepted GDA invites? Ya know ... Hawks, Blues, Eclipse, PDA, Tophat, Solar, FC Dallas, FC Stars, Slammers, Real CO, Surf, Crossfire among others. And from what we've seen at the Showcase, and in the GDA/ECNL standings, all of which (outside of maybe 1 in your SoCal bubble) are generally playing their top talent in the GDA.
 
Chris Knight said:
[QUOTE="But now we have DA too. So there is a second top-level national league (made up mostly of what had been 2nd tier clubs). But again people were willing to accept it because it was what US Soccer wanted and was supposed to have higher level coaching and better training than ECNL."

Hmmm ... ? Aren't all of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs among those that accepted GDA invites? Ya know ... Hawks, Blues, Eclipse, PDA, Tophat, Solar, FC Dallas, FC Stars, Slammers, Real CO, Surf, Crossfire among others. And from what we've seen at the Showcase, and in the GDA/ECNL standings, all of which (outside of maybe 1 in your SoCal bubble) are generally playing their top talent in the GDA.
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That is an accurate statement, but doesn't necessarily refute the poster's argument.

Most of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs are in GDA and are playing their top talent in that league. This minority of clubs dominates GDA as they dominated ECNL. Almost all of the top 20 GDA clubs fit in this category. (Notable exceptions include Legends and Beach, which have had outstanding GDA seasons despite a lack of ECNL experience.) However, a super-majority of the remaining 49 (now 48) GDA teams had been 2nd tier clubs and remain so (per the GDA results so far).

If all GDA clubs claim to offer their players equal access to this superior US Soccer training then the distinction between the formally dominant ECNL clubs should have melted away. But there is no sign of that having happened (at least in this first season). So it seems unlikely, on a national level, that the GDA system has made all of those second-tier clubs better than (or even equal to) the top clubs that have remained in ECNL (including dual DA/ECNL clubs). And if it failed to accomplish that then it is not unreasonable to conclude that US Soccer made some false promises about what the league really had to offer.
 
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SocalPapa said:
That is an accurate statement, but doesn't necessarily refute the poster's argument.

Most of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs are in GDA and are playing their top talent in that league. This minority of clubs dominates GDA as they dominated ECNL. Almost all of the top 20 GDA clubs fit in this category. (Notable exceptions include Legends and Beach, which have had outstanding GDA seasons despite a lack of ECNL experience.) However, a super-majority of the remaining 49 (now 48) GDA teams had been 2nd tier clubs and remain so (per the GDA results so far).

If all GDA clubs claim to offer their players equal access to this superior US Soccer training then the distinction between the formally dominant ECNL clubs should have melted away. But there is no sign of that having happened (at least in this first season). So it seems unlikely, on a national level, that the GDA system has made all of those second-tier clubs better than (or even equal to) the top clubs that have remained in ECNL (including dual DA/ECNL clubs). And if it failed to accomplish that then it is not unreasonable to conclude that US Soccer made some false promises about what the league really had to offer.
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I think skill wise there is some overlap between GDA and ECNL. In the SW the top ECNL teams are NOT going to beat the top GDA teams...but probably become competitive midway through the table.

Not sure if that is true in the rest of the US however...since I do not pay a lot of attention to teams outside our area/region.
 
SocalPapa said:
That is an accurate statement, but doesn't necessarily refute the poster's argument.

Most of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs are in GDA and are playing their top talent in that league. This minority of clubs dominates GDA as they dominated ECNL. Almost all of the top 20 GDA clubs fit in this category. (Notable exceptions include Legends and Beach, which have had outstanding GDA seasons despite a lack of ECNL experience.) However, a super-majority of the remaining 49 (now 48) GDA teams had been 2nd tier clubs and remain so (per the GDA results so far).

If all GDA clubs claim to offer their players equal access to this superior US Soccer training then the distinction between the formally dominant ECNL clubs should have melted away. But there is no sign of that having happened (at least in this first season). So it seems unlikely, on a national level, that the GDA system has made all of those second-tier clubs better than (or even equal to) the top clubs that have remained in ECNL (including dual DA/ECNL clubs). And if it failed to accomplish that then it is not unreasonable to conclude that US Soccer made some false promises about what the league really had to offer.
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Winner?

It's been 6 months. Sheish.
 
SocalPapa said:
That is an accurate statement, but doesn't necessarily refute the poster's argument.

Most of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs are in GDA and are playing their top talent in that league. This minority of clubs dominates GDA as they dominated ECNL. Almost all of the top 20 GDA clubs fit in this category. (Notable exceptions include Legends and Beach, which have had outstanding GDA seasons despite a lack of ECNL experience.) However, a super-majority of the remaining 49 (now 48) GDA teams had been 2nd tier clubs and remain so (per the GDA results so far).

If all GDA clubs claim to offer their players equal access to this superior US Soccer training then the distinction between the formally dominant ECNL clubs should have melted away. But there is no sign of that having happened (at least in this first season). So it seems unlikely, on a national level, that the GDA system has made all of those second-tier clubs better than (or even equal to) the top clubs that have remained in ECNL (including dual DA/ECNL clubs). And if it failed to accomplish that then it is not unreasonable to conclude that US Soccer made some false promises about what the league really had to offer.
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Hi, can you provide a link to the "false promises" of US Soccer? As far as I can remember the goal of the DA program was to improve soccer development by enforcing on club members things like a minimum number of practices per week, coaching licenses/education, maximum number of games, a gaming circuit, etc. I do not remember a promise about making club members the "top clubs" (whatever that means) overnight. Please provide a link to the false promises, otherwise your comment may be taken as an invention that, by being repeated multiple times, is hoped to stick.
 
Chris Knight said:
Hmmm ... ? Aren't all of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs among those that accepted GDA invites? Ya know ... Hawks, Blues, Eclipse, PDA, Tophat, Solar, FC Dallas, FC Stars, Slammers, Real CO, Surf, Crossfire among others. And from what we've seen at the Showcase, and in the GDA/ECNL standings, all of which (outside of maybe 1 in your SoCal bubble) are generally playing their top talent in the GDA.
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At the end of the day the top players play where their parents put them. This argument is very circular. If we are being 100% honest there are only between 25-35 elite kids in any particular birth year in SoCal and only 4-5 of them are unicorns. The funniest part is it's pretty hard to tell which ones are the unicorns until about 16/17. Focusing on a club versus a coach is ludicrous and a great way to waste potential.
 
MakeAPlay said:
At the end of the day the top players play where their parents put them. This argument is very circular. If we are being 100% honest there are only between 25-35 elite kids in any particular birth year in SoCal and only 4-5 of them are unicorns. The funniest part is it's pretty hard to tell which ones are the unicorns until about 16/17. Focusing on a club versus a coach is ludicrous and a great way to waste potential.
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I also would like to add that every girl that is willing to work hard enough and gets enough support and assistance can play some level of college soccer. In a pool as big as what we have in SoCal, Southern Nevada and the Phoenix area plenty of those players will go on to do big things in soccer and beyond.

The easiest way for them to get there is with support and a focus on what is best for them. Getting committed to a school is only the beginning. Making sure that it is a positive experience for your player is the key. Good luck to all of the players still chasing their dreams.
 
SocalPapa said:
That is an accurate statement, but doesn't necessarily refute the poster's argument.

Most of the historically and recently dominant ECNL clubs are in GDA and are playing their top talent in that league. This minority of clubs dominates GDA as they dominated ECNL. Almost all of the top 20 GDA clubs fit in this category. (Notable exceptions include Legends and Beach, which have had outstanding GDA seasons despite a lack of ECNL experience.) However, a super-majority of the remaining 49 (now 48) GDA teams had been 2nd tier clubs and remain so (per the GDA results so far).

If all GDA clubs claim to offer their players equal access to this superior US Soccer training then the distinction between the formally dominant ECNL clubs should have melted away. But there is no sign of that having happened (at least in this first season). So it seems unlikely, on a national level, that the GDA system has made all of those second-tier clubs better than (or even equal to) the top clubs that have remained in ECNL (including dual DA/ECNL clubs). And if it failed to accomplish that then it is not unreasonable to conclude that US Soccer made some false promises about what the league really had to offer.
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This is the dumbest thing I have read in a while and the parent mentality behind this post is part of why soccer in the US is hosed and these clubs succeed. Yeah the Blues U16/17 went undefeated last season and lost in the final yet they are in 9th place this season. The only reason teams are good in DA is most of the better ECNL players stayed with their clubs. My kid played at the top level for best club in the west and they were taught next to nothing by the coach who will not be coaching DA in 2 years because US Soccer won't allow it. I attended so many practice sessions and wondered what I was paying for. Just a bunch of good/athletic players all flocking to the same 'winning successful' club. And, many of those second-tier clubs you are dissing have the best training programs/coaches and US Soccer knows it - just not the best players (yet).
 
LadiesMan217 said:
This is the dumbest thing I have read in a while and the parent mentality behind this post is part of why soccer in the US is hosed and these clubs succeed. Yeah the Blues U16/17 went undefeated last season and lost in the final yet they are in 9th place this season. The only reason teams are good in DA is most of the better ECNL players stayed with their clubs. My kid played at the top level for best club in the west and they were taught next to nothing by the coach who will not be coaching DA in 2 years because US Soccer won't allow it. I attended so many practice sessions and wondered what I was paying for. Just a bunch of good/athletic players all flocking to the same 'winning successful' club. And, many of those second-tier clubs you are dissing have the best training programs/coaches and US Soccer knows it - just not the best players (yet).
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If you want to prove how much more knowledgeable you are about club soccer, your chosen example is a poor one. The Blues 2002 ECNL team (which won the national U15 championship last spring) stayed largely in tact this season. (They are, in fact, the most notable exception to the dual clubs putting their top players on their GDA team.) Further, their U16/U17 GDA roster largely consists of girls that played on their 2002 SCDSL Flight 1 team last season (which finished 5th place in Champions and lost in the quarterfinals of the SCDSL playoffs). Despite that the Blues, overall, are still in the top 20 performing GDA clubs nationally. I posted all the club standings on another thread, but here's the top 20 (as of Feb. 16th):

Rank Club (W-T-L) Points per game average [3 per W, 1 per T]
1 NTH Tophat (50-8-2) 2.63
2 Penn Fusion Soccer Academy (39-4-10) 2.28
3 FC Dallas (41-7-9) 2.28
4 Legends FC (52-10-11) 2.27
5 Solar Soccer Club (39-10-8) 2.23
6 Crossfire Premier (33-8-8) 2.18
7 Sky Blue - PDA (42-7-12) 2.18
8 Real Colorado (33-10-7) 2.18
9 New York City FC (39-5-15) 2.07
10 San Diego Surf (39-14-12) 2.02
11 Michigan Hawks (33-11-11) 2.00
12 NC Courage (29-11-9) 2.00
13 Cincinnati Development Academy (29-7-12) 1.96
14 FC Fury NY (37-3-19) 1.93
15 LAFC Slammers (38-7-18) 1.92
16 Concorde Fire (35-12-14) 1.92
17 FC Virginia (37-5-19) 1.90
18 Beach Futbol Club (42-10-21) 1.86
19 Eclipse Select Soccer Club (27-5-15) 1.83
20 So Cal Blues Soccer Club (41-13-23) 1.77
 
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SocalPapa said:
If you want to prove how much more knowledgeable you are about club soccer, your chosen example is a poor one. The Blues 2002 ECNL team (which won the national U15 championship last spring) stayed largely in tact this season. (They are, in fact, the most notable exception to the dual clubs putting their top players on their GDA team.) Further, their U16/U17 GDA roster largely consists of girls that played on their 2002 SCDSL Flight 1 team last season (which finished 5th place in Champions and lost in the quarterfinals of the SCDSL playoffs). Despite that the Blues, overall, are still in the top 20 performing GDA clubs nationally. I posted all the club standings on another thread, but here's the top 20 (as of Feb. 16th):

Rank Club (W-T-L) Points per game average [3 per W, 1 per T]
1 NTH Tophat (50-8-2) 2.63
2 Penn Fusion Soccer Academy (39-4-10) 2.28
3 FC Dallas (41-7-9) 2.28
4 Legends FC (52-10-11) 2.27
5 Solar Soccer Club (39-10-8) 2.23
6 Crossfire Premier (33-8-8) 2.18
7 Sky Blue - PDA (42-7-12) 2.18
8 Real Colorado (33-10-7) 2.18
9 New York City FC (39-5-15) 2.07
10 San Diego Surf (39-14-12) 2.02
11 Michigan Hawks (33-11-11) 2.00
12 NC Courage (29-11-9) 2.00
13 Cincinnati Development Academy (29-7-12) 1.96
14 FC Fury NY (37-3-19) 1.93
15 LAFC Slammers (38-7-18) 1.92
16 Concorde Fire (35-12-14) 1.92
17 FC Virginia (37-5-19) 1.90
18 Beach Futbol Club (42-10-21) 1.86
19 Eclipse Select Soccer Club (27-5-15) 1.83
20 So Cal Blues Soccer Club (41-13-23) 1.77
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So you made my point for me and proved my example is spot on. Did you understand anything I wrote?
 
LadiesMan217 said:
So you made my point for me and proved my example is spot on. Did you understand anything I wrote?
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How did I make your point for you? Blues kept their top 2002 team in ECNL and their GDA coach took an average 2002 Champions roster and has them playing .500 soccer in GDA against girls who are mostly 1 year older with ECNL experience. This is not a coach they brought in for GDA. It's the same coach that had developed the ECNL team.

Your proof that all these second tier clubs in GDA have more effective training consists of a misstatement about the Blues' 2002 team's experience and your expectation that the second-tier clubs will get better once more talented players trained by other clubs start playing with them. How is this proof that their training methods are better?

I'm not arguing that drawing the best talent doesn't make a difference. It certainly does. But you've provided no support for your declaration that the dozens of second-tier clubs that were invited to join GDA have been hiding their superior training methods from the good players all these years.
 
SocalPapa said:
If you want to prove how much more knowledgeable you are about club soccer, your chosen example is a poor one. The Blues 2002 ECNL team (which won the national U15 championship last spring) stayed largely in tact this season. (They are, in fact, the most notable exception to the dual clubs putting their top players on their GDA team.) Further, their U16/U17 GDA roster largely consists of girls that played on their 2002 SCDSL Flight 1 team last season (which finished 5th place in Champions and lost in the quarterfinals of the SCDSL playoffs). Despite that the Blues, overall, are still in the top 20 performing GDA clubs nationally. I posted all the club standings on another thread, but here's the top 20 (as of Feb. 16th):

Rank Club (W-T-L) Points per game average [3 per W, 1 per T]
1 NTH Tophat (50-8-2) 2.63
2 Penn Fusion Soccer Academy (39-4-10) 2.28
3 FC Dallas (41-7-9) 2.28
4 Legends FC (52-10-11) 2.27
5 Solar Soccer Club (39-10-8) 2.23
6 Crossfire Premier (33-8-8) 2.18
7 Sky Blue - PDA (42-7-12) 2.18
8 Real Colorado (33-10-7) 2.18
9 New York City FC (39-5-15) 2.07
10 San Diego Surf (39-14-12) 2.02
11 Michigan Hawks (33-11-11) 2.00
12 NC Courage (29-11-9) 2.00
13 Cincinnati Development Academy (29-7-12) 1.96
14 FC Fury NY (37-3-19) 1.93
15 LAFC Slammers (38-7-18) 1.92
16 Concorde Fire (35-12-14) 1.92
17 FC Virginia (37-5-19) 1.90
18 Beach Futbol Club (42-10-21) 1.86
19 Eclipse Select Soccer Club (27-5-15) 1.83
20 So Cal Blues Soccer Club (41-13-23) 1.77
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5 of the top 20 in the country from our region. This place is a murderers row of youth ladies futbol. I respect what the other regions have to do travel wise and tip my hat to them. With that said, it's just not the same as playing the top level competition we have here weekly. Thanks for the information.
 
C.A.M. said:
5 of the top 20 in the country from our region. This place is a murderers row of youth ladies futbol. I respect what the other regions have to do travel wise and tip my hat to them. With that said, it's just not the same as playing the top level competition we have here weekly. Thanks for the information.
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Coaches recruit players not teams. It would be wise not to forget that. The US has also become a big destination for foreign YNT talent that can pass the TOEFL. In my daughter's graduating class there are only 2 players from the team that was top her senior year that are currently starting in college and only one of them is on a top 25 college team. There are several that come off the bench but only 2 of 20 something players are college starters.

My point is that it's all about the player not the team. Get your player good coaching and be supportive and everything else will work itself out.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Coaches recruit players not teams. It would be wise not to forget that. The US has also become a big destination for foreign YNT talent that can pass the TOEFL. In my daughter's graduating class there are only 2 players from the team that was top her senior year that are currently starting in college and only one of them is on a top 25 college team. There are several that come off the bench but only 2 of 20 something players are college starters.

My point is that it's all about the player not the team. Get your player good coaching and be supportive and everything else will work itself out.
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I hear you loud and clear. The Florida showcase made that point to us as the interest from multiple top 10 programs came in for our girl. It has really galvanized her resolve to show up and perform no matter what her teammates are doing good or bad.

You made me look up what the TOEFL exam is.

Seeing my kids on wonderful and woeful teams has taught us coaching (includes personnel/team management) is a main ingredient for their development. The environment the coach sets is so important. I'm not so into them being on the best team as I'm into them being on the best team for them.

Having talented, dedicated, focused players with great attitudes surrounding them doesn't hurt either.
 
I heard—granted, third hand through a player who heard through another player who heard from a coach—that ECNL teams that have DA teams are going to become DPL teams. Does anyone know if this is the case?
 
Paddingtonsoccer said:
I heard—granted, third hand through a player who heard through another player who heard from a coach—that ECNL teams that have DA teams are going to become DPL teams. Does anyone know if this is the case?
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If what you are saying is the ECNL teams will be the DPL teams I think that is what US Soccer wants. I would be really surprised if it happened. The ECNL business model seems pretty strong. I don't know a damn thing though.
 
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