LadiesMan217
GOLD
What dual DA/ECNL SoCal club (other than Blues) DOC thinks DA is not their top program (or is not firm)?
Making Sense of the Leagues
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What dual DA/ECNL SoCal club (other than Blues) DOC thinks DA is not their top program (or is not firm)?
Ghostwriter
SILVER
Great blog! It's been fascinating the last month or so reading the ECNL crowd openly attacking the DA. Other than Blues 01/02 DA team every other DA team in So Cal is the A team from that club. There is no debate it's just a fact. However there are good players in every league and whatever works best for your player is all that matters but reading all the negativity directed at a league that their kids don't even play in has been amusing.
I guess in your world SDDA/Presidio is not even worth mentioning. But that’s ok, I don’t think much of their pandering DOCs these days.
2SoccerGirls
BRONZE
Ooops you are right... I will add it. Thanks!
Yeah very similar to all the negativity directed at ECNL prior to GDA.
You are incorrect as I know for a fact at least one club let the kids choose between ecnl and academy...neither did great.
Ghostwriter
SILVER
I am not incorrect and there are good players in So Cal all over the place. The fact is that every So Cal Club that has a DA program that is their top team in the club with one exception that I already noted. Doesn't mean that some very good players didn't decide to play ECNL instead of DA, of course they did. Don't be confused that because there are combined age groups in the DA that some younger players in the combined age groups opted to play ECNL because they would get more playing time or they wanted to play HS, or they tried out for a DA team and didn't male it and parents said that isn t for us, etc etc etc. In other clubs where there is no DA team they all have a hierarchy of how they funnel their players to the top team no matter if that is a ECNL only club, SCDSL, CSL, or Presidio club. Doesn't mean in those clubs there aren't good players that decide for whatever reason to play not on the top team. You are confusing exceptions to the norm. DA is the top team for DA clubs just like ECNL is the top team for ECNL only clubs.
Ghostwriter
SILVER
Your confounding the issue of course players should and have the free will to choose the team they want to play for. I was just stating the top team in a DA club as a whole is the DA team. Just like the top team in an ECNL only club is the ECNL team. I am glad your daughter has been committed for a couple years and if she is an 99 or an 00 good luck next year in college. I do not have an 03 or an 04. All the best to you as well.
Also your blog is slanted to give some people the impression that DA and the 03 DPL Pilot are connected, asking about player passing DA players to the DPL team and whether Pilot players get a DA patch. Lol. The DPL 03 Pilot is NOT part of the USSDA period! If you really want to do a good job instead of just speculating, call USSDA and ask.
GoWest
GOLD
From my perspective, for the inaugural season of DA at least, you are mostly on point. Like you wrote earlier not all dual league clubs put their top level teams in the DA. IMO Blues did it right and left their best product in ECNL. This left the door open for the Blues DA coaches to really work at identifying good talent to roster on the upstart DA team. It also allowed other clubs (Slammers comes to mind) to reap the benefits by attracting defecting players to help build their DA team (see 02/01). All that being said, if Surf can figure out if they are "in or out" of one league or will compete in both and Blues and Slammers keep on doing what I have been told is their intention, we will see a rebalancing of rosters and a return to really consistent / elite level play in both leagues....speaking specifically to dual DA / ECNL clubs.
From what I have heard, we will see Blues and Slammers achieving this as the second season of DA approaches. That will benefit a ton of players IMO.
As far as which league is better....both have positive and negative elements. For me and my player it comes down to coaching in training / practice sessions and in games. Tactical, technical, psychological aspects, etc. Does that coach "teach" players how to play with / against opponents that high press, play direct, patiently grind out a possession style, react / engage counter attack, etc.
Best of everything to you and your player!
ECNL season just ended for many clubs. I am sure when they signed up for Manchester Cup they were still an ECNL team.
They are not playing ECNL next season. That decision has already been made since they would have been required to commit the same resources to ECNL that they spend on DA. Many of their ECNL players have already left and committed to other clubs.
IntheknowSoccer
BRONZE
DPL is LAPFC's, Barry Ritson and Albion's Noah Gins' brainchild; a money grab to keep non-DA players in DA clubs who don't additionally participate in ECNL.
Club dues for DPL's 12 game season + 3 weekly practices cost families anywhere from $1900 - $2300. Teams were informed their schedule would follow the DA's, only it didn't. After returning from Winter break there were no DPL games scheduled and no information coming from DPL. Teams were told they'd play a "round-robin" tournament against other DPL teams in March at the Players College Showcase in Vegas - this didn't come to fruition, either. Instead DPL teams were placed in brackets solely based on their Got Soccer score - which made zero sense as some teams wiped their GotSoccer points when they became a new DPL team. Imagine, Albion '02 placed 6th in DPL league play but played in the highest bracket just under USYS National League bracket. Suspect to say the least.
The "mysterious company" is http://primetimesportz.bonzidev.com/home.php?layout=4896485 The pages are laid out similarly to DA but the content is missing, specifically the Game Report.
DPL did nothing to help develop players for DA instead it only weakened the soccer landscape even more. Just take a look at National Cup's winners this year. The competition wasn't anywhere near the level it was only two seasons ago, not to mention, a DPL team wasn't even a finalist. Lets not talk ODP. ODP was already losing steam but with DA and ECNL players out of the mix, ODP is not even close to rostering the caliber of players it once did.
Very well said.
Btw Albion still lists their 03 DPL Pilot team as a USSDA-DPL team. Completely unethical.
LadiesMan217
GOLD
Clubs have been doing this for years. Aren't almost all clubs unethical?
Desert Hound
DA
It is called situational ethics. Whatever is good for the club becomes ethical.
No most clubs are not unethical. There might be a coach or two at a club that is unethical, but all of my friends still have their priorities straight and their ethics intact. That is why they are still my friends.
And to justify this behavior because "everyone does it" is the root of the problem and why nothing will change. Parents don't hold them accountable. After last season's DPL fiasco and lies, I would ask for my money back.
Not a mystery, that is just the DPL's league management page. They added a bunch of non-DPL teams to the league database in order to use the software for scheduling what appears to be the Silverlakes Thanksgiving Tournament/showcase.
The DPL's use of Blue Star/Stack Sports/Primetime Sportz as its league management system is a bit odd when you consider all their players are in Affinity, which could have also been used for league/tournament scheduling. Both Primetime Sportz and US Soccer Connect are Blue Star properties.
That said, Blue Star/Stack Sports is making major moves to eat SI and Affinities lunch, with their now rebranded "connect" products (Association, Club and League, Tournament, Referee, Team, etc.) so maybe it was just forward thinking on the DPL's part.