Then call this thread "more stupid tinkering by US Soccer." The real point of all of this talk about "Pilot" programs/ECNL with and without HS/DA/DPL and bio-banding is that US Soccer and others are trying to raise the level of play in the US. Rather than experimenting with new leagues, program and initiatives, US Soccer should be encouraging every kid to play soccer regardless of whether they are on a club team and regardless of ability. Let kids play HS soccer if they want. The more soccer - the better. Unfortunately, US Soccer wants a quick fix and the soccer clubs want money.
Without an understanding of the mission of the federation, I appreciate that this can be a bit confusing. The "mission" of US Soccer is to support the Youth Council members (and the Adult and Professional Council members). US Soccer attempts to develop standards, but cannot implement or force those standards on the Youth Council members. It does however, encourage and press the youth council members to adopt and implement those standards, which are called PDIs (Player Development Initiatives). It is the primary (and singular) responsibility of the Youth Council members to "encourage every kid to play soccer." US Soccer's primary responsibility is to support the needs of its members and form the National team.
Things have gotten a little out of wack and more confusing because US Soccer did an end-run around the Youth Council members when it formed a youth league, called the Development Academy (league). Its reasoning for doing so was a belief that the professional leagues would not have the resources to devote to youth academies for a very long time, thus, it needed to step in and try to create training programs similar to our European friends.
Now that US Soccer has a league of its own (the DA), if it wants to experiment with Bio-Banding in its league and the club members that support that league are OK and encourage it, fine by me. In fact, the European leagues seem to be embracing it more and more, so a good argument exists that if US Soccer did not embrace it, it would being doing its league members a disservice.
I do believe that US Soccer needs take a step back and stay within its lane. Let the Youth Council members continue that mission. The combined operating budgets of the Youth Council members and their affiliates exceed US Soccer's entire operating budget by a factor of 10x to 20x or more (AYSO and its affiliates, US Youth Soccer and its 55 State Associations, YES Soccer, US Club, etc.).
