# DA Flaws



## watfly (May 9, 2018)

He makes some good points.

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/77821/steve-gans-on-the-development-academys-flaws-the.html


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## Wez (May 10, 2018)

Great article.


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## Eagle33 (May 10, 2018)

I don't understand how is it possible for those players he is talking about to play 7 years DA, when, before recently, DA only started at U14?


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## watfly (May 10, 2018)

Eagle33 said:


> I don't understand how is it possible for those players he is talking about to play 7 years DA, when, before recently, DA only started at U14?


That's your takeaway from the article?


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## focomoso (May 10, 2018)

Eagle33 said:


> I don't understand how is it possible for those players he is talking about to play 7 years DA, when, before recently, DA only started at U14?


I think you misread this. He's been a DA parent for 7 years - with two different kids...


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## focomoso (May 10, 2018)

focomoso said:


> I think you misread this. He's been a DA parent for 7 years - with two different kids...


Oops - I didn't see the other bit about one son playing for seven years.

Who knows, maybe he played up at first...


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## espola (May 10, 2018)

watfly said:


> He makes some good points.
> 
> https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/77821/steve-gans-on-the-development-academys-flaws-the.html


A lot of the faults were obvious from the start of PDA program, but wishful thinking over-ruled common sense.


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## Eagle33 (May 10, 2018)

watfly said:


> That's your takeaway from the article?


Not at all. I think article is great and I agree with most of it, and can relate to the experience.


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## younothat (May 10, 2018)

Yes there are flaws:

I agree some of the flaws the article points out are:

"1) Restrictive FIFA substitution rule"
This is counter productive to development, since fewer players play as a result.
This is a actually a safety issue sometimes, when your out of subs some  kids will try to play on even when there cramped up, limping or whatever and the coaches are so focused on "winning" they don't want to play a person down.
Just get rid of this or only do this at showcase or something at U17/18 if you want to get players used to this "system".

"2) Ban on high school play, which is a huge alienating factor, contributing to players losing passion for and ultimately even resenting the sport"

"3)  Too much travel, which contributes to burnout"
Leaving Friday to make a Seattle/Portland/Vancouver games on the weekend and then returning Sunday means you can spend 3 days to play two 80-90 minutes games if you'r a starter.  Subs might spend three days to play 30-40 mins if their lucky.

"4) Not enough monitored standards for coaches and DOC’s, many of whom emphasize winning over development, in an effort to build their own coaching resumes rather than truly focusing on what’s best for the young players"
On top of that  Scouting and auditing; really hit and miss on the scouting and audits.  Not consistent at all and politics plays a big part as well.

" 5) The pay-to-play issue is out of control"
The pay-to-play issue is of course out of control, and the cost of playing youth club soccer makes the opportunity prohibitive for many deserving players; and that is a terrible shame. U.S. Soccer cannot just mandate that each non-MLS DA club scholarship every DA player, as the majority (if not all) of such clubs simply could not afford to do so. In addition to scholarships based on financial need, there is a movement in many DA clubs to provide playing merit-based scholarships. For instance, I recently drafted a model Merit Scholarship Player Agreement for a DA club. However, as well intended as it may be, this development has its own controversy, as economic relief for the best players means that the costs of running the club fall more heavily on parents of players in the club who play on non-DA teams, and that is not lost on many of these parents.

Overall, I don’t think that the skyrocketing pay-to-play fees issue is specific to DA clubs. Rather, it is an issue throughout youth club soccer, and I believe that U.S. Soccer could do a better job making clubs accountable, or exposing clubs who are overcharging, such that market forces would actually lower these accessibility costs"

Not discussed, flaws:
Closed system, no regulation or promotion
Yellow card accumulation suspension after 5 yellows.   This is not professional soccer, no need for this.
Competition is very uneven for those in the top half of the brackets.  The MLS teams and affiliates have the resources, recruit like crazy and everybody is scrambling for the rest of the pieces.
(4) days a week is likely over kill,  3 is sufficient for most and will give a better overall balance to student athletes. 
Play style mandates; 4-3-3

"So what can U.S. Soccer do? For starters:

*•* Liberalize the restriction on high school play.
*•* Roll back some of the other needlessly restrictive rules which choke the joy out of the game for so many youth players.
*•* Reduce the travel demands, which also lead to burnout.
*• *Mandate some freestyle play in most practices to let kids express themselves, and to reduce some of the regimented robotic development which occurs.
*•* Establish strict standards for coaches, so that coach emphasis on team harmony and development is prioritized over the coach’s career personal agendas.
*•* Coordinate and work together with state ODP programs. Players are being missed from states who do not have a DA club"

Yes great article,  my son has been happy with the DA this past 4 years but he's considering leaving at some point to play HS athletics during his junior or senior years .


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## focomoso (May 10, 2018)

Just to parrot much of what I'm hearing here.

Another reason I think playing high school soccer is important is that it gives kids a chance to take on more of a leadership role than they might be able to on their DA team. A role player on a DA team would be an impact player on most HS teams and this gives the kids more responsibility and accountability. I'm starting to think that while kids may improve more technically (and physically) playing with the best kids in the region, they may improve more as leaders / teammates / people when they have to help carry the team with them. 



younothat said:


> Closed system, no regulation or promotion


This one I disagree with, though. Relegation / promotion among DAs will put the emphasis squarely back on winning and pull it away from player development.


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## Eagle33 (May 10, 2018)

younothat said:


> 5) The pay-to-play issue is out of control"
> The pay-to-play issue is of course out of control, and the cost of playing youth club soccer makes the opportunity prohibitive for many deserving players; and that is a terrible shame. U.S. Soccer cannot just mandate that each non-MLS DA club scholarship every DA player, as the majority (if not all) of such clubs simply could not afford to do so. In addition to scholarships based on financial need, there is a movement in many DA clubs to provide playing merit-based scholarships. For instance, I recently drafted a model Merit Scholarship Player Agreement for a DA club. However, as well intended as it may be, this development has its own controversy, as economic relief for the best players means that the costs of running the club fall more heavily on parents of players in the club who play on non-DA teams, and that is not lost on many of these parents.
> 
> Overall, I don’t think that the skyrocketing pay-to-play fees issue is specific to DA clubs. Rather, it is an issue throughout youth club soccer, and I believe that U.S. Soccer could do a better job making clubs accountable, or exposing clubs who are overcharging, such that market forces would actually lower these accessibility costs"


The big questions is... why don't US Soccer pay for DA cost? If numbers are correct, there are only 13 to 14 thousand players on boys side playing DA across US right now.


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## younothat (May 10, 2018)

focomoso said:


> This one I disagree with, though. Relegation / promotion among DAs will put the emphasis squarely back on winning and pull it away from player development.


Understandable but when you consider deep down what's really happening  now .....  almost every club/team is playing to win and development suffers currently.   The sub rules don't help that all so why go half baked with the FIFA stuff?

*Does U.S. Soccer’s League Set-up Violate FIFA Rules?*
https://medium.com/@terryblaw/does-u-s-soccers-league-set-up-violate-fifa-rules-ceec15f54244

The vast majority of countries operate their soccer leagues through promotion and relegation. This means that the leagues are stratified, and clubs can rise to higher leagues or fall to lower ones based on their results. Each spring, it makes for an exciting scene, as teams at the bottom of the standings fight to avoid the drop and teams at the top fight for passage into a higher division.

This system is not a mere gimmick. Indeed, FIFA has enshrined promotion and relegation in its rules. That is, FIFA statutes mandate that “entitlement to take part in a domestic championship shall” be determined by promotion or relegation based on “sporting merit.” And soccer’s world body has defended the concept with vigor, lauding it as the “very essence of football.”

Entitlement is not helping the USA get better at soccer so why not end that?


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## full90 (May 10, 2018)

Would agree with all of these points. 
Our kid loves it but DA is soul sucking...and for 4 days a week...they aren't getting that much (and I like our coach a lot). It's a ton of quantity and I am not sold on the quality. 

The sub rule is stupid (esp with the roster size) OR have 2 games running each weekend so everyone is on the field. 

IF we are going to try and monitor and quantify all these kids, then implement some real data points: fitness testing to show improvement, chart passing stats, defensive takeaways, saves etc.. If we are going to do the whole DA thing, then DO IT! Track these games and kids. We are halfway serious with this: goals and minutes played and game scores. That's it. Um, ok. That tells us zero. 

No U16 single age group is asinine. I wonder how many kids (late developing either physically or emotionally) DA loses to kids who cycle out for the u16 year and elect not to come back? The DA could tell the coaches "hey at the u16 year we want to see a funnel happen and your top u16 kids get moved up. But keep the rest of the kids in the single u16 year to keep investing in the kids you have that might be poised to turn a corner." 

Some good points raised above about the benefit (mentally) of high school. I have heard that again and again: go learn how to be "the man" and win games. Learn how to control a game, make kids better around you and hoist the team on your shoulders." I know for our kid that might be the best path. 

I also heard from multiple college coaches that they don't limit their search to DA showcases because non DA kids are grittier and have more fight. 

I agree with the article that the DA rules seemed to be made from a boardroom in Chicago with no input from people doing the work with kids year after year.


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## watfly (May 10, 2018)

full90 said:


> I agree with the article that the DA rules seemed to be made from a boardroom in Chicago with no input from people doing the work with kids year after year.


I think its safe to say that everything is done this way by US Soccer including the PDI's, "bio banding, etc.


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## focomoso (May 10, 2018)

younothat said:


> The vast majority of countries operate their soccer leagues through promotion and relegation...


For pro clubs, sure, and I agree that MLS needs to adopt this, but not for academies. None of the European academy systems I'm familiar with work this way.


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## YNWA 96 (May 11, 2018)

focomoso said:


> For pro clubs, sure, and I agree that MLS needs to adopt this, but not for academies. None of the European academy systems I'm familiar with work this way.


I might be stretching with this example but the Manchester United U23 just got relegated this year.  U23 are still considered a youth team.  Younger academies dont deal with relegation but the olders definitely do.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-news-u23s-relegated-a8309216.html


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