# Paul Riley on the DA vs. High School



## push_up (Jan 22, 2019)

https://www.soccertoday.com/nc-courages-paul-riley-on-the-development-academy-vs-high-school/


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## younothat (Jan 22, 2019)

push_up said:


> https://www.soccertoday.com/nc-courages-paul-riley-on-the-development-academy-vs-high-school/


_I'm a parent of two players that have spent considering number of years in these leagues, a girls who played 4 yrs high school so that's my prospective but by know means do I consider myself any thing other than just a causal observer / spectator in all this. _

"The biggest controversy in elite soccer today is over the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s strong preference that their players not participate in High School soccer. While this has existed on the Boys side of the DA with minimal resistance, there is overwhelming pressure on the Girls side to allow participation in High School’s soccer programs"

_Not sure I would say minimal resistance on the boys side but yeah more pressure currently for the Girls is hard to disagree _

"I LIKE THE U.S. SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY (DA) PROGRAM FOR THE FOUR PRACTICES AND ONE GAME A WEEK. THAT’S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.

_The one game a week yes agree,  4 practices a week is overkill for most  IMO (3 is fine)  in most cases unless you're talking national team pool players ._

"It’s like a professional team and that’s how we prepare. The ECNL has three practices and two games a week. I don’t like the three-two model. I prefer the four-one model.

We need to come together between the two groups and put all the best clubs in one area. Clubs are now splinted between the DA and ECNL"

_Yes agree with the splintering but ECNL two games a week? don't recall that much unless it was the out of area ones and DA is pretty much the same with several travel weekends with 2 games a week._

"The DA needs to be adaptive with a new approach to high school.

The boys coming out of DA have the chance to go straight to MLS with homegrown players becoming more and more normal"

_Agree on DA needs to be adaptive but very FEW go straight to MLS from DA, more like USL and homegrown hasn't really worked out so far  just look at the Galaxy for example._

"In the girls game, it’s very rare a 17-year-old makes one of the NWSL teams. We are about 10 years behind MLS.

Therefore it’s all well and good talking about developing World Class players but we need to be realistic that 99.9% of female players are going to college, not the pro league. So we need a detailed plan to provide our players with every opportunity we can to grow their game"

"The best competitive environment is where we will grow better players.

I think the DA needs to let the clubs periodize their players with high school being part of that periodization. Maybe it’s no high school training on Saturdays and Mondays during the 7 week High School soccer season and players cannot play three High School games per week"

I think we have enough time before High School starts in New York to play 4-6 games —which allows DA to maintain the most important element of four practices to one game once the High School season finishes.

The 7 week High School season is not the reason our youth national teams aren’t as good as we want or expect. So, in my opinion, let’s use the tool as a positive way to improve players. Maybe the benefit of High School soccer is the value of playing a different position, or for developing new leadership experiences or for advantages gained from an understanding of social and communication skills"

_Sounds good to me. 
_
We need a new identification program, similar to the ODP model, which will allow us to get all the best players back together again.

Only the DA can facilitate this — and this, combined with all the best clubs in one league, would guarantee it is the most competitive league, with elite player identification and individualized periodization plans for every player designed by the clubs themselves.

_Like the best players idea but only DA can facilitate, disagree on that.   Need a lot more scouts & full time coaches and there has to be some independence currently the "old network"  has too many conflicts of interest IMO and misses anything but the cheery pickers from certain academies. _


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