# Making the DA team



## maestroFRSM (Nov 7, 2019)

Random question: Anyone have any idea what approximate percentage of flight 1 boys make a DA team in SoCal?
Are we talking maybe 1 kid in twenty? 1 in 50?  Do certain positions have a better chance?  Does playing for certain clubs, ie those with "pathways", increase your odds?


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## JackZ (Nov 8, 2019)

The Flight 1 designation doesn't mean too much anymore due to the dilution and continual up selling of leagues, Flight 1 SCDSL is now superseded (to extent) by the SCDSL Discover division.  Our experience on the boys side "olders", it's tough to get in, unless you are already known to the DA coaches via scouting, word of mouth, or what have you. You can try-out in Summer after the DA season is over but it's difficult unless you really stand out. My opinion - your best bet is try to break in on a "pre-DA" team within those clubs. A couple of boys that were on those teams prior years are now on the DA teams, specifically speaking of Pats and Strikers.


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## Kante (Nov 8, 2019)

best thing to do is to try to get into a DA club that goes all the way to u19 at the earliest age group available. 

if possible, get onto the club's DA track team (aka pre-DA) as early as possible. 

point being, don't wait. Once the roster is set, it's going to be a tough row. 

Coaches/clubs will make noise about a new player needs to be in the top xi (i.e. be able to take a starting spot) to win a spot on an existing team but really, because of proximity bias, a new player needs to be clearly in the top 2-3 players to make the team.

once you're on, while not a cake walk, as long your kid is at least in the middle, you're good to go.


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## watfly (Nov 8, 2019)

maestroFRSM said:


> Random question: Anyone have any idea what approximate percentage of flight 1 boys make a DA team in SoCal?
> Are we talking maybe 1 kid in twenty? 1 in 50?  Do certain positions have a better chance?  Does playing for certain clubs, ie those with "pathways", increase your odds?


Not sure that the % of flight 1 boys making DA is really meaningful for the prospect of a kid making a DA team and like JackZ said everything is diluted and it would be impossible to define flight 1 teams.  Plus there are loads of Flight 1 players that are better than many DA players. 

As the DA ages go up it becomes more difficult to make a DA team.  Primarily because the number of roster spots become smaller since fewer clubs have teams in the older age groups.  The DA system is intended to act as a funnel, whittling kids down as grow older.  I don't know that the club your at really makes much of a difference.  Pathway is just a term to separate you from your cash.  While it can be better to get in at the youngest age of a club with DA through U19, from what I've seen from the younger age groups is that it doesn't make a huge difference.  I disagree with Kante a bit in that you need to be in the top 2-3 to make a team.  You really just need to knock off the kid on the bottom of the totem pole.  I often see the phenomenon of coaches taking the shiny new thing over existing kids even if the capabilities are similar.  Coaches have their own preference for styles, size and shapes of players which have nothing to do with the capabilities and the effectiveness of a player.

The odds of making a team from an open DA tryout are not very good unless your kid is a phenom or has some special skill (or size) that stands out.  The best way is to participate in a number of practices with a DA team long before tryouts are held.  So I would start as early as October and November as the non-DA seasons wind down.  It's also a good time to make a team mid-season because the first couple of months of the DA season are prime club hopping time as kids (really their parents) switch to other clubs because the current team isn't performing to their expectations or the player is not starting or getting the playing time that was promised by the coach as an enticement to join his/her roster.


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## RuffRef (Nov 10, 2019)

$3k per year from the age of 9-15. ($3k x 6 =$18K+)  without getting into the travels and extras (gas, hotels, etc.)  what do you think its worth?
Then when he makes DA team ,, you still gotta pay for travel costs, gas, food, etc..


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## espola (Nov 10, 2019)

RuffRef said:


> $3k per year from the age of 9-15. ($3k x 6 =$18K+)  without getting into the travels and extras (gas, hotels, etc.)  what do you think its worth?
> Then when he makes DA team ,, you still gotta pay for travel costs, gas, food, etc..


If your youth player is a true unicorn, stick with your local low-cost club because everything will come eventually anyway.  If your youth player is not as good as mommy's eyes perceive, then stick with you local low-cost club because nothing will come eventually anyway.  However, there is a great expanse of middle ground players who might eventually get some benefit of the purported better coaching, competition, and exposure.  Now what mother is going to look at her child and say "Sorry, Susy, you're just not good enough for us to spend all that money on you"?  That's the target market.


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## RuffRef (Nov 10, 2019)

Monetized Athletics..... its really not worth it..!!    Whoose a better player,  the kid who plays years for the club team, spends thousands on training, cleats and travel.  Or the kids who jump the fence of the local school and play for hours on end with each other with no adults , coaches or parents around.  They play hard , no-one gets hurt, every goal is accompanied with laughter, and enjoyment from both sides.   
Sometimes the price of having FUN with friends is beyond priceless in todays world.


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## dad4 (Nov 12, 2019)

Be wary of the long commute.  It is easy to spend 6 hours a week driving to and from practice.

As long as the local team is at your kid's level and nice people, you're better off spending those 6 hours juggling, playing pickup games, and getting your homework done.


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