Girls Development Academy

Simisoccerfan said:
Right now ECNL is making a move but so far they are failing to serve the 11 Million plus people that live in LA and Ventura Counties. That's a population greater than 45 states. Yes there are a few crazy parents that will make that drive to the OC and a few special kids that have deals where they don't need to practice with the team. But that is a glaring omission that I wish ECNL would correct. It would be nice to have ECNL as an option.
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Agreed.
 
Simisoccerfan said:
I did not imply that Blues were leaving ECNL. In fact I was speculating that they would leave DA if they were forced to choose. The opposite for Surf due to their DA ties on the boys side and the DA Oceanside deal. Note that Surf is not listed on the All In list yet.
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Surf is more than large enough to compete in both. They go where the wind blows but always in the first wave...
 
G03_SD said:
I know a family in Michigan who drives 4 hours RT so their kid can practice with an ECNL team twice a week. Not 4 hours in traffic, 4 hours due to distance. We in CA are spoiled. We want everything in our backyard.
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Michigan to Socal = Apples to oranges and not even close in any way, other than the fact we are talking about soccer.
 
G03_SD said:
I know a family in Michigan who drives 4 hours RT so their kid can practice with an ECNL team twice a week. Not 4 hours in traffic, 4 hours due to distance. We in CA are spoiled. We want everything in our backyard.
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Just because someone is crazy enough to drive 4 hours to practice doesn't make us in CA spoiled. Most people are scraping by with two parents both working long hours to meet their family needs. The vast majority of players don't have rich parents that can afford to take that much time off of work (or have one parent not working) or to invest that much of their free time into driving to practice. In fact most would think that those parents are spoiling that kid by driving them 4 hours to practice.
 
Simisoccerfan said:
Just because someone is crazy enough to drive 4 hours to practice doesn't make us in CA spoiled. Most people are scraping by with two parents both working long hours to meet their family needs. The vast majority of players don't have rich parents that can afford to take that much time off of work (or have one parent not working) or to invest that much of their free time into driving to practice. In fact most would think that those parents are spoiling that kid by driving them 4 hours to practice.
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I think what is being implied is that many people on here complain about ECNL not being in L.A. county. When in all honesty the distance is less than 100 miles; probably less than 50. This person, whoever it is, is driving 4 hours without traffic to do what's best for his/her DD. So simply put, time to put some miles on the car and do what you have to do.
 
shales1002 said:
I think what is being implied is that many people on here complain about ECNL not being in L.A. county. When in all honesty the distance is less than 100 miles; probably less than 50. This person, whoever it is, is driving 4 hours without traffic to do what's best for his/her DD. So simply put, time to put some miles on the car and do what you have to do.
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Some players are good enough that all that effort and expense is just a waste, and some are so weak it won't matter. I guess it helps the few in the middle.
 
Simisoccerfan said:
Just because someone is crazy enough to drive 4 hours to practice doesn't make us in CA spoiled. Most people are scraping by with two parents both working long hours to meet their family needs. The vast majority of players don't have rich parents that can afford to take that much time off of work (or have one parent not working) or to invest that much of their free time into driving to practice. In fact most would think that those parents are spoiling that kid by driving them 4 hours to practice.
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Slammers had a player in my daughter's age group that lived in Virginia and commuted. Her father was CEO of some Fortune 500. Also the General Manager of the MGM Grand's daughters moved from Vegas to Newport Coast to play for Slammers. One is at Duke and the other is on one of the Slammers teams and is allegedly going to UCLA (I say allegedly because my daughter can't confirm it and it isn't reported anywhere but in a signing day release by her school).

I try not to judge what extremes people are willing to go through for their kids because I used to drive my kid an hour an a half 3 days a week for school when she was younger.

Good luck to you and your player.
 
Its great that you could make the time for that drive for school. Most that are required to work 8-5 can't. And the uber rich are in a league of their own.
 
Toepoke said:
This is very telling considering the clubs leaving GDA in comparison to the new clubs being added. No disrespect to the 4 clubs mentioned in the article but the level of success of FC Stars, PDA and Hawks are hard to ignore. Anyone who has followed girls soccer over the years knows those are 3 powerhouse clubs that have proven the ability to place girls on the big stage of international competition. Hard for GDA to make the claim of being the best when replacing successful clubs with clubs that don't have the same resume or proven track record. If USSF doesn't figure something out moving forward and additional successful clubs from across the country pull out of GDA and join ECNL full time, then GDA will become the 2nd tier national league with ECNL reclaiming the throne.
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1st year for GDA and season is not even over. Clubs have players in DA who are able to play at the highest level. These players are viewed as “having excellent soccer skills & ability to develop to their full potential”. Too soon to be making conclusions! Be patient.
 
SoccerFan said:
1st year for GDA and season is not even over. Clubs have players in DA who are able to play at the highest level. These players are viewed as “having excellent soccer skills & ability to develop to their full potential”. Too soon to be making conclusions! Be patient.
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If they already have excellent soccer skills, what will be developed?
 
shales1002 said:
I think what is being implied is that many people on here complain about ECNL not being in L.A. county. When in all honesty the distance is less than 100 miles; probably less than 50. This person, whoever it is, is driving 4 hours without traffic to do what's best for his/her DD. So simply put, time to put some miles on the car and do what you have to do.
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Ok, since you know so much about the LA geography. If I live Manhattan Beach, how long does it take me to get to Irvine Great Park (where 3 different ECNL clubs train) at 6pm on a week day (roughly 35 miles)?
 
shales1002 said:
I think what is being implied is that many people on here complain about ECNL not being in L.A. county. When in all honesty the distance is less than 100 miles; probably less than 50. This person, whoever it is, is driving 4 hours without traffic to do what's best for his/her DD. So simply put, time to put some miles on the car and do what you have to do.
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I think the bigger point is that there are no ECNL clubs in LA County and 3 training at one facility in Orange County. How does that make any sense?
 
MakeAPlay said:
You misunderstand the reason why Legends and Carlsbad weren't invited to join the ECNL. They had no track record of success in 2008/09 when the ECNL was formed. Every significant accolade that those clubs have earned was gained after the ECNL clubs stopped participating in USYS events.
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The reason Carlsbad United was not invited to participate in ECNL in 2016 is because Surf wanted to maintain their monopoly in the county. During this first season of GDA LAGSD (former Carlsbad United) is very competitive against Surf. LAGSD are ranked higher in the GU15 and GU16/17 age groups and the GU18/19 age group tied Surf 2-2 in the only game they have played against one another so far. The 99/00 team also beat the Surf ECNL National Championship team 2-0 when they faced them in the quarter finals at Surf Cup. Times change and ECNL did not keep up. If ECNL had not been so busy protecting some member clubs' area monopolies, GDA would have had a much harder time getting interest from so many clubs. GDA exploited the corruption within ECNL. GDA is not perfect by any stretch of the immagination and ECNL may indeed come out on top. To say that Legends and LAGSD cannot compete in the same league with Surf (or Sharks!) is myopic however.
 
I will take up that challenge. You would leave work at 3:00 pm. Hopefully you work fairly close to home and you leave with your kid by 4:00 pm. Some days you make it on time but other days your stressed out and barely make it on time. While you kid practices you either sleep in the car or talk to your other kids and spouse on the phone since you need to remain part of their life. You pick up fast food after practice and attempt to eat it while driving home (not the best food for your kid or yourself). You get home by 9:30 pm. Somehow your kid manages to do their homework in the car. You get home, say hi to the rest of the family and do whatever you need to do before going to bed at 10:30 pm. The alarm goes off in six hours at 4:30 am. You need to be at work by 6:00 am since you leave by 3:00 pm. You repeat this cycle 3 days a week hoping for no early games on the weekend so you can finally get some sleep. Hopefully you don't have more than a 30 minute drive too and from work and your spouse doesn't travel and can take care of the remainder of the family (including getting them to and from school) while you spend your life on the freeways.
 
Real Deal said:
I think the bigger point is that there are no ECNL clubs in LA County and 3 training at one facility in Orange County. How does that make any sense?
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It makes absolutely no sense. There should be an ECNL club in L.A. County, but there isn't. The two that were BOTH went GDA although they are right next door to each other. The point is that you do what you have to do.
 
Kicker4Life said:
Ok, since you know so much about the LA geography. If I live Manhattan Beach, how long does it take me to get to Irvine Great Park (where 3 different ECNL clubs train) at 6pm on a week day (roughly 35 miles)?
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Easy! Since there is ALWAYS traffic on the 405 it would take you 2 hours. You would have to leave and be on the road no later than 3:15 in order to "beat" the traffic. If you are lucky from Manhattan Beach, w/o traffic should take you about 1 hour.
 
shales1002 said:
It makes absolutely no sense. There should be an ECNL club in L.A. County, but there isn't. The two that were BOTH went GDA although they are right next door to each other. The point is that you do what you have to do.
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With evening traffic its at least a 45 minute drive from the pit where Real practices to field where Eagles practice. Not as close as you think. Certainly many OC clubs much closer to each other (though I admit Real and Eagles pull players from the same geographic area). Its another 45 minutes plus from Real to LA Premier. The drive to LA Galaxy is the kiss of death on the 405 and could be 2 hours.
 
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