Girls Development Academy

C.A.M. said:
In my statement I was very clear that I'm okay with an age division split. What I'm saying is pure crap is that it isn't considered to be the normal division in DA. They don't get to go to all the showcases (no 2nd one like what they just attended in North Carolina), and will their game results be available on the US Soccer Academy website like all the other DA teams?

I have been on this forum spewing my opinion that "I love what the DA can do for the game, but DA isn't for a lot of girls" from the time we were playing vs everyone still in the Summer and we lost to a non DA/ECNL team and started getting ragged on. I stated then... DA is a whole different beast attempting to conquer goals that the high majority of teams in other leagues have no idea or concern about and certainly don't mandate. From passing out of and building from the back to how they want the ball to move up the field, etc...... Foreign concepts to most of our girls who have been the best athletes on in their teams in a WIN AT ALL COSTS environment that lacked this type of sophisticated development in most cases. This also means that the coaching needs to be at a higher level than before.

My other concern was the age grouping. I never liked it although I understood it. The sub rule didn't concern me as much if the rosters were 18 or less.

If a little ole obsessive soccer parent like me could see these issues coming in the largest, densest, most populous, most competitive part of the country called Southern California partaking in this venture , how couldn't the powers that be? Here is were the parents of olders come in and say we told you US Soccer would flub this up. Ding ding ding.

I think the DA is great and could be better if they actually took into consideration the children.... NOTICE THAT WORD - CHILDREN, they are looking to have participate in their program and recognize that it takes more than one year to break the bad habits of the lesser quality players (mentally, physically and combined) *disclaimer - lesser quality doesn't mean you suck. You suck means you suck. Lesser quality means you aren't ready for prime time in the current system and need developing and time to do so*.

You know what, may be they have and just didn't care as long as they got their 25-50 top players out of the program. Still, if your idea is to have those 25-50 top players flourish and continue to dominate on the world stage - they better be going against the most kick ass competition they can at home. That means makes the rules so the group has time to grow and adjust. Those that are ahead of the curve will be placed in advanced situations with older and better competition in the beginning anyways (see the two 03's on the Slammers 01/02 team or Solar 00/99 team). This allows for long term growth and better competition. That's how you build a system for long term growth and sustainability. Similar to how John Wooden did at UCLA, Coach K does at Duke, Pat Summit did at Tennessee and Gene A does at UConn in college basketball. The one constant is they have no more than 4 years (99% of the time) to develop these young human beings who are extremely talented and turn them into successful athletes within their particular system. All of their athletes are hand picked, same as the ones for the DA.

The difference is they rushed to put it into effect and didn't think about the product they want to produce is HUMAN BEINGS and most humans do not adjust quickly to new circumstances.

Like I've said, my kid is getting the looks, emails, invites, etc.... to universities, which is the main goal. This isn't a personal rant. My kid can play and and my kid still has a lot of dynamic growth and soccer development to come and be really good for however long she determines she wants to lace them up. I'm just watching the whole. Not just her team, but the whole and seeing kids struggle mightily and wonder how US Soccer didn't see this coming or if they simply didn't care?

Beyond that.... it's the law of the jungle buddy. Cool beans and good luck.


Also - here are the FIFA 2017/18 sub rules from their website. You can find the pdf here: http://www.fifa.com/search/?q=LAWS+OF+THE+GAME+2017-18

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Trusting the current leadership at US Soccer is pretty silly. Good luck to you and your player.
 
C.A.M. said:
Not true at all. She played really well as a Freshman when SC went to UCLA and beat them for there for the first time. She also played well vs them in Stub Hub when UCLA beat them in the last conference game when SC won the National Championship. She played well this last season too, but the outside backs simply didn't have enough speed to keep up with them and she and the other CB had too much ground to cover. Game still went down to the wire. Playing UCLA is a terrorizing situation for a CB on any team that doesn't drop deep and cover.
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I was at that game too and she got megged in that game as did the other Trojan centerback. Check the game film it is on YouTube. The game was very onesided as most of $C's shots were in the last 10 minutes of the game. I would say that the game this year was closer. Next season is going to be a severe "cleansing" if you know what I mean. If the rumors about the lineup are true I am looking forward to it.
 
InTheValley said:
Got it. I wouldn’t worry about regional invites for the little ones. I’d start worrying when Stanford and UCLA commits who play ECNL stop making YNTs. Everyone who makes U17 or above should be a unicorn, so I don’t really see any impact when these YNTs start to mean something more important than a higher Topdrawer ranking.

If US Soccer wants to bolster its tottering GDA by duping/threatening families with little kids into playing GDA because only GDA kids make regional trainings, I guess that’s their prerogative.
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UCLA commit on Arsenal 2002 I.L. is the only youth national team member on that team that didn't make a move to GDA. Unlike the rest of her old teammates, she hasn't had a single call up since. SMH horrible decision by US Soccer. They think they're winning in this decision, but all it does is limit the player pool, no other country would ever.
 
PLSAP said:
UCLA commit on Arsenal 2002 I.L. is the only youth national team member on that team that didn't make a move to GDA. Unlike the rest of her old teammates, she hasn't had a single call up since. SMH horrible decision by US Soccer. They think they're winning in this decision, but all it does is limit the player pool, no other country would ever.
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She will get called back in once she gets closer to going to UCLA. The coaches there have an eye for talent that US Soccer often misses. I wouldn't worry though as 99% of all full women's national team players played in college and her school is one that produces them.
 
Zen said:
Unfortunately the girls are caught in the fray. In Norcal, 80% of regional invites are from DA clubs - 70% from 1 DA club - despite strong ECNL league presence. No one is changing teams (that I'm aware of) because of it, but the bias is noticed. Maybe this will influence U8 parent hopefuls, but not olders. I look forward to seeing some of these girls play in D1. It'll be captain obvious by then. Our team beat the Thorns DA in a scrimmage a while back something to the order of 16-0 in the presence of a local US Soccer Scout and local college coaches. It didn't translate to regional NTC , but college coaches know where the talent is and will not be swayed by league affiliation.
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US SOCCER was clear from the start they would mostly be picking the US Teams from DA players. No comment on if that is right or wrong. Just saying it was clear.

push_up said:
Scrimmages do not matter. Wins and losses do not matter. Team or club standings in GDA/ECNL do not matter. Sub rules don't matter. Outside of the .001 player development does not matter. Unicorns matter. Keep drinking that koolaid.
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Please define unicorns as I am ignorant about the usage here.
 
Zen said:
In Norcal, the rumor is they already did. It will influence minimal to no movement for ECNL players to adandon their team for DA. Local US Training center invites are already biased toward DA. College is the end game and most Norcal parents aren’t that disillusioned to think their daughter is the .1%. Even parents whose daughters should actually be invited to local US trainings, maybe irritated, but not enough to abandon a coach, team, and journey they like for a pipe dream. The real showdown for who should be on the national team will be in college. Parents with ballers aren’t worried about it. Regardless of youth invites or not, those deserving will be hard to deny (i.e. Hallie Mace). Even if your end game is USNT, I doubt USSF will deny a pac-12 athletic freak and star a look because she didn’t come from a DA club.
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You hit the nail on the head!!!
 
C.A.M. said:
US SOCCER was clear from the start they would mostly be picking the US Teams from DA players. No comment on if that is right or wrong. Just saying it was clear.



Please define unicorns as I am ignorant about the usage here.
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I don't think the program as exists is what US Soccer planned.

I think "unicorn" as it is used here refers to players who are obvious standouts.
 
@C.A.M. the "unicorn" player is that super-rare talent that transcends all others. The kid that has speed, foot skills and a competitive drive like no other. The kid that all agree is the best player they have ever seen. Professional teams figure out a way to get the kid in their academy system. Their success at the next level is all but guaranteed (e.g. Christian Pulisic).

As far as the US Youth National Teams are concerned, which are nothing more than an international all-star exhibition team, US Soccer will look to the DA first because the DA is US Soccer's baby and US Soccer has all the data on those players, so yes, Youth National teams will attempt to primarily draw from the DA for the simple reason that it knows those players best and favors the training regime and culture of the DA.

When it comes to the Senior Mens or Senior Womens USNT, the DA is not relevant. The professional leagues are relevant. Virtually every player on both the Mens and Womens team will have been removed from any youth program for 3-5 years.
 
espola said:
FIFA rules are appropriate for professional and international games (although I believe the "3" may be bypassed in some situations). Limiting subs that severely for youth developmental or showcase situations is meaningless imitation that interferes with rational coaching decisions.
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Agreed and the FIFA laws even state adjustments are allowed regionally.

Thing is a lot coaches already don't get past their top 13 or 14 players. There are plenty of teams with players on the end of the bench not playing / developing. All of this before the advent of the DA. The DA isn't the cause. The focus of winning is the cause.

Not that winning is bad. At these ages I just like winning and developing combined better.
 
MWN said:
@C.A.M. the "unicorn" player is that super-rare talent that transcends all others. The kid that has speed, foot skills and a competitive drive like no other. The kid that all agree is the best player they have ever seen. Professional teams figure out a way to get the kid in their academy system. Their success at the next level is all but guaranteed (e.g. Christian Pulisic).

As far as the US Youth National Teams are concerned, which are nothing more than an international all-star exhibition team, US Soccer will look to the DA first because the DA is US Soccer's baby and US Soccer has all the data on those players, so yes, Youth National teams will attempt to primarily draw from the DA for the simple reason that it knows those players best and favors the training regime and culture of the DA.

When it comes to the Senior Mens or Senior Womens USNT, the DA is not relevant. The professional leagues are relevant. Virtually every player on both the Mens and Womens team will have been removed from any youth program for 3-5 years.
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Thanks for the clarity on the "unicorn". I like it. I've told my girl to focus on getting to the university she wants through the DA. Since she hasn't been identified within the the last two to three years we don't expect for a YNT call up (will take it though!). If she is ever at that level we expect it to happen through her college play or pro play if she decides to do that. Yes I said it like it's a guarantee. I'm a believer. LOL.
 
MakeAPlay said:
I was at that game too and she got megged in that game as did the other Trojan centerback. Check the game film it is on YouTube. The game was very onesided as most of $C's shots were in the last 10 minutes of the game. I would say that the game this year was closer. Next season is going to be a severe "cleansing" if you know what I mean. If the rumors about the lineup are true I am looking forward to it.
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The end of last year's game would suggest I affirm that "cleansing" you're speaking of if SC didn't bring in some serious athletes to defend the wings. UCLA is only going to be faster and stronger this year and with next's years commits they will get even more track star speed combined with size and skills. Scary few years. Hope mine can continue that trend.

On the megging - being a defender in the sports I played, my mindstate is you could be all fancy, but did you get the shot/pass off and did they get to where you want them too? If the answer is no, keep megging and I'll keep you from being effective. I know the CB we're speaking of thinks the same. Her partner? No clue.
 
espola said:
I don't think the program as exists is what US Soccer planned.

I think "unicorn" as it is used here refers to players who are obvious standouts.
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In defense of the people who need no defense because they will do whatever they please whenever they please.....

The age group unbanding and rebanding has been the issue for the past 3 seasons. The system changes over the last few years have crushed the norm in the girls game.

Be forewarned - the age group changes are just temporary. Have you seen the bio-banding initiative? This has already started in 4 DA clubs this past weekend. If anyone has any info on the results and reactions let us know.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...s-us-soccer-introduces-bio-banding-initiative
 
C.A.M. said:
The end of last year's game would suggest I affirm that "cleansing" you're speaking of if SC didn't bring in some serious athletes to defend the wings. UCLA is only going to be faster and stronger this year and with next's years commits they will get even more track star speed combined with size and skills. Scary few years. Hope mine can continue that trend.

On the megging - being a defender in the sports I played, my mindstate is you could be all fancy, but did you get the shot/pass off and did they get to where you want them too? If the answer is no, keep megging and I'll keep you from being effective. I know the CB we're speaking of thinks the same. Her partner? No clue.
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I didn't quite understand your first paragraph but $C has nothing that will bother UCLA much this upcoming season or next. The next few years could be rough for the rivalry. $C can bring in anybody they want they are still far behind the top SoCal destination for top players and with how their coach allocates scholarship money they will never have enough top players to beat UCLA until that changes.

Regarding the megging. I know the player that did the megging and she is better than any midfielder in North America and that includes anyone on the US WNT. You really should look at the film of the game so that you can have an idea of the abject terror your favored player was in (what top defenders get megged in games?). And yes she got the shot off and this year was runner up for the MAC Hermann and will be favored to win it the next two years (if one of her teammates doesn't win it).

You are barking up the wrong tree on this one @C.A.M. I've watched every game $C has played over the last 3 years other than maybe a couple. FYI, UCLA has lost just one game in the playoffs since the 2016 recruiting class arrived (#1 in the nation) and they will be juniors this year. I am not sure exactly what you mean by I hope mine continues that trend but if your player has the chops to get offered a scholarship by the Bruins, especially in the next couple of years, then my hat is off to her.

Good luck to you and your player.
 
C.A.M. said:
In defense of the people who need no defense because they will do whatever they please whenever they please.....

The age group unbanding and rebanding has been the issue for the past 3 seasons. The system changes over the last few years have crushed the norm in the girls game.

Be forewarned - the age group changes are just temporary. Have you seen the bio-banding initiative? This has already started in 4 DA clubs this past weekend. If anyone has any info on the results and reactions let us know.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...s-us-soccer-introduces-bio-banding-initiative
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Yes, please, would love to know which clubs started bio-banding.
 
MakeAPlay said:
I didn't quite understand your first paragraph but $C has nothing that will bother UCLA much this upcoming season or next. The next few years could be rough for the rivalry. $C can bring in anybody they want they are still far behind the top SoCal destination for top players and with how their coach allocates scholarship money they will never have enough top players to beat UCLA until that changes.

Regarding the megging. I know the player that did the megging and she is better than any midfielder in North America and that includes anyone on the US WNT. You really should look at the film of the game so that you can have an idea of the abject terror your favored player was in (what top defenders get megged in games?). And yes she got the shot off and this year was runner up for the MAC Hermann and will be favored to win it the next two years (if one of her teammates doesn't win it).

You are barking up the wrong tree on this one @C.A.M. I've watched every game $C has played over the last 3 years other than maybe a couple. FYI, UCLA has lost just one game in the playoffs since the 2016 recruiting class arrived (#1 in the nation) and they will be juniors this year. I am not sure exactly what you mean by I hope mine continues that trend but if your player has the chops to get offered a scholarship by the Bruins, especially in the next couple of years, then my hat is off to her.

Good luck to you and your player.
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We wear blue and gold at our house. Read my first paragraph with that in mind. I'm expecting for SC to get ran over for a very long time.
 
I believe Anaheim Surf was the first club to try BioBanding last year, on their way to trying to win State Cup. It wasn't called Bio Banding back then though, it was called "playing over-aged players," I think is the correct term.
 
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