DA and ECNL

I'll believe it when I see it, but I hope they will practice what they preach. Facts for U14/U15's say otherwise.
 
No, not hypocritical. I call it like I see it when it comes to pedophiles and have no tolerance. Youth players are in a vulnerable position with a lot of demands made of them by the clubs and at the end of the day DOC's and club owners have to hold some responsibility for oversight over their programs and coaches.

As do we all. I am not questioning you about badmouthing him. It was a horrible situation for everyone which pales in comparison to what that poor girl had to go through. But you do understand the definition of hypocrisy which means claiming one thing (such as saying you don’t come online to bad mouth clubs) and but doing the opposite?
 
I assume that you are being funny.
Funny/Pragmatic , unfortunately, this is the Path many Parents are dreaming and hoping GDA takes there DD... Its the "My girl is the next Mallory Syndrome". GDA should go all the way to accommodate these parents and players dreams. Its the Pragmatic way to go to build more high caliber athletes.. But yes it is Lunacy,
I'm still on the fence about Girls Playing College for 1- 2 years. This is a very cost effective means to Vet out the top .001%, and it's working for the NFL and NBA. US Soccer should look into continuing this model until the pro leagues and clubs are able to generate substantial revenue selling young players contracts. So they may not want to add the statement that they would prefer athletes not attend College, just yet.
https://bigthink.com/articles/why-d...ollege-become-a-pro-footballbasketball-player
 
As do we all. I am not questioning you about badmouthing him. It was a horrible situation for everyone which pales in comparison to what that poor girl had to go through. But you do understand the definition of hypocrisy which means claiming one thing (such as saying you don’t come online to bad mouth clubs) and but doing the opposite?
I did not come on the forum just to trash a club because of a personal experience I had or spreading rumors etc to influence others about a club. Someone asked about why players might be moving clubs and I commented on public information that could be a contributing factor.
 
I did not come on the forum just to trash a club because of a personal experience I had or spreading rumors etc to influence others about a club. Someone asked about why players might be moving clubs and I commented on public information that could be a contributing factor.

Ok. It was a bit of a factor last year but SM leaving before that was a bigger factor.
 
Very impressive 3-0 win for the USA in the Concacaf final over Mexico. Some extremely talented girls on the USA squad.

So it was 0-0 at the end of regulation? Was it close or one of those games completely dominated by the USA but just couldn’t get one in? Surprised they needed overtime.
 
from the parts that I watched it seemed like Mexico was dominating for a lot of the game and couldn't get the ball in the net then in overtime Mexico seemed to run out of gas and USA took charge
 
Mexico was all over the US towards the end of the second half, but couldn’t finish.
Not sure why, but the US midfield was almost nonexistent. They were nonexistent in previous games as well.
 
Mexico was all over the US towards the end of the second half, but couldn’t finish.
Not sure why, but the US midfield was almost nonexistent. They were nonexistent in previous games as well.
Almost like there were no barriers to stop them.
 
So which DA team does your kid play for?

My kid played 2 yrs of ECNL, freshman year of HS she played Varsity for a decent HS team, and this will be her 2nd year playing Academy. The point is she has experienced everything that is debated on here and as a parent I have seen the best and worst of ECNL, HS, and Academy. She is an young 02 and it's been a long and tumultuous couple years with the age changes, the formation of the DA, and the split age groups last year in Academy. She joined Academy not in hope's of ever playing for the US as that isn't a realistic option she isn't a .0001% type player. However she does play internationally and for another country so she chose Academy because after looking at a number of clubs she felt the coaching staff would be a great fit for her and the organization/structure of the training environment would make her a better player. Wins, losses, past club success, none of that factored in for her she could care less what a club accomplished 2, 3, 10 yrs ago. She liked coach Ritson, Davis, and this year Gumpert a lot. As a parent my role has been an unpaid Uber driver for her and an ATM machine but I get to spend time with her and be a small part of what she enjoys doing. LA Premier Academy is where she chose to play and she couldn't be happier. In the end regardless what league your daughter plays for the best is to find good coaches and an environment that allows them to grow as players. After all if your daughter wants to play D1, D2, D3, NAIA, or JC college soccer they have to continue to love the game and find an environment that will offer them exposure and a place to grow as a player.
 
On what are you basing your opinion on that "most of the top players already have gone GDA"? At the Surf cup U14 age group, there was only 1 division where they put both ECNL and GDA teams, and the 2 ECNL teams both made it to the finals. In the Surf cup U13 top division, a team from an ECNL club beat a team from a GDA club to win the championship. At Silverlakes, in the two youngest age groups(U14 and U15), the ECNL teams outperfomed GDA teams head to head. If "most top players" are in GDA, shouldn't they be outperforming ECNL head to head by a landslide?

Speaking of "rose colored glasses" ^ ...

Sooooo California ; )
 
The funny part of this is that some SoCal ECNL teams in those age brackets can't even beat SCDSL teams head to head.

The answer here is that there are good players everywhere. Lots of great players in DA, lots in ECNL, and even some in the lowly "local" leagues.
Agreed. Good post. That was the whole point of my post, which was quoted above. The DA parent was claiming that "most top players" are in GDA based based on his knowledge of the players, and my argument was that the results of these preseason tournaments don't prove that to be the case. I don't get the relevance of "rose colored glasses" comment with regards to that discussion, but whatever.
 
What worries me a bit about DA is that US Soccer wants everyone to play a 4-3-3. There is some good in having a uniform tactical shape across the US. We definitely need a defined style of play. But a "style" of play (IE - Possession, Direct, Counter Attack, Park the bus, run people over, etc) should be able to be played regardless of your formation/shape.
Part of the "fun" of playing new opponents with varying styles is that is causes the players to have to think about solving problems.
1. The other team is playing 4 in the back with 2 holding mids- We are having trouble playing the ball in central areas. What can we do to try and overcome this?
2. The other team has 3 crazy fast forwards and plays a 4-3-3. Our backline of 4 needs some help on the wing, so we need to get our wingers to drop deeper or they are going to carve us up.
3. We are facing a 4-4-2 with the opposing wide midfielders owning the width at midfield and playing thru balls to their 2 forwards who are making crossing runs.
4. They are playing 3-5-2. We have never seen this before. We should be able to break down their backline, but they are pressing so hard in midfield that we can't get a a pass off quickly enough.
5. We are down 1-0 with 5 minutes left. They have parked the bus. How do we get the ball into a dangerous area?
Etc. etc.
 
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