Their kid plays DA. Weird hate.
2018 DA Winter Showcase GU15
- Thread starter BFrank
- Start date
Cost + Sacrifice = resentment
But we all still do it for our child’s love of the game
And that’s why they play the game. End of story or line.
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Soccerfan2
GOLD
Guessing their kid doesn’t get playing time? Usually the root of it.
End of the Line
SILVER ELITE
Let me get this straight. You tell someone their kid isn't cut out to play college soccer if she can't handle missing three days of school before finals, you use your own kid as the standard for theirs, and then proclaim your kid to be off limits? If you want the rule to be that no one talks about someone else's kid, perhaps you should start with yourself.
Your posts are yet another example of the problem with GDA. Just because you are doing what you and USSF believe is best for your daughter doesn't mean it's the best thing for anyone else's. The downfall of GDA is largely the result of the GDA mafia's complete inability to grasp that a certain amount of flexibility is necessary for the platform to succeed because every kid has their own circumstances, and most people aren't lemmings who will continue tossing money off a cliff for a product that has many imperfections. In the end, GDA will fail for the same reason BMW makes great cars but you've probably never heard of a Moskvitch. ECNL (and all other competitive leagues really) are essentially operated by those who have the financial stake in the operation, namely the clubs. Accordingly, they implement rules and requirements that are intended to best serve the needs and interests of their customers overall because the clubs will bear the financial brunt when they don't. With GDA, however, USSF makes the rules without regard to the financial consequences to the clubs, which bear the brunt of USSF decisions that drive revenue out of the clubs. As it turns out, April Heinrichs and friends are about as good at centralized control of youth soccer clubs as Stalin was at centralized control of the auto industry.
One more thing. When you asked "How many of you take your kids out of school to vacation?" to justify USSF's decision, the question should have been "How many of you take your kids out of school to vacation right before finals?" The answer is none, because nobody is that stupid (besides you and USSF). There are 52 weeks in a year, and probably 45 of them are better options unless you're dead set on playing in regions where it snows, like CO in April. You probably should move that showcase to finals week just to be safe, eh?
BTW, where's my medical study?
El Clasico
GOLD
I don't recall ECNL parents complaining that their kids could not play H.S. In fact, I remember wondering why my son would NOT be able to play high school ball in DA while my daughter could in ECNL. Only 1 out of 4 left in this racket we call Club Soccer and there is only one thing that I am absolutely certain of. Both DA and ECNL were unnecessary pathways for my kids. Both can help some (particularly if your child struggles academically) but parents should know that they are their child's best advocate. However, if choosing between the two, there is little question as to which offers more options and flexibility. ECNL hands down. If your child's only goal is to play on the USWNT (notice, I said child and not vain parent's goal), then DA is the path forward.
I was referencing the comments made by the previous poster (EOL) which do not include the HS argument because it was not an issue then.
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Dos Equis
GOLD
I believe the primary complaints about ECNL where always the cost (mostly travel) and the closed nature of the system. The DA structure tried to address the former, with varying levels of success and failure, and doubled down on the later by adding restrictions on outside competition. The policies US Soccer implemented to further their goal of developing the best players in the USSDA (versus the ECNL mission of assisting and/or addressing the needs of all their players), has generated even more complaints than those heard in the ECNL-only days.
We have choices. The best news is that the creation of the DA did not cause the death of ECNL, so those choices continue to exist. No doubt the DA system is not for everyone, and the timing of the December showcase is a good example of why that is the case. For some it is no big deal to manage -- while others may not have the same flexibility nor ability.
Sheriff Joe
DA
Everyone's kid's, situations and parent's bank accounts are different, people have choices and that is all we can ask for.
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Have a nice life. I hope someday your heart is no longer filled with so much anger and hate.
Does your DD (who plays DA) share the same view as you about the league she chooses to play in?
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Yes. She moved after the formation of DA so never had a chance to play ECNL. No ECNL teams currently close to us anyway. This was her choice and she loves her team and seems to look forward to practices and games. She is also glad she gets a break from playing HS. She also would not have had the same future opportunities without moving teams.
I was asking EOL....I am familiar with your daughter story.
End of the Line
SILVER ELITE
That's an interesting angle from the guy who keeps calling people a**holes at a youth soccer website. You might want to consider the possibility that there's a difference between disagreeing with a position and hate. Disagreeing just means I'm telling you why I think you're wrong. Hate is calling someone an a**hole just because you can't handle criticism, or a joke even, and have nothing cogent to say in response. You're just a bully who still has a hard time emotionally whenever you try to stick someone's head in the toilet only to learn the hard way that yours gets to be the plunger.
Completely agree here. The fact that we can say there is a choice (at least for some), is a good thing. However, we all now there are issues with dilution, etc... The saga will continue for some time. Honestly, if GDA changed their policy on HS soccer, most would flock to the league. I really don't understand why they have such a hard stance on this one. Dumb IMO.
Sheriff Joe
DA
The dilution has been all to obvious, my kid is in Premier and it painful to see some of these other teams, silver caliber a couple of years ago.
For my kid HS was a big deal last year, but not this year, the 4 day schedule would be a hard one for her, being pretty and 16, hell, she even started liking pink again.
If I had my wish she would be playing ECNL, but there are no teams near us. She is on a solid team that's been together for 4 years, has a really good coach and gets quite a bit of attention for not being ECNL or DA.
The boys side use to allow HS soccer. At some point they decided that the boys were coming back with too many bad habits after playing HS soccer. I don't know how accurate that is or whether or not that justifies the rules DA has been put in place, but the rule originates from some experience.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years. If DA survives, the HS scene may change. I get the impression that the girls already in HS were reluctant to give it up - although I do know some who didn't want to play HS even though they play ECNL. For the girls that entered high school last year and the younger girls, I'm not sure that the buzz about HS soccer is the same. If that's the case, the landscape could completely change in 2 or 3 years. Time will tell.
My kid will have to make that decision next year when she gets into HS. After 2 seasons in DA, it isn’t the league she is committed to, it is her Coach. If the team changes Coaches, it could be HS for her, as it was eloquently put, only time will tell. Currently her plan is to volunteer to be the Team Manager so she gets to be with her friends whom don’t play DA and still reap some of the social benefits.
But we all know what happens to the best laid plans.....
But we all know what happens to the best laid plans.....
Granted this is a girls thread I thought this comment by a high school boys coach was mind numbing. A friend just shared with me that his sons high school coach told him to stop playing club “style” soccer. And that he now had to play high school style. The son asked what that was. His response,”None of this passing or fancy stuff”
End of the Line
SILVER ELITE
You raise an interesting point. What is fascinating is that USSF was ever so close to killing ECNL in one stroke right at the beginning but didn't understand how to make it happen and therefore failed to capitalize. Do you remember when GDA was first announced and all the best ECNL clubs were tripping over themselves to join GDA out of fear that they'd get left behind and leapfrogged by lesser clubs - right up until USSF started telling them they needed to do things that would hurt revenue by causing many of their kids to leave, thereby opening the door to their competitors? At that point, many good ECNL clubs backed out before it even started, some dual clubs relegated it to second tier status, and it took 12 others a couple months into it that the platform was a financial catastrophe for them. If USSF had simply stolen ECNL's model exactly as it was and also exploited ECNL's lukewarm feelings about HS by encouraging it, pretty much every ECNL club would have bought in and ECNL would have been toast. USSF then could have imposed all the dumb rules it wanted because, at least for a while, people would have had no other options for a platform that would get their kid significant college exposure on a national level and, for a few crazy insecure parents, a path to a YNT. Once that happened, USSF could have ruined women's soccer just like it's been doing to the men's side for 10 years already.
Instead, USSF miscalculated that muscling in on ECNL would be harder, so it set out to "differentiate" itself with a bunch of dumb ideas that sound good to dumb soccer people who love soccer so much that they can't understand why a teenager girl and her family might think that giving up everything in their lives beside soccer is a bad idea. USSF also didn't pay attention to the fact that ECNL was built over many years into a successful platform in large part based on years of trial and error, and that ignoring the lessons learned by ECNL was a very bad idea. Clubs already knew that most of them can't prohibit HS soccer without risking their financial future, and even those few that can are so few and far between that they can't create a sustainable league without the others. It isn't like clubs haven't tried to keep their kids playing club during the HS season so they can get 2-3 more months of fees. Clubs also already knew their price points and that they can't charge families more than they already do, regardless of whether the increase is necessary to pay coaches and landlords for 1-2 more practices a week and 3 more months a year, or to fly more places. If families had wanted to pay more money for more training and more travel, and were ok foregoing HS, ECNL would have been doing it years ago.
If USSF really wanted to improve women's soccer, it would negotiate terms of surrender with ECNL. The dilution caused by the two platforms is really hurting the quality of play and training as a whole, and GDA simply can't win the war for the reasons already discussed ad naseum. It would be better served by "partnering" with ECNL, such as by sponsoring ECNL showcases and providing financial assistance. That way, USSF could save some of the money it loses on GDA and would also benefit from goodwill that it lacks but desperately needs. Seriously, USSF is one of the most reviled brands of any kind in the U.S. If you haven't already, spend some time reading responses to their Facebook posts about the men. Yikes.
I've heard this is pretty common. Even with high school coaches that coach at the club level. The J Serra girls varsity team in particular.
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