LadiesMan217
GOLD
Denver is mile high. US Women's soccer has been successful due to endurance. Need some altitude tents for our socal girls
.
Feeling Blues - Relegation Time
- Thread starter RiverArsenal
- Start date
Denver is mile high. US Women's soccer has been successful due to endurance. Need some altitude tents for our socal girls
.https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/11/22/20/38/20171122-news-u18wnt-domestic-training-camp-roster
Here is a recent example. I will try and find a very recent article on the boys side showing Denver as the highest producer of professional soccer players per capita and a mention was made that the womens side was even more skewed towards Denver in their estimation. Again, I am not even arguing that Denver is the best but using it as an example of one small area that does well. Add all the other places in the US and Socal is not better than the rest combined. I guess I am tired of the socal arrogance. That being said I totally agree with posters stating that socal teams should not travel. If you have good competition locally it is a waste to travel.
Current make up of US Roster
4- Socal
2- Nocal
2-NY
1- Kansas
1-FL
2-NJ
2- CO
2-AZ
2-VA
1-OH
1 - MA
1-Conn
1 - MO
1- IL
1 - GA
But it should be all socal... Again go to the top 10 players all time and let me know how many are socal? If they can beat the rest of the country it should be mostly socal right? They have all the best players right? I think there is a class action suit waiting to happen because there are kids outside of socal on the team.
MakeAPlay
DA
17% SoCal and 25% California overall is a pretty solid number. Colorado performs much better than expected with them only having 2% of the US population. That could be attributed to the decision makers connections to Colorado. It could be because Colorado's soccer culture. I can tell you that when they used to have the Region IV ODP championships Colorado and every other state other than Washington got steamrolled by SoCal and that includes when Colorado had Lindey Horan and Mallory Pugh (obviously at different times). I don't think that there is much of an argument that the competition is much better in SoCal and California in general and a lot of it has to do with the population, weather and resources in California. To argue that some other state produces more elite players is absurd and should be treated the same as when a 5 year old says something that is not true. Colorado, however, does produce a ton of top players relative to their population. It is funny though that all of the in state universities on the women's side are horrible soccer schools.
By your argument AZ and CO with population totals of 5.8 mil and 7.1 mil = 12.8 mil total are far better per capita then Socal with population 23.8 mil, with both areas having 4 players on current national team. Your argument doesn't hold water. IMO only a few clubs in Socal develop players most just use their athletes and athleticism to beat teams (Blues is a primary example of that with their kick ball style) Slammers comes to mind as a club that develops talent.
MakeAPlay
DA
Did anyone ever say that SoCal had all of the best players? All and none are absolutes and absolutes are rarely true. I wouldn't even say all of the best teams are in SoCal. Part of the reason I had my player play ECNL when it started was so that she could play against the super teams from other regions like PDA, Tophat, Dallas Sting, Dallas Texans and the Michigan Hawks. All of them were top teams in the nation and from varied regions. Arsenal was the best team though at U14 before they were disbanded.
jpeter
PREMIER
Grand delusional or something?
Take a look at the Rosters of LA Galaxy & LAFC the top team in the league, the mens u20, u23 teams & let's us know how many players are from Southern California?
How about the young players of the years from the Youth national teams?
Leading all-time scorer for the men's national team and MLS: LD is from southern California. The second player on the list w/ the men's national team CDs from Texas.
Colorado or where your delusional about I'm sure has good players but your running off the deed end and getting carried away a bit
MakeAPlay
DA
I almost choked on my Coffee bean when you said Slammers develops talent. I go waaaaay back and Slammers and Blues are the king of recruiting talented players and creating a super team. The big clubs that I have seen develop talent are Surf, Southbay Force (not sure what they are called now) and Beach (probably the best coaching staff as a whole). Plenty of small clubs that do a good job developing talent. Honestly, it's more the coach that develops the talent not the club.
I'm not saying Socal doesn't have talent they do and lots of it. Getting back to US soccer and what is currently going on. The formation of the DA has set woman's soccer back and will continue to do so until the Federation figures out that they need to concentrate talent. Whether that is through combining with the ECNL or use the a better year around ODP model. All the DA did when the created the DA model was dilute the talent between two leagues. IMO Socal can field 6 or less teams of the highest caliber, CO 3 , AZ 2, Nocal 4 or less. In order for girls to get better they have to be challenged everyday in practice by quality girls and then play every game at a high level against high level competition not what is going on now with dilution all over the place.
MakeAPlay
DA
Steel sharpens steel. You have to be talented AND confident to join the Hunger Games.... That's why committing to a top soccer school is no joke.
My DD is just entering the LAFC ECNL program at Slammers. I acknowledge that we are talking weeks, not years, of experience in that environment with Slammers, but thus far the focus in training has been on 1v1, 2v1 and 1v2 techniques, ball collection/possession, off ball positioning and field space, and the use of quickness and speed within those concepts. The coaching has been quite good, and it is my impression that the coaches in the Slammers ECNL program generally are a clear cut above many coaches in SoCal clubs.
In terms of other locations, what I hear from friends in other markets is that the club to club and league to league infighting exists there as well, with the primary result being weaker teams than could otherwise be established within those markets. Seems the same discussion and complaints go on everywhere.
In terms of other locations, what I hear from friends in other markets is that the club to club and league to league infighting exists there as well, with the primary result being weaker teams than could otherwise be established within those markets. Seems the same discussion and complaints go on everywhere.
oh canada
GOLD
Since when is having options a bad thing? In OC and SD a family can choose between DA or ECNL or other leagues/levels. You know what each offers, choose what's best for your player. Because of the large # of GOOD players in SoCal (the whole "best" discussion is irrelevant and dumb imo), each league will present enough challenges for players to develop.
Now what shouldn't be done--whether by ODP or US Soccer--is identifying "talent" at 12,13,14,15 years old. Way too young. U17 should be the first level of STARTING to entertain those thoughts, and even that's young. The Euro clubs id players that young because they are for-profit businesses and hoping to get lucky with finding that one diamond in the rough. All their scouts say it's a complete crapshoot. So, when you start picking players at those young ages and run them through your youth training system, it's bound to fail as we have seen of late on the youth international circuit. I think MAP says it all the time, the USWNT development program has been completely outsourced to college coaches/programs, not the YNT program.
Figure skating, gymnastics and possibly swimming are sports where an athlete's prime years are 15-20 and kids can be id'd at 12-14. Soccer is not.
Now what shouldn't be done--whether by ODP or US Soccer--is identifying "talent" at 12,13,14,15 years old. Way too young. U17 should be the first level of STARTING to entertain those thoughts, and even that's young. The Euro clubs id players that young because they are for-profit businesses and hoping to get lucky with finding that one diamond in the rough. All their scouts say it's a complete crapshoot. So, when you start picking players at those young ages and run them through your youth training system, it's bound to fail as we have seen of late on the youth international circuit. I think MAP says it all the time, the USWNT development program has been completely outsourced to college coaches/programs, not the YNT program.
Figure skating, gymnastics and possibly swimming are sports where an athlete's prime years are 15-20 and kids can be id'd at 12-14. Soccer is not.
oh canada
GOLD
Lost all credibility with me, mentioning those 3 players as "best" players. That's a popularity list, not a skill assessment ranking. Unless, of course, heading the ball is all you care about. I can easily name 10 current college players better than all three of those women. Cat Macario to start (who played in SoCal since 12). (And those lists rarely include defenders, btw, who are just as important but don't score the goals.)
Maybe the decline in US Women's soccer is a result of too many Cali players? So much kick-ball being developed on our beautifully watered plastic fields.
Some with world player of the year trophies? Please name 10 players that are better? I will be waiting lol. You opinion on my credibility is of no consequence. The chances you have more experience in the game then I do is slim.
14 goals in 19 games in college soccer? I don't see how that compares to wambachs scorings records and hundreds of caps in international soccer or lloyds world cup and world player of the year or even Mia Hamm as the leading scorer all time until wambach eclipsed it. Lol. Wow can't believe I just read that post. I hope they get some tips from a college soccer star lol.
Just A Dad
SILVER ELITE
As a Arizona parent i would say So Cal has the best talent overall. I think unicorns on national team can come from any state. Those girls would put in the work were ever they played
@Mancity17,
The problem with this entire premise is we have to logically accept that the USWNT players represent the best players in the US and we also have to logically accept the premise that youth development in a particular region has a direct impact on being the best senior player and consequently making the USWNT.
The problem we have is that the criteria for inclusion on the USWNT is not being the "best player," rather being a player deemed "good enough" through the subjective eyes of the coaching staff. Moreover, with the current USWNT collective bargaining agreement, the so-called best USWNT team players are salaried and under contract. The USWNT has a disincentive to cancel the contracts of those players "a little long in the tooth" and bring in new blood.
For example, based on the 2018 NWSL performance for Goalkeepers, the best American Goalkeeper in the league with over 1,000 minutes was Katelyn Rowland, with a Goals Against Average of .78. Did Rowland make the squad? Nope. The best female GK in the NWSL based on GAA didn't make the squad, instead we have Adrianna Franch (GAA 1); Jane Campbell (GAA 1.63); Ashlyn Harris (1.67) and Alyssa Naeher (1.27).
The reason Rowland didn't make the senior squad is politics and not skill, we have some older keepers that are good enough, let the young studette play on the U23 team instead. There are many players in similar situations, better than the current crop, but not as marketable as the Morgan's and Lloyd's.
Looking at the NWSL forwards, we have Lynn Williams (tied with Horan (on the squad) for scoring at 14 goals and 7th in the league for assists) not on team, neither is Sofia Huerta (8 goals), but these gals were chosen as the forwards over Williams.
The point here is the "best" are not on the USWNT, the "good enough" are, which means this whole discussion lacks logical.
The problem with this entire premise is we have to logically accept that the USWNT players represent the best players in the US and we also have to logically accept the premise that youth development in a particular region has a direct impact on being the best senior player and consequently making the USWNT.
The problem we have is that the criteria for inclusion on the USWNT is not being the "best player," rather being a player deemed "good enough" through the subjective eyes of the coaching staff. Moreover, with the current USWNT collective bargaining agreement, the so-called best USWNT team players are salaried and under contract. The USWNT has a disincentive to cancel the contracts of those players "a little long in the tooth" and bring in new blood.
For example, based on the 2018 NWSL performance for Goalkeepers, the best American Goalkeeper in the league with over 1,000 minutes was Katelyn Rowland, with a Goals Against Average of .78. Did Rowland make the squad? Nope. The best female GK in the NWSL based on GAA didn't make the squad, instead we have Adrianna Franch (GAA 1); Jane Campbell (GAA 1.63); Ashlyn Harris (1.67) and Alyssa Naeher (1.27).
The reason Rowland didn't make the senior squad is politics and not skill, we have some older keepers that are good enough, let the young studette play on the U23 team instead. There are many players in similar situations, better than the current crop, but not as marketable as the Morgan's and Lloyd's.
Looking at the NWSL forwards, we have Lynn Williams (tied with Horan (on the squad) for scoring at 14 goals and 7th in the league for assists) not on team, neither is Sofia Huerta (8 goals), but these gals were chosen as the forwards over Williams.
- Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC - 7 goals),
- Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC - 4 goals),
- Jessica McDonald (NC Courage - 7 goals),
- Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride - 5 goals),
- Christen Press (Utah Royals FC - 2 goals),
- Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit - 2 goals),
- Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC - 7 goals)
The point here is the "best" are not on the USWNT, the "good enough" are, which means this whole discussion lacks logical.