futboldad1
PREMIER
It’s a rite of passage. At least let the kid’s pick will be my stance when my 06 hits HS
ECNL vs. DA turf war has created a 'toxic environment'
- Thread starter VegasParent
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It’s a rite of passage. At least let the kid’s pick will be my stance when my 06 hits HS
"For her, the most important source of support and excitement was her teammates. She absolutely loved playing with her friends, and everything else was a distraction. Whether club or high school, the opportunity to play soccer with friends is probably what matters most for the vast majority of players."
Thank you for this post
Good luck to your dd next year in college.
Thank you for this post
Good luck to your dd next year in college.
jpeter
PREMIER
Amen to that, our daughter played 4 years in HS and loved it. Track or volleyball 3 out of 4 years also. ECNL 2 seasons and enjoyed that as well.
She turned down mutiple offers to jump to other teams; DA, clubs and even several college acceptances. Making the decisions on her own personal beliefs, preferences, visits, and interaction with the people involved is something that has served her well.
I remembered her asking several times for advice and we always tired not to give direct recommendations or preferences but rather things to consider. Was happy with her decisions and proud she is doing well in college so far.
Well said....let the kids decide what they want to do, the cream will rise to the top. Always does, always will.
Blank95661
SILVER
Which one is regretting not playing in college?
oh canada
GOLD
oh canada
GOLD
posted this also in the "GU16 National Team" thread where it is also relevant...apologies if you're reading 2x...
I missed the below quote from SoccerNation when it came out last October, but worth posting in this thread as it sheds more light on her philosophy. My biggest issue with the DA and all-encompassing requirements/dedication is its simply a couple years too early. Especially now since college coaches can have NO contact before summer going into junior year, asking 13 year olds to make a decision about complete dedication to soccer vs. other sports/activities is premature. Both my sons and daughter were just starting to discover their interests at 12/13. Better for DA to start sophomore year in HS, 15yrs. Especially since the science, yes science, shows that soccer talent/ability really doesn't start to show until 15yrs old, when most players are mature or close to it. And burnout/overuse injuries are becoming an epidemic. That's science and logic, the below is not...
Mirelle van Rijbroek is the Director of Talent Identification for US Soccer. I asked her to explain US Soccer’s decision to not allow DA players to play for their high school teams.
“Imagine you get into Harvard. You go to Harvard, and you’re in a very high-level environment. There are big group projects to work on that are crucial to your education. Those projects are going to help you learn how to handle huge stressful situations later in life. But then you want to take a few months off to go to a different school for a while. Think Harvard will be OK with that? You think that’s going to be beneficial to your Harvard education? Furthermore, you’ll be leaving the members of your group without an important member of the team, while you take a few months to go do something else. It’s not fair to the group left behind. Additionally, it’s not going to be good for your own education. You can’t just leave for a few months.”
I missed the below quote from SoccerNation when it came out last October, but worth posting in this thread as it sheds more light on her philosophy. My biggest issue with the DA and all-encompassing requirements/dedication is its simply a couple years too early. Especially now since college coaches can have NO contact before summer going into junior year, asking 13 year olds to make a decision about complete dedication to soccer vs. other sports/activities is premature. Both my sons and daughter were just starting to discover their interests at 12/13. Better for DA to start sophomore year in HS, 15yrs. Especially since the science, yes science, shows that soccer talent/ability really doesn't start to show until 15yrs old, when most players are mature or close to it. And burnout/overuse injuries are becoming an epidemic. That's science and logic, the below is not...
Mirelle van Rijbroek is the Director of Talent Identification for US Soccer. I asked her to explain US Soccer’s decision to not allow DA players to play for their high school teams.
“Imagine you get into Harvard. You go to Harvard, and you’re in a very high-level environment. There are big group projects to work on that are crucial to your education. Those projects are going to help you learn how to handle huge stressful situations later in life. But then you want to take a few months off to go to a different school for a while. Think Harvard will be OK with that? You think that’s going to be beneficial to your Harvard education? Furthermore, you’ll be leaving the members of your group without an important member of the team, while you take a few months to go do something else. It’s not fair to the group left behind. Additionally, it’s not going to be good for your own education. You can’t just leave for a few months.”
Is that an argument in favor of or in opposition to players choosing the DA route?
I can't yell enough what I have personally watched with my own eyes regarding the pressure and stress their putting on 12 and 13 year olds. "100% soccer and 100% DA or else. Why? My dd at that time wasn't even thinking she wanted to go to college (does now and is 15 and 1oth grader). She just wanted to be on a team that competes for a championship. That year we had none for our age group. So lame!!! How about this: My kid came off winning the US National Championship in July 2017. In September 2017 DA started. Fast forward to April 2018 first DA Showcase in NC. Over 100 D1 college coaches in one corner and Jill Ellis and all the US Scouts on the sideline watching my kid play and her team of other 7th and 8th graders play soccer in 32 degree weather. Sounds exciting right? Not for my kid. Too soon and too early. I like 10th grade better
dk_b
GOLD
A player I am quite close to - an ECNL player who committed to a Power 5 school early - went to a number of YNT camps in a row (more than 5, fewer than 10, including an international trip). Over time, the # of GDA girls went up and the # of non-GDA went down. I don't begrudge GDA/US Soccer for that because they are going to scout their own product more heavily but from watching several US scouts at prior showcases and playoffs to very few at the recent ECNL nationals (well, I saw 1 at 1 game over 5 days), it is safe to assume that an increasing number of deserving players will be overlooked simply because they don't get the eyeballs. Is that a reason for a kid to move from ECNL (or non-ECNL/non-GDA) to GDA? Well, most still won't be invited into camp but if that IS a goal and if all indicators are that a player IS or would be on US Soccer's radar, I think that is a decent reason. I do think it is unfortunate that CA players (and players in other Winter HS states) have to give up HS (playing with their friends and community DOES have value even if it is not "soccer value") since there is very little of the GDA schedule that would be missed (not sure about BDA, I have not looked at it).
No. ECNL should start for 9th graders. DA should only have two teams in SoCal. Take the top 40 girls who want to go all in at 12 and 13 years old and let them do their thang. I will cheer them on all the way. Let the other girls play in a local league with zero travel except for a tournament in Vegas
MakeAPlay
DA
It's a power play and you are just saying it in a nice way. It works for now because of the huge numerical advantage we have regarding girls soccer. The European nations are better at training their teams and eventually US Soccer leaving out some of our most talented players is going to cost us as a nation. It is already playing itself out in the YNT's performances. We didn't get out of group play at the U17 and U20 level which is absurd. US Soccer identifies players early and then lets it's lower division (D1 Soccer) train and develop the players. They clearly don't care about performance in the NWSL or other professional leagues in order to gauge player's development. Again it's a numbers game in the US so if you throw enough shit against the wall they figure enough will stick to keep us in the top 3 in the world.
Such a sad strategy.
oh canada
GOLD
I still have yet to read a good reason(s) to start id-ing players at 12/13/14 years old and forcing them to choose a highly specialized track (DA) or other. Some sports require it -- figure skating, gymnastics, swimming. Soccer does not. Doctors and scientists agree--15 is the age when soccer talent is identifiable and peak performance is early 20's. Not to mention the added risk of burnout or injury. Think about it...girls in DA will now be playing year-round structured/organized soccer 4x/week and 40+ games for 9 years (4 in college) before turning 21. Has anyone on this board done anything that intensely for 9 years? If you played college sports "back in the day", you likely played 2-3 sports in high school etc. I just think the law of diminishing returns kicks in at some point re practice, training, playing, and disagree with the theory of more is always better.
Postponing the "all-in" track until sophomore year (15yrs) would help somewhat.
Doesn’t every family have the option to make their own decisions? Parents get so wrapped up with leagues, trophies to the point they jump teams year after year buying what Coaches and Clubs are selling. We all know the rules of the game and should play accordingly.
Ouch!!!
Yes, everyone has free choice, but in the encircling regime if a player is not in the DA program early the doors may be found to be closed when he or she is older and really ready for it.
MakeAPlay
DA
Wow I agree with you on something completely. Let check to see if any pigs are flying outside today....
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.
The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
- 03 PDA came in first place in their GDA Conference last year (and won the GDA National Championship) and finished 3rd in their ECNL Conference this year.
- 03 Michigan Hawks 2nd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
- 03 FC Stars 4th in GDA, 7th in ECNL
- 03 Virginia Development Academy 5th in GDA, 9th in ECNL
- 03 Eclipse 1st in GDA, 1st in ECNL
- 03 Concorde Fire 3rd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
- 03 Indiana Fire 3rd in GDA, 2nd in ECNL
oh canada
GOLD
The issue here in the USA has never been that girls and boys were not dedicating enough time to practicing soccer. It was the type of practice that the kickball and all-about-winning coaches were teaching/playing, all the way up to the senior team. Remember long balls and crosses to Wambach? Girls here have so many potential avenues for success beyond athletic fields and courts. And of course it's great to strive for that, but I worry that the next generation will have a lot more former athlete clones who fail to discover their true passions and talents because outside influences forced them to choose a single, narrow path much too early. What were you doing at 13yrs? Have it all figured out back then? My biggest decisions were whether to order chocolate or glazed donuts from Tim Horton's.