Nor Cal GDA Teams - What's Next

MacDre said:
I agree. However, in terms of injury I’m gonna hold parents to a higher standard. If parents focused on multiple sports and strength training that would free up time for soccer coached to teach soccer and not ACL injury prevention. So, I think parents are mostly responsible for high ACL rates. I think blaming coaches for ACL injuries is analogous to blaming a HS math teacher for failing a kid that never learned their math facts.
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This is one where it is best if the coach and parents work together. The coach needs to teach injury prevention, and the parent needs to back it up at home on off days. Both need to treat it as important enough to be worth their time. Otherwise, the kid won’t treat it as important, either.

I strongly recommend doing the exercises with your kid. It sets a good example, and it is good for old man knees, too.
 
dad4 said:
This is one where it is best if the coach and parents work together. The coach needs to teach injury prevention, and the parent needs to back it up at home on off days. Both need to treat it as important enough to be worth their time. Otherwise, the kid won’t treat it as important, either.

I strongly recommend doing the exercises with your kid. It sets a good example, and it is good for old man knees, too.
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I don't disagree with you on the basis that parents are the customers and the customers have ultimate power if they're ever smart enough to get their cumulative shit together, but I blame the specialty sport epidemic on wanting 10 months of dues and not 6.
 
MacDre said:
I agree. However, in terms of injury I’m gonna hold parents to a higher standard. If parents focused on multiple sports and strength training that would free up time for soccer coached to teach soccer and not ACL injury prevention. So, I think parents are mostly responsible for high ACL rates. I think blaming coaches for ACL injuries is analogous to blaming a HS math teacher for failing a kid that never learned their math facts.
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Yes. Taking personal responsibility and holding yourself accountable is important not only for the health of your child, but also a parent’s mental health. For ElleJustus, it is also the first step on the road to recovery.
 
The Outlaw said:
This will be a fun one to watch. Seems like we only have a few mythical names in NorCal when it comes to being a soccer messiah. You have the Ziemers in Santa Rosa but they're remote... Robertson had a nice run in Davis but those players are in college now so what does he do next?... Montoya along the peninsula... and really just Deza. Who else is a big enough name that you're going to contemplate sending your kid there if the commute is long? I don't think Placer gets ECNL, fair or unfair, and I don't think they have a single entity on the level of the others. I don't hear great things about Baicher, either.
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That's a really good post. Not sure what's happening these days at SRU (Ziemers) but. I think Robo will continue attract to Davis but a couple of solid San Juan age groups may make that tough. I think Marin FC may impact some of the SRU draw for northern Marin and even southern Sonoma counties (and I think Marin will see players from the East Bay and SF who typically do not make the longer commutes).

In some circles, Mo at LAMO may be considered in that class as an on-field coach (not looking for a debate on this - that's why I intentionally qualified, "in some circles") but it's been a long time since he's had a high-performing team. And if you look at college placement by club, Mustang has to be in the top tier - the 01s had 13 or so D1 commits, the 02s have a similar number and the 04s (another solid 04 team in NorCal) will have strong #s. The 03s have not been as high-achieving on the field but they still have a handful commits.

But the long commute - if you are going to skip clubs for a destination, the decision should be "better" by much more than a marginal difference. Playing for Albertin or Deza may be great but even if you are learning the game in practice, you better be seeing the field in games (and at meaningful times) if you want to leverage for college. If you are traveling a long time - with all the sacrifices that entails (such as missing out on a LOT of teenage activities + making schoolwork tougher) - you may not know the answer of "is it worth it" until it is too late to make a change that matters.
 
dk_b said:
Really interesting to quickly read this thread. I think if the handles are removed, it is pretty easy to see which comments come from NorCal folks and which come from SoCal. There is a level of complexity and history that many can't grasp by simply looking at teams' successes and promotion/relegation and ECNL accepting/rejecting teams. You have to know about Gryphons and Force, and how the market trainings were handled and the rumors that sprang from those, how Albertin and Deza are viewed by many, how (prob not unlike SoCal) small clubs continue to get squeezed b/c of big clubs, how PDP (not ODP) has factored, and even how HS has impacted some of the rosters over the last few years.

I have kids in different age groups, at different clubs, who have had very different experiences and different outlooks w/in the sport. I have seen first-hand Deza-led trainings and games and Albertin-led trainings and games and respect what I have seen on the pitch (if we lived closer, I am quite certain at least one of my kids would have played on the Peninsula). My older kid is in an age group that saw a lot of that shake out and played against those two when she was at a small club playing small-sided games.

This is definitely not so simple that ECNL or NPL (run up here by NorCal Premier) simply picks up the "best" teams. In the abstract, that seems great and can even seem logical (to have a NorCal Region for ECNL makes a lot of sense and would definitely reduce the travel). And b/c the ECNL process is more lengthy, I can see, in the short term, NPL reaping benefits b/c, despite the qualification rules, I could see the magic hand of NorCal making exceptions to create the best competition (I have kids in NPL2, positioned to have a chance at NPL1 b/4 the season was paused (certainly to be cancelled), and I'd have zero problem with a team being added in CL that would decimate teams in NPL1 or NPL2 b/c extremely lopsided games do not help anyone, not the stronger team and not the weaker team)). But b/c of the timing of this "pause", there is a great uncertainty about what these rosters will look like - I mean, will clubs or teams just fold? do you just get added by reputation and history? I had been paying close attention to Marin FC b/c they announced being part of ECNL after last year's tryouts and I figured that would be a set of teams poised to make a big jump with a highly competitive, well-attended tryout. But now what? And would ECNL bump Marin FC to include Quakes (if the other clubs supported it)? And will any of the bad blood - the recruiting shenanigans, for example, but also the league hopping of a few years ago - create challenges for the clubs? And if that happens, do kids bolt? And are parents savvy enough to be knowledgeable consumers or super vulnerable to being swayed by promises of Coach X or Club Y? This 2004 age group - which is excellent in NorCal - will be HS juniors next year. Typically, that's a bit late for major changes. How will that factor in?

I am glad that I'm done with this for one of my kids - graduating this year - and I do think my others are JUST young enough that the shake out may be OK for them. Whether you are SoCal or NorCal or not-Cal, I hope you are staying safe and that this resolves in such a way that is beneficial and joyful for your kids.
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This is a quality post. Just to build off of it, I have kids in different Clubs in NorCal. Both are excellent as they fit their respective needs/skill set. What is a bit unnerving is that several of the smaller NPL Clubs are taking a huge hit right now and are struggling to stay afloat if the start of Fall season is delayed.. It would be tragic to see some of these clubs fold to no fault of their own. Then what? It's a topic I'm sure is felt throughout the State.
 
EOTL said:
Yes. Taking personal responsibility and holding yourself accountable is important not only for the health of your child, but also a parent’s mental health. For ElleJustus, it is also the first step on the road to recovery.
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Coach EOTL, your post shifts 100% of responsibility to parents and takes none yourself.

That is the opposite of taking responsibility and holding yourself accountable.
 
dad4 said:
Coach EOTL, your post shifts 100% of responsibility to parents and takes none yourself.

That is the opposite of taking responsibility and holding yourself accountable.
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Assuming for the sake of argument that I’m a coach, you’re right. If I don’t care about your kid’s knees, you know what to do.
 
Cibo said:
I'm sure the DA Clubs are in discussion with ECNL. ECNL doesn't "need" to add another club in the NW, but, strategically, they should. If the Earthquakes moved to ECNL, ECNL would have a stranglehold on NorCal. I just don't see The Earthquakes as an organization continuing the girls program. So what club would and could bring in Deza, his staff and the players that ECNL would accept? Minus the fact that Force/Thorns would never bring Deza back in and ECNL would not accept Force/Thorns, it would really be the optimal choice. So with that off the table, what other club could/would work?
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You're right. ECNL logically should add another club since there an odd number of teams in Norcal, and ideally each club should have travel partners when playing out of area teams once travel becomes an option again down the road again. It makes sense for the club to be in the Peninsula/South Bay are since MVLA is the only existing club there, needs a travel partner, and there is more than enough talent in that area to support more than one club. Agree with you too that it's unlikely Thorns will be brought back, after the fiasco when their DOC tried to pull a fast one and got booted out of ECNL. Quakes probably would've been a better choice, but if the rumor is true that their girls program is being terminated, looks like they're out. Santa Clara might be the next best option, but I don't think they have the numbers and quality to be asked to join. I don't see any other options in that area, and I doubt that ECNL would add anyone in the Sac/Central valley area since that area already has 2 clubs represented.
 
dk_b said:
That's a really good post. Not sure what's happening these days at SRU (Ziemers) but. I think Robo will continue attract to Davis but a couple of solid San Juan age groups may make that tough. I think Marin FC may impact some of the SRU draw for northern Marin and even southern Sonoma counties (and I think Marin will see players from the East Bay and SF who typically do not make the longer commutes).

In some circles, Mo at LAMO may be considered in that class as an on-field coach (not looking for a debate on this - that's why I intentionally qualified, "in some circles") but it's been a long time since he's had a high-performing team. And if you look at college placement by club, Mustang has to be in the top tier - the 01s had 13 or so D1 commits, the 02s have a similar number and the 04s (another solid 04 team in NorCal) will have strong #s. The 03s have not been as high-achieving on the field but they still have a handful commits.

But the long commute - if you are going to skip clubs for a destination, the decision should be "better" by much more than a marginal difference. Playing for Albertin or Deza may be great but even if you are learning the game in practice, you better be seeing the field in games (and at meaningful times) if you want to leverage for college. If you are traveling a long time - with all the sacrifices that entails (such as missing out on a LOT of teenage activities + making schoolwork tougher) - you may not know the answer of "is it worth it" until it is too late to make a change that matters.
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Robo’s current team is leading their U17 ECNL Bay Area Conference standings
 
wc_baller said:
You're right. ECNL logically should add another club since there an odd number of teams in Norcal, and ideally each club should have travel partners when playing out of area teams once travel becomes an option again down the road again. It makes sense for the club to be in the Peninsula/South Bay are since MVLA is the only existing club there, needs a travel partner, and there is more than enough talent in that area to support more than one club. Agree with you too that it's unlikely Thorns will be brought back, after the fiasco when their DOC tried to pull a fast one and got booted out of ECNL. Quakes probably would've been a better choice, but if the rumor is true that their girls program is being terminated, looks like they're out. Santa Clara might be the next best option, but I don't think they have the numbers and quality to be asked to join. I don't see any other options in that area, and I doubt that ECNL would add anyone in the Sac/Central valley area since that area already has 2 clubs represented.
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I admit I’m biased but I think the kids along Hwy 80 need an ECNL club. So, I’d say Berkeley. Davis, Mustang, Marin, & MVLA is too far away with traffic.
 
Culmu said:
Robo’s current team is leading their U17 ECNL Bay Area Conference standings
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As far as significance, this is small but one of the casualties of this is that the players who are off to college, don't get a final game against players and coaches against whom they have competed since they were tiny. I know that there is a historic spring drop off with U19 teams but it still would have been nice to have the kids say their "good byes" to one another - there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed over the years in addition to laughs and smoothies and rice bowls. Robo, as an example, has been a presence for my kid almost this entire time; Albertin, too. And, of course, all the players. Maybe this is more a parent's perspective and my own kid might be like, "oh, sure."
 
MacDre said:
I admit I’m biased but I think the kids along Hwy 80 need an ECNL club. So, I’d say Berkeley. Davis, Mustang, Marin, & MVLA is too far away with traffic.
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The closest club to Berkeley is Bay Oaks, and there is no way they'd be considered. They don't have the track record or a well known coaching staff. Same with Union City, which is somewhat close to Berkeley. Lamorinda is somewhat close as well, and had a decent track record and coaching staff, but I doubt they will get in. They South Bay/Peninsula has 3 million people, has a history of producing quality soccer talent, and only one current ECNL club. That's the most logical spot for another club, but again their is no seemingly good choice currently in that area to get that spot.
 
wc_baller said:
The closest club to Berkeley is Bay Oaks, and there is no way they'd be considered. They don't have the track record or a well known coaching staff. Same with Union City, which is somewhat close to Berkeley. Lamorinda is somewhat close as well, and had a decent track record and coaching staff, but I doubt they will get in. They South Bay/Peninsula has 3 million people, has a history of producing quality soccer talent, and only one current ECNL club. That's the most logical spot for another club, but again their is no seemingly good choice currently in that area to get that spot.
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There are two obvious choices in the south bay.

They just both managed to get everyone mad at them.
 
MacDre said:
I admit I’m biased but I think the kids along Hwy 80 need an ECNL club. So, I’d say Berkeley. Davis, Mustang, Marin, & MVLA is too far away with traffic.
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as someone who lives in Berkeley and has made one of those commutes (and have been involved with one of the local clubs in different capacities), I’m not sure there would be the volume of interest for a viable ECNL club. The number of teams at Mustang, Davis, Rage, MVLA, etc is just so much more than at the local clubs (even at LAMO, the current numbers are quite low) and that large pipeline is key. The clubs need to count on organic numbers to be supplemented by the “outsiders”.

I know that the odd player here or there will commute to Mustang and I think might to Marin FC (and I know a couple who commutes to Force and then Quakes but that commute is BRUTAL) but, to me, that 80/580 corridor is better off focusing on developing consistency at the NPL level and helping to place their elite players at other clubs when necessary.
 
dad4 said:
There are two obvious choices in the south bay.

They just both managed to get everyone mad at them.
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And with good reason. Their club was already in, did some shady stuff to try to play both sides of the fence and got booted for it, burning bridges along the way. Place the blame where it's due if they don't get back in - on the leadership of that former member. Surf and Real So Cal left on good terms and were readmitted quickly, and it probably would've been the same for one of those "obvious choices" if they had exited in the same manner.
 
dk_b said:
as someone who lives in Berkeley and has made one of those commutes (and have been involved with one of the local clubs in different capacities), I’m not sure there would be the volume of interest for a viable ECNL club. The number of teams at Mustang, Davis, Rage, MVLA, etc is just so much more than at the local clubs (even at LAMO, the current numbers are quite low) and that large pipeline is key. The clubs need to count on organic numbers to be supplemented by the “outsiders”.

I know that the odd player here or there will commute to Mustang and I think might to Marin FC (and I know a couple who commutes to Force and then Quakes but that commute is BRUTAL) but, to me, that 80/580 corridor is better off focusing on developing consistency at the NPL level and helping to place their elite players at other clubs when necessary.
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That's been a viable model over the past several years. Local NPL teams developing top level talent that over time migrate to ECNL. I've seen it work between clubs when coaches put development first.

Just food for thought but I always felt the Peninsula was ideally located to house an ECNL team. There isn't one between San Francisco and Mountain View (about 50 miles). There are however a great number of smaller quality NPL clubs. Geographically speaking, this would not interfere with any territorial concerns for existing ECNL clubs.
 
wc_baller said:
The closest club to Berkeley is Bay Oaks, and there is no way they'd be considered. They don't have the track record or a well known coaching staff. Same with Union City, which is somewhat close to Berkeley. Lamorinda is somewhat close as well, and had a decent track record and coaching staff, but I doubt they will get in. They South Bay/Peninsula has 3 million people, has a history of producing quality soccer talent, and only one current ECNL club. That's the most logical spot for another club, but again their is no seemingly good choice currently in that area to get that spot.
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Yeah, I definitely don’t understand the evaluation process for ECNL. But, I have personally seen a few little ballers from the Bay Oaks club. The parents that I’ve talked to invariably say Bay Oaks is a better “soccer” club than Mustang. There’s a strong hate for Mustang amongst parents at Bay Oaks because they feel like their best players are being taken by Mustang and they don’t receive any recognition for their contribution to the kids development.
So is ECNL all about the money?
 
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