Nor Cal GDA Teams - What's Next

Free Kick said:
Egos, certainly but I believe the major stumbling block were the City's themselves. Several of the Cities on the Peninsula allocate field priority based upon the percentage of residents who would use the field. So, if clubs combined and now you have a larger number of non-residents using the fields, you would have a lower percentage of resident usage and thus could/would get bumped down the priority list for other sports.
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This is a good point that isn't nearly as "entertaining" as the egos, but very significant.
 
kickingandscreaming said:
Keep in mind there were two other DA teams in this area (Thorns and Quakes) along with MVLA that were competing with Burlingame for the top girls. So, yeah, not enough girls to support 4 "premier" clubs in the area. Both Quakes and Thorns are among the better clubs nationwide in terms of performance. Those girls will still be in the area.
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Agree with you that there is more than enough talent for a 2nd ECNL team in the South Bay or Peninsula, and there SHOULD be another one added there, as it makes perfect sense for MVLA to have a travel partner(once traveling is safe again) and allows for better local competition. My only point is that there really isn't a club on the pensinsula that checks all the boxes(reputation, coaching staff, facilities, etc.) and would be a good candidate.
The ideal candidates, if not for the unfortunate history, are the Quakes or Thorns in the South Bay, but not sure if they can unburn that bridge.
Here's what I think happens, although it might sound a little crazy.... Thorns doesn't get in since they are associated with DeAnza, and DeAnza was the club that burned ECNL. If Quakes disbands their girls program, as rumored, Deza goes to an existing club(my guess would be Barcelona Bay Area since Quakes has an existing relationship with them, they are in an ideal location - South San jose - and they have decent numbers of players), and that club gets ECNL because of Deza.
 
wc_baller said:
Agree with you that there is more than enough talent for a 2nd ECNL team in the South Bay or Peninsula, and there SHOULD be another one added there, as it makes perfect sense for MVLA to have a travel partner(once traveling is safe again) and allows for better local competition. My only point is that there really isn't a club on the pensinsula that checks all the boxes(reputation, coaching staff, facilities, etc.) and would be a good candidate.
The ideal candidates, if not for the unfortunate history, are the Quakes or Thorns in the South Bay, but not sure if they can unburn that bridge.
Here's what I think happens, although it might sound a little crazy.... Thorns doesn't get in since they are associated with DeAnza, and DeAnza was the club that burned ECNL. If Quakes disbands their girls program, as rumored, Deza goes to an existing club(my guess would be Barcelona Bay Area since Quakes has an existing relationship with them, they are in an ideal location - South San jose - and they have decent numbers of players), and that club gets ECNL because of Deza.
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I would say that isn't a bad assessment of what could happen with Deza and the former DA Quakes program. I think it was a combination for the DeAnza ECNL failure - 1 was Deza leaving for the Quakes Girls Academy Director position (I think that was it) and leaving his ECNL position at DeAnza 2. DeAnza had a boys Academy team already and had someone come in on the girls side that wanted a Girls DA program in the area and had a relationship with DeAnza. Thorns Heirarchy on the girls side wasn't in the DeAnza family when it all went down.
Wish things would get hammered out for all DA clubs in NorCal.
 
youthsportsugh said:
Thorns Heirarchy on the girls side wasn't in the DeAnza family when it all went down.
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Baicher, currently listed on the Thorns website as their DOC, was running DeAnza at the time they were kicked out of ECNL, and still is in charge at DeAnza. He was the guy who made all the ultimate decisions for that club leading up to DeAnza getting the boot from ECNL. Thorns/Baicher, in my opinion, are less likely to get back in than Deza.
 
wc_baller said:
Baicher, currently listed on the Thorns website as their DOC, was running DeAnza at the time they were kicked out of ECNL, and still is in charge at DeAnza. He was the guy who made all the ultimate decisions for that club leading up to DeAnza getting the boot from ECNL. Thorns/Baicher, in my opinion, are less likely to get back in than Deza.
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could be possible that is the case but near the top of Thorns is Paul Bravo and Brandi Chastain is major player in their system. Website hasn't been updated in a while it seems. I dont' know all of the levels or interactions.
 
wc_baller said:
Baicher, currently listed on the Thorns website as their DOC, was running DeAnza at the time they were kicked out of ECNL, and still is in charge at DeAnza. He was the guy who made all the ultimate decisions for that club leading up to DeAnza getting the boot from ECNL. Thorns/Baicher, in my opinion, are less likely to get back in than Deza.
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Yes, lot's of blame to go around but ECNL has beef with Force/Thorns. Deza has beef with Force/Thorns not ECNL. As I've said before, right now I think Deza has a bigger problem with the Earthquakes keeping a girls side than he does with getting ECNL.
 
soccer4us said:
Wasn't;'t

Wasn't northwest never on the map they posted a week ago? I guess they could have added teams if more interest came about.
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I guess I don't understand the wisdom of adding a league based around travel at this specific point in time - heath risks and financial hardships are real things.
 
offtopic said:
I guess I don't understand the wisdom of adding a league based around travel at this specific point in time - heath risks and financial hardships are real things.
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Lots of DOC"s trying to keep their families (and their big salaries)in the club and not go to rival ECNL clubs. They made sure this league was a go for the former DA clubs not invited into ECNL. I do agree the travel component for many of the regions will be very challenging with no flights likely until 2021. Some regions like So Cal and Texas may be OK with travel but others will be very challenging.
 
soccer4us said:
Lots of DOC"s trying to keep their families (and their big salaries)in the club and not go to rival ECNL clubs. They made sure this league was a go for the former DA clubs not invited into ECNL. I do agree the travel component for many of the regions will be very challenging with no flights likely until 2021. Some regions like So Cal and Texas may be OK with travel but others will be very challenging.
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Definitely great competition especially for the older girls.
 
Rumor in PNW is that Reign will be joining GAL and they are saying that the conference will basically be the DA NW Division teams, except San Jose who is shutting down their girls program. GAL announcement to come in early May. Is that what others are hearing?
 
olympico11 said:
Rumor in PNW is that Reign will be joining GAL and they are saying that the conference will basically be the DA NW Division teams, except San Jose who is shutting down their girls program. GAL announcement to come in early May. Is that what others are hearing?
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No final word on ECNL decision for Reign and some others, or on whether they will choose ECNL or GA. From the folks spearheading GA it seems it would likely be all of former nw division plus likely a couple additional clubs to mitigate travel issues, and season would be structured to accommodate hs in both ca and other states (although Midwest division apparently is sticking with da structure and not doing hs). Will be interesting to see what happens with FC Dallas, Dash and Lonestar in TX, but it looks like GA could end up retaining most of the top da clubs from around the country (with a few obvious exceptions) and fill in with some npl clubs. It also seems like GA may avoid some of the unnecessary costs of ECNL (exorbitant showcase fees, etc). Just desserts for ECNL for trying to exploit the situation rather than quickly moving towards a single platform that could include all DA and ECNL clubs, but the powers that be at ECNL me more focused on building out their amazing young boys league.
 
olympico11 said:
Rumor in PNW is that Reign will be joining GAL and they are saying that the conference will basically be the DA NW Division teams, except San Jose who is shutting down their girls program. GAL announcement to come in early May. Is that what others are hearing?
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If true, going to be challenging to get enough games for Nor Cal teams without flying. Only 3 teams that would be unless some NPL clubs join in. Will be interesting how that unfolds. Same can be said for WA and OR teams as well. Pending if any Nor Cal teams get into ECNL, it may be too difficult to have enough teams to join that new league.

Is it confirmed anywhere SJ Quakes is shitting down girls program? Or is it still just talk?

In general this DAL is a solid option once flying is allowed and safe. Some areas it's more challenging and other areas it will be similar to what DA travel was.
 
Hawkeye said:
season would be structured to accommodate hs in both ca and other states (although Midwest division apparently is sticking with da structure and not doing hs).
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Several Midwest clubs promoting GAL as a ten month league. Hard to tell how that will play out as it was certainly considered a bug and not a feature of GDA for Midwest clubs in the suburbs of big cities where high school soccer is popular. Unfortunately, teams from 8(?) states in Midwest are evenly split between hs season being in fall vs. spring. They're stuck... and I'd be surprised if it didn't lead to the league's downfall unless they get creative with their scheduling and make exceptions.
So far the clubs seem to be in lock step blaming their state's local high school rule books. "Well, I'd love the girls to be able to do both, but MHSAA says they can't... talk to them." which everyone knows is a complete deflection. Parents aren't united enough to do anything so this will play out over the next few years with some clubs feeling pressure to jump to ECNL if that door ever reopens.
In light of DPL/GAL's first announcement saying they were doing away with stupid GDA sub rules and prohibition of hs, I just really can't tell if these DOCs are selling a ten month league out of a desire to maximize development, or to improve their own job security. eh, who am I kidding, I know why.
 
olympico11 said:
Rumor in PNW is that Reign will be joining GAL and they are saying that the conference will basically be the DA NW Division teams, except San Jose who is shutting down their girls program. GAL announcement to come in early May. Is that what others are hearing?
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Reign joining GA is still just a rumor. Quakes are still deciding on what's best for there team and I'm hearing they have many options. GA wants to make an announcement today to the PNW but clubs are still waiting to hear back from ECNL to get status on their application.
 
Scheduling with partially shared blackout dates is not that hard a problem. Especially with only 10 or 12 teams. There are published algorithms on this.

The key is you get a list of all blackout dates, and schedule all out of sync games before you schedule any in-sync games. ( In sync means the teams mostly agree on blackout dates.). Once the hard games are scheduled, you can fill in the easy ones.
 
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