Sorry brother, you came out swinging, you had an agenda to promote GAL, and you got called out with facts. I dare you to refute anything I said. Do you realize how easily you just glossed over ECRL, Discovery, CSL, and SDDA and annointed GAL as the undisputed 2nd best league? You did that, not me. Own it.
GA Showcases
- Thread starter VegasParent
- Start date
Sorry brother, you came out swinging, you had an agenda to promote GAL, and you got called out with facts. I dare you to refute anything I said. Do you realize how easily you just glossed over ECRL, Discovery, CSL, and SDDA and annointed GAL as the undisputed 2nd best league? You did that, not me. Own it.
Hugh Jasol
BRONZE
I do not see any facts in your post above. It appears that you are claiming your observations as facts. I asked a question that was based on my observations but am not so out of touch to ever call my observations facts.
Bottom line,college coaches and scouts look for ball skill, speed, flexibility, soccer IQ, style of play. Players need to work on those things and play against the best competition they can. A player can look great against a slower less skilled team than if they play against a highly skilled, fast, smart team. College coaches and scouts know this and will look for the most talented player, period.
Absolutely, it's why coaches want to see continuous video of games as opposed to clips showcasing your skills. How well you play against top competition is key. I always wonder why parents, already in a good league, on a good team, want to move their player to the best team. College coaches/YNT scouts don't care about score, many times don't care about record. They care about talent, they care about fit, style of play, and what holes they have to fill on their rosters.
"Why would certain clubs put top teams in ECRL instead of GA?" Assumes fact that GA is better than ECRL.
"[D]isservice . . . on those top teams to play a bunch of second teams." Not only assumes GA is better than ECRL, but says those 2nd teams suck. Those are intentionally charged words. Something about this structure is pissing you off. My guess is your dd plays in GA.
"
"Will they go all in with GA or keep trying for ECNL and keep having the top teams play inferior competition?" Again charged words assuming GA is SUPERIOR to ECRL.
"It might make sense for them to go all in on GA if ECNL politics keep them out again?" Assumes GA is 2nd best to ECNL.
See the pattern here, "bunch of second teams," "making out like bandits," & "inferior competition," those are all your words. You didn't just "ask" a question, you were talking shit, so f'n own it.
Hugh Jasol
BRONZE
You assume quite a bit. My DD is 10 but does play at one of the ECRL and GA Clubs. My concern is that the best players at the club might not be playing the highest level competition available at the club because of wishful thinking at the club to some day be granted ECNL.
That makes more sense. If you were talking u17, I have some extra kool aide left over from all the free packets I got with my free GDA handout back in 2017-2018. The kool aid I got bro, was pure as it ever was. The stuff they make now is with fake sugar I'm told.
Give it some time to shake out. If ECNL is smart, they will take the top GA teams well before the 2010s go U13. If ECNL stays stubborn, then GA will have the critical mass it needs to grow. Either way you’ll be fine.
DD here is also 2010. Hope they get back to games soon.
soccerfan123
SILVER
ECNL is smart and have proved that over the last 10 years. And they may do that but it will be only the top 1 or 2 performing clubs in each region as space is limited jus as it should be for the elite league - so theyll still be people crying if their dd isnt good enough to make 1 of those rosters
If ECNL were smart, they would have added all the top DA clubs and GA wouldn’t even exist.
As it is, they left out high profile clubs like Legends and Top Hat, giving GA a core to form around.
Or, if the GDA made smarter biz decisions and open to listening to others in 2016, they would have made hs soccer a part of their philosophy. Nope, they tried to destroy a tradition and they got nailed for it imo. Took to much power and when folks get power, they get drunk with power.
Certainly true. The irony is they were honestly moving in that direction - allowing HS play and eliminating the sub rule. That was already being disseminated to clubs across the country, who were in turn telling parents the intent for the fall 20 season and beyond. It would have eliminated a major obstacle for incoming freshman girls to play in the GDA. The GDA was collateral damage for issues way beyond their control. Towards the end, those committed to the women's game tried everything they could to stay afloat. Money talks, just the way it goes.
At the core of the GDA, it was always about the YNTs. And it still is for US soccer. College was a by product, and a good one at that. The message from US soccer remains philosophy, style, commitment - talent is a given. ECNL is a different animal, driven by different ideas, with the central tenant being getting as many girls into college as it can. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. The pathway to the YNTs is very, very narrow. Doing this kind of stuff is hard, youth sports are political and being able to sell your platform is what makes the money.
Desert Hound
DA
I suspect you will see ECNL pick up a few in the SW for next year.
Beach, Pats, Legends and West Coast.
Why?
Well for starters all 4 are in the girls ECRL league.
Then all 4 are in Boys ECNL and ECRL.
Seems like they are making their play to be full on ECNL clubs.
Would ECNL have to kick some existing SW clubs out to make room? My understanding is field space is a major obstacle to adding too many teams.
1. I know, I was told the same thing every year from the top GDA Docs. It never happened and we will never truly know. Some cheated and got to do both and that wasn;t very fair, rule breakers.....
2. Money talks big time and Mr Franklin is well liked in America. The root of all evil some say is
3. I agree the GDA was about business and using the ynt list to grow their numbers of paying customers and ECNL was a about a business for college
4. ECNL sells access to college help, GDA sold access to the YNT list.
Field space strikes me as a red herring. The sort of thing you say when you cant admit the real reason.
Even counting all ECNL and the top 20 DA clubs, you're only talking 130 or so teams per age group. They only play one game per day, so it is 65 games per age group, max. That's tiny.
They don't kick out necessarily to make room... however, if you aren't showing a level of success commensurate with their requirements they will drop you. That's how it used to work anyway.
futboldad1
PREMIER
Very unlikely.... based on performance stats, Arsenal and Sharks would both be at risk in the SW but I think it's highly unlikely ECNL kicks out underperforming clubs like that...... if Beach and Legends get added in 12 months they will likely just split to two conferences like the NW, easy to do as I don't see what the low performing ex-DA clubs would add except dilution.....
Spot on! About as simple an explanation as it gets. I would say the GDA clubs sold the access, the Federation needed access to continue to build a pipeline and wanted a codified way to influence clubs to develop talent that is compatible with philosophy from the ground up - the need is real. Some GDA clubs were compliant with curriculum, many were not. It was destined to fail without full buy in. Some clubs abused the GDA label and used it as a money grab. And of course, parents.
It works in many, many countries, we just don't have futbol patience, we want instant gratification. Takes more than 10 years to build a national youth program. Look at the actual Talent ID staffers on the girls side, mostly former foreign players. Their perspective is different. I surely do not have a recommendation for what the right answer is. Maybe there isn't one. We don't really care about soccer unless it's the olympics or the world cup. MLS does well but will never compare to traditional sports.
The YNT pathway is soooo narrow, at least a great byproduct was college. Every parent thinks their kid should be on the YNT pathway, most will not set foot on the pathway.
If your child is good, your club coach has a relationship with college coaches, and you have access to showcases, then you are in good shape. Pay the dollars for ECNL and now GA to help, or not. It's good to have choices. YNTs are an entirely different commitment for parents and kids and that is clearly laid out and emphasized at every camp/ID center, etc.
The women's side will continue to chug along even though the rest of the world is starting to catch up a bit. The men's side is a disaster, proof is in the record.
I've spent way too much time on here today (LOL), I should at least get some work done.
Golazo
BRONZE
It appears at least one of these former DA clubs will be putting their former DA teams in the GA league and their previous DPL teams in ECRL. Possibly more will follow suit. The question is whether the GA teams (former DA teams) will retain players and if those teams will recruit well enough to be as competitive in the coming season as they once were. The amount of movement from DA to ECNL in SoCal suggests otherwise.
Surf Zombie
GOLD
Which club is going that route?