New USWNT head coach

Angel City FC has been talking for years about creating their own academy and had been working with LA Galaxy to get pointers but nothing has come out from that. Sadly I'm guessing many NWSL teams just don't have the money/resources to have their own academies yet. And there is no great need for them to create an academy cause they have been inviting select players to train with them which is what an academy would ultimately provide (first team prospects). And if NWSL teams did create academies they would just join ECNL like Thorns, Courage, etc.
 
Interesting piece - The Guardian regularly do a top x players. This is their top 100 women players based on the picks of 112 various experts worldwide.

www.theguardian.com

The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023

Aitana BonmatĂ­, Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo top the list of female footballers in the world in 2023 according to our judges
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

You can filter be various criteria, e.g. by nationality the number of players
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The US players are ranked 18, 21, 36, 50, 53, 63, 95. Only one plays in Europe.

Or by League
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The new USWNT coach has a tough job ahead of her.
 
An honest reflection in the differences between the top players and the bulk of the US players should finally be, after 30 years, a red flag warning to US soccer.
 
Soccerfan2 said:
I don’t think NWSL threatens ECNL, but it’s definitely starting to change the college soccer landscape. More than one player a year - more like a handful and that number will increase I think.
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The 03's, 04s, 05s and younger in the USA were taught something different and told something different from da scouts in 2016. When the toxic war of the GDA vs ECNL started in 2017, the top players were told and warned not to play high school soccer or play in college, thus making ECNL second tier and only a college option. That is a fact. Pugh was the one that lead the way as she passed on a full ride to UCLA and went Pro and other top players caught that dream. Then Rodman. Then Olivia went Pro at 15. Then Shaw. Then Thompson and then Barcenes and just now Alyssa Thompson's sister. This is a lot more than one a year. The top, top players in Spain and other Euro countries all go Pro around 15. Maybe 2.5% will look at some of the Big U's in the USA. I also believe more and more young girls will go Pro and that is freaking amazing. I still remember all the Elite parents on here who were sold on Big U mocking me and calling me names for encouraging all females who have a dream to go Pro to help them, not make fun of those dreams. 2024 is the year of the dream :)

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rainbow_unicorn said:
Not a threat. We're talking maybe one girl per age group that will skip college and go direct to pro.
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In just one year there have been about 6 15-18 year olds signed to NSWL. The NWSL just drafted 3 or more players who dropped out of college to play pro in the recent draft before NCAA eligibility was done. They also just expanded the # of Under 18 to 4 that can be on their roster. It is not just one girl per age group. this is the pathway now to pro and the USWNT

Under 18 Entry Mechanism
 
Soccer43 said:
In just one year there have been about 6 15-18 year olds signed to NSWL. The NWSL just drafted 3 or more players who dropped out of college to play pro in the recent draft before NCAA eligibility was done. They also just expanded the # of Under 18 to 4 that can be on their roster. It is not just one girl per age group. this is the pathway now to pro and the USWNT

Under 18 Entry Mechanism
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Is there a count on those in Europe? I can think of one which has probably not been considered.
 
Having these players jumping to pro ealier doesn't mean that the gaps at the national level are being, or will be addressed in the future.

I think the USWNT will benefit from a faster path to pro if those players come with an increased game intelligence over the others.

The jump to pro will be for most of them the first time they are really under pressure and coaches have to manage this to make sure that these kids aren't reverting to speed and athletacism to solve every game problem.
 
Soccer43 said:
In just one year there have been about 6 15-18 year olds signed to NSWL. The NWSL just drafted 3 or more players who dropped out of college to play pro in the recent draft before NCAA eligibility was done. They also just expanded the # of Under 18 to 4 that can be on their roster. It is not just one girl per age group. this is the pathway now to pro and the USWNT

Under 18 Entry Mechanism
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Looks like it's going to further reduce the pool of players for the USWNT, which is not good. What we need is to train MORE players better in the high school ages, not just train a handful better.
 
Soccerfan2 said:
I don’t think NWSL threatens ECNL, but it’s definitely starting to change the college soccer landscape. More than one player a year - more like a handful and that number will increase I think.
Click to expand...
The NWSL just recently signed a record TV deal worth $200M+ I believe. They have huge competition for talent now from Europe both recruiting and retaining. It would seem to me that its just a matter of time (short) before they move to an academy program to build up a player pipeline. At that point they will start to impact on ECNL and the other letter leagues, but only for the true elite players. Most of them will likely not make NWSL rosters, but they will likely be the #1 recruiting pool for the best college programs.

My 0.02.
 
whatithink said:
The NWSL just recently signed a record TV deal worth $200M+ I believe. They have huge competition for talent now from Europe both recruiting and retaining. It would seem to me that its just a matter of time (short) before they move to an academy program to build up a player pipeline. At that point they will start to impact on ECNL and the other letter leagues, but only for the true elite players. Most of them will likely not make NWSL rosters, but they will likely be the #1 recruiting pool for the best college programs.

My 0.02.
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Did you see that Mallory Swanson signed a 4 year (with a 5th year option) $2 million dollar deal today?

Mallory Swanson signs reported NWSL-record $2M US free-agent deal with Red Stars

 

16-year-old Phair's rise from World Cup debut to Angel City (Congrats)​

"I played in the World Cup with and against the best players," Phair said in an exclusive interview with ESPN. "Coming back from that, I don't really see how I could play U-17 and then go to college. I wanted to keep getting better and not just peak at the World Cup, then go down and go to college and then have to get back up to a professional level."

 
crush said:

16-year-old Phair's rise from World Cup debut to Angel City (Congrats)​

"I played in the World Cup with and against the best players," Phair said in an exclusive interview with ESPN. "Coming back from that, I don't really see how I could play U-17 and then go to college. I wanted to keep getting better and not just peak at the World Cup, then go down and go to college and then have to get back up to a professional level."

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That's great to hear.
 
Orangeteam said:
Having these players jumping to pro ealier doesn't mean that the gaps at the national level are being, or will be addressed in the future.

I think the USWNT will benefit from a faster path to pro if those players come with an increased game intelligence over the others.

The jump to pro will be for most of them the first time they are really under pressure and coaches have to manage this to make sure that these kids aren't reverting to speed and athletacism to solve every game problem.
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NWSL teams would benefit from a better pool if they created a training program for kids after 13 years old that focus on soccer IQ and technical skills, not in competition with the local big clubs but a supplement to it. Create one that isn't for profit but just pays for itself or slightly subsidized by the NWSL team. In the long run, the NWSL team will have a better pool of players. I think they would even see results within 2-3 years.
 
sockma said:
NWSL teams would benefit from a better pool if they created a training program for kids after 13 years old that focus on soccer IQ and technical skills, not in competition with the local big clubs but a supplement to it. Create one that isn't for profit but just pays for itself or slightly subsidized by the NWSL team. In the long run, the NWSL team will have a better pool of players. I think they would even see results within 2-3 years.
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Isn't that kind of what SD Wave is already doing with Surf?

I don't think its coincidence that they practice on the Polo Fields.

They're loosely setting up relationships + getting ready for when NWSL greenlights a homegrown rule.
 
From what I hear, Wave plans to have an academy-type team by late summer. They're are looking at players from across the country, including many from SoCal. 16 players who will train in the same environment as the full team. No cost. Online school. A few other NWSL clubs are putting together something similar.
 
fms said:
From what I hear, Wave plans to have an academy-type team by late summer. They're are looking at players from across the country, including many from SoCal. 16 players who will train in the same environment as the full team. No cost. Online school. A few other NWSL clubs are putting together something similar.
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100%. This type of plan was given to me and my child in 2016. Live on the premises and do school online with club tutors. Obviously, the GDA was the carrot back then, but this is way better. For those who inspire to go pro at 15 and 16, this is a great idea. The top Docs (Scouts back then) told me to my face that college is no bueno for the top, top players and high school is 100% forbidden. Good luck to all these amazing young ladies who have dream of going Pro.
 
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