'24-‘25 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates

Orangeteam said:
the concacaf rosters just trickled out.. I know on Tuesday the roster was initially revealed to the kids.
I heard last week a few whispers and it appears those rumors were true..
-No SD Surf kids
-they added a 2011 midfielders
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I was very surprised by the 2011. My DD actually played against her in 3v3. I think she was maybe 12 at the time? Maybe even 11 which would make the other player 9 years old. Even at 9 the young player was quick and savvy for her age. She used to play up on SUSA 09s but moved to the NYSC MLS Next last year I think.

That said, I think their is a multitude of other players they could have picked. Word is the 2011 has multi-citizenships and the US does not want to lose her to Spain or Italy. As always, politics.

In other news, LV Surf/Heat won it's first USYS National title, cruising all the way. Another great 09 team moving into ECNL and it will certainly be interesting to watch going into ECNL.

Also, PDA ended up winning the Nike Premier Cup which included Clubs and All Star teams from 11 other countries. I'm sure some SoCal teams would have had similar results.

The bad news is that NCAA D1 roster talk is beginning to heat up with the new roster limits. A few '25s have already lost offers from these rules. Between the roster adjustment and players entering the transfer window, both '26s and 27's are going to take the brunt of the hit. Bottom line is less oppurtunities BUT those who are fortunate enough are likely to get more money as the 14 Scholarships is no longer capped meaning that after 14 it up to the schools discretion to offer scholarships. At least that is what I gather. It's very confusing.
 
MARsSPEED said:
I was very surprised by the 2011. My DD actually played against her in 3v3. I think she was maybe 12 at the time? Maybe even 11 which would make the other player 9 years old. Even at 9 the young player was quick and savvy for her age. She used to play up on SUSA 09s but moved to the NYSC MLS Next last year I think.

That said, I think their is a multitude of other players they could have picked. Word is the 2011 has multi-citizenships and the US does not want to lose her to Spain or Italy. As always, politics.
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She is a dual citizen, many others on that roster are as well.

Since Concacaf is a FIFA event once a player is on the field for a few seconds, even subbed at the very end of the game they lock into that sporting nationality. FIFA sort of created this behavior. They wanted to avoid the "federation shopping" but the rules in the current form locks a player down and you get a one time change that has to be approved by FIFA. US Soccer always makes sure to let the prospective players know that the petition process can be quite complex, requires comprehensive documentation, and requests are not always granted by FIFA.

I don't think kids this age should have to worry about big decisions about what country to lock in with.
 
Texican said:
Still early in the season, but how is the national landscape looking? Any surprises yet?
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Not really. SoCal and Texas Divisions look harder than ever. VDA is cleaning up Mid Atlantic and destroyed Loudoun last weekend.

I am still banking on SoCal, Texas, VDA, SLSG, KC, and PDA.

Iron sharpens Iron so SoCal benefits the most.
 
Squishy said:
What happened to the NL 09 Blues? They’ve only won 1 game so far this season.
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We'll have to hope that someone that made a move can give us the story and details, otherwise generally all of the Younger Parents see how Blues runs the youngers and doesn't develop teams or individuals, but selects a group optimized (including play-time) around athleticism, aggression (tactical and physical), and outside-of-club work ethic and development (ahead by 10000s of touches by 6-8 years old) to amass Wins and medals. There is 0 loyalty or connection in any direction as the teams transition into 11v11 when the dominance and W's start to wane - the team culture can't stand the mediocrity and losing in the ECNL playoffs so they all start to really focus on individuality and their own pathway to college. The teams seem to tend to stick together a bit longer if there are 1-2 leaders/outliers who are buying what the Blues Coaching staff is selling and these parents try to play manager and hold the team together. It seems to also work best if these families are rich and not making a large sacrifice for club soccer (time and money), vs if the Rich families are on the outside then things tend to go bad more quickly it seems. In that situation, the not-rich GOAT parents carrying the team and Rich parents really have no problem getting a head start in the race to who goes to Slammers or Surf first and are itching for a reason.

Just a wild guess with no facts but it seems there might have been some strong hold outs or a core group on the 2009 team that finally gave in. Next up will be the 2011-2012's to see if they follow the trend. The 2013 and 2014s are evidence of the migration beginning to start earlier but it seems it is easy to replace at 9v9 and the smaller fields and the Blues teams continue to do well despite the parental experiment. 2015+ they are of course doing very well at 7v7.
 
It's been awhile. Watched a crazy game at Jeff Cup between FC Delco and VDA. FC Delco went up 2-0 in the first half just to see VDA make an adjustment and come back to win 3-2. Both teams are quality and I would put both ahead of Penn Fusion our here on the East Coast. Also watched Penn Fusion vs. Nationals.

Hope you all are enjoying your season.
 
MARsSPEED said:
It's been awhile. Watched a crazy game at Jeff Cup between FC Delco and VDA. FC Delco went up 2-0 in the first half just to see VDA make an adjustment and come back to win 3-2. Both teams are quality and I would put both ahead of Penn Fusion our here on the East Coast. Also watched Penn Fusion vs. Nationals.

Hope you all are enjoying your season.
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Welcome back Mars. I love you man😍
 
MARsSPEED said:
It's been awhile. Watched a crazy game at Jeff Cup between FC Delco and VDA. FC Delco went up 2-0 in the first half just to see VDA make an adjustment and come back to win 3-2. Both teams are quality and I would put both ahead of Penn Fusion our here on the East Coast. Also watched Penn Fusion vs. Nationals.

Hope you all are enjoying your season.
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What happened to PDA?
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
What happened to PDA?
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Star player declared a year early with thoughts of going pro. New players and egos. They don't play like team in the ways they used to.

Penn Fusion now top team in NA, Matchfit playing well again. Penn Fusion is only real contender playing like a team during this college recruitement year.

I still standby VDA as my pick going back to last years playoffs. They do have some small ego problems but they are incredible when they are clicking. What they have going against them is no Spring season. Sure they will have some scrimmages. They will have to find their groove in group play during playoffs which could set them up for an upset.

Outside of that, I think it's still similar to any other year with same likely Clubs from SW, Texas and Midwest to compete.
 
Its unfortunate that some teams have HS in the spring right before playoffs.
It makes it difficult to stay in-synch, or to re-synch before playoffs.
My personal cocnern is more about clubs trying to moonlight the players into club training while they are already on a HS schedule that at best borderlines them into overtraining. The timing of HS, HS playoffs, and GA or ECNL summer events puts these kids at higher injury risk.

I think this age group has another YNT camp coming up in a few weeks so that adds another physical stress to players that are in HS season right now. This age group was in Spain last month and played Spain twice and "ouch" is the best I can do. Any returning players are going to be under some pressure already.

I guess as I wrote this I realized how letter leagues give no real time transition from spring HS to the summer playoffs.
A handful of clubs have mandatory time off after HS season. I can see how some clubs don't have that luxury.
 
Orangeteam said:
Its unfortunate that some teams have HS in the spring right before playoffs.
It makes it difficult to stay in-synch, or to re-synch before playoffs.
My personal cocnern is more about clubs trying to moonlight the players into club training while they are already on a HS schedule that at best borderlines them into overtraining. The timing of HS, HS playoffs, and GA or ECNL summer events puts these kids at higher injury risk.

I think this age group has another YNT camp coming up in a few weeks so that adds another physical stress to players that are in HS season right now. This age group was in Spain last month and played Spain twice and "ouch" is the best I can do. Any returning players are going to be under some pressure already.

I guess as I wrote this I realized how letter leagues give no real time transition from spring HS to the summer playoffs.
A handful of clubs have mandatory time off after HS season. I can see how some clubs don't have that luxury.
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Some of the coaches are like Rainbow Unicorn and give horrible advice on here that only a coach like him/her would say. This can all be fixed with better rules and regulations to keep the girls safe and protected. Overuse is the word that comes to mind. It's why as a parent you have to step in and tell coach the schedule. I took heat for allowing my 14 year-old to pick HS Soccer over the GDA, because we followed the rules. Then that league failed and closed it's doors and ECNL became King of youth soccer again, especially for the girls. The showcases were insane and way too much. I said only one full game or two half games and no back-to-back per week. We skipped all the showcases except for one, the one that matters in San Diego. It was all she needed to show a few top schools and the phone rang. I can look back now 4 years and say many top players have quit or torn ACL and quit or in rehab. One game a week or 90 minutes a week. No back-to-back and no way back to back to back in 72 hours. I would advise 48-hour break, except light running, especially getting ready for playoffs. The ringer situation does make sense if some of the top players are injured. I spoke to dear pal from the old days, and he said he thinks some of the super clubs are buying (flying) players in to make a run to win a natty. These kind of Natty's are worth more sign-up which helps the club. These girls are overworked, and I watch many with torn with tears ACLs, pulled hamstrings, break a bone and some concussions. Plus, the transfer portal is insane.
 
With only one Southwest 2009 league game remaining, the top eight qualifiers for playoffs look to have been decided. Any opinions or surprises with the standings? Do you think combining the Sonoran and Mojave together helped or hurt any teams?
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
So Cal soccer is in the winter. If HS soccer schedule plus club soccer is too much the player can always elect to sit out of either.
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In SoCal HS and Club Soccer ECNL/ECRL 100% do not overlap. For other areas that do if you club team is good and is going to get into playoffs and finals I would be very surprised why they would play HS soccer. The decision for girls out here in SoCal is do they want to play HS flag football and Club Soccer as those definitely overlap and most good soccer players make good flag football players.
 
Darmah said:
With only one Southwest 2009 league game remaining, the top eight qualifiers for playoffs look to have been decided. Any opinions or surprises with the standings? Do you think combining the Sonoran and Mojave together helped or hurt any teams?
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Some of my thoughts…

- I think the final 8 makes sense overall
- I’m sure most who are close would say the biggest surprise would be Beach having a rougher season this year after winning the league last year. They had a key player in Europe all year and also dealt with a lot of injuries based on what I know. They should make it into the playoffs unless somehow Pats beats SD Surf by 5 goals this week.
- From my own personal preview: SD Surf, Legends, and Koge were the strongest teams. These were the 3 opponents we faced where it wasn’t a competitive game - or maybe it was tight for a half before the doors were eventually blown off. My guess is they are who do the most damage in the playoffs.
- LV Heat Surf probably had the harshest end to the season: losing 2 of their last 3 and, by virtue of their loss to Phoenix Rising in their last game, dropping from the Champions League to (likely) Showcase A
- Places 8-13 are/were really tight. 6 teams all with .37 PPG
 
Combining divisions this year was great for this age group cutting down games from 24 to 16. With college showcases and camps this year 24 games would have been too much. At 16 league games we still play more games than any other division (other than Nor Cal).
 
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