2018 DA Winter Showcase GU15

For those interested, if you follow the link above you need to enter the date range between 12/4 and 12/9 and hit apply. You May want to enter the age group as well to narrow it down.

Nevertheless, there are some really good matchups I’m looking forward to watching!
 
So kids take a week off from school 2 weeks prior to Christmas break and a week after the Thanksgiving break?
 
Nothing I guess. Seems they could have tried to plan it a little better to not disrupt 8th graders and freshman. Finals are the following week.
How many of these players will do something other than soccer in college and beyond.
I suppose there will be plenty of time between games to study in their hotel room.
 
timbuck said:
Nothing I guess. Seems they could have tried to plan it a little better to not disrupt 8th graders and freshman. Finals are the following week.
How many of these players will do something other than soccer in college and beyond.
I suppose there will be plenty of time between games to study in their hotel room.
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These girls have figured out how to commmunicate with their teachers, plan and prepare. Actually a solid life lesson especially for those player will do something other than soccer in college and beyond. Some real life stuff!
 
Everyone understands the obligations when you sign up ri play DA. Kids get an independent study contract. No big deal.
 
sounds like a lot of rationalizing about a bad and unnecessary schedule. Why do youth players need to learn to juggle academics in high school, missing a week of school right before taking finals?
 
My kid is only missing 3 days of school. She is a senior. No big deal. Last year she also missed 3 days and still got a 4.8 gpa in the fall. If your kid can’t handle the few days they miss they certainly can’t handle playing college soccer. How many of you take your kids out of school to vacation?
 
Any player at the elite level can handle lots of demands and have been since 8 or 9 years old a that is when a truly elite player starts to stand out and have those higher level opportunities. They didn't just start juggling academic and other demands last year . It isn't a matter of IF they can handle it - it is an issue of why? It is an unnecessary schedule and reflects a lack of concern to the players, their families, and their schedules.
 
Soccer43 said:
Any player at the elite level can handle lots of demands and have been since 8 or 9 years old a that is when a truly elite player starts to stand out and have those higher level opportunities. They didn't just start juggling academic and other demands last year . It isn't a matter of IF they can handle it - it is an issue of why? It is an unnecessary schedule and reflects a lack of concern to the players, their families, and their schedules.
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Good thing your kid isn’t being held at gunpoint to play DA. And I’ve got news for you, the kids love it. And they are looking forward to it again. When they look back at bonding and fun experiences in their lives, especially as most wont have a stellar college career, this is a memorable time for them.

If you play Pats or Blues, and you’re a parent, you don’t travel. They go as a team.

If you’re not a fan of it, don’t play DA. It’s that easy. ECNL is a top option to play your kid without missing a week of school in December.
 
Yes, I am aware of all that, been in the system for awhile . Everything good that you said can apply to all showcases anytime of the year. My only point is the scheduling/timing of this specific one.
 
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That was my point above also.
Have the showcase over the thanksgiving break. Have it over Christmas break.
Have it over Martin Luther King weekend. Have it over Presidents’ Day weekend.

It’s played near Orlando right? Guessing that early December is a little slower than holiday weekends there.
 
timbuck said:
That was my point above also.
Have the showcase over the thanksgiving break. Have it over Christmas break.
Have it over Martin Luther King weekend. Have it over Presidents’ Day weekend.

It’s played near Orlando right? Guessing that early December is a little slower than holiday weekends there.
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South of Tampa actually. Also NCAA tourney still going on over Thanksgiving. Can’t do it over Christmas since there is a NCAA recruiting dead period from 12/15 through January 5th.
 
Well that make sense then!!! (But there seem to be plenty of coaches attending showcases over Thanksgiving weekend in So Cal).
 
Josep said:
Good thing your kid isn’t being held at gunpoint to play DA. And I’ve got news for you, the kids love it. And they are looking forward to it again. When they look back at bonding and fun experiences in their lives, especially as most wont have a stellar college career, this is a memorable time for them.

If you play Pats or Blues, and you’re a parent, you don’t travel. They go as a team.

If you’re not a fan of it, don’t play DA. It’s that easy. ECNL is a top option to play your kid without missing a week of school in December.
Click to expand...

And therein lies the problem with GDA. USSF imposes many unnecessary and stupid requirements that do not serve the interests of the consumers, so many top players follow your advice and play in other leagues such as ECNL. Rather than take steps to improve the platform, USSF and the GDA mafia delude themselves into believing "the kids love it" and that GDA is a smashing success, while the brutal reality is 12 or so clubs quit GDA after a single season (including some of the best in the nation) and they're shaping up to lose another 10 or so this season. By my count that's about 720 girls (12 clubs x 20 kids x 3 age levels) who didn't love it last year, and probably 600 more by the end of this season.

GDA will never be a successful platform nationally so long as it imposes requirements like requiring that kids miss at least 3 days of school before finals, another 3 to potentially play in the snow in the spring, and more flying to play league games. As long as it bars kids from playing HS soccer (or any other HS sport as a practical matter). So long as kids are required to practice four times a week only to sit entire games on the bench and then get chump time minutes against the likes of Albion and Pateadores. As long as it continues to burn kids out by forcing them to train 4x a week, every week. Etc. GDA will always lose most of the qualified players who have other decent options, because decent options are better than what GDA has to offer. USSF just isn't selling what most paying customers want, and it is doomed to fail unless it figures that out soon.

I am also sure that missing three days of school right before finals is no big deal when your kid does not attend a rigorous HS and is committed to a college that isn't an elite academic institution. Seriously, how hard is it to have a 4.8 gpa at a school where only 10% of the students test advanced at math and 35% test either below or far below basic? But smart people with high expectations understand it's stupid to risk or sacrifice even the least amount of academic achievement to play in FL right before finals when USSF easily could have scheduled it at a better time. For many, it's just one of many unnecessary headaches of playing in GDA regardless how much the GDA mafia claims their platform is perfect and should never be questioned.

In the end, there is one and only one good thing about GDA, which is that it provides access for some kids who, for whatever reason, don't have access to other clubs and platforms that already have similar access. For them, I'm sure they love it and they should because it is an improvement on their otherwise long odds of "getting found" by a college they actually want to attend. But you're blind if you can't see that USSF's rules are likely to make even this a fleeting benefit as more elite clubs and players leave for better options, giving colleges less incentive to fly across the country to watch mostly lesser players and teams.
 
End of the Line said:
And therein lies the problem with GDA. USSF imposes many unnecessary and stupid requirements that do not serve the interests of the consumers, so many top players follow your advice and play in other leagues such as ECNL. Rather than take steps to improve the platform, USSF and the GDA mafia delude themselves into believing "the kids love it" and that GDA is a smashing success, while the brutal reality is 12 or so clubs quit GDA after a single season (including some of the best in the nation) and they're shaping up to lose another 10 or so this season. By my count that's about 720 girls (12 clubs x 20 kids x 3 age levels) who didn't love it last year, and probably 600 more by the end of this season.

GDA will never be a successful platform nationally so long as it imposes requirements like requiring that kids miss at least 3 days of school before finals, another 3 to potentially play in the snow in the spring, and more flying to play league games. As long as it bars kids from playing HS soccer (or any other HS sport as a practical matter). So long as kids are required to practice four times a week only to sit entire games on the bench and then get chump time minutes against the likes of Albion and Pateadores. As long as it continues to burn kids out by forcing them to train 4x a week, every week. Etc. GDA will always lose most of the qualified players who have other decent options, because decent options are better than what GDA has to offer. USSF just isn't selling what most paying customers want, and it is doomed to fail unless it figures that out soon.

I am also sure that missing three days of school right before finals is no big deal when your kid does not attend a rigorous HS and is committed to a college that isn't an elite academic institution. Seriously, how hard is it to have a 4.8 gpa at a school where only 10% of the students test advanced at math and 35% test either below or far below basic? But smart people with high expectations understand it's stupid to risk or sacrifice even the least amount of academic achievement to play in FL right before finals when USSF easily could have scheduled it at a better time. For many, it's just one of many unnecessary headaches of playing in GDA regardless how much the GDA mafia claims their platform is perfect and should never be questioned.

In the end, there is one and only one good thing about GDA, which is that it provides access for some kids who, for whatever reason, don't have access to other clubs and platforms that already have similar access. For them, I'm sure they love it and they should because it is an improvement on their otherwise long odds of "getting found" by a college they actually want to attend. But you're blind if you can't see that USSF's rules are likely to make even this a fleeting benefit as more elite clubs and players leave for better options, giving colleges less incentive to fly across the country to watch mostly lesser players and teams.
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Man....I hope you got it all off your chest.
 
Kicker4Life said:
Man....I hope you got it all off your chest.
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No they are just repeating themselves. It’s the old broken record method. It’s funny parents on the old forum (before my kids were eligible for any other program like ECNL or DA) use to complain about ECNL and some of these same arguments sound the same about DA.
 
End of the Line said:
And therein lies the problem with GDA. USSF imposes many unnecessary and stupid requirements that do not serve the interests of the consumers, so many top players follow your advice and play in other leagues such as ECNL. Rather than take steps to improve the platform, USSF and the GDA mafia delude themselves into believing "the kids love it" and that GDA is a smashing success, while the brutal reality is 12 or so clubs quit GDA after a single season (including some of the best in the nation) and they're shaping up to lose another 10 or so this season. By my count that's about 720 girls (12 clubs x 20 kids x 3 age levels) who didn't love it last year, and probably 600 more by the end of this season.

GDA will never be a successful platform nationally so long as it imposes requirements like requiring that kids miss at least 3 days of school before finals, another 3 to potentially play in the snow in the spring, and more flying to play league games. As long as it bars kids from playing HS soccer (or any other HS sport as a practical matter). So long as kids are required to practice four times a week only to sit entire games on the bench and then get chump time minutes against the likes of Albion and Pateadores. As long as it continues to burn kids out by forcing them to train 4x a week, every week. Etc. GDA will always lose most of the qualified players who have other decent options, because decent options are better than what GDA has to offer. USSF just isn't selling what most paying customers want, and it is doomed to fail unless it figures that out soon.

I am also sure that missing three days of school right before finals is no big deal when your kid does not attend a rigorous HS and is committed to a college that isn't an elite academic institution. Seriously, how hard is it to have a 4.8 gpa at a school where only 10% of the students test advanced at math and 35% test either below or far below basic? But smart people with high expectations understand it's stupid to risk or sacrifice even the least amount of academic achievement to play in FL right before finals when USSF easily could have scheduled it at a better time. For many, it's just one of many unnecessary headaches of playing in GDA regardless how much the GDA mafia claims their platform is perfect and should never be questioned.

In the end, there is one and only one good thing about GDA, which is that it provides access for some kids who, for whatever reason, don't have access to other clubs and platforms that already have similar access. For them, I'm sure they love it and they should because it is an improvement on their otherwise long odds of "getting found" by a college they actually want to attend. But you're blind if you can't see that USSF's rules are likely to make even this a fleeting benefit as more elite clubs and players leave for better options, giving colleges less incentive to fly across the country to watch mostly lesser players and teams.
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You sound like a great parent. I agree with everything you are saying.
 
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