Lambchop
GOLD
Well ya, DA has only had one full season.
DPL expands nationally to include top clubs in key markets
- Thread starter ADPSOCCER
- Start date
I was looking at this with a Southern California perspective. This upcoming year our DPL "Season" will have 11 games. We will play everyone in our 1 league once (home or away based on scheduling). Clearly a different situation than you laid out for Texas and the East Coast.
One question I have though, are the Texas and East Coast DPL teams better than "other competition" in the area? IF the DPL teams are just kicking the shit out of the "other" competition and the DPL teams are actually competitive games, why complain about playing the same teams over and over? I admittedly do not know the soccer landscape in those areas, so you could be 100% accurate that there is much to dislike about DPL, but if the only competitive games to be found (outside of DA which DPL can't play) is other DPL games, why not play them over and over?
PS I did not drink any kool-aide, I know exactly what my kid signed up for.
PSS If parents don't want their kids traveling to other states to play other "B" teams, don't sign your kid up; do something else.
Everyone is missing one big point! Who is running the league? Administratively.
That has been the DPL’s downfall, a few DOC’s have ran it. The company out of Texas is horrible doing the Admin stuff. No agreement on anything by DOC’s. That is why you had some teams in National Cup and others not.
Cost is way more then a DA team, cause you have to pay for showcases. Only a few clubs have strong DPL teams, Legends for one, but only a team here or there in most age groups.
ECNL 2 is run by ECNL. DPL will not be run by US Soccer.
If I were joining a DPL team this is the question I would ask. And until that answer is provided, the league will only be a lot of empty promises, for most clubs. I think Legends on the outside appears to do it right.
That has been the DPL’s downfall, a few DOC’s have ran it. The company out of Texas is horrible doing the Admin stuff. No agreement on anything by DOC’s. That is why you had some teams in National Cup and others not.
Cost is way more then a DA team, cause you have to pay for showcases. Only a few clubs have strong DPL teams, Legends for one, but only a team here or there in most age groups.
ECNL 2 is run by ECNL. DPL will not be run by US Soccer.
If I were joining a DPL team this is the question I would ask. And until that answer is provided, the league will only be a lot of empty promises, for most clubs. I think Legends on the outside appears to do it right.
The top reason I hear a parent (or perhaps a player) go ECNL here on the west coast is because they want to play high school ball as well. If/when DA allows that, wouldn't it be a major (dare say death) blow to ECNL? At the moment, it feels the biggest hook/draw to ECNL is that high school element (of course, assuming teams, coaches, clubs are equal...for the sake of argument).
ADPSOCCER
SILVER ELITE
Good to see both Rush and Real joining DPL.
"Slated to start play in September 2019,the DPL Schedule will allow players to continue playing high school soccer
while developing their technical and tactical skills through club soccer."
Wow, wow, wow and wow!!!!! let me seriously talk to my dd to see if she would like to reconsider her decision to play ECNL this upcoming season. This could be a game changer. Let me see, have dd play DPL first half and then join the DA Team (if she can make it since she's been playing that horrible brand of soccer in HS) after HS Soccer. At DPL she can practice juggling and dribbling while all the other players play in the big league. Listen all you fools at DA, yes you. Allow HS Soccer!!!!!!! End of story. This is so stupid. I think I might make this my mission in life. #letthemplayHS.......#letthemplayboth.......I have some advice for everyone: DA can be DA, ECNL can be DPL. DPL can be a local league, CRL and that's that. No need for this BS anymore.
Desert Hound
DA
From the outside it seems the DPL is improving.
Its first season 3 yrs ago. It will fail, it sucks, nobody will play, etc etc.
2nd season. It improved. Better showcases, etc. Yet people said it sucks, it wont last, etc.
3rd season. It improved again. More showcases, more clubs and now in more places in the US.
Now I guess it is sanction.
My point? It seems to be improving each year. I would expect to see more clubs join the league for next year.
If it works for some kids, great. If it is not the best option, great.
In a rational youth sports world, most teams would play locally. If there was a really good team, it might have to travel farther to find a competitive game. A great team might have to travel even farther. The very best teams may be forced by their greatness to sacrifice time and money in search of competitive games.
In the old days in Southern California, the very best teams could all play each other locally. Unfortunately, SoCal soccer got sucked into national leagues because everyone that organizes SoCal soccer makes more money by passing these costs onto parents and collecting a percentage. Now even not-great SoCal teams are doing the same through DPL and other similar “high level” normal club soccer leagues because it makes the track suits money.
DPL sucks because it sucks. That doesn’t mean that the kids are bad or that the parents are stupid. It is just a waste of time and money for families in Southern California who find themselves trapped in a system that is worse than the one that existed before. The growth of DPL simply means that soccer organizers elsewhere now believe that the model will make money for them too. Please do not confuse this with DPL being best for kids.
Agreed. B teams traveling across state lines to play other B teams is irrational.
Desert Hound
DA
That ship sailed years ago with the creation of ECNL. And it is a complaint constantly aired on this board. I always respond if you dont want or need to travel, don't put your kid in DA, ECNL or DPL. Then you don't have to travel.
Are there too many leagues? Yep. It has caused dilution for sure.
My comments however were just pointing out that this board has been saying for years DPL is going nowhere and yet as I watch what they are doing, they certainly seem to be growing.
DPL is here to stay for sure. My kid will not have to deal with this crap in three more years. ECNL will be just find. If you haven't lived it you can't speak to it.
I think you have it backwards DH. It’s posts and comments like these that attempt to “justify” DPL’s creation. We didn’t need to create a new league that further dilutes the talent. If we all agree that steel sharpens steel, then the creation of all these leagues, not just DPL, is detrimental to our dd’s development.
And for the record, my girls play in the Discovery league. Do we have more bells and whistles than flight 1 teams in SCDSL, sure, but was it needed, no!
Desert Hound
DA
Certainly not trying to justify the league. Just pointing out that it continues to grow. It was clearly created to "counter" ECNL and the fact they allow HS soccer.
I would prefer a unified over arching league structure for everyone with relegation and promotion. That way the best teams would play the best teams in the state, region, etc. But as we all know that is not going to happen.