Girls Development Academy

Simisoccerfan said:
Its great that you could make the time for that drive for school. Most that are required to work 8-5 can't. And the uber rich are in a league of their own.
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I am a working person too. Back then it was 9-6ish. I would leave my house before 6 stop and get her breakfast (she would sleep on the ride) and then drop her off. It wasn't easy but it was worth it to our family.
 
Kicker4Life said:
Ok, since you know so much about the LA geography. If I live Manhattan Beach, how long does it take me to get to Irvine Great Park (where 3 different ECNL clubs train) at 6pm on a week day (roughly 35 miles)?
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Sounds like an equation without all of the variables. Do you have a chopper? A motorcycle and like to take risks? Have you ever thought about the train (the station is walking distance from the Great Park)? You really have to be kidding with this question....
 
shales1002 said:
Easy! Since there is ALWAYS traffic on the 405 it would take you 2 hours. You would have to leave and be on the road no later than 3:15 in order to "beat" the traffic. If you are lucky from Manhattan Beach, w/o traffic should take you about 1 hour.
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To bad kids don’t get out of school till 3:30 cause then they will be late to practice every time and have homework to do after dinner when they get home at 9:30’ish.

After seeing another post, it is clear you get the point I am working towards. SoCal is one of the largest most densely populated areas and to have 3 ECNL clubs training at the same facility yet nothing else within 2 hours (North) is a bit lopsided......nevertheless, I’m just fortunate my DD has the Coaches she has and Training is now 10 Min from my house rather than an hour and despite which side of the fence you sit, GDA has been a good fit for her up to this point.
 
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MakeAPlay said:
Sounds like an equation without all of the variables. Do you have a chopper? A motorcycle and like to take risks? Have you ever thought about the train (the station is walking distance from the Great Park)? You really have to be kidding with this question....
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Yes...:I was.
 
outside! said:
The reason Carlsbad United was not invited to participate in ECNL in 2016 is because Surf wanted to maintain their monopoly in the county. During this first season of GDA LAGSD (former Carlsbad United) is very competitive against Surf. LAGSD are ranked higher in the GU15 and GU16/17 age groups and the GU18/19 age group tied Surf 2-2 in the only game they have played against one another so far. The 99/00 team also beat the Surf ECNL National Championship team 2-0 when they faced them in the quarter finals at Surf Cup. Times change and ECNL did not keep up. If ECNL had not been so busy protecting some member clubs' area monopolies, GDA would have had a much harder time getting interest from so many clubs. GDA exploited the corruption within ECNL. GDA is not perfect by any stretch of the immagination and ECNL may indeed come out on top. To say that Legends and LAGSD cannot compete in the same league with Surf (or Sharks!) is myopic however.
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I understand all the pent up angst against Surf but you are pointing to 4 data points for Carlsbad versus the thousands that are against it!! Carlsbad wouldn't have even gotten GDA if not for the "partnership" with LA Galaxy. I am a San Diego county resident and have been involved in club soccer since 2006/07. If you seriously think that those 4 data points prove anything I will dispute each of those 4 points in detail. You will see soon enough so please don't continue with this I have a couple of games that I want to watch.

Corruption within ECNL? That is pretty funny. You realize that US Soccer is the real criminal....
 
Simisoccerfan said:
I will take up that challenge. You would leave work at 3:00 pm. Hopefully you work fairly close to home and you leave with your kid by 4:00 pm. Some days you make it on time but other days your stressed out and barely make it on time. While you kid practices you either sleep in the car or talk to your other kids and spouse on the phone since you need to remain part of their life. You pick up fast food after practice and attempt to eat it while driving home (not the best food for your kid or yourself). You get home by 9:30 pm. Somehow your kid manages to do their homework in the car. You get home, say hi to the rest of the family and do whatever you need to do before going to bed at 10:30 pm. The alarm goes off in six hours at 4:30 am. You need to be at work by 6:00 am since you leave by 3:00 pm. You repeat this cycle 3 days a week hoping for no early games on the weekend so you can finally get some sleep. Hopefully you don't have more than a 30 minute drive too and from work and your spouse doesn't travel and can take care of the remainder of the family (including getting them to and from school) while you spend your life on the freeways.
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It takes sacrifice to make a life work. Look at it this way. You could be in Syria just hoping for barrel bombs to stop falling.
#FIRSTWORLDPROBLEMS
 
Kicker4Life said:
Ok, since you know so much about the LA geography. If I live Manhattan Beach, how long does it take me to get to Irvine Great Park (where 3 different ECNL clubs train) at 6pm on a week day (roughly 35 miles)?
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Around an hour and a half there, just over an hour home. Both subject to accident delays and occasional light traffic surprises. There are alternate routes to use if you stay on top of traffic reports that make these times pretty much the norm. You need to leave by 4:15 to be safe.
 
MakeAPlay said:
I understand all the pent up angst against Surf but you are pointing to 4 data points for Carlsbad versus the thousands that are against it!! Carlsbad wouldn't have even gotten GDA if not for the "partnership" with LA Galaxy. I am a San Diego county resident and have been involved in club soccer since 2006/07. If you seriously think that those 4 data points prove anything I will dispute each of those 4 points in detail. You will see soon enough so please don't continue with this I have a couple of games that I want to watch.

Corruption within ECNL? That is pretty funny. You realize that US Soccer is the real criminal....
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I have no pent up angst against Surf. It is a completely different club than it was when we were there, and my angst was only focused on a few individuals at Surf that are all gone now. Surf has many fine coaches and teams and appears to be a well run club. They are not the only game in town anymore for girls, and they never will be again. The first 3 of the 4 data points are current results. With all the changes that have taken place, the past really does not matter that much now. I have never tried to say Legends or LAGSD were better than Surf. I am only saying that they are competitive with Surf. I am sure most Surf parents would prefer to have more games with competitive relatively local opponents versus traveling out of state for roughly the same competition.

We all understand you are a Surf/ECNL homer, but things change. I agree that US Soccer is definitely a criminal organization. If ECNL limiting the number of clubs in San Diego was not the result of protecting Surf's fiefdom, then it was just stupid. So the leadership were either corrupt or stupid. If it was happening here, it probably happened elsewhere (the refusal of new clubs due to corruption or stupidity).
 
SoccerFan said:
1st year for GDA and season is not even over. Clubs have players in DA who are able to play at the highest level. These players are viewed as “having excellent soccer skills & ability to develop to their full potential”. Too soon to be making conclusions! Be patient.
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True it's the 1st season for GDA but losing 3 successful clubs after the first season and having Blues choose to have their top players (01-04) play ECNL can't help them claim the title of being the most competitive national league. I think that's a fair statement more than a conclusion.
 
Toepoke said:
True it's the 1st season for GDA but losing 3 successful clubs after the first season and having Blues choose to have their top players (01-04) play ECNL can't help them claim the title of being the most competitive national league. I think that's a fair statement more than a conclusion.
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So Blues is moving their ‘04 “best players” to ECNL next year? What happens to Kales team if that happens?
 
Thanks for posting.

His points are all valid. This is the problem with the country. They all can’t keep up with the pockets of soccer regions that are rich in players.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Yes. I would probably allow Beach in based upon their coaching staff. Legends and Carlsbad definitely not.
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Beach was just another decent South Bay club until the PVSC/Exiles self-immolated and 16-20 teams and a bunch of coaches defected to Beach -- I recall around 5 years ago. Beach itself has been around for 10-11 years? Credit Mauricio and club management for the impressive growth. Beach has done an excellent job of consolidating/recruiting coaches (and fields) from South Bay Force (now LAG), Exiles and even Fram, and have emerged as a club much more qualified to be part of ECNL/DA only in the last 3-4 years. Who knows if they even applied to ECNL in that brief window before the GDA application went live, and I would not fault ECNL for caution, since a long track record as an organization they did not possess.

ECNL did not have a sound geographical approach for LA County, nor for San Diego. But arguing they were ignoring obvious additions shows a lack of understanding of the often brief history of some of the "neglected" clubs. No doubt politics played a role, but as MAP points out regarding pre-ECNL versus post-ECNL performance, and others claim, ECNL's creation and neglect of their markets likely facilitated the growth and success of these clubs.
 
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