Girls Development Academy

[Dos Equis]

I think the ultimate goal of raising the level of play across the country even for girls who don't make the national team is a good thing. If you love soccer and are passionate about it, you might understand. Every sport is expensive. Some families even move to different states to provide their athlete the best coaching and facilities. Nothing new here. Maybe it is the AYSO thinking where everyone plays, costs are low and therefore the same thing should continue. AYSO is a good place to start with the little ones to see if their interests are with soccer. There are many sports available for kids to participate in if that is what you want and your child wants. At some point you make an educated decision with your child on their future in the game and if it is worth it. No need to keep bashing a new path for soccer. Change is inevitable. The US women have been at the top of the soccer world for a long time but the rest of the world is catching up. Nothing wrong with change.

If the ultimate goal was "raising the level of play across the country", then U.S. Soccer would not be putting so much resources into an effort that will touch, at most, 0.01% of the youth soccer players in this country.

For those who do love soccer and are passionate enough to have some interaction with and resulting insight into U.S. Soccer, and understand their motivation, know their goal with the DA is to create elite players, develop the U.S. version of a Messi, Ronaldo, and build a U.S. National team that will compete for and win World Cups as soon as possible (or in the women's case, stay at the top). Nothing wrong with agreeing with that goal, particularly if it aligns with your own. But pointing out what the new path (the "DA") actually is, even pointing out some of the risks and consequences in their strategy, is not bashing it.

And change may be invetible, but sometimes change can be wrong.

 

[NoGoal]

IMO, US womens soccer will never evolve into a pure possession style of play like Barca on the mens side or Japan, Korea and France on the women's side. Overall we don't have the club coaches who know how to ID or develop these types of players....where the sum is greater than the parts. There are not many Andres Deza (DeAnza girls coach) who grow up in Spain and know their development philosophy.

Think about this....Jill Ellis is originally from England and April Heinrich is a UNC product. Do they know how to run a Spanish, Japanese or French type program? I did read the new Girls DA Director Miriam Hickey has Dutch training. Let's see, if she has the power to influence the Girls DA club teams. I just hope US Womens Soccer doesn't forget what made them great in their pursuit to remain #1 in the world.

 

[chargerfan]

I'm sorry, but if your DD wasn't already training 4-5 days a week since U10. Then your DD is already behind. My DD and many others I know....have been doing it for years already without US Soccer needing to dictate down. These players were training 2 days with their club team, 1-2 day of training on their own....e.g. ball to the wall skills drills/shooting. 1 day of speed and agility training started at 12 yrs old.

So what is supposedly different? My DD's club coach already told me...the US Soccer philosophy is 2-3 days of training, mixed in with 1 day of conditioning and 1 day of board/video work.m

As for YNT camp invites, how will it be different than watching ECNL showcase games substitute now for Girls DA showcase games. Also, throw in the typical DOC recommending their best players to the YNT scouts/head coaches.

I think most girls who love soccer already play 4-5 days a week. But playing outside with your brother or at an indoor league is different than getting on your practice clothes on again and getting in the car again and spending your whole week at practice. Year after year of 4x week soccer practice to the exclusion of other sports and activities isn't good for most girls. If you are a very top player, I can see it, but the vast majority of our daughters aren't.

 

[NoGoal]

I think most girls who love soccer already play 4-5 days a week. But playing outside with your brother or at an indoor league is different than getting on your practice clothes on again and getting in the car again and spending your whole week at practice. Year after year of 4x week soccer practice to the exclusion of other sports and activities isn't good for most girls. If you are a very top player, I can see it, but the vast majority of our daughters aren't.

I agree this 4-5 days of training isn't for everyone. A player who wants to play at a high level should have already been making this sacrifice long ago and not because Girls DA is doing it this fall. I'm not posting about kicking the ball back and forth with their older siblings like you posted above either.

The top players sacrifice, going out with friends on weekends, skip dances, hanging with friends for the love of soccer. If they aren't or have a hard time doing it now in high school....it's what they will have to do eventually playing college soccer. Believe me my DD is already doing her college workout/conditioning packet and it's 5 additional days of hard work on top of club practice.

 

[clueless parent]

I fail to see what their plan is with DA that wasn't in place before with ECNL. It's the same clubs and the same coaches. The top girls will continue to be the top girls, and receive the most playing time, to the detriment of the bottom of the bench. I don't foresee much changing. They are responding to a girls soccer culture that has become about club and coach egos, parents' crazy ideas about their daughter being national team worthy and their willingness to give up a lot of time and money to make that happen.

Plenty of non-ECNL girls play in college, and plenty of non-DA girls will play in college. Talent is talent is talent. I guess I am just not too concerned with this "uncharted territory" as I am much more concerned with my daughter's academic future than her soccer one. If she's lucky enough to play in college, I will be cheering her on like crazy from the sidelines, but my goal for her is only a fantastic education that will help her land a good job.

Chargerfan and NoGoal,

I do not pretend to understand soccer for children. I am learning and often thinking aloud. Your posts seem condescending toward my thoughts. I readily admit that I am learning as I go. The tone of your posts indicate contempt and ridicule. Earnest people may opt out of a forum of intolerant, insensitive, and rude participants of public discourse. I for one am done.

 

[Sheriff Joe]

Chargerfan and NoGoal,

I do not pretend to understand soccer for children. I am learning and often thinking aloud. Your posts seem condescending toward my thoughts. I readily admit that I am learning as I go. The tone of your posts indicate contempt and ridicule. Earnest people may opt out of a forum of intolerant, insensitive, and rude participants of public discourse. I for one am done.

and this is the nice nogoal you have been dealing with, good decision on your part

 

[3thatplay]

I agree. The starting median salary at my players school for grads is more than a max contract in the NWSL. She told me that she isn't even considering going pro. It's funny because she will be on Chris Henderson's top 25 draft prospects for 2020 that he is releasing in the next week and I will bet money that she is in the top 10.

Just saw the list. Some very complimentary words for your DD. Good luck to her!

 

[chargerfan]

Chargerfan and NoGoal,

I do not pretend to understand soccer for children. I am learning and often thinking aloud. Your posts seem condescending toward my thoughts. I readily admit that I am learning as I go. The tone of your posts indicate contempt and ridicule. Earnest people may opt out of a forum of intolerant, insensitive, and rude participants of public discourse. I for one am done.

Maybe I was playing devils advocate, but my intention was not to be rude or condescending. I just know too many parents who are willing to sign up their children for any and everything that they think will get them on the national team or a spot at Stanford/ucla. These parents, and their willingness to blindly drink all the kool aid, make it harder for the rest of our kids to play at the highest level without giving up other sports, homework time, or god forbid, a social life.

 

[chargerfan]

I agree this 4-5 days of training isn't for everyone. A player who wants to play at a high level should have already been making this sacrifice long ago and not because Girls DA is doing it this fall. I'm not posting about kicking the ball back and forth with their older siblings like you posted above either.

The top players sacrifice, going out with friends on weekends, skip dances, hanging with friends for the love of soccer. If they aren't or have a hard time doing it now in high school....it's what they will have to do eventually playing college soccer. Believe me my DD is already doing her college workout/conditioning packet and it's 5 additional days of hard work on top of club practice.

I bought my daughter a ladder and some other conditioning stuff , and she is in the garage almost daily using it. She has a small group of neighborhood boys she plays with using Pug goals in the backyard, and I can't tell you how much that has improved her game, and no driving or $ on my part. It's also nice to see her motivated to improve on her own, and not coach, team, or parental motivation.

Congrats to your daughter! You must be so proud to see her play in college. I'd be bursting with pride! Good luck to her!

 

[Blue Card]

You hit the nail on the head. It is all about developing the top 1%, and keeping them and their parents happy. Everyone else is just shelling out serious money and time to say their daughter plays DA.

Put aside travel (which is probably naive), but if you've got a kid who loves and is dedicated to soccer and are lucky enough to have a DA club nearby which for So Cal is now just as or more likely than having an ECNL club nearby, make it, and get comfortable with playing time, how drastically different (at least at the pre-high school years) are you assuming it is in terms of cost and time? Say your high quality but non-DA club practices 2-3 times per week, plays league games and tourneys all over So Cal in San Diego, OC, LA and Ventura counties, you do outside training once a week, and your team plays lot of tournaments including frequently 3-5 games in a single weekend. Now maybe you're trading the separate outside training once a week (and its cost) for a 3rd or 4th (very high quality if you buy into everything) practice and freeing yourself up from the frequent 4-5 game per weekend slog. Based on the only info someone has put up here of about $2800 for a non-funded DA and assuming no scholarship--that's say $500-$1000 more for the year (again the hole here could be travel but looks like there are a lot of So Cal DA teams) but you're not paying ref fees, uniform fees and maybe cutting down somewhat on outside training. I guess it all depends on the circumstances but doesn't seem so obviously drastically different in terms of cost and time, at least for the younger ages of DA and at the younger ages you're not giving up high school sports...Shoot this full of holes, lots of people trying to figure this new thing out, but in any event I wouldn't assume the only interest is because it's cool to say "My DD is DA" or because they think there's a real chance DD is going to be on the WNT or even the YNT.

 

[younothat]

Maybe I was playing devils advocate, but my intention was not to be rude or condescending. I just know too many parents who are willing to sign up their children for any and everything that they think will get them on the national team or a spot at Stanford/ucla. These parents, and their willingness to blindly drink all the kool aid, make it harder for the rest of our kids to play at the highest level without giving up other sports, homework time, or god forbid, a social life.

Good to have different perspectives....everybody has different ways....

My DD is friends with a YNT/WNT player going to Stanford who has Ucla on her short list for colleges. She plays because she loves the game, teammates, having fun. Dreams are possible as are long shots, when you see them come in...gives hope now matter the odds...

She doesn't aspire to play college soccer and wants to constraint on academies and other social or civic programs she is part of. The journey for us has been very positive, so much fun watching her over the years grow so much, I'm happy she's done things her way, DA is not on her radar as a HS Junior.

 

[outside!]

LA GALAXY SAN DIEGO JOINS WPSL

http://lagalaxysd.com/lagsd-joins-wpsl/

It is good to see the WPSL expanding. This will offer some of the graduated players a chance to stay fresh.

 

[chargerfan]

Put aside travel (which is probably naive), but if you've got a kid who loves and is dedicated to soccer and are lucky enough to have a DA club nearby which for So Cal is now just as or more likely than having an ECNL club nearby, make it, and get comfortable with playing time, how drastically different (at least at the pre-high school years) are you assuming it is in terms of cost and time? Say your high quality but non-DA club practices 2-3 times per week, plays league games and tourneys all over So Cal in San Diego, OC, LA and Ventura counties, you do outside training once a week, and your team plays lot of tournaments including frequently 3-5 games in a single weekend. Now maybe you're trading the separate outside training once a week (and its cost) for a 3rd or 4th (very high quality if you buy into everything) practice and freeing yourself up from the frequent 4-5 game per weekend slog. Based on the only info someone has put up here of about $2800 for a non-funded DA and assuming no scholarship--that's say $500-$1000 more for the year (again the hole here could be travel but looks like there are a lot of So Cal DA teams) but you're not paying ref fees, uniform fees and maybe cutting down somewhat on outside training. I guess it all depends on the circumstances but doesn't seem so obviously drastically different in terms of cost and time, at least for the younger ages of DA and at the younger ages you're not giving up high school sports...Shoot this full of holes, lots of people trying to figure this new thing out, but in any event I wouldn't assume the only interest is because it's cool to say "My DD is DA" or because they think there's a real chance DD is going to be on the WNT or even the YNT.

$2800 plus at least two out of state tournaments travel cost totals quite a bit more than we pay. I think most top teams practice 3 times a week, what about that 4th practice justifies an extra $800-1000?

We must not know the same type of parents because I know many that are sacrificing a lot of time and money thinking DA is their child's only option if they want to be on the national team or play at a good college. A lot of it is about status and bragging rights in my opinion. Look at the trashing of ecnl, odp, scdsl etc on this board since DA was announced. A lot of parents suddenly think their daughters are too good for the things that they were happy with before!

 

[clueless parent]

Maybe I was playing devils advocate, but my intention was not to be rude or condescending. I just know too many parents who are willing to sign up their children for any and everything that they think will get them on the national team or a spot at Stanford/ucla. These parents, and their willingness to blindly drink all the kool aid, make it harder for the rest of our kids to play at the highest level without giving up other sports, homework time, or god forbid, a social life.

Thanks Chargerfan. I now understand your point of view.

 

[Blue Card]

$2800 plus at least two out of state tournaments travel cost totals quite a bit more than we pay. I think most top teams practice 3 times a week, what about that 4th practice justifies an extra $800-1000?

We must not know the same type of parents because I know many that are sacrificing a lot of time and money thinking DA is their child's only option if they want to be on the national team or play at a good college. A lot of it is about status and bragging rights in my opinion. Look at the trashing of ecnl, odp, scdsl etc on this board since DA was announced. A lot of parents suddenly think their daughters are too good for the things that they were happy with before!

Yeah, different kinds of professional help needed, but parents probably need professional help if either their self esteem comes from the level of their DD's soccer team or if shelling out thousands of buck for kids' soccer is viewed as a wise financial investment. Issues for another thread. It's a huge amount of $ and I'm not suggesting the extra is justified or that the base for a non DA club is justified. Was just saying if you look at it closely, how DIFFERENT is it really and help me think about it...So on the 800-1000 difference, say the uniform set is $200 you otherwise do one group semiprivate at $30 a session three times a month but won't now that you have 4 practices a week and say you do that 8 months out of the year. 24X30=$720 plus $200 for the uniform is $920 you're now not paying. + ref fees you're not paying. + tournament entry fees you're not paying. Again, extremely expensive and silly if looked at as an investment, but how DIFFERENT overall is that? I offered up in the first instance that travel was the black hole I didn't know about. But many teams would do Vegas and/or Dallas and/or a different out of state tourney anyway, right? So you're swapping where out of state you go? And who knows with the concentration of the CA teams and the good weather maybe many of the tourneys would actually be in Cali?

 

[chargerfan]

Yeah, different kinds of professional help needed, but parents probably need professional help if either their self esteem comes from the level of their DD's soccer team or if shelling out thousands of buck for kids' soccer is viewed as a wise financial investment. Issues for another thread. It's a huge amount of $ and I'm not suggesting the extra is justified or that the base for a non DA club is justified. Was just saying if you look at it closely, how DIFFERENT is it really and help me think about it...So on the 800-1000 difference, say the uniform set is $200 you otherwise do one group semiprivate at $30 a session three times a month but won't now that you have 4 practices a week and say you do that 8 months out of the year. 24X30=$720 plus $200 for the uniform is $920 you're now not paying. + ref fees you're not paying. + tournament entry fees you're not paying. Again, extremely expensive and silly if looked at as an investment, but how DIFFERENT overall is that? I offered up in the first instance that travel was the black hole I didn't know about. But many teams would do Vegas and/or Dallas and/or a different out of state tourney anyway, right? So you're swapping where out of state you go? And who knows with the concentration of the CA teams and the good weather maybe many of the tourneys would actually be in Cali?

I've been lucky enough to not have to pay for out of state tournaments, with the exception of Vegas one year. It looks like I will have to shell out more for travel this year, but I still think you can't beat the competition here in so cal.

I know I really am playing devils advocate with the DA, but I still don't see what it offers that ECNL doesnt, and without the perk of being able to play high school sports. All I'm seeing right now is a money grab by US soccer and parents obsessed with a shiny new toy.

 

[Blue Card]

I've been lucky enough to not have to pay for out of state tournaments, with the exception of Vegas one year. It looks like I will have to shell out more for travel this year, but I still think you can't beat the competition here in so cal.

I know I really am playing devils advocate with the DA, but I still don't see what it offers that ECNL doesnt, and without the perk of being able to play high school sports. All I'm seeing right now is a money grab by US soccer and parents obsessed with a shiny new toy.

Fair enough and don't disagree in many respects. It was the gist of someone's "you've got to be insane to think about DA because of the all of the extra time and $ it takes [over high level club I assumed]" thread that spurred me to try to get info from others to see what I may thinking about incorrectly because I had casually been thinking about that and didn't really see such a huge difference in time or $--certain not enough difference to catapult someone into the category of mental illness anyway.

 

[Dos Equis]

I know I really am playing devils advocate with the DA, but I still don't see what it offers that ECNL doesnt, and without the perk of being able to play high school sports. All I'm seeing right now is a money grab by US soccer and parents obsessed with a shiny new toy.

Not an advocate of DA, but this is not a money grab, it is a power play. U.S. Soccer will fund DA tournaments, fund some travel scholarships for players, and pay for all admin/overhead. The registration fees they make likely do not come close to offsetting those costs. It is an investment by U.S. Soccer, with the return to them increased control and a better pool of players (in their opinion) for the national teams.

What it offers parents/players versus ECNL (in theory) is higher coach licensing requirments, more mandated training, different substitution rules, protecting your player from the hazards of outside competition, and a geographically more accessible selection of clubs (here in Socal). And for those who play for a fully funded DA program, a much lower cost.

 

[NoGoal]

I bought my daughter a ladder and some other conditioning stuff , and she is in the garage almost daily using it. She has a small group of neighborhood boys she plays with using Pug goals in the backyard, and I can't tell you how much that has improved her game, and no driving or $ on my part. It's also nice to see her motivated to improve on her own, and not coach, team, or parental motivation.

Congrats to your daughter! You must be so proud to see her play in college. I'd be bursting with pride! Good luck to her!

Your family gets it and if your DD has ambitions playing college soccer. Your family will think it through and choose the best path to accomplish that goal, besides following the sheep to Girls DA. If Girls DA is the best route...awesome, if not there will still be plenty of opportunities to be showcased outside of Girls DA. No different than players outside of ECNL committing to college soccer now.

 

[chargerfan]

Not an advocate of DA, but this is not a money grab, it is a power play. U.S. Soccer will fund DA tournaments, fund some travel scholarships for players, and pay for all admin/overhead. The registration fees they make likely do not come close to offsetting those costs. It is an investment by U.S. Soccer, with the return to them increased control and a better pool of players (in their opinion) for the national teams.

What it offers parents/players versus ECNL (in theory) is higher coach licensing requirments, more mandated training, different substitution rules, protecting your player from the hazards of outside competition, and a geographically more accessible selection of clubs (here in Socal). And for those who play for a fully funded DA program, a much lower cost.

Two of the 04 DA coaches in San Diego were already coaching 04 teams. Surf is keeping the same coach. If you want a coach with a top license, there were already options. I don't think the new sub rules encourage development at all. "Hazards of outside competition"? Just say it- they think they are too good for high school soccer, and don't want to lose that control. For the large majority of girls (about 98%), soccer will not be a career or money maker, so why not let them play with their friends in high school?