Girls DPL?

[SocalPapa]

I think you have provided some very interesting data. Certainly holes can be poked in the specifics. For example there has been a ton of player movement so its hard to compare one year to another. Still I agree that the introduction of DA and new ECNL teams has diluted the talent for the lower leagues. The introduction of DPL has also diluted the level of teams in the remaining SCDSL and CSL. The same could be said for how SCDSL hurt CSL when it was formed several years ago. At the end of the day though the fall leagues are only about 10 out of the 40 plus games that these teams play in a year. So there is still plenty of opportunity to play against each other. National Cup will also bring these three leagues together.

You can slice the numbers in different ways but they point in one direction. You are right about the impact of DA though, particularly on ECNL. The top SW ECNL teams are still very good (as evidenced from the results in Silverlakes and Surf College Cup), but I'm seeing some poor results at the bottom. I suspect with the same analysis you'd see an even greater hit to the goal differential gap in the Southwest division over the past year. In any event, this is yet another argument for why the formation of DA on the girls side is not necessary a good thing for overall player development in the US.

Further, this a discussion about leagues so the fact that there may be playing opportunities outside of the leagues is somewhat beside the point. And the National Cup matchups are very fluky. Not a good example of having other guaranteed opportunities for a consistent/equal level of competition. Moreover, the fact that a decision adverse to player development may have been made in the past doesn't mean we should repeat it.

P.S. I sincerely hope none of the families on your daughter's team are affected by the fires. And may God bless everyone who is impacted.

 

[zags77]

I watched several of the '01 DPL teams play at Silverlakes Thanksgiving showcase. The games were similar and on par with any SCDSL or CSL game. In my honest opinion the hierarchy goes DA, ECNL and then all 3 SCDSL, DPL, CSL are equal, anyone can beat anyone on any given day.

My biggest complaint is that the tournament stacked the deck so several good teams did not get the opportunity to play DPL teams at the 01 age group. The biggest issue I have with these DPL teams being put in the top flight is that they haven't earned the right to be there. Similarly to CRL all the DPL teams did not earn the right to play in CRL this season, they got a free pass because their top teams last year competed in CRL and performed well. All these large clubs with DA were able to keep their CRL place holders and pass it on their second teams.

There is cross competition currently going on and the DPL teams are not performing. They should be given passes to CRL or top flights of showcases (automatic entry is fine but put them at an appropriate level). 6 of the 10 DPL teams finished in the bottom 12 of Silverlakes thanksgiving showcase with a record of 0-5-13, yes that's right not one win!

Simi, I assumed you moved to Eagles DPL with your former coach, I watched the Eagles vs. Del Sol DPL match and it was an absolute snooze fest. It is nice to hear that your DD is getting the opportunity to play with the DA team this weekend in Florida and that to me is the reason if any to play DPL. Id be curious to hear how many other DPL players are getting the opportunity or chance to play with the DA teams.

 

[Simisoccerfan]

Zags,

You started out fine with your post but then you felt the need to take a cheap shot with your snooze fest comment. I think that is uncalled for.

The other issue I have with your post is the comment "they haven't earned the right to be there". Yes DPL is new but you seem to forget that if DPL did not exist every one of these teams would have been Premier or Flight 1. I don't know what team your with but some of the Premier and Flight 1 teams would be at a lower level if DPL did not exist.

Our team is a a mix of players from 4 teams (1 ECNL team and 3 teams that would have been Premier). Besides having to play a DPL team (which I wish we did not) we tied a top team from Texas and the 2nd place team from Champions Flight 1 so I think we did well.

I agree with you that the real reason to play DPL was the opportunity to get pulled into the DA. If you look at match reports on the DA website you can see the numbers. Each club can use up to 6 DP's at an age group. Most have used 2-3 so far. After the 6 games you can play the club needs to determine whether they want to offer a full time slot or its back to your old team.

 

[zags77]

Zags,

The other issue I have with your post is the comment "they haven't earned the right to be there". Yes DPL is new but you seem to forget that if DPL did not exist every one of these teams would have been Premier or Flight 1. I don't know what team your with but some of the Premier and Flight 1 teams would be at a lower level if DPL did not exist. .

False, you have made this argument several times and it's wrong. LA Galaxy's San Diego top team would be in Premier and playing CRL, the DPL team would be in Silver Elite and not playing CRL. Beach top team would be in Champions League SCDSL and the DPL team would be a Tier 1 team. Albion's top team would be in Premier and the DPL team would be in Gold. So essentially the DPL team you joined at eagles would have been their 0-14 Gold team from 2016. Had the DA not happened you likely would have stayed with Simi Valley.......

I think you get the point. As I stated in my previous post the DPL teams have not earned the right to play in the top flight of anything until they win something. I also think all DPL teams should be required to "play in" to CRL if they don't finish in the top 4 of the CRL standings for 2017-2018.

Sorry about the snooze fest comment, I actually fell asleep, maybe it was from the beers I had at the clubhouse at lunch! Good luck in FLA!

 

[Simisoccerfan]

Just a minor correction to your post. The eagles team we joined was their Premier team not their gold team. There DA team is essentially there ECNL team from last year. Their gold team was demoted to Silver Elite.

 

[Lambchop]

I watched several of the '01 DPL teams play at Silverlakes Thanksgiving showcase. The games were similar and on par with any SCDSL or CSL game. In my honest opinion the hierarchy goes DA, ECNL and then all 3 SCDSL, DPL, CSL are equal, anyone can beat anyone on any given day.

My biggest complaint is that the tournament stacked the deck so several good teams did not get the opportunity to play DPL teams at the 01 age group. The biggest issue I have with these DPL teams being put in the top flight is that they haven't earned the right to be there. Similarly to CRL all the DPL teams did not earn the right to play in CRL this season, they got a free pass because their top teams last year competed in CRL and performed well. All these large clubs with DA were able to keep their CRL place holders and pass it on their second teams.
A little off topic, good luck to all the southern California girls heading to Florida today! What
There is cross competition currently going on and the DPL teams are not performing. They should be given passes to CRL or top flights of showcases (automatic entry is fine but put them at an appropriate level). 6 of the 10 DPL teams finished in the bottom 12 of Silverlakes thanksgiving showcase with a record of 0-5-13, yes that's right not one win!

Simi, I assumed you moved to Eagles DPL with your former coach, I watched the Eagles vs. Del Sol DPL match and it was an absolute snooze fest. It is nice to hear that your DD is getting the opportunity to play with the DA team this weekend in Florida and that to me is the reason if any to play DPL. Id be curious to hear how many other DPL players are getting the opportunity or chance to play with the DA teams.

A little off topic, but good luck to all the Southern California girls heading to Florida today! What a fun memory!

 

[Dummy]

My dd is on a 2003 Csl team. The team composition was not affected by the new leagues, but more the level of competition faced. Overall, the competition within league play was lower.

That too has been mine’s experience in SCDSL and CRL.

Zags,

You started out fine with your post but then you felt the need to take a cheap shot with your snooze fest comment. I think that is uncalled for.

The other issue I have with your post is the comment "they haven't earned the right to be there". Yes DPL is new but you seem to forget that if DPL did not exist every one of these teams would have been Premier or Flight 1. I don't know what team your with but some of the Premier and Flight 1 teams would be at a lower level if DPL did not exist.

Our team is a a mix of players from 4 teams (1 ECNL team and 3 teams that would have been Premier). Besides having to play a DPL team (which I wish we did not) we tied a top team from Texas and the 2nd place team from Champions Flight 1 so I think we did well.

I agree with you that the real reason to play DPL was the opportunity to get pulled into the DA. If you look at match reports on the DA website you can see the numbers. Each club can use up to 6 DP's at an age group. Most have used 2-3 so far. After the 6 games you can play the club needs to determine whether they want to offer a full time slot or its back to your old team.

Are there other So Cal DA clubs taking DPL players to Florida? What does it cost for DPL players to participate?

 

[Simisoccerfan]

No cost difference.

 

[Mystery Train]

It is easier to "look like a well oiled machines" when you play less skilled teams.

True, but I don't know that anyone can assess the skill gap (if it exists) between the Flight 1 and the CSL Premier teams I'm thinking of, vs. various new DPL & DA squads and the depleted ECNL teams because of the closed circuits. Both of them waxed high-level teams at Surf College Cup, including an ECNL club . . . and both still looked like well-oiled machines to me. I'd love to see some of these teams meet up in National Cup play.

My original point was that teams that stick together over long periods of time can compete with hastily formed all-star teams because of the consistency of play and coaching. Over time, I would expect that if those new DPL and DA teams stay together, they would benefit from that same factor and should rise to the top, but the quality of play in the early stages has looked pretty ragged to this observer.

 

[Desert Hound]

So for those who had kids in the DPL...how has it been so far? Worth it?

 

[Soccerreccos]

So many factors go into happiness with a soccer season.... dynamics of the girls on the team, coaches, team manager, weather, you name it. We, as parents, were not happy with this DPL season. As a separate issue, our daughter was not happy. I can point to many reasons but the disorganization of DPL and the messaging to DPL players by the club were some (not all) of the contributing factors.

 

[Desert Hound]

So many factors go into happiness with a soccer season.... dynamics of the girls on the team, coaches, team manager, weather, you name it. We, as parents, were not happy with this DPL season. As a separate issue, our daughter was not happy. I can point to many reasons but the disorganization of DPL and the messaging to DPL players by the club were some (not all) of the contributing factors.

Was it an issue of selling something that was not? IE hey this is just south of DA...but the reality was not?

And you are right...lots of factors contribute to whether or not a team works out.

 

[Soccerreccos]

Was it an issue of selling something that was not? IE hey this is just south of DA...but the reality was not?

And you are right...lots of factors contribute to whether or not a team works out.

Unfulfilled promises. A league that was thrown together. Not enough games before the season began. Bad communication all the way around. My daughter did not develop under this program. She had perhaps the least development this year than in all her other years playing soccer (at the highest cost, mind you). Again, lots of factors with DPL being one of them. And DPL is not “just south” of DA. Second class citizens (at least in my experience).

 

[Fact]

Unfulfilled promises. A league that was thrown together. Not enough games before the season began. Bad communication all the way around. My daughter did not develop under this program. She had perhaps the least development this year than in all her other years playing soccer (at the highest cost, mind you). Again, lots of factors with DPL being one of them. And DPL is not “just south” of DA. Second class citizens (at least in my experience).

Did the DPL team cost more than another team (say a boys team that is the same age and that players at the same level)in club?

 

[Simisoccerfan]

Our experience was the opposite. We played 9 games or so in league which was only slightly less than other leagues. We did play a number of tournaments and showcases pre and post season. We found the fields we played on to be in excellent shape and the refs were decent. The water stations, canopies and game filming (once it started) were nice touches. Except for the dual DA/ECNL clubs we were playing the second teams at these big clubs so the competition was good. We had the DA coaches at a number of our games and talking to the teams after games. I liked that we had no early games. Training 3 days a week was nice and our fields were excellent (likely more a function of the club than the league). Clearly DA was treated as the top but it should be.

With being a parent of 3 different club players over 10 years in various leagues and teams and levels of play I have found that there is always kids and/or parents that are unhappy no matter what the league, team, age, or level is being played (I have been one of them before). For us DPL had a very positive outcome. I know others that did not feel this way. But I can say I did not see any greater degree of unhappiness with DPL than I have seen elsewhere.

 

[SoccerLife75]

I guess DPL experiences depended on club. Some clubs fulfilled promises and others didn’t. I believe the clubs with the most success are fulfilling Development while others are just trying to survive with what they have.

 

[SocalPapa]

Except for the dual DA/ECNL clubs we were playing the second teams at these big clubs so the competition was good.

This is what I don't understand - what does DPL being a closed/independent league have to do with your playing opportunities at tournament/showcases? If you are the B team for a big DA club, wouldn't you still get a spot at these tournaments (just like your opposition did) with or without the league? I still don't see why the DPL teams couldn't have stayed in CSL and SCDSL.

 

[Porkchop]

My daughter play's in the DPL- she recently played in a scrimmage for a different team (she loves to play) this was the coaches feed back:"
Your daughter has improved a lot since I last saw her play. I love how composed she is with the ball at her feet. Even at the center back position, she stayed calm and was able to connect a pass with someone’s feet. Her ball skill is exceptional for a defender,she should keep doing what she’s doing. " so I could say the DPL has worked for her.

 

[TangoCity]

My daughter play's in the DPL- she recently played in a scrimmage for a different team (she loves to play) this was the coaches feed back:"
Your daughter has improved a lot since I last saw her play. I love how composed she is with the ball at her feet. Even at the center back position, she stayed calm and was able to connect a pass with someone’s feet. Her ball skill is exceptional for a defender,she should keep doing what she’s doing. " so I could say the DPL has worked for her.

Knowing who your daughter is ... I would say it is her hard work ethic and desire to improve that has worked for her.
Keep up the good work!

 

[chargerfan]

My daughter play's in the DPL- she recently played in a scrimmage for a different team (she loves to play) this was the coaches feed back:"
Your daughter has improved a lot since I last saw her play. I love how composed she is with the ball at her feet. Even at the center back position, she stayed calm and was able to connect a pass with someone’s feet. Her ball skill is exceptional for a defender,she should keep doing what she’s doing. " so I could say the DPL has worked for her.

This is more likely a product of good coaching and just plain old time and physical/mental growth and maturity, rather than league.