GU16 National Team
- Thread starter Dominic
- Start date
Good article. I this it's very clear it's going to be US soccer way or the highway. They will not compromise on any of their beliefs. All they care about is the top 1 percent and that won't change. I personally think US soccer should try to help elevate college soccer instead of not caring one bit about it. This would help the overall product especially that late bloomers like a Hallie Mace type.
Another big factor that would help grow the woman's game in America is not paying non national team players like their working in jail. I believe 16k or so is the average which is a joke. I know it's not on US soccer to care about someone not in their program but until the pay is at least reasonable for everyone who is a pro player in America, it's difficult to mandate everything and have everyone just say yes. ECNL has it's place and will be here to stay for awhile I predict. Also I think they need to get more top coaches into the US soccer program. I've heard from many some of them are just OK when it's supposed to be some of the best in reality.
Thanks for sharing the insightful article.
I think the most interesting and relevant quote in the article that sheds light on the DA vs ECNL tug of war was this:
"ECNL is a league, while the DA is a program designed to produce world-class players."
This makes me sick.....What if the US Basketball Federation started a new league to compete with AAU and tell everyone no HS Hoops allowed? They would lose hands down. No offense, why is she in charge?
SA: Can you address a complaint I've heard a lot, which is that U.S. Soccer scouts favor players who are on Development Academy clubs. Specifically, ECNL coaches have accused U.S. Soccer of not picking worthy ECNL players simply because they don't play in the DA.
MIRELLE VAN RIJBROEK: We select the best players and the ones we believe have the most potential. The way we look at players, and monitor and examine their development, is based on the six key qualities.
Our mission and philosophy are our framework. Our mission is: Identify players with the potential to play for youth national teams. Our objectives are: We want to identify top talents nationwide. But we also want members and clubs to set up talent identification in their own community.
We have a player-centered scouting approach. We monitor the development of players over a longer period. This means that we follow a big group of players. We scout games, we scout showcases. Every club and coach has the possibility to recommend talented players. We have a formal platform for this. We also have a proactive way of working. This season we have sent every ECNL, National League and DA club the online recommendation form. Via e-mail on our website talented players can be submitted.
The first step is always that we want a description of the qualities of the player within the moments of the game. We would also like to receive video of games of the player. Based on the information we receive we decide if we are going to watch live games.
Our talent identification managers have contact with different clubs -- from the DA, U.S. Club, U.S. Youth -- and coaches. After every YNT ID Center we do a follow-up to coaches/clubs. It’s a post-communication form in which we inform the coaches on what we have done at the YNT ID Center.
We also try to work together with our members. I have contact with Tricia Taliaferro, who is the head of id2, the identification program of U.S. Club. We receive information on the best players. We do the same with U.S. Youth Soccer, ODP. Both U.S. Club and U.S. Youth have their identification program. It makes perfect sense that they share information on their top talents, at YNT level, with us. We have a shared responsibility. It’s impossible in this country to be everywhere. That’s why we work together.
From id2 we had Tricia and Gerry McKeown in our Talent Scout License courses and from ODP we had Chris Duke.
Furthermore, we share knowledge with clubs and members -- give presentations, etc. -- our mission, philosophy, key qualities, what we are looking for in players, framework on TID, how we monitor and rate players, etc.
------------------------------
This lady sounds like a politician; answering the question without answering the question.
MIRELLE VAN RIJBROEK: We select the best players and the ones we believe have the most potential. The way we look at players, and monitor and examine their development, is based on the six key qualities.
Our mission and philosophy are our framework. Our mission is: Identify players with the potential to play for youth national teams. Our objectives are: We want to identify top talents nationwide. But we also want members and clubs to set up talent identification in their own community.
We have a player-centered scouting approach. We monitor the development of players over a longer period. This means that we follow a big group of players. We scout games, we scout showcases. Every club and coach has the possibility to recommend talented players. We have a formal platform for this. We also have a proactive way of working. This season we have sent every ECNL, National League and DA club the online recommendation form. Via e-mail on our website talented players can be submitted.
The first step is always that we want a description of the qualities of the player within the moments of the game. We would also like to receive video of games of the player. Based on the information we receive we decide if we are going to watch live games.
Our talent identification managers have contact with different clubs -- from the DA, U.S. Club, U.S. Youth -- and coaches. After every YNT ID Center we do a follow-up to coaches/clubs. It’s a post-communication form in which we inform the coaches on what we have done at the YNT ID Center.
We also try to work together with our members. I have contact with Tricia Taliaferro, who is the head of id2, the identification program of U.S. Club. We receive information on the best players. We do the same with U.S. Youth Soccer, ODP. Both U.S. Club and U.S. Youth have their identification program. It makes perfect sense that they share information on their top talents, at YNT level, with us. We have a shared responsibility. It’s impossible in this country to be everywhere. That’s why we work together.
From id2 we had Tricia and Gerry McKeown in our Talent Scout License courses and from ODP we had Chris Duke.
Furthermore, we share knowledge with clubs and members -- give presentations, etc. -- our mission, philosophy, key qualities, what we are looking for in players, framework on TID, how we monitor and rate players, etc.
------------------------------
This lady sounds like a politician; answering the question without answering the question.
vegasguy
GOLD
Why is it relevant. There are many DA squads doing their own thing and not following a common philosophy or the program. They are out there to win and not develop. Sitting on the bench is not development of the game and sitting on the bench does not improve game understanding and vision.
There are good and great DA squads who are elite and there are really bad DA squads that are not elite. The same could be said for ECNL. It can also be said of DA coaches and ECNL coaches across the country.
Both leagues produce good and average players and both will survive long term and the discussion will roll on.
I said the same thing. The girls over there don't play HS Soccer or college soccer. 99% of the girls here play for college folks. I'm shocked at what I'm reading. If we lost today, this thing would get blown up. No wonder were in this mess.
They are different things, at least in theory and in the eyes of US Soccer. Rightly or wrongly, per the article...
One, ECNL, is a gaming league designed specifically to provide a bunch of traditionally good soccer clubs relatively similar competition and hosts events that historically made it easier for college coaches to see lots of prospects.
The other, DA, is a program designed specifically to maximize the development of the fullest potential of players who choose to participate.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
I don't have any interest on either front but to me it seems like US Soccer wants to make it easy for themselves to scout the best players and looking at academy teams for the best players. They are basically saying "make it easy on us and just put your best players in the academy teams"
If my daughter was an excellent player, it seems like both options (DA or ECNL) could work but DA will give her a better chance at playing for the US youth and national teams.
Personally the goal should be getting girls to get scholarships for college and the US National call up would be just extra special. There is no financial gain in this country for either boys or girls to play pro in the USA.
You basically need to make $100k or more a year to make it worth while to have your child pursue a career as a professional soccer player. This is just purely from a financial point of view.
If my daughter was an excellent player, it seems like both options (DA or ECNL) could work but DA will give her a better chance at playing for the US youth and national teams.
Personally the goal should be getting girls to get scholarships for college and the US National call up would be just extra special. There is no financial gain in this country for either boys or girls to play pro in the USA.
You basically need to make $100k or more a year to make it worth while to have your child pursue a career as a professional soccer player. This is just purely from a financial point of view.
...and I think it is interesting that she doesn't say that 2 MUST be exclusive of 1. That is at least an opening that provides some hope for them getting along for the benefit of players and families in the future.
The message I got from her was that moving forward the goal of DA is to produce professional/international players. That's it. To the exclusion of everything else. Your daughter wants to go to college so that she has something to fall back on instead of that lucrative $40k NWSL contract? Too bad!
I'm not sure if it's bad people skills or arrogance, but it seems strange to come in an declare "my way or the highway" to people who feel they have a stake in the current success of the WNT (colleges and ECNL). On the men's side there is no track record of success, so heavy handed tactics on that side are more likely to go unchallenged or unquestioned.
That’s the state of the game today. Within the next World Cup cycle or 2- there will be other leagues that pay women more. Or the NWSL will need to pay more to compete.
Maybe not Ronaldo money. But I’m guessing we’ll see pro women across the world earning low 6 figure incomes.
Add in a few Hulu commercials and it’s a good living that might outweigh a college degreee.
Maybe not Ronaldo money. But I’m guessing we’ll see pro women across the world earning low 6 figure incomes.
Add in a few Hulu commercials and it’s a good living that might outweigh a college degreee.
A minor quibble as I think it is a fine but important distinction...The goal of DA programming is not, as you say, to produce "professional" players. The goal of DA programming is to create a platform that maximizes the development of the players who choose to participate.
It shouldn't need to also be pointed out, but US Soccer believes (as does every other soccer-playing country in the world) that creating an environment for the sole purpose of increasing the likelihood that players reach their fullest soccer potential also is more likely to spit out world class players.
It also shouldn't need to be pointed out that making the personal sacrifices required to participate in such a program isn't for everyone.
In Socal this is a joke. It's so watered down. The best are not playing the best. Too many teams as many have said. Don't forget little Sally has to start 25% of the time. That's a huge problem. Way too many Sally's in SoCal. It's simple IMO. US Soccer can partner with Surf (SD, OC and LA) and then give Legends the I.E. 4 teams (sorry Beach and Real SoCal). Now you have something. Best of the best. Fully funded by both club and US Soccer. Little Sally will be no longer. You will have true battles at practice and the international rules will make more sense. This league (development program) in SoCal is for da birds.
I agree with your statement. The major complaint over the last few pages was that qualified ECNL girls were being passed over in favor of DA girls. So I suppose it depends on what US Soccer sees as the purpose of the USYNT? Is it to pick the best players regardless of platform? Or is it to pick the best players that have chosen to participate in their "program"? And if it's the latter, why are they deliberately and willfully choosing to ignore players that develop outside of the program? How does that help the program as a whole?
I have no experience with this, does US Soccer reach out to top ECNL players to play DA? In the article she says that they accept player recommendations from other programs. If they identify someone they think is truly a 1%'er and not just roster filler, what efforts are taken to bring that player into the program?
I don’t have kids in any of those clubs, but both clubs - RSC and Beach have kids in training camps, National Pool, and YNT (and are local products) at various levels As does most every current DA Club...I don’t know where you live, but eliminating teams/geography would make it impossible to get some of the deserving kids to training unless you had a helicopter or jet-pack...try getting from Woodland Hills to Pasadena for training at 6PM...just saying...I agree with you that less is more and fully funded by US Soccer would be optimal if it can be worked out, but my opinion is you would have to offer a residence program otherwise getting kids to training would be near impossible based on the density of So Cal if consolidation was the goal.
It was with much sarcasm my friend......4 teams only.