There in lies the rub. US Soccer doesn't do jack S@#t when it comes to a streamlined curriculum that is consistent and enforced among its clubs. Bottom line is clubs do things their way and DA is again just a label with some rules different from ECNL that "differentiate" it from ECNL. The DA is "designed" for US Soccer to control the club soccer landscape.
GU16 National Team
- Thread starter Dominic
- Start date
I find her comments condescending
My comments or Mirelle's? If Mirelle's I completely agree. I hate that they count on their constituents just eating their shit. It is 100% condescending.
Her
Pioneer coaches=old school and don't know poop like the Euros do. Please........We need better everything but don't take over a freaking league so you can make our SoCal girls Euro players............What about fun, beach, sun, surfing, sking........oh, you want all the girls to do Euro style. I'm sorry but this is getting so lame.
I think you are missing the point that US Soccer is making. Again, rightly or wrongly they are saying...
There are plenty of leagues for girls who want sun, skiing, and surfing. Some of them consist of really good players (like ECNL). Nobody is taking any of that away from them. Such platforms will always exist. Such platforms will always produce college players. Such platforms will generally require additional outside influence (such as private training) in order for a player to maximize their potential. However even then the lack of playing with/against the very best who are on a different Developmental platform will lead to stilted speed-of-play.
However there is now a platform for girls who would instead prefer to spend those hours maximizing how good of a soccer player they can possibly become. That didn't exist before in the US and it was clear that the places in the world where it did exist were "catching us." Thus they have created the DA and is requirements and specific programming.
At least, that appears to be the US Soccer THEORY that has proven to be generally true on the boys side and in many places internationally.
I agree with the above poster who questions whether or not the utopian DA platform is actually being implemented and indeed whether or not it is really possible to fully implement for girls. However I think we are separating the way things actually are vs the way US Soccer wants things to be. Their statements and actions are telling us what they want it to be, and the logic behind it is sound albeit possibly unrealistic.
I feel like I have been the DA mouthpiece here lately, and nothing is further from the truth. I am not really a fan. However I do feel I have a pretty good idea of US Soccer's position on these things and purple seen to be mischaracterizing it, often purposefully. It really isn't hard to figure out.
Having personal experience in the DA I can tell you that her "theory" and DA "philosophy" is not consistently applied in all DA clubs/teams. What she is saying is not really happening in several club environments. I also think there is a cultural issue here - US Soccer is now being run almost exclusively by foreign nationals and often do not seem to understand American culture and values. College and education is valued and available in US. This is not the case in other countries so they do not think college has any value or purpose. I think that is a shame.
They already do - have you looked at the new recruits alone for 2019 at the top college programs? If college is crap and useless for soccer then why are so many foreign players jumping at the chance to come to America and play in college - from Japan, China, Sweden, England, Sweden, etc - the list goes on.
Free Education and the Opportunity to study abroad?
Check out Florida State's roster. National champs and always handful of foreign players. This isn't uncommon but becoming more frequent. Believe or not USSF, some players actually care about getting a degree. Maybe that degree will get someone paid more than 20k a year?
Surf Zombie
GOLD
FSU grad here. We were just in Tallahassee last summer. Soccer facility is insane.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
Let’s also keep in mind that if we want to follow the European way of soccer, this may not work for our kids. Just look at the best academies in Europe, their youth players need to leave their homes and live and breadth soccer most of the year. These kids have to sacrifice school and college. Most end up playing soccer in Eastern Europe with very small salaries.
I don’t think that most parents in the USA would be willing to do this. Most girls will not sacrifice this. We do live in a country that everyone wants to move into. We have way too many opportunities and freedom that allows our kids (even great players) to give up soccer so they can pursue college or other sports. That’s not the case in most of the world.
I don’t think that most parents in the USA would be willing to do this. Most girls will not sacrifice this. We do live in a country that everyone wants to move into. We have way too many opportunities and freedom that allows our kids (even great players) to give up soccer so they can pursue college or other sports. That’s not the case in most of the world.
Couple of quotes that were not used so far in the discussion, which provide a hint that US Soccer will next do something at college level:
-- college question 1:
If you want to compete internationally with your national team you have to know and understand what happens internationally and you have to make sure that the development of your top players and the programs you offer are better than any other nation in the world.
For example, if international players from France or Spain at the U-17, U-19, and U-20 level train and play at the highest senior women’s level with the best and against the best, year-around, every day with the ball, 6-8 times a week, play 40 good and competitive games in a season, etc. Compare this for example with the length of the program our players have at college in the same age.
---
--- college question 2
So, for the top 2% players in the United States I could imagine a hybrid model. A year-around performance program that prepares players for international soccer but also helps you to get a degree. This could be in collaboration with college. Or it could also be a different pathway.
College soccer has been very good for the system for many years. It was good in an era when it was advanced compared to soccer programs in the rest of the world. Other countries didn’t have this sort of program and equal opportunities. This has changed and continues to change. Nowadays, to play and compete on the elite international level the college program is not enough anymore. It’s too short. The competition in three months is too many games in a short period. It impacts the physical health of the player. For the top 2% of the players. college soccer will not be good enough anymore in the future
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MacDre
PREMIER
My kid started getting attention from Div 1 schools and foreign soccer academies when she was 10 years old. Believe it or not my experience dealing with US Soccer and the academies have been great.
However, the NCAA is the problem. I think most of the kids that this article is applicable to could enroll in a dual enrollment program and finish college early. The NCAA is not in favor of dual enrollment for athletes and have told me that if I enroll my kid full time her “eligibility clock” will start ticking. I was advised for her to take 11 units or less to give her time to grow.
I don’t see the NCAA and US Soccer collaborating on this issue anytime soon.
Have you visited Europe? The level of freedom in Spain, France, Germany, England, etc is the same as the US as are the opportunities. The whole idea that America is better than everywhere else is just a fallacy. The difference there is there are a ton of great academies, many within driving distance or a short train ride so you don't completely leave your family behind. You are implying that those kids don't do school and are only playing soccer and it's simply not true. In fact, many of them come to the US for school as it allows them to keep playing soccer while getting an education.
I do agree that most parents in the USA wouldn't send their kids away, but the reality, at least on the boys side, is becoming that if you want to play at a high level you have to go to a full time MLS academy.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
MakeAPlay
DA
Europe has a bunch of small countries with no where near the scale that we have hear. She makes a lot of assumptions about a culture that is foreign to her.
The US WNT has such a huge pool to draw from that if they got a good coach and unified club, college and professional soccer we will continue to dominate. Try to do it Euro style with American values will lead to a decline. My kid loves soccer but she will make more money long term than those national team players with her JD and great connections.
The US WNT has such a huge pool to draw from that if they got a good coach and unified club, college and professional soccer we will continue to dominate. Try to do it Euro style with American values will lead to a decline. My kid loves soccer but she will make more money long term than those national team players with her JD and great connections.
100% correct!!!