How’s the 2023-24 season going?

Surfer_dad said:
Like a lot of things, it’s complicated. I think the first observation is that players are chasing teams that just win. For truly elite players, it is more than that. It includes who the team plays and is competitive against. The learning experience on the field isn’t the winning, but the combination of playing with the best players against the best players. Winning isn’t controllable. There are so many things outside of ones control that effect winning. Being in the competitive hunt is desired. However, the burning desire to win and developing that in players is also desired and achievable. Not coaching the game to win is reasonable in cases, but telling the players you’re not coaching to win is a huge mistake by some coaches today. Regarding team hopping, as long as parents are footing the bill, it will continue. It is just part of youth soccer. Some is justified, and some isn’t. I can think of a parent that thought their daughter was the best player in California. Now that they have been on 5 teams in 5 years, you would think reality might set in, but alas, probably not.

I suspect MLSN Academies are in the future if the women’s professional game continue to make $. I just am not sure there is that much player hopping at the elite level at the elite clubs. If MLSN Academies open, there will be a lot of movement initially and cause a problem for Surf and similar clubs.
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I believe a lot of the team/club hopping is an effort to be on "the best" team. If there was an Academy option for girls "the best" team would be the Academy team/teams. In general you don't see parents driving 1+ hour each way so their kid can play on a DPL/ECRL (2nd tier) team. In fact you rarely hear ECRL/DPL parents going crazy about which team won/lost against who. A local Academy option would diffuse a lot of the GA/ECNL back and forth girls parents post online. The boys have MLS Acadamies, below that MLSN and ECNL are roughly the same. Because Acadamies are the top tier MLSN and ECNL boys parents don't care as much about wins and losses or which league is better or worse.

We just need to let the players/parents that think their kid is the best actually find out if this is really the case in an Academy setting. If they are the best great, have fun playing professionally. If they're not the best that's fine to, have fun playing on a regular team + hopefully you won't be as crazy this time playing on a normal team.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
I believe a lot of the team/club hopping is an effort to be on "the best" team. If there was an Academy option for girls "the best" team would be the Academy team/teams. In general you don't see parents driving 1+ hour each way so their kid can play on a DPL/ECRL (2nd tier) team. In fact you rarely hear ECRL/DPL parents going crazy about which team won/lost against who. A local Academy option would diffuse a lot of the GA/ECNL back and forth girls parents post online. The boys have MLS Acadamies, below that MLSN and ECNL are roughly the same. Because Acadamies are the top tier MLSN and ECNL boys parents don't care as much about wins and losses or which league is better or worse.

We just need to let the players/parents that think their kid is the best actually find out if this is really the case in an Academy setting. If they are the best great, have fun playing professionally. If they're not the best that's fine to, have fun playing on a regular team + hopefully you won't be as crazy this time playing on a normal team.
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When my little one was 11-14, we hopped to the best coach hands down. The best coach usually attracks players that want to get better. If good players follow, you will have a good team. This one avatar @Fact accussed me of reçruiting 5 players to make a Natty Team. Yes, we did win and play the best possession in the country, but I never tried to poach. That was the Docs job and he did a good job.
 
crush said:
When my little one was 11-14, we hopped to the best coach hands down. The best coach usually attracks players that want to get better. If good players follow, you will have a good team. This one avatar @Fact accussed me of reçruiting 5 players to make a Natty Team. Yes, we did win and play the best possession in the country, but I never tried to poach. That was the Docs job and he did a good job.
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That's my point.

A "Natty" doesn't matter when Acadamies options are available + churning out Pro Players through a homegrown rule.

Basically while winning a "Natty" would be nice because there's potentially better Academy teams the win wouldn't be as satisfying.

If parents can't prove their kid is the best player on the best team they'll eventually try to get on the Academy team. Once on an Academy team players will be groomed for playing professionally. In this world Nattys mean nothing.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
That's my point.

A "Natty" doesn't matter when Acadamies options are available + churning out Pro Players through a homegrown rule.

Basically while winning a "Natty" would be nice because there's potentially better Academy teams the win wouldn't be as satisfying.

If parents can't prove their kid is the best player on the best team they'll eventually try to get on the Academy team. Once on an Academy team players will be groomed for playing professionally. In this world Nattys mean nothing.
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Some kids want to win a Natty and chase medals. When Surf Cup was only about the best of the best, it was a competitors dream. When expansion came and the non competitive GDA league came, real competition was tossed out the window. Like so many have said, SoCal/NoCal needs a top league. We could compete with Spain, no joke.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
I believe a lot of the team/club hopping is an effort to be on "the best" team. If there was an Academy option for girls "the best" team would be the Academy team/teams. In general you don't see parents driving 1+ hour each way so their kid can play on a DPL/ECRL (2nd tier) team. In fact you rarely hear ECRL/DPL parents going crazy about which team won/lost against who. A local Academy option would diffuse a lot of the GA/ECNL back and forth girls parents post online. The boys have MLS Acadamies, below that MLSN and ECNL are roughly the same. Because Acadamies are the top tier MLSN and ECNL boys parents don't care as much about wins and losses or which league is better or worse.

We just need to let the players/parents that think their kid is the best actually find out if this is really the case in an Academy setting. If they are the best great, have fun playing professionally. If they're not the best that's fine to, have fun playing on a regular team + hopefully you won't be as crazy this time playing on a normal team.
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As a parent of both boys and girls, I can confidently say the reason boys parents don't care as much is this: Girls parents are crazy; boys parents are not (for the most part)
 
SoccerFan6 said:
As a parent of both boys and girls, I can confidently say the reason boys parents don't care as much is this: Girls parents are crazy; boys parents are not (for the most part)
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That is so true. Parents of girls get unbelievably emotional. Parents of boys don’t try and protect their sons nearly as much. I too am a parent of both and been around for a while. A parent can influence a girls soccer development, while in the end, a boys genes determine 70-90% of their success.
 
Another contributing factor is not every girl wants to play pro even if they are among the best of the best. Some of have academic/career goals they are striving for. I’m sure if the national team came calling that would be a different conversation. But it is okay to be among the elite and want to attend a big university and play for that school. Learning how to be on a team and not be there entire focus of that team is so important. Learning to be a great teammate ; learning to win with grace and lose with grace seems lost on so many parents. Playing in academy can work but it’s also fun to be on a team and bond with this team. Creating life long friendships were these kids can learn to support each other and cheer each other on is vital to a successful life. There seems to be a very self centered focused going on right now in girls soccer.
 
Fieldsofgold said:
Another contributing factor is not every girl wants to play pro even if they are among the best of the best. Some of have academic/career goals they are striving for. I’m sure if the national team came calling that would be a different conversation. But it is okay to be among the elite and want to attend a big university and play for that school. Learning how to be on a team and not be there entire focus of that team is so important. Learning to be a great teammate ; learning to win with grace and lose with grace seems lost on so many parents. Playing in academy can work but it’s also fun to be on a team and bond with this team. Creating life long friendships were these kids can learn to support each other and cheer each other on is vital to a successful life. There seems to be a very self centered focused going on right now in girls soccer.
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4 years ago it was 99.9% all girls go to college and Pro dream was laughed at. All around the world the best of the best want to go Pro. The game has changed now in America. I know a player that is one of the best and she 100% is going to be Lawyer and has no desire for the Pros. Its not an easy life but I see more $$ then over and its growing.
 
crush said:
4 years ago it was 99.9% all girls go to college and Pro dream was laughed at. All around the world the best of the best want to go Pro. The game has changed now in America. I know a player that is one of the best and she 100% is going to be Lawyer and has no desire for the Pros. Its not an easy life but I see more $$ then over and its growing.
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Nothing with wrong with wanting to go pro. I’m making the point that not every girl wants to go pro even if they are among the top tier. Both paths, college and pro are viable options and can lead to great success for girls.
 
Fieldsofgold said:
Nothing with wrong with wanting to go pro. I’m making the point that not every girl wants to go pro even if they are among the top tier. Both paths, college and pro are viable options and can lead to great success for girls.
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100% and I agree with you. However, I was laughed at on here by 99% of the parents and Docs that controlled soccer. It's a trip to see the reverse now happenning. We can do both and, and be happy.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
I believe a lot of the team/club hopping is an effort to be on "the best" team. If there was an Academy option for girls "the best" team would be the Academy team/teams. In general you don't see parents driving 1+ hour each way so their kid can play on a DPL/ECRL (2nd tier) team. In fact you rarely hear ECRL/DPL parents going crazy about which team won/lost against who. A local Academy option would diffuse a lot of the GA/ECNL back and forth girls parents post online. The boys have MLS Acadamies, below that MLSN and ECNL are roughly the same. Because Acadamies are the top tier MLSN and ECNL boys parents don't care as much about wins and losses or which league is better or worse.

We just need to let the players/parents that think their kid is the best actually find out if this is really the case in an Academy setting. If they are the best great, have fun playing professionally. If they're not the best that's fine to, have fun playing on a regular team + hopefully you won't be as crazy this time playing on a normal team.
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I disagree with you about ECRL. I can’t speak about DPL. When you have both Slammers RL and Beach RL in the top 10 in Ca people talk about how teams did and against who and compare it to those teams. Same with Blues RL. At least for the 2010 age group. The parents talk, just not on this forum but to each other in DMs in social media or by phone and in person at games when playing each other. It’s a different audience than ECNL where people come on here at pay more attention to each intricate detail of what’s happening where as with RL, it’s always a discussion about who and if someone is going to move up or who is going to win the division or make a national championship run.

Parents do drive +1 hour each way for practices. We were driving from the IE to HB for our RL team for 2 years and we weren’t the only ones. There are some making that drive for E64 even who are hoping to get into that RL team.

The difference is where the focus is on this soccer board which is in the NLs. None of you care about RL and think when these teams beat NL teams it’s an anomaly. No mention of how many of these players played with NL top talents on international teams like IME and etc.

Like I said, it’s just a different crowd that communicates using different mediums. This board doesn’t care enough to notice because it’s only about the perceived elite.
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
Girl parents are crazy and boy parents are not? That's the stupidest thing I've read on this forum, ever.
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It's hard to describe until you've seen it.

With Boys once they hit puberty its very clear who the top players are.

With girls puberty doesn't have as dramatic of an effect.

This makes the identification of talent much more subjective for girls. Because it's subjective parents get more involved to try and give their daughters the best possible outcome.

It's not that boys parents aren't crazy some are. It's that top talent is so easily identified with boys that people don't question decisions.
 
SoccerFan6 said:
As a parent of both boys and girls, I can confidently say the reason boys parents don't care as much is this: Girls parents are crazy; boys parents are not (for the most part)
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I also think so many more boys play soccer and there is so much more talent and a ton of good boys teams. On the other hand there's fewer "elite" female players and teams and fewer girls playing soccer in general. Therefore, the "dream" (whatever that may be-- college, pro, etc...) seems a bit more attainable on the girls side causing the parents to go crazy to do whatever they can to be "elite" and get on those teams. There are crazy boy soccer parents I'm sure but I think most realize it's harder to make it to the "top" with so much competition all around.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
It's hard to describe until you've seen it.

With Boys once they hit puberty its very clear who the top players are.

With girls puberty doesn't have as dramatic of an effect.

This makes the identification of talent much more subjective for girls. Because it's subjective parents get more involved to try and give their daughters the best possible outcome.

It's not that boys parents aren't crazy some are. It's that top talent is so easily identified with boys that people don't question decisions.
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This actually makes sense!
 
Avocados said:
That score surprises me. Impressive win for MVLA. Did non-HBK Slammers have their full team? What did Surf and HBKS do this weekend?

On the stockpiling talent issue, it’s coaches and the parents of the free agents who are driving the process. Decent players on teams that don’t make it who are then looking to upgrade and coaches trying to figure out how to… beat MVLA. ECNL parents tend to be cold whenever anyone new tries out that threatens their kids’ PT. But when your team earns a spot in Seattle and the vultures start swooping in for cubs’ playoff PT, mama and papa bears’ teeth and claws come out in full force.
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I'm not quite sure what happened with Slammers or if they were missing players. I'm just coming to a conclusion that Mvla came down here and took care of business. If Slammers were missing a few players its still no excuse to give up 5 goals. You have to give credit to Mvla for getting the job done imo. They dismantled the top team in Mojave. I don't think anyone in Socal has done that to Slammers
 
Carlsbad7 said:
It's hard to describe until you've seen it.

With Boys once they hit puberty its very clear who the top players are.

With girls puberty doesn't have as dramatic of an effect.

This makes the identification of talent much more subjective for girls. Because it's subjective parents get more involved to try and give their daughters the best possible outcome.

It's not that boys parents aren't crazy some are. It's that top talent is so easily identified with boys that people don't question decisions.
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I also agree and why I have mentioned in the past why the girl goats are goats from a very young age. It's not like after puberty they all of sudden become great players. But I've seen great players go south after puberty, that is very possible. Not the other way around.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
It's hard to describe until you've seen it.

With Boys once they hit puberty its very clear who the top players are.

With girls puberty doesn't have as dramatic of an effect.

This makes the identification of talent much more subjective for girls. Because it's subjective parents get more involved to try and give their daughters the best possible outcome.

It's not that boys parents aren't crazy some are. It's that top talent is so easily identified with boys that people don't question decisions.
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I dunno man, the craziness exists everywhere. Different flavors maybe a little bit less at the very top of the boys (actual mls academies) than at the very top of the girls. Lots of boys parents in denial about their kids genetics and talent, but in my experience the coaches on the boys side have less tolerance for it.
 
@ Carlsbad 7 .... I guess G.A did pretty well at Club Amèrica Cup last wknd. 3 of 4 semi finalists wr G.A teams. Even tho Surf ended up winning it. Not to many team in ecnl would win Surf either. Imo the top west G.A team would be somewhere behind Koge,Surf, and legends. Battling beach,slammers blues...for playoffs spots.
 
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