Kante
PREMIER
agreed. interesting... are the premier guides helpful?
with the DA game reports there was a lot of data, if one wanted to drill down on a player but doesn't seem like leagues track the same data at all.
Is DA done?
- Thread starter SBFDad
- Start date
with the DA game reports there was a lot of data, if one wanted to drill down on a player but doesn't seem like leagues track the same data at all.
So, what age group does your LAFC boy play on?
thedudeabides
SILVER
I don't have a son that plays for LAFC. I have been to many of their youth matches and scouted many of their players. I'm just making observations on what I have seen from tracking players/teams for many years using stats and real results over hype. Was anything I said about them not true or overly biased? I know for a fact they have been beating up non-mls DA's for the last few years and sometimes with youngers. You can't have a so called uniform DA system when there is a 5-6 goal difference between the top and bottom. It's bad for both ends of the spectrum.
thedudeabides
SILVER
The premier media guides are cool but I think they would be much more practical if the players that really wanted to be recruited put their email and/or link to their bio on the media guide team page. The way they do it, there isn't much room for player info so it is a team photo, team bio, and head shot of each player. It's mostly used to contact the coach to further inquire about the player.
Another important point with most ECNL teams vs CSL and SCDSL teams- most teams hold their kids to a GPA requirement. ECNL is designed for the college going player. They will cut very good players if they can’t do well in school.
I spoke to the Oxnard coach in CRL last season and he only had 1 or 2 NCAA qualifiers on their entire roster. Outstanding players but college isn’t an option for most of those players.
a player on the team I’m familiar with had a DA kid leave and move to his ECNL team and his ECNL team had many more college commits than the DA team he left. 2/3rd of the boys went on to play around the country. Many of those kids went D3 to highly rated academic school
I spoke to the Oxnard coach in CRL last season and he only had 1 or 2 NCAA qualifiers on their entire roster. Outstanding players but college isn’t an option for most of those players.
a player on the team I’m familiar with had a DA kid leave and move to his ECNL team and his ECNL team had many more college commits than the DA team he left. 2/3rd of the boys went on to play around the country. Many of those kids went D3 to highly rated academic school
thedudeabides
SILVER
Yes, totally agree. However, take the DA example. You had a league that was supposed to be the best and parents/players bought into that but the players for the non-mls DA's were just like all the club players except they thought they were better because they wore a DA patch. When a kid and parent thinks their kid is much better than they are, it stifles growth and desire. But yes, absolutely, find a team and coach that will push your kid to their limit and extract the very best from them and that kid will go far regardless of what league they are in.
thedudeabides
SILVER
I'm not going to tear down individual clubs. Every age group is different. Look those individual age groups up for those clubs on YSR and you will know the answer. With the way teams are aggressively recruiting players today, it's all about the team and coach. TFA's strongest team for years was '04 SFV but politics led them to leave. That team lost two of their top players to LAFC and still managed to win CSL Premier under a different club banner. Coaches and team chemistry matter over individual players and club prestige.
Desert Hound
DA
Dear Mr. Fantasy
BRONZE
Has there been any confirmation yet on which age groups will be featured in the new MLS league?
jpeter
PREMIER
U17+ for sure, with MLS academies desire to have u12+ I would guess they will be the looking to go u11+ like the nplwest league did in fall but no confirmation or details yet. May be a while since is all fluid at the moment.
With USYS sanctioning I suppose they could be national championships and others involved for multiple age groups.
I thought that was exactly what the MLS teams were trying to avoid. We were told they wanted only U17 and U19 and play only amongst themselves. That's why there were blue division for stronger teams and red division for weaker teams for U19 last season.
Now they are doing the opposite. They are partnering up with USYS to create a league for non -MLS clubs and creating teams for young players.
www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/85429/mlss-todd-durbin-on-launching-new-development-lea.html
SA: Who will be the age groups of the league?
TODD DURBIN: "That is an issue we are still trying to finalize, to be perfectly candid with you. What I think is reasonable to say is that we're going to be participating in two age groups, the most likely being the U-17s and U-15s, but we're also considering whether to also participate regionally with the U-19s as well. A lot of that at some level will become a function of how the geography lays out and the ability to move and travel, which I think will have an impact on the total number of teams. Our current thinking and current plan is we have competition and programming for those three age groups."
SA: Who will be the age groups of the league?
TODD DURBIN: "That is an issue we are still trying to finalize, to be perfectly candid with you. What I think is reasonable to say is that we're going to be participating in two age groups, the most likely being the U-17s and U-15s, but we're also considering whether to also participate regionally with the U-19s as well. A lot of that at some level will become a function of how the geography lays out and the ability to move and travel, which I think will have an impact on the total number of teams. Our current thinking and current plan is we have competition and programming for those three age groups."
So the non-MLS clubs will funnel their talented players U12 to U14 to the MLS teams? And then when there in nowhere for an 18 year old high school senior to go, then he goes back to the local club.
What non-MLS club in their right mind would agree to this? Will be VERY expensive for parents with huge travel distances, few games, and second-class citizen status.
What non-MLS club in their right mind would agree to this? Will be VERY expensive for parents with huge travel distances, few games, and second-class citizen status.
This is an MLS league designed to support MLS teams. If the player isn't good enough to get signed by an MLS team or its affiliated USL team by 18, then they probably have no use for you in the league.
Better if MLS only coordinates things and runs the all star team.
We got this mess in part by having clubs decide on league structure. As soon as that happens, they try to use the power to screw each othe over.
thedudeabides
SILVER
I have never heard of that and unless it is in their bylaws it's a meaningless anecdote because every team is different and I'll bet you if you surveyed CSL, Presidio and SCDSL coaches, many would tell you that academics are very important to their teams. Do you have a link to the ECNL grade requirements?
thedudeabides
SILVER
Totally agree. To me, CSL has the best structure. It's far from perfect but for the most part it works. The reason clubs flee CSL is they are too impatient to put in the time/effort to move through the ranks and earn their spot in the gold/premier levels. Our whole alphabet soup system of leagues and side leagues is such a political mess. Europe is scratching their heads thinking, what a waste of gifted athletes.