Off the top of my head - Michigan Hawks, Crossfire Premier, LAFC, Eclipse Select, Concorde Fire, NYCFC, FC Stars, PDA
New Girls DA Clubs Announced
- Thread starter Desert Hound
- Start date
RiverArsenal
BRONZE
I would look at motivation of some of these directors who are in their twilight years as a coach. USSDA with its 10 month season, training requirements, and audits/assessments is a very frustrating system for 50/60+ year old guys who have done whatever they wanted for 20+ years. To be fair - who wouldn't want an extra 3 months of vacation. Its easy to see why Blasingame, James, Walid, Landefeld would choose choose an easier path. There is a new generation of soccer and these dinosaurs will not be participating.
I am not married to ECNL and have been in both systems as well. DA was a big joke and not worth the smoke and mirrors and all the propoganda that was put out. It all comes down to who your coach is, what your end game is and what works for you. There is plenty of good competition in ECNL and plenty of college coaches at the ECNL showcases. We did not find our dream college offer in the DA, not even close. You can make the argument that the top few teams in the DA are good and the rest are mediocre at best just as you can make that case for the ECNL. Are you really arguing that Albion and LA Premier and the best of the best when they can hardly win a game? In So Cal there is only one DA club that is associated with a pro club so where is all that money?? The rest are raking in the money from the families as all good clubs do for any of their teams.
InTheStands
BRONZE
I am pretty certain the condition to be in DA is to have a professional team affiliation.
You obviously disagree with me and that's fine.
You obviously disagree with me and that's fine.
Lambchop
GOLD
So what you are saying as pertains to your daughter is that after 2-3 years of ECNL and 1 year in DA your daughter did not find a college offer that was even close to her dream college? Interesting.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
Not true. Most DA clubs do not have a professional team affiliation.
ChalkOnYourBoots
BRONZE
From USSFDA website from last year:
"With the addition of Utah Royals FC, eight of nine NWSL clubs will be represented in the Academy."
The majority of the academy teams affiliated with the eight NWSL teams are middle of the pack at best. Affiliation with NWSL doesn't guarantee the club is fully funded - affiliation doesn't mean much of anything on the girls side I don't think. There are a handful affiliated with MLS clubs, I'm not certain if any of them are fully funded either.
RiverArsenal's post above, about the motivation of club DOCs, is pretty insightful.
"With the addition of Utah Royals FC, eight of nine NWSL clubs will be represented in the Academy."
The majority of the academy teams affiliated with the eight NWSL teams are middle of the pack at best. Affiliation with NWSL doesn't guarantee the club is fully funded - affiliation doesn't mean much of anything on the girls side I don't think. There are a handful affiliated with MLS clubs, I'm not certain if any of them are fully funded either.
RiverArsenal's post above, about the motivation of club DOCs, is pretty insightful.
Not exactly the correct facts, lets just say the DA didn’t produce a benefit, all comes back to the coach and the coaches connections and your players end game. She got more interest from the right colleges before and after the DA
Last edited:
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
I know the U16/17 and U18 levels. Not one player left Eagles last year for Real but multiple players left Real to the Eagles. KW leaving Real for the Eagles was a big part of it. I have been anti HS and a big supporter for DA but HS was the major part of Eagles decision. And it was their decision, not forced on them.
Dos Equis
GOLD
There is truth in the observation that DOC's and top coaches do not like having their programming dictated or being held accountable to performance or subjective standards by leagues and federations. That dynamic has helped drive much of the change from CSL to CSL/ECNL to CSL/SCDSL/ECNL to the current diluted mess.
Also, Slammers and Blues have been the top two clubs in Socal, generally (with a nod to Surf, though they have fallen recently), since before this league alphabet soup situation existed. That does not mean they are the best team nor have the best coach in any given age group, there are plenty of great options elsewhere. But their brands and track records attract college coaches, and this exposure attracts talented players with college aspirations.
As for the future, an honest assessment of the Socal status (I do not claim to know Texas), is that the older two age groups of DA/ECNL are arguably similarly competitive, the younger age groups seem to favor DA. A year ago, I agreed the implication was the future of elite youth soccer was likely the DA. Over the last twelve months, the number of club defections across the country (and in Socal) to ECNL has left me unsure about the future of the DA as the top "league," as currently structured. On a somewhat level playing field (USSDA still controls the YNT), ECNL is a more attractive structure for most clubs and players. Unless the DA wants to change its rules and structure to be even more like an ECNL run by US Soccer (and in doing so violate every reason they gave for starting the DA in the fist place), ECNL will survive and attract talent, and two "top" leagues will exist.
As I have argued before, if US Soccer would exhibit a small amount of self-awareness and humility, they would change the girls DA and reduce the number of clubs to no more than 30, perhaps even fewer. Instead of trying to create a league to replace ECNL or duplicate the boys side (which is having its own issues), they would be more focused on creating a few elite girls academies with better funding. They would work with ECNL, WPSL, NWSL, international football/other countries, the NCAA (in the spring) and others to make sure there are sufficient games and competition for these academy teams, instead of trying to pretend that the bottom 65-75% of their member DA clubs are providing the desired level of competition in league play.
Yet I ramble ...
Also, Slammers and Blues have been the top two clubs in Socal, generally (with a nod to Surf, though they have fallen recently), since before this league alphabet soup situation existed. That does not mean they are the best team nor have the best coach in any given age group, there are plenty of great options elsewhere. But their brands and track records attract college coaches, and this exposure attracts talented players with college aspirations.
As for the future, an honest assessment of the Socal status (I do not claim to know Texas), is that the older two age groups of DA/ECNL are arguably similarly competitive, the younger age groups seem to favor DA. A year ago, I agreed the implication was the future of elite youth soccer was likely the DA. Over the last twelve months, the number of club defections across the country (and in Socal) to ECNL has left me unsure about the future of the DA as the top "league," as currently structured. On a somewhat level playing field (USSDA still controls the YNT), ECNL is a more attractive structure for most clubs and players. Unless the DA wants to change its rules and structure to be even more like an ECNL run by US Soccer (and in doing so violate every reason they gave for starting the DA in the fist place), ECNL will survive and attract talent, and two "top" leagues will exist.
As I have argued before, if US Soccer would exhibit a small amount of self-awareness and humility, they would change the girls DA and reduce the number of clubs to no more than 30, perhaps even fewer. Instead of trying to create a league to replace ECNL or duplicate the boys side (which is having its own issues), they would be more focused on creating a few elite girls academies with better funding. They would work with ECNL, WPSL, NWSL, international football/other countries, the NCAA (in the spring) and others to make sure there are sufficient games and competition for these academy teams, instead of trying to pretend that the bottom 65-75% of their member DA clubs are providing the desired level of competition in league play.
Yet I ramble ...
Up North
BRONZE
That was a good ramble
Whoa..my kid plays for Penn Fusion and this is the first time I've seen this mentioned. I'd welcome the change back to ECNL, if that's the case. The competition is certainly better in the Northeast division of ECNL with PDA, FC Stars, NYCFC/World Class compared to the Mid-Atlantic DA division
US Soccer has really underestimated the importance of High School soccer to teenage girls. In NorCal, the Earthquakes had some dominant teams at the older age groups last year. This year, many of their best players(including a few national team players) decided to play high school soccer and are were not allowed to come back to the club after the high school season ended, and the Earthquakes teams are struggling because of this, including 0-7 and 0-8 blowouts. If US Soccer continues with this hard stance, I'd expect the migration away from GDA to continue.
End of the Line
SILVER ELITE
USSF fully understood the importance of HS soccer. That is why, after failing to get initial traction, it misrepresented to clubs and players that they could play HS without adverse consequences through 2020. What it underestimated, however, is how much players and clubs don't like being defrauded, and that it wouldn't be able to kill off ECNL as an alternative.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
DA did not fail to get initial traction and it was always clear on it’s position against HS soccer. Certainly high school soccer is controversial and may be a deal breaker for many. However as a DA parent I certainly never felt defrauded. Are you speaking for yourself? If so perhaps the clarity of your club communication is to blame. Less drama please.
End of the Line
SILVER ELITE
Go to this link (http://www.ussoccerda.com/girls-academy-interested-clubs), click where it says "here" near the bottom and read slide six from the webinar that it used to convince clubs and players to join. Also read this (https://www.soccerwire.com/news/clu...elopment-academy-will-allow-high-school-play/) for more information. Heinrichs said kids could play HS without risking GDA status many times during her publicity and media campaign on this. And if USSF was always consistent about banning HS, I have one question for you, which is how do you reconcile that with the fact that USSF allowed the girls to play HS the first year?
In the end, it doesn't matter, because GDA is toast.
Dos Equis
GOLD
In fairness, the DA application stated that existing HS players could get exempt from the HS prohibition and finish their HS careers. But it also said that the clubs were still responsible for fielding teams during HS season. It left it up to the clubs to add 2+2 and realize that granting exemptions was not feasible if they wanted to be fair and offer it to everyone, else they not have a roster of 11 to play.
Fraud is a strong word, I think the DA was trying to have it both ways by offering a non-workable interim exemption policy. And likely some clubs or coaches were similarly being deceptive by referencing this "non" option. Or both US Soccer and and some youth soccer clubs are just plain stupid. The smart clubs realized there would be no exemptions, and said so up front.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
It’s a national league. Not everyone has high school soccer at the same time. Aside from compromising a principle that they clearly feed is important (whether you agree with it or not) what else should USSF have done? I think the assumption of negative intent is off base. They tried to accommodate a transition period for girls already playing high school during DA implementation as best they could.
I do agree it’s possible some clubs could have misrepresented.
I do agree it’s possible some clubs could have misrepresented.
So what about their U15 team? That team hasn't lost a game. Did the girls from that team defect once high school soccer season began? My point is that it's harder to appreciate or feel the importance of something if you never experienced it. The girls that age into HS while on a DA team (u15) seem to be a little less drawn to HS soccer than those that have already developed a social network through HS soccer. I think it will take a few years to see how important HS soccer really is - assuming DA lasts that long.
I'll also quibble with your assertion that the quakes had dominant teams at the older age groups last year. Their 18/19 team finished in 8th out of 10 last year. And the 18/19 team only won two games this year before high school season began. The 16/17 team did finish second in their division last year, but couldn't manage to win a game in the playoffs. What teams are you referring to that were so dominant?