Nor Cal GDA Teams - What's Next

I would think there is still some pretty fresh wounds (even over 3 years) that Quakes and Thorns don't mix. Someone mentioned Barcelona Bay Area somewhere, which I think the Quakes could go there with the connection to that club with one of the coaches at Quakes. Then I wonder if BBA tries to get into ECNL from their current NPL status.

Fresh wounds, certainly. Admittedly it's wishful thinking on my part. But this could be mutually benefit both parties and provide a home for many displaced athletes. I know a fair amount of EQ families. They deserve better than this current environment. Hopefully soon, there'll be a resolution that's a pathway forward.
 
Fresh wounds, certainly. Admittedly it's wishful thinking on my part. But this could be mutually benefit both parties and provide a home for many displaced athletes. I know a fair amount of EQ families. They deserve better than this current environment. Hopefully soon, there'll be a resolution that's a pathway forward.
Quakes have always been awful with the girls side of things, from when they took over Central Valley to when they went DA until now... Yes some really nice families over in the Quakes organization
 
I don't think Lamorinda has the best reputation with other clubs.

Did you see that the Region 3/4 clubs voted in the RAC to boycott games with Lamorinda for the 2020 season (of course, prior to the shutdown). Not sure if I've ever seen something like that before.
 
Did you see that the Region 3/4 clubs voted in the RAC to boycott games with Lamorinda for the 2020 season (of course, prior to the shutdown). Not sure if I've ever seen something like that before.

If there is one organization in the US that has done more to promote the concept that children are the personal property of a soccer club, and that coaches are indentured servants, it is NorCal Premier. It may the most petty regional soccer organization in the U.S. and is known to engage in anti-competitive practices that land it in trouble. This sounds like it might be one of them.
 
If there is one organization in the US that has done more to promote the concept that children are the personal property of a soccer club, and that coaches are indentured servants, it is NorCal Premier. It may the most petty regional soccer organization in the U.S. and is known to engage in anti-competitive practices that land it in trouble. This sounds like it might be one of them.
Well, I think this isn't the whole league. Just some clubs who made a decision based on unethical recruiting by Lamorinda on many occasions. Without DA to protect them with recruiting rules, could be in a tough place now. Yes, I know many clubs do this but from what I hear, this was above and beyond the normal. I don't think following simple recruiting rules should be that difficult
 
Well, I think this isn't the whole league. Just some clubs who made a decision based on unethical recruiting by Lamorinda on many occasions. Without DA to protect them with recruiting rules, could be in a tough place now. Yes, I know many clubs do this but from what I hear, this was above and beyond the normal. I don't think following simple recruiting rules should be that difficult

There is no such thing as unethical recruiting. That’s just the label weak clubs with little to offer use instead of “advertising” because it sounds nefarious. If clubs can’t hold on to customers by providing a better product, that is their problem.
 
There is no such thing as unethical recruiting. That’s just the label weak clubs with little to offer use instead of “advertising” because it sounds nefarious. If clubs can’t hold on to customers by providing a better product, that is their problem.
I guess one certain region disagreed :) Right or wrong, they pulled that power move at least
 
I guess one certain region disagreed :) Right or wrong, they pulled that power move at least
I'm guessing the bigger issue is previous DA clubs could take as many players as they want from a non DA club middle of the season but that club who lost players cannot add because of nor cal rules. That gets difficult. I agree with you in normal tryout period, it's fair game for anyone.
 
There is no such thing as unethical recruiting. That’s just the label weak clubs with little to offer use instead of “advertising” because it sounds nefarious. If clubs can’t hold on to customers by providing a better product, that is their problem.
Sure there is. If you advertise an 18 kid roster but run with 23, that is unethical. Don’t make a promise you aren’t prepared to keep.

That said, the rules against switching teams often seem to be about making it hard for a kid to move teams. At a minimum, the open period should last the whole summer, plus the winter off season for youngers.
 
I'm guessing the bigger issue is previous DA clubs could take as many players as they want from a non DA club middle of the season but that club who lost players cannot add because of nor cal rules. That gets difficult. I agree with you in normal tryout period, it's fair game for anyone.

At the top level in youth soccer once you reached DA, you were pretty much expected to commit with a July down payment for the next 12 months - before the playoffs from the current year were completed. Are there any other club sports that actually try to tie you down for the whole year? My only experience is with soccer. Also, do any other club sports have their tryouts before playoffs?
 
Sure there is. If you advertise an 18 kid roster but run with 23, that is unethical. Don’t make a promise you aren’t prepared to keep.

That said, the rules against switching teams often seem to be about making it hard for a kid to move teams. At a minimum, the open period should last the whole summer, plus the winter off season for youngers.
That's what happen to my baby girl. The coach said, "I will have 18 only, I swear." I actually got him to verbally say to both me and my dd, twice :) Also, I see you as a starter too or I wouldn;t be bringing her up to my 03 squad. Then one club did the DPL switch on parents who thought they were in ECNL. Anyway, this coach saw more customer$ and added a few more parents to the team to go over 20 ((super cool parents btw and I love those parents)). Then later, after dd killed it at Surf Cup, he wanted to know about her dream college before entering 9th grade. Rules were going to change he said. He also said, "please don't say UCLA. You do want to play right away, right? You don;t seem like one who can sit still and watch from the bench as other girls play." Again, my kid was honest and said she wasn;t sure about college in her future but is open to it. So guess what happen at the showcase dad of 4? He pulled her aside right before Saturday's big game and told her she will watch the whole game from the bench. I'm not making this up. Home boy told me and her to our face he would carry only 18 but now has 20+ in AZ. I called HQs on this one and I was asked if I signed a contract about only 18. I lost my sh*t and said, "We quit." I had to pull my dd out of that circus. I tried but she cried. GDA coach called and said rules are changing and the girls will be able play GDA & HS Soccer for 2019-2020 season. I went against my gut and we only went to the games for the rest of the GDA season, ok Kicker. There, i told you why!!! I told the coach we won;t play playoffs either if no hs soccer the next season. My dd didnt want to step on other players toes. Guess what, we were told no hs soccer and I told everyone to F off and no playoffs either. We went to the beach Kicker!!! No more club I told her!!! She was so sad and so was I. So I came on this forum for answers to my questions. I got hammered like I am today. Same dudes!!! Now, the good news is at the very last minute, a friend reached out and said their was a spot open and to check out the coach. We happy today :)
 


Well, there you go. Glad I got one right for once!
 


Well, there you go. Glad I got one right for once!
Spot on dude. Great call. Now, tell me what this means? I have so many calls but I don;t everyone to hate me from certain clubs.........lol!!
 
Sure there is. If you advertise an 18 kid roster but run with 23, that is unethical. Don’t make a promise you aren’t prepared to keep.

That said, the rules against switching teams often seem to be about making it hard for a kid to move teams. At a minimum, the open period should last the whole summer, plus the winter off season for youngers.

It also acknowledges that when a group of players commit to a team, they are committing to one another for that period of time. There should be some assurance that player A won't club-shop during the season. If there were no restrictions, teams from the small clubs in particular risk getting screwed if player A emerges as a star or even a cog for another club and does not finish her or his commitment.

As for LAMO, I think they got in to GDA b/c Mustang said "no" after being on the initial list and LAMO was still riding the coattails of one really great team that had had a couple of YNT players on it (those women would be college Srs now, I think). But the #s have really crashed recently and it would be difficult for them to be competitive up and down age groups unless they got big boosts from the surrounding areas (which could happen). It is one reason why I think Marin FC will succeed in ECNL - they have a large enough infrastructure and a geo area from which they can draw (I think this S-A-H period will put off their big jump for another year; they announced their admission to ECNL after tryouts last year so this year would have been a big boost).
 


Well, there you go. Glad I got one right for once!
Nice call. Happy for the Thorns!
 
ECNL should probably think about booting Rage and adding Lamorinda in the East Bay (not saying they will...they just should consider it). Rage has been somewhat reduced to a feeder for Mustang as they aren't run as well and the geographical proximity to Mustang even during rush hours makes it easy for players to choose either. Lamorinda almost never loses players to Mustang for soccer reasons (usually only if a player/parent gets really pissed over something). Over the past couple of years Rage has been losing players not only to Mustang but also the lamorinda DA teams. That is not good.

While lamorinda is geographically almost as close to Mustang they are really far apart time-wise during rush hour traffic (when kids practice!) and they are positioned to make a more logical division of East bay players. Makes way more sense for Mustang to draw from regions south of their location (since they already do despite having Rage right there) down the 680 corridor and then east towards Livermore/Tracy and west towards Hayward/Castro Valley. Lamorinda would draw from their own area and then west into Oakland/Berkeley/Richmond and north to Benicia/Vallejo. Players in the Walnut Creek/Concord area could choose either with similar travel times. Essentially this would put two ECNL teams positioned in such a way that one or the other is reasonably reachable by the majority of the East Bay at commute times. Only issue for lamorinda is their size (they are really small) as they already have like 3 other soccer organization sharing their small area.

While I can't argue the logistics in your proposal, I'm personally pulling for Rage. They hired a new DOC from San Juan last year who appears to be leading real change within the club. I know she's also brought in a number of new coaches for the upcoming season. Time will tell, I guess.
 
While I can't argue the logistics in your proposal, I'm personally pulling for Rage. They hired a new DOC from San Juan last year who appears to be leading real change within the club. I know she's also brought in a number of new coaches for the upcoming season. Time will tell, I guess.
Rage has infused their program with new blood. I don’t know if any below can coach but clearly they made an effort to strengthen their connections to women’s college soccer.

Erin Sharpe - New doc and former head coach Colorado Mesa Univ.
Mark Herman - longtime asst coach at Hawaii
Lorna Brownlie - former asst. coach at UOP and volunteer at CAL
Alena Thom - asst. coach at at Las Positas
Toby Frolich- former asst coach Wright State, Director at Ohio ESoccer academy
Jonathan Decker - former asst. at Moorpark JC and starter at Cal State Monterey.
 
That's what happen to my baby girl. The coach said, "I will have 18 only, I swear." I actually got him to verbally say to both me and my dd, twice :) Also, I see you as a starter too or I wouldn;t be bringing her up to my 03 squad. Then one club did the DPL switch on parents who thought they were in ECNL. Anyway, this coach saw more customer$ and added a few more parents to the team to go over 20 ((super cool parents btw and I love those parents)). Then later, after dd killed it at Surf Cup, he wanted to know about her dream college before entering 9th grade. Rules were going to change he said. He also said, "please don't say UCLA. You do want to play right away, right? You don;t seem like one who can sit still and watch from the bench as other girls play." Again, my kid was honest and said she wasn;t sure about college in her future but is open to it. So guess what happen at the showcase dad of 4? He pulled her aside right before Saturday's big game and told her she will watch the whole game from the bench. I'm not making this up. Home boy told me and her to our face he would carry only 18 but now has 20+ in AZ. I called HQs on this one and I was asked if I signed a contract about only 18. I lost my sh*t and said, "We quit." I had to pull my dd out of that circus. I tried but she cried. GDA coach called and said rules are changing and the girls will be able play GDA & HS Soccer for 2019-2020 season. I went against my gut and we only went to the games for the rest of the GDA season, ok Kicker. There, i told you why!!! I told the coach we won;t play playoffs either if no hs soccer the next season. My dd didnt want to step on other players toes. Guess what, we were told no hs soccer and I told everyone to F off and no playoffs either. We went to the beach Kicker!!! No more club I told her!!! She was so sad and so was I. So I came on this forum for answers to my questions. I got hammered like I am today. Same dudes!!! Now, the good news is at the very last minute, a friend reached out and said their was a spot open and to check out the coach. We happy today :)

Just stop... please.
 
That's what happen to my baby girl. The coach said, "I will have 18 only, I swear." I actually got him to verbally say to both me and my dd, twice :) Also, I see you as a starter too or I wouldn;t be bringing her up to my 03 squad. Then one club did the DPL switch on parents who thought they were in ECNL. Anyway, this coach saw more customer$ and added a few more parents to the team to go over 20 ((super cool parents btw and I love those parents)). Then later, after dd killed it at Surf Cup, he wanted to know about her dream college before entering 9th grade. Rules were going to change he said. He also said, "please don't say UCLA. You do want to play right away, right? You don;t seem like one who can sit still and watch from the bench as other girls play." Again, my kid was honest and said she wasn;t sure about college in her future but is open to it. So guess what happen at the showcase dad of 4? He pulled her aside right before Saturday's big game and told her she will watch the whole game from the bench. I'm not making this up. Home boy told me and her to our face he would carry only 18 but now has 20+ in AZ. I called HQs on this one and I was asked if I signed a contract about only 18. I lost my sh*t and said, "We quit." I had to pull my dd out of that circus. I tried but she cried. GDA coach called and said rules are changing and the girls will be able play GDA & HS Soccer for 2019-2020 season. I went against my gut and we only went to the games for the rest of the GDA season, ok Kicker. There, i told you why!!! I told the coach we won;t play playoffs either if no hs soccer the next season. My dd didnt want to step on other players toes. Guess what, we were told no hs soccer and I told everyone to F off and no playoffs either. We went to the beach Kicker!!! No more club I told her!!! She was so sad and so was I. So I came on this forum for answers to my questions. I got hammered like I am today. Same dudes!!! Now, the good news is at the very last minute, a friend reached out and said their was a spot open and to check out the coach. We happy today :)

So did you sign a contract that said 18 only? No?
No one promised you a roster of 18 even if they told you it was their goal to keep it that size.

Plus, you’re an idiot to think that a roster of 18 is even a good idea. Girls get hurt a lot at that age, and kids miss games for the SAT or AP tests, or for whatever reasons. Plus, at least one petulant douchebag parent will inevitably pull his kid midway through the season for being “disrespected”. Before you know it, there are only 18 available for games and everything is perfect. The remaining families thank you for being the one BTW.

And stop claiming you left because there was a roster of 23. There are plenty of minutes available kids who deserve to play. You left because your daughter did not deserve meaningful minutes, so you skulked off like the insecure coward that you are and, in so doing, set a very poor example for your kid. You taught her to not bother putting in the hard work necessary to reach her goals. You taught her to be a quitter, burn bridges and just find someone with lower expectations. Or maybe more playing time was only your goal and not hers, in which case you taught her how disappointed you are in her for not being good enough for you. Well done.
 
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