biz32
SILVER ELITE
True indeed...
Pateadores Girls DA 03/04 - Observations
- Thread starter bababooey
- Start date
Absolutely valid but again isn't that a parent issue not Tad? It's not like a club woood turn away a consumer? Or talent?
Good question. I think it's both. If you present a position of "player welfare first" but operate in a process that might be contrary to that, then maybe the club should turn them away, regardless of parental desire? If they want the best players at the club, fair enough, just seems a little hypocritical to champion a position on doing what's best for the kid, but conduct business in a way that may not be?
MakeAPlay
DA
I'm not saying that it isn't kickball, on the contrary it is kickball. Unfortunately unless you are playing Japan, either Korea, France, Germany, Brazil, Netherlands or Spain in the international game it is pretty direct play. It's worse in the college game where maybe 6-10 teams out of over 300 in D1 truly play possession soccer.
All that I am saying is that speed matters. Whether that is 10, 20, 40 or 100 meter speed it matters in soccer. Call it speed, call it acceleration, call it whatever.
This is a friendly discussion and nothing more. It's okay if we disagree. I can tell you that nobody that plays significant minutes at any position for my players team is slow and a few are speed burners and ALL of them have great ball skills. Without good technical skills, on her team, you would never see the field and even the players that barely play have good technique. Speed is the difference and I mean speed of play, speed of thought and good old fashioned running speed.
MakeAPlay
DA
Agreed but this is America not Russia and if somebody is willing to do it then so be it. My player commuted an hour plus for practice for her last club team. She got to finish her homework on the drive and we are very close to the family that we car pooled with. Lemons can become lemonade...
I do agree and hopefully with DA this will change. In the past people would travel great lengths to get to an ECNL Club. That is why they went.
DA makes that unnecessary now.
I firmly appreciate the mentorship of the older parents but I absolutely disagree with the opinion that the clubs that have always done well will continue to do well. I think they did well because they had the cream of the talent and 6 impact players could carry a team at the ulittle level.
I think that within each club there is "that one coach" we all want but with most clubs not so much. The only glaring example of a STACKED coaching staff now to me is SLAMMERS.
I think that there is a real opportunity for the newly added DA clubs to build a solid foundation and yes it may take a few years but for gosh sakes why would any parent drive from LA to an ECNL Club and pass LAFC or PATS. or Beach?
Agree with you but this was a time when ECNL was the only option?
For me I would travel for a coach easily but not the Club.
People have a tendency to travel for he Club and to potentially get on an A team which I think will now go away .
biz32
SILVER ELITE
And there it is..speak on it
Have to interject and be real here- if you are traveling for Tad or the Khoury brothers yes I get it. Travel away.
Other people uh not so much
MakeAPlay
DA
In our case it was for a coach who she had worked with for three or four years. It just happened to be that the coach went to another ECNL club. ECNL was not the only option for her but it was the best option.
That is why I am pointing it out. You are the very rare person who valued development over ANYTHING ELSE- brand, status, etc to develop YOUR PLAYER. That's rare. You were focused only on HER and that is commendable.
It's a good reminder and that's why I am only focused on the coach and how the coach thinks they can bring my girl to a new level of development. It said coach is at the Purple Rec All Stars then I will be there. Trophy chasing won't help at 16
MakeAPlay
DA
I agree. There are several other coaches worth traveling for. I like Rob DeMelo, Mauricio and Jeff at Beach just to name a few.
I'm wondering how many players/parents will be willing to leave an ECNL/DA club to go to a closer DA only club such as Beach or LA Galaxy...especially since coach selections haven't been announced yet.
Will some of the top South Bay players at Blues, Arsenal, Slammers or West Coast return to the South Bay area to reduce drive time or will they stay at their long distance DA/ECNL clubs? Clubs may get turned upside down in the next few months. It's going to get interesting!
MakeAPlay
DA
I doubt it. Blues and Slammers get kids into college and into the YNT pool. They have a stable of coaches and all of the college and national team connections. Personally I can think of a couple of Blues coaches that I would pass right by and go to Long Beach if they were coaching my player's team. Who knows though. The main effect in my opinion will be going forward not backward. Why they would give LA Galaxy and Beach DA teams is curious. With so many DA teams I am still unconvinced that the product is going to be better than ECNL. We will see. I know that I would have never considered LA Galaxy, LA Premier or Pats for that matter as a club. Beach is a solid option and they have a WPSL team which is a good option for the truly elite players.
I am curious to see how it all settles out. Good luck to you and yours.
bababooey
GOLD
It seems like many of the posters in this thread have the belief that all of the current 03 ECNL players can go to any DA club and get on the DA I team. That may be true for the majority of these players, but I have seen multiple 03 ECNL players who don't possess the skills needed to be an ECNL player this year (IMHO). So the thought process is that the DA I teams will be stocked with only the best of the best players in So Cal. As we see with the ECNL teams, politics play a part in the player selection, so why will that change with DA?
Maybe the best thing to come out of the GDA is that there are more local options (especially for those that live in between South OC and Thousand Oaks), so players don't have to travel great distances to be a part of an ECNL team.
What we need to keep in mind with the GDA is that the current ECNL season will not end until May/June, so the final rosters for the DA I teams may not be set for six or seven months.
Maybe the best thing to come out of the GDA is that there are more local options (especially for those that live in between South OC and Thousand Oaks), so players don't have to travel great distances to be a part of an ECNL team.
What we need to keep in mind with the GDA is that the current ECNL season will not end until May/June, so the final rosters for the DA I teams may not be set for six or seven months.
Agreed!
Most definitely!
ESPNANALYST
SILVER ELITE
Always trust you Map but for a second you have to look at it from a new way. The ECNL allowed those clubs to have a premium on the best players and they had no shortage of people trying to get on those teams.
Now that there is more of a dilution I do not believe there will be a super team, nor do I believe there should be if Ellis follows through and eliminates this focus on winning. Player focused eliminates this viscious cycle of ..
Player A going to top team to be seen, Player A wants to be on winning team, Club A appears to be one that develops due to a market share on top impact players in region, Club A able to recruit more players without developing.
Slammers and Surf are set- a large club with an infrastructure to support the DA and a large pool of players within. Beach also has a vast pool. I think the others that were added have the advantage of a vast supply of resources and field space for their players.
Do you believe smaller clubs can sustain?
Remember the underlying argument is they no longer have a market share on way they used to be able to court. Is everyone not acknowledging that "the brand" is not going to carry you anymore under this new landscape?
MakeAPlay
DA
I respect your opinion and we will see what happens. I just know that many of the clubs that we are discussing became successful by putting a superior product on the field and that isn't going to change. For my family it was never about the name on the jersey it was about the training and typically the top clubs have a greater number of good trainers. They don't have a monopoly on good trainers but they do have a lot of them. I hope that DA is all that US soccer has hyped it up to be. US soccer's track record on most things is spotty at best. Regarding the other clubs. We will see. I won't waste time giving my opinion on the other clubs as it is only my opinion based on my experience over the last 10 years and may not apply to the new landscape. Again we will see. Based on who the top recruits are in the high school ages, who the repeat YNT players are and who is getting players into top 10 schools I don't imagine much will change in the next few years.
Good luck to you and yours.
bababooey
GOLD
I think MAP is spot on with the assertion that the historically successful clubs will continue to be successful with the changes coming for 2017. I don't think Blues, Surf, Slammers, Beach or Legends will suffer at all from the changes with GDA. Blues is the smallest organization of these teams I highlighted, but they have been successful for so long getting girls exposed to college coaches, that their name alone will keep them in the upper echelon of teams.
As for the statement about good trainers, let's look at it another way. Usually the best trainers (coaches) are people who want to increase their knowledge base, so they get a higher coaching license. Why is US Soccer stating that GDA coaches need an "A" license? They correlate a better coach with a higher license. This is really no different that those of us that went to college. A bachelor's degree is great, but a masters degree should allow you to command a higher salary from prospective employers. Again, with a doctorate degree you should be able to command a higher salary. Coaches should be no different, the higher coaching license they attain, the more money they can make coaching our kids.
Can the smaller clubs attract A, B and C level coaches and pay them what the market rate is for those coaches? Probably not, at least not in the long term. That is where these mega clubs come in. They charge more for their product and thus should have the funds to attract the highest level coaches which in turn usually attracts the best talent.
As for the statement about good trainers, let's look at it another way. Usually the best trainers (coaches) are people who want to increase their knowledge base, so they get a higher coaching license. Why is US Soccer stating that GDA coaches need an "A" license? They correlate a better coach with a higher license. This is really no different that those of us that went to college. A bachelor's degree is great, but a masters degree should allow you to command a higher salary from prospective employers. Again, with a doctorate degree you should be able to command a higher salary. Coaches should be no different, the higher coaching license they attain, the more money they can make coaching our kids.
Can the smaller clubs attract A, B and C level coaches and pay them what the market rate is for those coaches? Probably not, at least not in the long term. That is where these mega clubs come in. They charge more for their product and thus should have the funds to attract the highest level coaches which in turn usually attracts the best talent.