Say bye-bye-bye to Girls and Boys DA

dreamz said:
Surf, Legends, Beach, Blues and LA Surf, AZ clubs are my guess for getting in to ECNL.
Albion, Carlsbad, Pats, West Coast, LV Albion on the outside looking in.
RSC could go either way
DMCV, Rebels, LA Breakers either on the way out or dropped to weaker level.
Clubs on the outs could try and salvage some sort of DPL but it wouldn’t work.

I would also guess surf, Legends, Beach and Blues come back in with 2 ECNL teams (1 in top division and the B team in the second division)
They also bring better B team players than DMCV, Rebels, Breakers so I could see those clubs getting 2 teams each.
LA Surf, AZ clubs, RSC would come back with probably 1 team.

I guess we will see how it all plays out.
Click to expand...
Good job on Selection Sunday bro. April 15th we should know? This is going to be insane for everyone involved. What happens if you're a top coach at GDA club now but no ecnl selection? Coaches should watch out too. Some top coaches will be looking for a job.
 
EOTL said:
You are just making s**t up now because you can’t admit you’re wrong. Soccer clubs are not out to get you. Youth soccer isn’t a conspiracy. If your kid isn’t good enough to make a team, she doesn’t belong there and should be grateful the coach gave her as much notice as possible. Even if there’s a chance she might not make the team, she also deserves to know that as soon as possible.

You don’t see any of the good in coaches because you are predisposed to believing only negative and inaccurate tropes like how they’re all only out to recruit, only want your money and never have the kids’ best interests in mind. The reality is none of that is true, and the best coaches tell kids the truth even when it is something they don’t want to hear. I feel very sorry for you. It must be hard to live life with your attitude.
Click to expand...
You must be one of those coaches. Sorry if I offended you coach...
I know plenty of good ethical coaches, but I don’t agree with what that coach said to his team right now. You have generalized my posts into something personal. Why are you so angry? I never attacked you, so why are you so mad?
Maybe people get personal and angry more in WA. You seem angry and bitter, not me.
 
ECNL has to hold true to their Mission imo: Elite Club National league. Both leagues were watered down and no defense was being played in either league. My bet is that ECNL is going to have one elite league with clubs that already proven themselves to be elite. I bet April 15th will be big news. Leaks are already coming out. I can;t share some big ones I have because I can;t confirm, just like all these rumors. My gosh, all on Easter Sunday.
 
No way ECNL bends over backwards for all but a few clubs. None of those so cal clubs not in ECNL right now will be getting 2 teams. Lavers will need to be careful not to water down the product now. Naturally with adding some top clubs, it will be very challenging for the bottom end club to compete now. No need to add more just decent clubs like a LA surf/premier/whatever.

Good point about some very good coaches could be looking to jump ship too. Have many of the top clubs announced next years coaching staff? I think I've seen a few out there but not all.

The only good news is tryout likely won't occur until late summer if at all so clubs have more time to plan and recruit then normal.

For the sake of the kids, I hope whoever doesn't get back into ECNL, the other local leagues let all clubs in. Take all those clubs and still have a decent product and the best teams can play up or something similar. Not ECNL or DA but at least gives them somewhere to play.
 
espola said:
When Surf tried to get their B teams back in Presidio, the clubs voted them down so they had to wait a year. They remembered when Surf had claimed on their way out a couple of years before that Presidio competition wasn't good enough for them.
Click to expand...
Although their DA teams are terrific, it is well known that Beach tried to leave DA for ECNL the last two years but ECNL said no. Beach has marketed itself as an original DA club and in the same sentence absolutely trashed the ENCL in the process. ECNL is well aware of that fact. I'm sure Beach isn't the only club that acted in this manner. Will be interesting to see if the powers that run ECNL are willing to let the past go in order to bring in top clubs like Beach, I would assume so.
 
Eusebio said:
I was in the youth system back then and played against/with Landon in the cycle he went to Bradenton. I got cut in the national pool at ODP, one step removed from making the final roster.

I regularly think about the system back then and the youth system today. Back then, theoretically everyone had a chance to make the ODP national team. You'd start off with district level try-outs which were open to everyone who could pay a small fee (ie. <$50 but probably varied by region). Any kid who had aspirations to make the national team could essentially enter guest services at the bottom of the pyramid. If you manage to stick out among the rabble, you'll get picked for the district team and compete at the State level try-out against other districts. This State try-out also had a fee. This fee was noticeably more expensive than the district level. At the state level it gets harder because not only of the increased competition but you have to knock-off players who made the State team the previous year that the coaches favor. If you manage to make the State team, you go to the Region camp (in my day, it was a week long) where you train and compete against other states. The fee was even higher and if I remember correctly it was somewhere between $500-800 travel included. I remember using my after school job to help pay for it. If you make the Region team, then you go to one final camp which was the national team pool. This is where the actual ODP national team is picked. If you were lucky to make this (which I wasn't), then you're in the direct pipeline for the Olympic team and USMNT. And depending on the age group, you could be invited to Brandenton.

The criticism of the system back then was that it was "pay to play" since you basically had to pay at every try-out stage. If you made it to the end, you would likely be paying somewhere between $1400 - 2000. Though these costs seem pedestrian by today's standards when a 9 year-old on a local C-team easily pays more than that for bronze-level play. The fees for ODP were a barrier, but I was hardly rich or well-off growing up and I found ways to raise the money because the costs weren't astronomical.

The other criticisms were that ODP was susceptible to the "good ole' boy' network. Meaning coaches had their favorites and some of the teams seemed predetermined. I can confirm this. On the last day of State try-outs, I scored 5 goals in the last scrimmage. At the final huddle, the coach literally said, "I know our team was pretty much set, but it looks like I'll have to make room for one more..." it basically took me scoring 5 goals in a single game to squeeze onto the roster. So yes it would often require "best case" or "miracle" performances to breakthrough. This is one of the reasons why some thought it would be better to identify players in their "natural environment" via scouts instead of endless tryouts.

But the problem with the new ODP and even the DA, it's actually easier for talented players to slip through the cracks. Here in California, ODP only really has "independent" scouts at National Cup events (in the latter rounds) and the rest is done by well-connected coaches recommending their own players. So if you're a talented player but don't have a well-connected coach or not on a team good enough to make it far into National Cup, you will NEVER get on the ODP radar. Using my previous analogy, the lowest level of the ODP pyramid has become a VIP lounge or "Fight Club". The average player won't even know of its existence. And I don't mean "average" as in ability, but the average participant in CalSouth which could include talented players.

And if you wanted to pursue the club route to the national team, just in SoCal we have Presidio, Coast League, SCDSL, SDDA, ECNL, NPL, and DA. Where does an up and coming player go? Every one of those leagues will have someone who will promote their league as "the way" or "pathway" to elite soccer. We have fractured talent at the top and diluted talent at the secondary levels. If anything the diluted talent at the secondary levels is hurting our overall player pool because you got some good "late bloomers" at the "Silver-Elite" level who would benefit playing other "Silver-Elite" or low "Gold" level teams. But there's no more "Silver Elite". There's just this wide band of Silver/High Bronze" leagues/brackets, which means these late-bloomers end up in purgatory never getting consistent enough competition or attention from the club to breakthrough. It's statistically proven it's often late-bloomers who end up having the most success at the pro levels, but we basically purge our late-bloomers.

Back in my day, *waves cane furiously in air*, the system was flawed but we had a single pyramid for the most part. Most competitive clubs had one team per age group. "Travel Teams" didn't "Travel" unless they were good. You didn't make the team unless you were good. Travel teams had a clear lane where it was designed to lead you to college. ODP was for those that wanted to make a run at the national team or maybe go pro. We had rigorous training but at the same time we didn't have coaches and clubs trying to profit off every avenue of self-expression like "pick-up" games and futsal. I remember one of my coaches had a standing invitation for us to drop in on his Sunday afternoon pickup games if we didn't have our own pickup games in the neighborhood. Something like this would be unheard of now if it didn't come attached with a $25 "drop-in" fee. You also have just about every soccer field and gym in SoCal booked to the hilt, so even if a group of kids wanted to go play a pickup game, the field would be completely full with club teams with field permits getting priority. I guess it's back to FIFA20 on the PS4.

I think it's a lot of these little things, not just Bradenton, that led to a "golden era"-ish 20-25 years ago that we've struggled to recapture since. Unfortunately Pullisic seems more like an anomaly rather than leading edge of a new golden era. His dad was well connected and a Euro Passport allowed him to escape the US youth system to Dortmund at 16.

I don't know what the best system is. Perhaps a combination of the old and new. The technical ability of today's players is FAR FAR better than player's of my day. My son's technical ability at 13 was better than mine at 18. But my creativity and free expression was and still is better than his. He can juggle to 500 on 5 different body parts, but I can beat a Keeper 1v1 countless ways. Even when I watch high level DA matches, I regularly see players make an absolute mess of breakaway situations. Lack of imagination and composure, it's embarrassing.

If I were to take a stab at the solution I would say, consolidate most of these leagues so you have some semblance of a pyramid. Make a clear college pathway and "pro" pathway so even a first year soccer mom understands which she's getting into. Players can pursue both pathways (for as long as it's feasible) but they should be completely separate systems. Let US Soccer or ODP handle the "pro" pathway via open tryouts and camps at the entry levels. Then let the players filter to MLS academies or directly to the youth national teams. No more of these local clubs selling $4,000 Euro trips for the hopes that little Johnny will play for Manchester City or Real Madrid. Clubs have a terrible track record for "pro" placement, so keep the vast majority on the college track. For the few ambitious clubs that want to offer a legit Pro pathway, then they must become a feeder system for a USL club, not just be their T-shirt affiliate.

For all the flaws of the youth system in the 90s, at least we had clarity. We knew as Americans that 99.9999% of us would probably never get paid more than McDonalds money playing soccer if anything at all. Travel team soccer got you into college, ODP allowed you to pursue the dream of being in the Olympics or National team. ODP at the district level and especially the state level threw a lot of cold water at kids who thought they would be the next Romerio, Maradona, Baggio, or Pele. Kids who thought they were the shit, came back whimpering pretty quick in the process if they didn't measure up. But nowadays it seems with all these multi-flight segregated leagues, Lil' Johnny (and more importantly his parents) don't get cold water thrown in their face until much too late. After they've spent thousands of dollars year after year and after the club squeezed every dollar out of them until they became bitter and jadedplayers who now are familiar with the game and will hopefully raise little ballers to love it too. And that is a good thing no matter how
Surf Zombie said:
If if ECNL my strategy is 1. Grab the power clubs (FC Dallas, Top Hat, Surf, etc.) 2. Look at what regions need additions for better travel/scheduling purposes, for example, the mid-west. After that let the rest of the DA clubs head to NPL, which in and of itself will strengthen ECNL’s existing weaker clubs through defecting DA players.
Click to expand...
Leagues will always choose the best players, best coaches, best clubs they can get. If they don't, it will always be the below the top tier . It is always about the $$$$$!
Click to expand...
 
Dos Equis said:
I am still waiting for tomorrow (and the announcement). Is that not a song -- "Tomorrow never comes"?

What many perceive as ECNL exclusivity is often ECNL loyalty -- they are very loyal to their member clubs. I highly doubt any club will be dropped for next season, no matter what happens.

As far as adding clubs, club history will matter. How Surf and RSC managed their departure from ECNL to DA will matter. How Legends and Beach handled their exclusion will also matter. It would not be retaliation to deny any club admittance, no matter how much success they have had, based on a prior bad experiences with that club.

But how nice would it be to have two ECNL SW brackets, a South bracket with Phoenix, San Diego and Southern OC, and a North bracket with the South Bay, LA, SF Valley/Camarillo, IE and Las Vegas.
Click to expand...
Lots and lots of tryouts! :) :) :) :) Club may stay but ............
 
There is no way Arizona gets two more teams in ECNL. That would be 4 clubs with ECNL there. Too watered down, and why reward the two former ECNL clubs (Del Sol and Sereno (now Royals) for jumping ship to DA?
 
GT45 said:
There is no way Arizona gets two more teams in ECNL. That would be 4 clubs with ECNL there. Too watered down, and why reward the two former ECNL clubs (Del Sol and Sereno (now Royals) for jumping ship to DA?
Click to expand...
Like I said , lots and lots of tryouts! Clubs want the best players they can get, especially if there is only one team! :)
 
Ellejustus said:
Good job on Selection Sunday bro. April 15th we should know? This is going to be insane for everyone involved. What happens if you're a top coach at GDA club now but no ecnl selection? Coaches should watch out too. Some top coaches will be looking for a job.
Click to expand...
Again, clubs want the best coaches they can get!
 
I have a question. What happens at Blues? Especially if they only get 1 team in ECNL, which I assume won’t change. Will the players and parents that decided they wanted ECNL for all the reasons everyone has previously discussed be rewarded and the team stay the same? Or will the ones that had the dream of making the YNT come in and take some spots? Very interesting IMO
 
tjinaz said:
So exactly how sure are we this is actually happening? Seems like a rumor that everyone is taking off with. What are the chances that US Soccer announces DA is done.. for the 2020 season this week and then updates the schedule for next year. Not seeing a lot of actual facts flying about.
Click to expand...

I was curious what the last statements US Soccer made facing the public about development academy would have been. So I looked it up. They had their AGM in February, and there Cordiero spoke (in his report of the president) to continued investment into the development academy. Granted there has been leadership change since then and potentially new budget considerations with covid-19 and the WNT lawsuit progressing.

One fact we do know for sure is that as of Feb 16 2020 the DA was still planned and budgeted for 2020-2021.

I heard others say their DOC said the rumor is true, but I have not yet heard a single person say who at US Soccer their DOC got that information from.

 
Anon9 said:
I have a question. What happens at Blues? Especially if they only get 1 team in ECNL, which I assume won’t change. Will the players and parents that decided they wanted ECNL for all the reasons everyone has previously discussed be rewarded and the team stay the same? Or will the ones that had the dream of making the YNT come in and take some spots? Very interesting IMO
Click to expand...

The best players will be on the best team - ECNL - just like it was before. There is absolutely no chance they’ll try to stick many of their best players on a team that plays in a lower tier because they’ll lose them.
 
dad4 said:
I don’t really care whether you call it loyalty, retaliation, or monopolistic business practices. It is all the same.

Either it s a merit based system, or it is a smoke filled room. So far, both ECNL and DA have opted for smoke filled room every time they get a chance.
Click to expand...
No, I may disagree with their (ECNL) decisions, but it could be made in good faith and based on their business needs and desires.

No club has a right to play in a private league. Merit is measured by more than a bunch of wins in a diluted pool of “elite” teams. And merit is irrelevant, you do lot like the rules of the game, then create your own merit based system, or your own league with the rules you like No one is stopping you.

Oh wait, Legends and Beach did that, they bailed on the merit based system called CSL when they helped create SDSL, perhaps the single most destructive thing that ever happened to club soccer in SoCal. I guess they agreee merit is not that important.
 
GT45 said:
There is no way Arizona gets two more teams in ECNL. That would be 4 clubs with ECNL there. Too watered down, and why reward the two former ECNL clubs (Del Sol and Sereno (now Royals) for jumping ship to DA?
Click to expand...
The boys side has 4 Arizona teams in the ECNL; Arizona Arsenal, FC Tucson Youth SC, Phoenix Rising, and RSL-AZ. I know the girls side is different than the boys side, but they do have 4 AZ teams.
 
RedCard said:
The boys side has 4 Arizona teams in the ECNL; Arizona Arsenal, FC Tucson Youth SC, Phoenix Rising, and RSL-AZ. I know the girls side is different than the boys side, but they do have 4 AZ teams.
Click to expand...
Girls ECNL in Arizona has Arsenal and Phx Rising. GDA is RSL and SC del Sol. But.. The powerhouse clubs in the Area are RSL and Phx Rising in both number and quality. I would bet if this goes down RSL gets ECNL on the Girls side to match the boys.
 
tjinaz said:
Girls ECNL in Arizona has Arsenal and Phx Rising. GDA is RSL and SC del Sol. But.. The powerhouse clubs in the Area are RSL and Phx Rising in both number and quality. I would bet if this goes down RSL gets ECNL on the Girls side to match the boys.
Click to expand...

It was bad enough driving the AZ twice this season, one weekend for season play and one for the Fall Showcase. Of course, the 3rd trip get canned due to this beervirus bs, but adding a 4th trip for another regular season weekend, that just sucks....My dd left her ECNL team but my son just joined one so I'll just wait to see the dust settle to see just how this affects us.

dreamz said:
Your crystal ball looks pretty clear From where I’m sitting.

I could see some movement within ECNL moving some of the weaker ECNL clubs (LA Breakers, DMCV, Rebels) to either a ECNL 2 or ECNLRL. With Surf, Blues, Legends and Beach moving to ECNL (not confirmed but it’s pretty close to being finalized) there is no way DMCV, Breakers or Rebels can compete. LV Albion in Vegas is on the losing side of this deal along with Albion, City SC, Pats and most likely West Coast. Especially since West Coast dropped Boys ECNL. I don’t see them getting back in to ECNL. The unknown is RSC. They should get back in to ECNL but if SD Surf worked a deal for LA Surf to get a spot and Eagles are already in ECNL, that may not leave an opportunity for RSC.

I think by 4/15 this will all be clearer.
Click to expand...

I can't see ECNL dropping Breakers, Sharks, and Rebels. That would straight out be a d#ck move on their part. Who knows, if ECNL brings in no new DA teams, then SD Surf players will try out for Sharks & Rebels and Beach players will try out for Breakers.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: htk
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top