Say bye-bye-bye to Girls and Boys DA
- Thread starter dreamz
- Start date
sirfootyalot
SILVER
Yes, it’s not supposed to be a money maker, but USSF 100% went in hoping to profit from it after watching how ECNL grew. ECNL happened in the first place because the federation didn’t think they could get any ROI. Maybe not legally, but USSF is as for profit as it gets. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t cut it off like they are about to.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
DA is an investment in youth development. How on earth would it generate profit. That makes no sense.
oh canada
GOLD
I would actually be in favor of the dismantling of DA. However, I can't believe something that huge is not being written about or leaked on any other more traditional soccer publication/source or by a few of the hundreds of DA families on this forum.Bro.....this is based on a lot more than that tweet........if you know people in the know, ask them and they'll tell you.....the second half of your posting I agree with.....time will tell I suppose
Covid does give it some cover, but still, to end the league's existence immediately would be the ultimate F.U. to all the clubs that trusted the U.S. system, not to mention all of the players who followed their overly-stringent rules. My kids are not in DA, so won't affect us. I just can't believe US Soccer would be THAT inept. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the headline should be "DA as we know it now is gone." Not, DA is gone. I have been wrong once or twice though.
sirfootyalot
SILVER
It is, or that’s what it’s supposed to be anyway. You would not be surprised though if you know anything about the people at the top of this organization unfortunately.
oh canada
GOLD
Remember, this was released on March 10--adding clubs, etc. Granted, Covid happened in meantime, but a decision to completely end the league would have been in the thought process at the time of this presser. I'm calling BS or at least a gross exaggeration via the grapevine:
www.ussoccerda.com
U.S. Soccer Development Academy
What's a better source of rankings info? In this age group I find it to be pretty accurate for SoCal, but I'm open to other sources. My point is to show relative strength in this age group overall and in local geographies.
Surf Zombie
GOLD
Remember, this was released on March 10--adding clubs, etc. Granted, Covid happened in meantime, but a decision to completely end the league would have been in the thought process at the time of this presser. I'm calling BS or at least a gross exaggeration via the grapevine:
U.S. Soccer Development Academy
Yes, but how much does this factor into the decision making:
In early March 2020, Parlow Cone was named President of U.S. Soccer after Carlos Cordeiro suddenly resigned after a growing outcry from players, board members, supporters and sponsors over assertions made in court documents
Soccerfan2
GOLD
Agree. I’m hearing it’s just a rumor.Remember, this was released on March 10--adding clubs, etc. Granted, Covid happened in meantime, but a decision to completely end the league would have been in the thought process at the time of this presser. I'm calling BS or at least a gross exaggeration via the grapevine:
U.S. Soccer Development Academy
Messi>CR7
GOLD
We're now on page #5 of this thread, so hopefully everyone already got in their $0.02.
Does anyone actually have any tangible details to share?
Please share if you do.
oh canada
GOLD
What? Cone comes in and her first decision before getting her feet wet is to completely eliminate both the boys and girls DA programs and leave 60+ clubs without a league? Doesn't sound like any new CEO move I've ever heard of...then again it is US Soccer. Still, it just doesn't pass the sniff test to me.
You are correct that USSF created GDA knowing it would not make money, but you are incorrect that USSF “invested” in it. It created the platform but then foisted virtually all the costs onto the clubs and their customers. Those clubs, however, need to make money or at least break in order to even survive because they are actual real businesses. What actually makes no sense is USSF’s expectation that clubs would do all the “investing” in youth soccer in America at their own expense and suffer tremendous business losses, while USSF puffed out its chest claiming it made soccer great in America again, despite 10 years of evidence to the contrary on boys DA the side.
Analyzing the economics of the boys DA requires a different analysis because the MLS clubs possessed different motivations including at least some remote prospect of future benefit upon which to justify absorbing some losses for a DA program, but I don’t really care enough to explain them.
We're now on page #5 of this thread, so hopefully everyone already got in their $0.02.
Does anyone actually have any tangible details to share?
Nothing tangible has come to light. At all. Just rumors (often from people with a previous anti-DA slant and perhaps a vested interest). Doesn't mean it isn't true, but I'll take a seat on your bus that's awaiting more substantial confirmation.
Attachments
If USSF is making the decision, they are saving the future of US soccer, but thats not why it’s happening. It will he happening because USSF knows the MLS clubs are going to leave and bring the whole thing down in a year or two anyway. Because USSF actually cares about that gender, it understood where things were going in the long term, it understood the business dynamics and made an informed and well-reasoned business decision.
As for the girls’, they’ve always been an afterthought and the GDA was created in the first place only because USSF was worried about the bad PR of gender discrimination for not having one. Oh, and since USSF is the king of hubris, it also believed it would be a piece of cake since ECNL had already done all the work for them. But the girls remain an afterthought, and there is no longer any need to keep up this silly pretense of caring about them now that the boys are going down. Plus, Cone or the new lawyers handling the WNT lawsuit probably saw the numbers and realized USSF has always put a lot more into the boys’ DA, so it’s best to just end it all before someone finds out. Because the last thing they need is more publicized evidence of gender discrimination. That last part is just a theory, but I bet I’m right.
From what I hear, even the DA's aren't be told 100% this is happening. Only, they are having a call/update middle of next week I believe. Sadly, that could be just US soccer being themselves.I would actually be in favor of the dismantling of DA. However, I can't believe something that huge is not being written about or leaked on any other more traditional soccer publication/source or by a few of the hundreds of DA families on this forum.
Covid does give it some cover, but still, to end the league's existence immediately would be the ultimate F.U. to all the clubs that trusted the U.S. system, not to mention all of the players who followed their overly-stringent rules. My kids are not in DA, so won't affect us. I just can't believe US Soccer would be THAT inept. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the headline should be "DA as we know it now is gone." Not, DA is gone. I have been wrong once or twice though.
Also, I bet you the new CEO is making this call more than Cone....especially since money will be a big driving force in this decision but how dumb would US soccer look especially on the girls side since GDA only a few years old.
outside!
DA
And you get an "F" in geography. When Surf was the only ECNL club in San Diego county, they had a monopoly on access to players in San Diego county. Blues and the other OC ECNL clubs wer not viable options for most San Diego county players (or LA County/Riverside County players for that matter). You keep talking about clubs as businesses. They are non-profits. I understand that DOC's are making bank and the clubs need to remain financially solvent, but they are still non-profits that are supposed to be providing a service in return for access to public property.
The only reason I mention my kids team was to prove a point. I don't live through my kids. Besides, you are the one that disparaged the kids teams, not me.
US Soccer (DA/GDA) governs US Club Soccer (ECNL) and USYS (National League). US Soccer should never have gotten into a situation where clubs have so much power over youth players through ECNL. The future of soccer in the US depends on increasing popularity among youth players, who are the paying fans of tomorrow. Right now youth soccer ignores players of lesser financial means (and their potential future market). As an example, it is well understood that there is almost no outreach by US Soccer to the Latino community (and other lower income demographics). If instead of a closed league there was a community focused system that would allow great teams from underprivileged areas to win their local tournaments, then move on to larger geographical tournaments, such teams that were good enough would attract attention and sponsorship to allow them to make it to the top tournaments and get the exposure and quality opponents to allow true development. ECNL is not that system. The existing local league/State Cup/National Cup/National League/National Championship system is closer to that system and is the system that should be refined and encouraged. Until soccer in the US takes advantage of the entire player pool, the USMNT will continue to stagnate and the USWNT will decline as other countries start to focus on women's soccer. Focusing on the "business" side of youth soccer is a recipe for youth soccer to remain a rich kids sport.
This kind of speculation is right up my hyperbolic alley. My guess is that USSF tells clubs it is only a matter of time now that the HMS Victory ECNL is bearing down on us, and there are only two ways off the boat since Slammers, Real CO etc. took all the life rafts. You can either jump ship or walk the plank. Both are desperate, but we highly recommend the former.
