State Cup

Legit_play said:
Dargle,all your info is spot on and extremely useful I'm just a bitter parent whose son's playing future is in question, TFA was my son's personal choice and it was right at the limit we were okay to travel to anything further may be too much to handle especially when considering your information about weeding out players and funneling towards the top of the pyramid. We are witnessing something extremely rare at this age bracket with this team, for such a young age, their knowledge of the game, team defense, their play off the ball is really something to enjoy. I personally would like to see how far it can go that's all.
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I totally get that. At least you have U12 Academy next year. In theory, the team could stay together and just not play Academy after that. Realistically, though, if all of these parents were willing to drive pretty far away to go to TFA this year, they (and their boys) probably are pretty motivated. Plus, other Academies will start recruiting these kids during Academy League play knowing that they may be free agents after the season. It's hard to imagine it won't break-up as a result. Even if some Academy decided to offer everyone a spot as a team, a few of them will get recruited by LA Galaxy or LAFC and it's hard to compete with that if you have pro ambitions. It's just the way it's set-up. Develop kids, not teams.

The only possible change could be the fact that Klinsmann is no longer technical director and expanding the Academy program to U12 was one of his projects. This pyramid fits with his philosophy and that of European Academies. So, they could alter direction now that he's out. Still, I doubt that they really would start approving full Academies all over Socal (or even more core Academy programs) because it would just end up being another league. Plus, US Soccer denied TFA and other club's applications to expand from U12 to U13 after Klinsmann was fired, so nothing appears to have changed thus far.
 
Legit_play said:
We are witnessing something extremely rare at this age bracket with this team, for such a young age, their knowledge of the game, team defense, their play off the ball is really something to enjoy. I personally would like to see how far it can go that's all.
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It's a fantastic u11 team. It's worth noting, however, that the federation is trying to create systems that yield the best possible players at adulthood rather than at 10 years-old. Sometimes those two goals overlap, and sometimes they don't.
 
MostlyDisappointed said:
It's a fantastic u11 team. It's worth noting, however, that the federation is trying to create systems that yield the best possible players at adulthood rather than at 10 years-old. Sometimes those two goals overlap, and sometimes they don't.
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what TFA shows is that people don't trust the DA system and still rely on the brand of the clubs. If DA clubs were all coached equally well, those TFA kids, which we've heard come from far and wide, would be at DA clubs closer to home. The talent would be distributed. Instead, TFA has managed to concentrate a lot of talent at 05 and younger through its reputation for training possession soccer.

Since that's the case, it seems a little unfortunate that TFA isn't one of the clubs with more DA teams, especially when it appears that other non-mls DA clubs aren't developing intelligence in their players.
 
I agree TFA is a great team but are the players individually as great (i'm sure they are!!!). Being a great team is not what they are looking for, DA is not about developing the team but rather the individual. I have three kids in club soccer (DA & league).
Sometimes you can take a player from a great team put them in a different environment and they don't excel as much.
 
I think you have to look at the TFA juggernaut as both players, coaching and the system. Kids and parents who are ok with rigorous training, long drives (in some cases), dedication over and above most clubs, and kids who have the skill and parents with the dedication to nurture it at a young age. These factors are nearly impossible to harness consistently because parents have jobs, kids are unpredictable, etc. Yes, maybe for a short period of time, like a season, but to keep it going to where everyone is speaking the same language over a long period of time is quite amazing. All great teams are made of all these things. With really good teams like that, a player could be injured and someone else could step in and it might not really matter. To me, that's what a true academy is about. Solid players who are in shape and can just do the job. If academies are building players like that, I'd say the US system is in good shape. If a great team comes out of this, then that's positive, but I agree that the long term is systems that fit those players and then players who are becoming great all around as a result.
 
This state cup tread last weekend for this age group anything on those teams or a just a walk in the park for TFA
 
Ricardo Torres said:
The games have to be played....
The only team TFA hasn't faced is Laufa....
So hopefully we could win tomorrow and face LAUFA
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All Coast Soccer League finals (TFA v. UIFC Laguna Academy), for those who still try to compare leagues. Might be even more revealing to note that three out of the four semifinalists are basically downtown LA or near downtown clubs.
 
I watched last week and yesterday and parking your team in the 18 so that TFA doesn't score off you is ridiculous. They're 10 years old, what are you teaching them? Also, I too have seen that Arsenal team play and they are good and they go after people. This sport is not meant to be a defensive, fearful of losing 0-4 sport like baseball. Let your kids show what they work their tails off to learn and enjoy them. Don't know if that Arsenal team sticks together into Academy next year, not sure who the Academy coach is but it's a fun team. TFA is just that good.
 
lovethisgame said:
I watched last week and yesterday and parking your team in the 18 so that TFA doesn't score off you is ridiculous. They're 10 years old, what are you teaching them? Also, I too have seen that Arsenal team play and they are good and they go after people. This sport is not meant to be a defensive, fearful of losing 0-4 sport like baseball. Let your kids show what they work their tails off to learn and enjoy them. Don't know if that Arsenal team sticks together into Academy next year, not sure who the Academy coach is but it's a fun team. TFA is just that good.
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Strikers completely parked the bus on TFA... Badddddddddd
 
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