Turning Pro at 13
- Thread starter sdb
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I'm sure there are a ton of deserving girls. But when none of the girls come from outside of the DA clubs, that's messed up
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Why would the program call up girls not in the DA? Isn't that counterproductive?
The goal is to pick the top 20 players. The coach's jobs depend on it, so I don't think league politics is a primary driver in selections.
To me, it is unsurprising that the kids rising to the top are the ones who are playing and training in a year-round environment and playing against the other teams who are full of players doing the same. That's what happens with the boys and nobody is surprised when rosters are exclusively DA (or foreign) based players.
I realize that some people have ulterior motives for disparaging the rosters, but isn't the ENTIRE purpose of the DA to produce a higher quality player? And isnt the ENTIRE purpose of the YNT program to find and further develop the top players?
To me, it is unsurprising that the kids rising to the top are the ones who are playing and training in a year-round environment and playing against the other teams who are full of players doing the same. That's what happens with the boys and nobody is surprised when rosters are exclusively DA (or foreign) based players.
I realize that some people have ulterior motives for disparaging the rosters, but isn't the ENTIRE purpose of the DA to produce a higher quality player? And isnt the ENTIRE purpose of the YNT program to find and further develop the top players?
Why would it be counterproductive? Isn't the point of the US National Team to select the best/most talented ladies? While a vast majority of those ladies play in DA, not all of them are. Hec, some areas don't have any DA teams. Seems counterproductive to bypass kids just because they don't play DA, especially when DA is not an option.
If kids are required to be in DA to make the junior national team, US Soccer should just say so.
I think it is unfortunately likely that kids not in an area where they can train and play in a DA environment year round are going to fall behind the kids who do have that luxury. At least that is what has increasingly happened on the boys side over the past decade.
Boys aren't being purposefully neglected for YNT selection because they arent in a DA environment, they simply aren't being selected as they aren't reaching as much of their full potential as boys who are. I see no reason the same wont be true on the girls side of things.
I think it's unfortunate in a lot of ways, but it is what it is.
I'm not disparaging the roster. I'm disparaging US soccer's selection process. The purpose of DA is to produce higher quality players, but the results will never be 100%. There will always be kids outside the system. If it was 19-1, I would be OK with it. But 100%? Come on. The boy's side is not even 100% DA after more than 10 years, and the boy's side never had to compete with ECNL.
shales1002
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This was all about politics. So other elite players don’t train year round? Come on now. Elite players don’t need someone to mandate training. The powers that be just showed their hand, and gave a lot of players a message.
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How does it look if US Soccer creates the DA and then selects a bunch of players from ECNL or a non-acronym league? You can SAY the job is to pick the best players, but do you think there's a tremendous difference at 15-20? "They should just say so..."
Well, that's kind of what they did by creating the DA, no? Was ECNL broken?
I like DA. I think a lot of the criticism of DA is ill-founded. But to answer your question, if US Soccer creates DA, yet they select a players from another league because those players are better, that should tell US Soccer something about DA. US Soccer shouldn't have to manipulate the results to save face.
I rather US Soccer not "kind of" say something. If US Soccer is going to make the power move on DA, say it. ECNL has made it's own BS power moves, so I'm not defending ECNL.
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Fair enough... but the DA has been around for a year. I think US Soccer will eventually select from the DA exclusively. Wouldn't you if that was your business? They can let their girls play high school soccer... but why acquiesce? You create something and say "this is the path we want you to take... but you don't really have to." That doesn't make any sense to me.
This is the second year of the DA and a I think US Soccer did say they will only call up players from the DA - that’s the message we heard. I don’t have much confidence in the decisions being made by US Soccer. Last year They did not do well in the U17 WWC and also ended up with a disappointing result in the U20 WWC. Yet, they made no changes in the players or the coaches for either age - wondering what everyone will be saying when US gets out of pool play and starts playing against the more competitive teams. I am looking forward to watching those matches
Funny, those age groups were in place prior to the DA....
I think DA or not DA and the call ups are all politics, not really about identifying the best players or training them year round- i think it would be more effective if they had longer residential camps with more extensive training and having those groups play in a league together rather than flying around the world playing low level teams -
oh canada
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Don't forget that in our little California bubble there are at least two non-DA clubs who have put out top college and world class players through the years. And as you go east, the number of top clubs playing ECNL outnumber DA clubs. The boys side is completely different. There is not a competing league to DA that is just as strong. I have boys and a girl, so personal experience.
Playing for these teams is US Soccer's last remaining "carrot" for playing girls DA vs. ECNL. Both leagues have good/bad teams, both leagues attract the same college coaches, both leagues play year round and travel. As long as they can keep parents thinking that one of these 20 spots is worth giving up high school soccer, futsal leagues, and a more flexible practice schedule, they will fill rosters. I think parents are beginning to see the charade, however.
Playing for these teams is US Soccer's last remaining "carrot" for playing girls DA vs. ECNL. Both leagues have good/bad teams, both leagues attract the same college coaches, both leagues play year round and travel. As long as they can keep parents thinking that one of these 20 spots is worth giving up high school soccer, futsal leagues, and a more flexible practice schedule, they will fill rosters. I think parents are beginning to see the charade, however.
To say that these call-ups are all politics is really doing a disservice to these young athletes. Some of these girls are dominant players playing up 2-3 years, another led the entire DA in scoring in her age group. One keeper is committed to UNC, the other to Cal. Others on the team are committed to Stanford, Duke, UNC. Sure there may be other high quality players who didn't get a call-up for whatever reason, but don't diminish the accomplishments of these girls.
I am not diminishing the individual accomplishments of these players- I am talking about the general system and what I have seen over the years - you could make the same statements of a hundred other girls that have just as many accolades, accomplishments, and commitments to top D1 schools
You said that "it's all politics." To me that clearly discounts their accomplishments.
I'm curious as what people think is the # of truly elite players in the USA per age group. Let's take the 72 GDA clubs plus the 94 ECNL clubs. That's 166 clubs playing in the 2 elite leagues. Let's add another 30 clubs not in these leagues who truly have top flight competitive teams. That's 200 clubs. 20 players per team per club. That's 4000 players. Let's add another 500-600 players from miscellaneous. 4500 players. Let's say that the USYNT picks from 2 birth years, so that's about 9,000 players to chose from. How many of these are truly elite? 1%? 5%? I'd say it's closer to 1%, so about 100 truly elite players. USYNT picks 20 from this list of very deserving players. How do they do this? Is there some politics in this? Sure, but any of these 100 merit a spot based on their accomplishments. I bet all 20 of the players on the list would likely be in the 100 somewhere. I'm also curious as to what people think is the number of athletes in this 100 truly elite player group that have never been seen or scouted.
I'm curious as what people think is the # of truly elite players in the USA per age group. Let's take the 72 GDA clubs plus the 94 ECNL clubs. That's 166 clubs playing in the 2 elite leagues. Let's add another 30 clubs not in these leagues who truly have top flight competitive teams. That's 200 clubs. 20 players per team per club. That's 4000 players. Let's add another 500-600 players from miscellaneous. 4500 players. Let's say that the USYNT picks from 2 birth years, so that's about 9,000 players to chose from. How many of these are truly elite? 1%? 5%? I'd say it's closer to 1%, so about 100 truly elite players. USYNT picks 20 from this list of very deserving players. How do they do this? Is there some politics in this? Sure, but any of these 100 merit a spot based on their accomplishments. I bet all 20 of the players on the list would likely be in the 100 somewhere. I'm also curious as to what people think is the number of athletes in this 100 truly elite player group that have never been seen or scouted.
shales1002
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No one is diminishing the accomplishments of these players. They should be proud of what they are achieving. But it’s pretty obvious the clubs that have been loyal to GDA were rewarded. Not one MVLA player??? Come on now. That’s one of the best teams in the country. Up until this point, MVLA consistently has had at least 2-3 players each camp. The first two keepers committed for this class of 2022, one to USC and the other to UCLA, are both at home and they both play ECNL. This was a message. Period. As one the posters said above, keep it real. It literally affects approximately 60 young ladies.
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It's the first year... there were no tryouts 2 years ago.