DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not

[Anonymous]

The new director is walking into a complete mess. The only way to right the ship is to pretty much start over. Hope he can turn it around. Sounds like he wants to move quickly which is a good sign that he may have more control than the previous director.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anybody else get fired at the academy, or are we waiting until Friday for the big reveal?

was it announced somewhere that there will be an announcement on Friday?

I don't think so. He has already been announced internally. Externally not yet.

He has a huge job ahead of him. But at least he has some experience running an academy at this level and USL level and also scouting talent. Previous director just didn't have the experience and that was obvious. He did what he could and was capable of.

What he doesn't have experience in is DMV soccer politics which is a beast in and of itself, the problems at DCU which are deep, and running an academy with very little resources available to him.

Hope he can change things around.

Actually quite impressed with him and the changes he has already started making.

If you don’t mind sharing, what changes? Any idea if hes bringing some of his Nashville FC academy coaches with him?

Some of it has been just housekeeping stuff and improving internal communications, a training schedules and moving to add fitness resources that previously weren’t available to all of the teams and just one. But he did it quickly and is spending a great deal of time collecting feedback on the current functions of the club and looking at where he can make some immediate changes. There is very much a chance of coaches coming with him. He’s been transparent with coaches and parents that there will be changes. Not sure we will see that in the spring or after the season though.

Thank you so much for the insight! My DS was offered for next season and we are trying to get an understanding of what changes might impact him (just offered so we don't really know anything).

Congratulations to your son and you! Honestly, Trevor and Kevin (AD) are always willing to answer questions so don't be afraid to ask directly about any concerns you may have!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new director is walking into a complete mess. The only way to right the ship is to pretty much start over. Hope he can turn it around. Sounds like he wants to move quickly which is a good sign that he may have more control than the previous director.

I don't know that I would say a complete mess but that's just a difference of opinion. I am confident that he will take the academy to the next level and is equipped with the experience and resources to be able to so we are excited to have him.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:you heard it here first, 2011 half players on cut list 2010 handful new doc on the move. kids will be giving choices stay as practice squad or out the door. start shopping around boys

You are wild. They are going to cut half of their undefeated team? See how that doesn't make sense? Maybe try talking to the coach, who finds this all hilarious by the way.

What is actually hilarious is the assumption that any coach at DCU is in the know about anything happening on the management or strategic side of the academy or the club. Especially with a new director coming in and assessing the efficacy of everything and everyone. The coaching side of DCU is literally a revolving door of employees with very little continuity year after year and the new director has no allegiances to anyone on the current coaching staff. I wouldn't rely on the coaches to know anything about a strategic decision made by DCU. That is for sure. They don't even know if they will have a job next season.

The reality of any high level academy system is that kids get cut quite frequently for new and better talent. At these ages in Europe it is not unusual or unheard of for an academy to completely reload a squad (meaning 10÷ players) regardless of winning or losing. It is about finding the potential professionals and putting them in the system. The team could be very successful now in terms of Ws and Ls, like DCUs 2011s, but management may not be seeing the pro potential in the pool after assessing them for a period of time. Professional academies want to win for sure but good ones don't really care if a u14 squad is undefeated. What they care about is do they have the best talent they can get that has potential to make them money. And that means if they have made a calculation that a group of players have a very low ceiling in terms of pro potential, they get cut. It is that simple and the players might be actually pretty good today, but signs are showing that they have limited upside potential for the future.That could be due to size, power, speed, agility, toughness, mental fortitude, technical ability, physical potential, any number of things. Good today doesn't equal good potential 4 years down the road. Very different talent assessments and calculations. If any team was reloading it would.be.because they have too many limited upside players and there are players with higher ceilings out there that can come in now or next season.

No idea whether this claim about the 2011 team reloading is true. Seems unlikely to be honest but with DCU you never know. But if it is true, I wouldn't be surprised given the circumstances at DCU with a new director coming in and wanting different things.

Jajajajajaja
So one person makes a ridiculous troll statement about half a dcua team getting cut and you wrote 18 paragraphs waxing poetically about arbitrary what-ifs, maybes and could be

Is this drug or alcohol induced?

The PP presents a pretty strong argument as to why the supposed troll statement could in fact play out. Interesting point of view actually.

A few players removed and new talent brought in… yes- accurate argument and not a new move. Happens every season. Half a team removed…I won’t say impossible but extremely unlikely. Not how any of the academies work.

At younger ages in Europe half a team getting dropped is not totally out of the ordinary. It's big business.

The 5 2011 VDA boys are getting cut from DCU.

Don't know if that is true or not. Doesn't really matter. Some kids will get dropped for sure. Normal.

But end of day, the longer a kid stays in DCUs system, in its current state, the less likely they are to be a top player as they get older. It just is what it is. 2011 team will suffer the same fate as the 2008s, 2009s and 2010s.
Dominated u14 year locally and regionally because they took the best players and relied on physicality to get dubs, but can't really compete with national or even regional competition one and two years later because physical dominance and long balls is not working as everyone else has caught up and there is no development or concept for how to play. Maybe the new director changes things...

What does physical dominance and long balls have to do with the DCU U14's?

You clearly have never seen the team personally or even a photograph to call the team physically dominant.
Also definitely haven't seen them play to say booting long balls is their playing style.

You're just stewing in your own hate and envy juices

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you heard it here first, 2011 half players on cut list 2010 handful new doc on the move. kids will be giving choices stay as practice squad or out the door. start shopping around boys

You are wild. They are going to cut half of their undefeated team? See how that doesn't make sense? Maybe try talking to the coach, who finds this all hilarious by the way.

What is actually hilarious is the assumption that any coach at DCU is in the know about anything happening on the management or strategic side of the academy or the club. Especially with a new director coming in and assessing the efficacy of everything and everyone. The coaching side of DCU is literally a revolving door of employees with very little continuity year after year and the new director has no allegiances to anyone on the current coaching staff. I wouldn't rely on the coaches to know anything about a strategic decision made by DCU. That is for sure. They don't even know if they will have a job next season.

The reality of any high level academy system is that kids get cut quite frequently for new and better talent. At these ages in Europe it is not unusual or unheard of for an academy to completely reload a squad (meaning 10÷ players) regardless of winning or losing. It is about finding the potential professionals and putting them in the system. The team could be very successful now in terms of Ws and Ls, like DCUs 2011s, but management may not be seeing the pro potential in the pool after assessing them for a period of time. Professional academies want to win for sure but good ones don't really care if a u14 squad is undefeated. What they care about is do they have the best talent they can get that has potential to make them money. And that means if they have made a calculation that a group of players have a very low ceiling in terms of pro potential, they get cut. It is that simple and the players might be actually pretty good today, but signs are showing that they have limited upside potential for the future.That could be due to size, power, speed, agility, toughness, mental fortitude, technical ability, physical potential, any number of things. Good today doesn't equal good potential 4 years down the road. Very different talent assessments and calculations. If any team was reloading it would.be.because they have too many limited upside players and there are players with higher ceilings out there that can come in now or next season.

No idea whether this claim about the 2011 team reloading is true. Seems unlikely to be honest but with DCU you never know. But if it is true, I wouldn't be surprised given the circumstances at DCU with a new director coming in and wanting different things.

Jajajajajaja
So one person makes a ridiculous troll statement about half a dcua team getting cut and you wrote 18 paragraphs waxing poetically about arbitrary what-ifs, maybes and could be

Is this drug or alcohol induced?

The PP presents a pretty strong argument as to why the supposed troll statement could in fact play out. Interesting point of view actually.

A few players removed and new talent brought in… yes- accurate argument and not a new move. Happens every season. Half a team removed…I won’t say impossible but extremely unlikely. Not how any of the academies work.

At younger ages in Europe half a team getting dropped is not totally out of the ordinary. It's big business.

The 5 2011 VDA boys are getting cut from DCU.

Don't know if that is true or not. Doesn't really matter. Some kids will get dropped for sure. Normal.

But end of day, the longer a kid stays in DCUs system, in its current state, the less likely they are to be a top player as they get older. It just is what it is. 2011 team will suffer the same fate as the 2008s, 2009s and 2010s.
Dominated u14 year locally and regionally because they took the best players and relied on physicality to get dubs, but can't really compete with national or even regional competition one and two years later because physical dominance and long balls is not working as everyone else has caught up and there is no development or concept for how to play. Maybe the new director changes things...

I heard someone say the 2011 team isn't physically dominant. Could be the case. I only know a few players on the squad (who are above average size wise). Even if that is the case. I have zero faith that DCU can develop them. None. And winning now really means very little. But parent egos are so big they look at wins and think their kid is getting better.

This...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reality is that the majority of DMV parents don't even know what high level academy football looks like in Europe or South America to really benchmark the level. If they did, they would realize that the majority of the academies are way far behind and so are most of the players. DCU is one of the farthest behind...in all that it does.

What are the units of measurement for high level academies football and how do you measure one against the other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you heard it here first, 2011 half players on cut list 2010 handful new doc on the move. kids will be giving choices stay as practice squad or out the door. start shopping around boys

You are wild. They are going to cut half of their undefeated team? See how that doesn't make sense? Maybe try talking to the coach, who finds this all hilarious by the way.

What is actually hilarious is the assumption that any coach at DCU is in the know about anything happening on the management or strategic side of the academy or the club. Especially with a new director coming in and assessing the efficacy of everything and everyone. The coaching side of DCU is literally a revolving door of employees with very little continuity year after year and the new director has no allegiances to anyone on the current coaching staff. I wouldn't rely on the coaches to know anything about a strategic decision made by DCU. That is for sure. They don't even know if they will have a job next season.

The reality of any high level academy system is that kids get cut quite frequently for new and better talent. At these ages in Europe it is not unusual or unheard of for an academy to completely reload a squad (meaning 10÷ players) regardless of winning or losing. It is about finding the potential professionals and putting them in the system. The team could be very successful now in terms of Ws and Ls, like DCUs 2011s, but management may not be seeing the pro potential in the pool after assessing them for a period of time. Professional academies want to win for sure but good ones don't really care if a u14 squad is undefeated. What they care about is do they have the best talent they can get that has potential to make them money. And that means if they have made a calculation that a group of players have a very low ceiling in terms of pro potential, they get cut. It is that simple and the players might be actually pretty good today, but signs are showing that they have limited upside potential for the future.That could be due to size, power, speed, agility, toughness, mental fortitude, technical ability, physical potential, any number of things. Good today doesn't equal good potential 4 years down the road. Very different talent assessments and calculations. If any team was reloading it would.be.because they have too many limited upside players and there are players with higher ceilings out there that can come in now or next season.

No idea whether this claim about the 2011 team reloading is true. Seems unlikely to be honest but with DCU you never know. But if it is true, I wouldn't be surprised given the circumstances at DCU with a new director coming in and wanting different things.

Jajajajajaja
So one person makes a ridiculous troll statement about half a dcua team getting cut and you wrote 18 paragraphs waxing poetically about arbitrary what-ifs, maybes and could be

Is this drug or alcohol induced?

The PP presents a pretty strong argument as to why the supposed troll statement could in fact play out. Interesting point of view actually.

A few players removed and new talent brought in… yes- accurate argument and not a new move. Happens every season. Half a team removed…I won’t say impossible but extremely unlikely. Not how any of the academies work.

At younger ages in Europe half a team getting dropped is not totally out of the ordinary. It's big business.

The 5 2011 VDA boys are getting cut from DCU.

Don't know if that is true or not. Doesn't really matter. Some kids will get dropped for sure. Normal.

But end of day, the longer a kid stays in DCUs system, in its current state, the less likely they are to be a top player as they get older. It just is what it is. 2011 team will suffer the same fate as the 2008s, 2009s and 2010s.
Dominated u14 year locally and regionally because they took the best players and relied on physicality to get dubs, but can't really compete with national or even regional competition one and two years later because physical dominance and long balls is not working as everyone else has caught up and there is no development or concept for how to play. Maybe the new director changes things...

I heard someone say the 2011 team isn't physically dominant. Could be the case. I only know a few players on the squad (who are above average size wise). Even if that is the case. I have zero faith that DCU can develop them. None. And winning now really means very little. But parent egos are so big they look at wins and think their kid is getting better.

This...

What's funny is, the DCUA hater-squad said the U14's were horrible and losing everything.
Someone pointed out they haven't lost anything

The haters comeback now and say the parents only care about winning lol
Can't make this madness up haha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reality is that the majority of DMV parents don't even know what high level academy football looks like in Europe or South America to really benchmark the level. If they did, they would realize that the majority of the academies are way far behind and so are most of the players. DCU is one of the farthest behind...in all that it does.

What are the units of measurement for high level academies football and how do you measure one against the other?

High level academies have more than 10 employees focused just on teaching football. DCU doesn't even have 7 for FIVE teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you heard it here first, 2011 half players on cut list 2010 handful new doc on the move. kids will be giving choices stay as practice squad or out the door. start shopping around boys

You are wild. They are going to cut half of their undefeated team? See how that doesn't make sense? Maybe try talking to the coach, who finds this all hilarious by the way.

What is actually hilarious is the assumption that any coach at DCU is in the know about anything happening on the management or strategic side of the academy or the club. Especially with a new director coming in and assessing the efficacy of everything and everyone. The coaching side of DCU is literally a revolving door of employees with very little continuity year after year and the new director has no allegiances to anyone on the current coaching staff. I wouldn't rely on the coaches to know anything about a strategic decision made by DCU. That is for sure. They don't even know if they will have a job next season.

The reality of any high level academy system is that kids get cut quite frequently for new and better talent. At these ages in Europe it is not unusual or unheard of for an academy to completely reload a squad (meaning 10÷ players) regardless of winning or losing. It is about finding the potential professionals and putting them in the system. The team could be very successful now in terms of Ws and Ls, like DCUs 2011s, but management may not be seeing the pro potential in the pool after assessing them for a period of time. Professional academies want to win for sure but good ones don't really care if a u14 squad is undefeated. What they care about is do they have the best talent they can get that has potential to make them money. And that means if they have made a calculation that a group of players have a very low ceiling in terms of pro potential, they get cut. It is that simple and the players might be actually pretty good today, but signs are showing that they have limited upside potential for the future.That could be due to size, power, speed, agility, toughness, mental fortitude, technical ability, physical potential, any number of things. Good today doesn't equal good potential 4 years down the road. Very different talent assessments and calculations. If any team was reloading it would.be.because they have too many limited upside players and there are players with higher ceilings out there that can come in now or next season.

No idea whether this claim about the 2011 team reloading is true. Seems unlikely to be honest but with DCU you never know. But if it is true, I wouldn't be surprised given the circumstances at DCU with a new director coming in and wanting different things.

Jajajajajaja
So one person makes a ridiculous troll statement about half a dcua team getting cut and you wrote 18 paragraphs waxing poetically about arbitrary what-ifs, maybes and could be

Is this drug or alcohol induced?

The PP presents a pretty strong argument as to why the supposed troll statement could in fact play out. Interesting point of view actually.

A few players removed and new talent brought in… yes- accurate argument and not a new move. Happens every season. Half a team removed…I won’t say impossible but extremely unlikely. Not how any of the academies work.

At younger ages in Europe half a team getting dropped is not totally out of the ordinary. It's big business.

The 5 2011 VDA boys are getting cut from DCU.

Don't know if that is true or not. Doesn't really matter. Some kids will get dropped for sure. Normal.

But end of day, the longer a kid stays in DCUs system, in its current state, the less likely they are to be a top player as they get older. It just is what it is. 2011 team will suffer the same fate as the 2008s, 2009s and 2010s.
Dominated u14 year locally and regionally because they took the best players and relied on physicality to get dubs, but can't really compete with national or even regional competition one and two years later because physical dominance and long balls is not working as everyone else has caught up and there is no development or concept for how to play. Maybe the new director changes things...

I heard someone say the 2011 team isn't physically dominant. Could be the case. I only know a few players on the squad (who are above average size wise). Even if that is the case. I have zero faith that DCU can develop them. None. And winning now really means very little. But parent egos are so big they look at wins and think their kid is getting better.

This...

What's funny is, the DCUA hater-squad said the U14's were horrible and losing everything.
Someone pointed out they haven't lost anything

The haters comeback now and say the parents only care about winning lol
Can't make this madness up haha

Must have been different haters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new director is walking into a complete mess. The only way to right the ship is to pretty much start over. Hope he can turn it around. Sounds like he wants to move quickly which is a good sign that he may have more control than the previous director.

Seems the people with actual kids at the academy are focused on the correct thing, their kid's individual development

The people on the outside are focused on how the teams are doing on the scoreboard.

Academies aren't about teams W vs L record.
When the Premier League came calling recently, they didn't take teams.
They took individual players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reality is that the majority of DMV parents don't even know what high level academy football looks like in Europe or South America to really benchmark the level. If they did, they would realize that the majority of the academies are way far behind and so are most of the players. DCU is one of the farthest behind...in all that it does.

What are the units of measurement for high level academies football and how do you measure one against the other?

High level academies have more than 10 employees focused just on teaching football. DCU doesn't even have 7 for FIVE teams

What are you basing this on?
What are your benchmark references and how are you a knowledgeable expert on high level academies? (for the record)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anybody else get fired at the academy, or are we waiting until Friday for the big reveal?

was it announced somewhere that there will be an announcement on Friday?

I don't think so. He has already been announced internally. Externally not yet.

He has a huge job ahead of him. But at least he has some experience running an academy at this level and USL level and also scouting talent. Previous director just didn't have the experience and that was obvious. He did what he could and was capable of.

What he doesn't have experience in is DMV soccer politics which is a beast in and of itself, the problems at DCU which are deep, and running an academy with very little resources available to him.

Hope he can change things around.

Actually quite impressed with him and the changes he has already started making.

If you don’t mind sharing, what changes? Any idea if hes bringing some of his Nashville FC academy coaches with him?

Some of it has been just housekeeping stuff and improving internal communications, a training schedules and moving to add fitness resources that previously weren’t available to all of the teams and just one. But he did it quickly and is spending a great deal of time collecting feedback on the current functions of the club and looking at where he can make some immediate changes. There is very much a chance of coaches coming with him. He’s been transparent with coaches and parents that there will be changes. Not sure we will see that in the spring or after the season though.

Thank you so much for the insight! My DS was offered for next season and we are trying to get an understanding of what changes might impact him (just offered so we don't really know anything).

Congratulations to your son and you! Honestly, Trevor and Kevin (AD) are always willing to answer questions so don't be afraid to ask directly about any concerns you may have!

Lol, Trevor is completely full of it. He’s a major reason the academy is struggling—he’s just not cut out to be a scouting director. Pat bought into Trevor’s nonsense, and between his own poor decisions and the bad advice Trevor was feeding him, he ended up getting himself fired. If Kevin’s smart he will can this guy asap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reality is that the majority of DMV parents don't even know what high level academy football looks like in Europe or South America to really benchmark the level. If they did, they would realize that the majority of the academies are way far behind and so are most of the players. DCU is one of the farthest behind...in all that it does.

What are the units of measurement for high level academies football and how do you measure one against the other?

High level academies have more than 10 employees focused just on teaching football. DCU doesn't even have 7 for FIVE teams

What are you basing this on?
What are your benchmark references and how are you a knowledgeable expert on high level academies? (for the record)

Common sense...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new director is walking into a complete mess. The only way to right the ship is to pretty much start over. Hope he can turn it around. Sounds like he wants to move quickly which is a good sign that he may have more control than the previous director.

Seems the people with actual kids at the academy are focused on the correct thing, their kid's individual development

The people on the outside are focused on how the teams are doing on the scoreboard.

Academies aren't about teams W vs L record.
When the Premier League came calling recently, they didn't take teams.
They took individual players.

Exactly right. Good luck at DCU...

[Anonymous]

Nobody cares if DCU teams are winning or losing. Literally irrelevant. What this whole thread is about is how DCU is failing the kids. Which is a fact.