MLS dropping DA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DA is dropped, then something similar will replace it or soccer is done for in the US. Having a bunch of mediocre leagues with a mix of good and mediocre players all on one team will not make the top players better.

Having a top player on a team with players who are playing because their parents are forcing them to do "something" physical is not a good model.

The problem is US Soccer is trying to develop their system around European systems, but it simply isn't doable.
The reason all the kids in England come from professional teams' academies is that there are enough professional teams in England that every kid is a short drive away from one of them.
Out country is simply to big to work that way.
Having only MLS teams with top academies guarantees that far too many kids will fall through the cracks...it just can't work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DA is dropped, then something similar will replace it or soccer is done for in the US. Having a bunch of mediocre leagues with a mix of good and mediocre players all on one team will not make the top players better.

Having a top player on a team with players who are playing because their parents are forcing them to do "something" physical is not a good model.

When DA expanded you started getting mediocre players that was part of the problem. They just rolled their A teams into it. And everyone knows how A team selections go in many Clubs.

When it was just DCU the roster was competitive.

Dilution happened in DA too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MLS clubs want to play other professional teams, not just from the USA. There are dozens of foreign clubs that pass through the USA on 'tours' and the MLS is limited in the number of dates they can meet up with those sides as they are busy with the DA schedule. Imagine turning down a chance to play Liverpool's U15s because you are traveling to Richmond that weekend? Yea.

Imagine thinking that Liverpool's U15s are touring the US in the middle of their own league season, looking for games against MLS teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DA is dropped, then something similar will replace it or soccer is done for in the US. Having a bunch of mediocre leagues with a mix of good and mediocre players all on one team will not make the top players better.

Having a top player on a team with players who are playing because their parents are forcing them to do "something" physical is not a good model.

The problem is US Soccer is trying to develop their system around European systems, but it simply isn't doable.
The reason all the kids in England come from professional teams' academies is that there are enough professional teams in England that every kid is a short drive away from one of them.
Out country is simply to big to work that way.
Having only MLS teams with top academies guarantees that far too many kids will fall through the cracks...it just can't work.

This is an excellent point. There are 21 MLS teams in the US. Having only 21 pro academies in a country the size of all of Europe is joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MLS clubs want to play other professional teams, not just from the USA. There are dozens of foreign clubs that pass through the USA on 'tours' and the MLS is limited in the number of dates they can meet up with those sides as they are busy with the DA schedule. Imagine turning down a chance to play Liverpool's U15s because you are traveling to Richmond that weekend? Yea.

MLS wants to give their DA players more exposure to help raise the level of MLS in the world and eventually sell on some players to foreign clubs to recoup their investments in training. Every D1 scholarship offer to a MLS DA player is basically a financial loss for that club.

Who will pay for this? Up to this year, DCU was charging DA players while providing mediocre coaching in the lower age groups. The fact that they are now doing without the U13DA (while only U12 has been eliminated nationwide) shows their lack of commitment to player development.
Are these guys really going to spend on organizing international games (assuming that the much better European teams are interested in meeting them more than once a year)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DA is dropped, then something similar will replace it or soccer is done for in the US. Having a bunch of mediocre leagues with a mix of good and mediocre players all on one team will not make the top players better.

Having a top player on a team with players who are playing because their parents are forcing them to do "something" physical is not a good model.

When DA expanded you started getting mediocre players that was part of the problem. They just rolled their A teams into it. And everyone knows how A team selections go in many Clubs.

When it was just DCU the roster was competitive.


Is DA the issue or the fact that DCU has not won the league in ages, which makes it less attractive..
What is your proposal: to impose to youth soccer the closed non-competitive MLS system that rewards poor management and has contributed to making US male soccer the laughing stock of the rest of the world.
Whatever the format (DA or non-DA, who cares), give the MLS youth teams some outside domestic competition, so that they have to prove that they are indeed better than the rest of the bunch.

[Anonymous]

Is there anything new to report or is this just restating what has already been discussed in various threads and posted by various news services back in early January?

Last I heard from my son's DA coach was they were considering implementing a tiered system with the general belief that MLS clubs would be in the highest tier along with a few non-MLS clubs. Other clubs would be in a second tier. This would concentrate top teams in the first tier and also allow for a promotion / relegation system. As for playing clubs from around the world, the thought was to identify certain international tournaments (and domestic tournaments with international competition) before the league schedule has been set and then not to schedule games those weeks to allow any MLS clubs interested in playing to play in those tournaments. For those clubs not playing in the international competitions, they might setup "showcase" events those weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything new to report or is this just restating what has already been discussed in various threads and posted by various news services back in early January?

Last I heard from my son's DA coach was they were considering implementing a tiered system with the general belief that MLS clubs would be in the highest tier along with a few non-MLS clubs. Other clubs would be in a second tier. This would concentrate top teams in the first tier and also allow for a promotion / relegation system. As for playing clubs from around the world, the thought was to identify certain international tournaments (and domestic tournaments with international competition) before the league schedule has been set and then not to schedule games those weeks to allow any MLS clubs interested in playing to play in those tournaments. For those clubs not playing in the international competitions, they might setup "showcase" events those weekends.

Ummm...this is pretty much just any other league then. EDP has pro/rel and academy level teams at the highest level. DA sold to travel kids is solely marketing. It’s no different except parents get to say their kid plays DA, even if it’s 2nd tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything new to report or is this just restating what has already been discussed in various threads and posted by various news services back in early January?

Last I heard from my son's DA coach was they were considering implementing a tiered system with the general belief that MLS clubs would be in the highest tier along with a few non-MLS clubs. Other clubs would be in a second tier. This would concentrate top teams in the first tier and also allow for a promotion / relegation system. As for playing clubs from around the world, the thought was to identify certain international tournaments (and domestic tournaments with international competition) before the league schedule has been set and then not to schedule games those weeks to allow any MLS clubs interested in playing to play in those tournaments. For those clubs not playing in the international competitions, they might setup "showcase" events those weekends.

Ummm...this is pretty much just any other league then. EDP has pro/rel and academy level teams at the highest level. DA sold to travel kids is solely marketing. It’s no different except parents get to say their kid plays DA, even if it’s 2nd tier.

Yes, any other league except the best kids will play there, on average. The other leagues are third tier and below if non-MLS DA is second tier, even assuming this rumor becomes fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DA is dropped, then something similar will replace it or soccer is done for in the US. Having a bunch of mediocre leagues with a mix of good and mediocre players all on one team will not make the top players better.

Having a top player on a team with players who are playing because their parents are forcing them to do "something" physical is not a good model.

The problem is US Soccer is trying to develop their system around European systems, but it simply isn't doable.
The reason all the kids in England come from professional teams' academies is that there are enough professional teams in England that every kid is a short drive away from one of them.
Out country is simply to big to work that way.
Having only MLS teams with top academies guarantees that far too many kids will fall through the cracks...it just can't work.

This is an excellent point. There are 21 MLS teams in the US. Having only 21 pro academies in a country the size of all of Europe is joke.

We would have more pro academies if US Soccer would:

1. Get their noses out of MLS' behind and stop giving them a monopoly over everything.
2. Enforce the system of solidarity payments when they steal the best players from local clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything new to report or is this just restating what has already been discussed in various threads and posted by various news services back in early January?

Last I heard from my son's DA coach was they were considering implementing a tiered system with the general belief that MLS clubs would be in the highest tier along with a few non-MLS clubs. Other clubs would be in a second tier. This would concentrate top teams in the first tier and also allow for a promotion / relegation system. As for playing clubs from around the world, the thought was to identify certain international tournaments (and domestic tournaments with international competition) before the league schedule has been set and then not to schedule games those weeks to allow any MLS clubs interested in playing to play in those tournaments. For those clubs not playing in the international competitions, they might setup "showcase" events those weekends.

Ummm...this is pretty much just any other league then. EDP has pro/rel and academy level teams at the highest level. DA sold to travel kids is solely marketing. It’s no different except parents get to say their kid plays DA, even if it’s 2nd tier.

Yes, any other league except the best kids will play there, on average. The other leagues are third tier and below if non-MLS DA is second tier, even assuming this rumor becomes fact.

Once you take the MLS academies out, you have a bunch of A teams like it has been always. My kids already play first division EDP. There are DA level teams currently in EDP— Baltimore Celtic, etc. Prior to DA, CCL was where the top older teams went. Years before that NCSL was the top league. See what I’m getting at? It’s all semantics. It’s the same thing, different name. They have to change the marketing/names every few years to keep it fresh and have parents coughing up for the next elite, elitist thing out there.

As my old Dutch coach said about our system: shit in, shit out. Same old, same old.

[Anonymous]

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything new to report or is this just restating what has already been discussed in various threads and posted by various news services back in early January?

Last I heard from my son's DA coach was they were considering implementing a tiered system with the general belief that MLS clubs would be in the highest tier along with a few non-MLS clubs. Other clubs would be in a second tier. This would concentrate top teams in the first tier and also allow for a promotion / relegation system. As for playing clubs from around the world, the thought was to identify certain international tournaments (and domestic tournaments with international competition) before the league schedule has been set and then not to schedule games those weeks to allow any MLS clubs interested in playing to play in those tournaments. For those clubs not playing in the international competitions, they might setup "showcase" events those weekends.

Ummm...this is pretty much just any other league then. EDP has pro/rel and academy level teams at the highest level. DA sold to travel kids is solely marketing. It’s no different except parents get to say their kid plays DA, even if it’s 2nd tier.

Yes, any other league except the best kids will play there, on average. The other leagues are third tier and below if non-MLS DA is second tier, even assuming this rumor becomes fact.

Once you take the MLS academies out, you have a bunch of A teams like it has been always. My kids already play first division EDP. There are DA level teams currently in EDP— Baltimore Celtic, etc. Prior to DA, CCL was where the top older teams went. Years before that NCSL was the top league. See what I’m getting at? It’s all semantics. It’s the same thing, different name. They have to change the marketing/names every few years to keep it fresh and have parents coughing up for the next elite, elitist thing out there.

As my old Dutch coach said about our system: shit in, shit out. Same old, same old.

Yeah, you have a bunch of teams make NCSL Division 1, the parents think they deserve an "elite" league, so they all move "up" to EDP -- and play each other. Great.

Exactly. EDP is another form of “chasing the patch” mentality. The irony in the EDP parents arguments is striking.

[Anonymous]

^ more like chasing a league we don’t need to drive to the Carolinas or Jersey for a regular season game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ more like chasing a league we don’t need to drive to the Carolinas or Jersey for a regular season game.

As I said, same mentality. And outside a scant few teams, worse play and talent.